The 2013-2014 Colorado Ice Conditions Thread

Sean in Oxford wrote:Does anyone have a report for Hoosier Pass?

If you mean Lincoln Falls, it's fatter than it's been in 20 years.

Will Mayo on his new. m13 at Vail, Stratofortress. when he made the ice he hadn't brought any screws but topped out anyway...

Stratofortress. Photo by Rob Cordery-Cotter, Will Mayo climbing.

Is Hully Gully in?

dcohn wrote:Is Hully Gully in?

See pics on pg 9 from about a month ago.

Climbed All Mixed Up on Thursday. Fat ice, took 12 and 16cm screws everywhere. No rock pro needed until the last anchor. The snow seemed solid, we weren't too concerned about the snowfields below the fourth pitch or at the top sliding, though we crossed on belay.

Ramona Falls is in but thin. Hully Gully is fat. Great year for Colorado Springs ice.

HardCor on the main column at Moffatt Tunnel.

Got out to Moffatt Tunnel this afternoon. Main flow on the North facing wall is coming in nicely but it was getting a bit damp towards the end of the day. The big column on the left is still a chandelier but it took Cor's screws. Good day!

Anyone been to wolfcreek recently? I'm planing on taking the wife down to the chain station or there abouts in a few days and any new beta would be appreciate. Thanks

Just spent the last 4 days ice climbing in SW Colorado. Overall routes are in excellent condition. Here is a brief break down of conditions on routes we climbed

Skylight Area: (1/2/14) Lots of ice on all routes with conditions being very favorable for sending. Climbed the Skylight and the 2nd pitch crux had good quality ice and plenty of hooks and steps. There is a V-thread in the lower 1/3 of the chimney pitch.

Stairway to Heaven: (1/3/14) Very fat conditions with many variations. The 3rd pitch was pretty wet in the middle. Many V-threads along the route. Very crowded on Friday when we climbed it.

No Thoroughfare Falls: (1/4/14). Very fat ice on this waterfall. Super cool location and very scenic. Fixed bolted anchors ~70ft up and another set above the pillar apron 70ft up from the previous anchors. Ideal to lead in 1 pitch that would be about 140ft. Chains at the top to rap off. No rock gear needed.

J. Spitzer leading the 3rd pitch of Stairway to Heaven.

Overview of Stairway to Heaven.

No Thoroughfare Falls.

Buck wrote:Anyone been to wolfcreek recently? I'm planing on taking the wife down to the chain station or there abouts in a few days and any new beta would be appreciate. Thanks

Ice on Wolf Creek pass is looking OK. Treasure is in and is very steep, and thin at the top. A couple of other climbs are touching down further up the pass but overall not the best ice conditions for Wolf Creek Pass in recent years

Buck wrote:Anyone been to wolfcreek recently? I'm planing on taking the wife down to the chain station or there abouts in a few days and any new beta would be appreciate. Thanks

Chainstation is in but not great. We ended up going to Big Meadows about 2 weeks ago. Things there were in good shape, short approach but snowshoes required.

Curious about the Fang... anyone been close to it?
Does it looks climbable?
Did it make it through the cold snap without... snapping?
Is the cable in place inside of it?
Looks good on the picture but I don't see signs of traffic. Wondering why.

Eric and Lucie wrote:Curious about the Fang... anyone been close to it? Does it looks climbable? Did it make it through the cold snap without... snapping? Is the cable in place inside of it? Looks good on the picture but I don't see signs of traffic. Wondering why.

Think it's only been lead twice. Some fracture lines. It moved on Will while climbing near the top. (gunshot sound). The way it formed with the cable, it seems to be leaning not in a stable way. Should fill in hopefully.

Was up there yesterday and it was creaking and cracking - has a bit of a lean. Big curtain to the left of RD broke off mid-afternoon and almost killed two guys hanging in the cave left of RD. Big blocks.....

Any chance of Alexander's being in better shape than a few weeks ago? I figure with all the warm temps followed by cold temps it may have filled in some of the thinner spots. Any info or beta on the current route conditions would be great. Thanks

Had the ice all to my lonesome yesterday.

Silver Cascade Selfie 1-6-14
It was 15 degrees at the parking lot by noon.

Paul Gagner wrote:Was up there yesterday and it was creaking and cracking - has a bit of a lean. Big curtain to the left of RD broke off mid-afternoon and almost killed two guys hanging in the cave left of RD. Big blocks.....

Yow!!! That's one helluva escape!!! Those blocks are fuckin' huge! One landed square on the "safe zone" cave belay area on the left side of the Desi.

Must've been a close scrape for sure.

Tom-o Sapien wrote:Had the ice all to my lonesome yesterday. It was 15 degrees at the parking lot by noon.

Looks like everyone was out skiing!

Eric and Lucie wrote:Curious about the Fang... anyone been close to it? Does it looks climbable? Did it make it through the cold snap without... snapping? Is the cable in place inside of it? Looks good on the picture but I don't see signs of traffic. Wondering why.

Will Mayo saw a youngish guy heading up it and called him down, I wasn't going to say anything but the guy had his GF and her pal holding the rope pretty much right under the thing so a triple fatality looked inevitable if (when) the thing collapsed. The guy got up to the start of the pillar poked around a bit complained that it was "all chandeliered", he finally climbed down after the GF expressed doubt, threw his tools in the snow then departed.

We climbed behind the Fang all day as it emitted various popping and booming noises (think Kate Winslet on the deck of the Titanic). It gave off one ominous boom as Will surmounted the upper bit after departing Stratofortress, I fled as far towards Amphibian as I dared given Will's need for a conscientious belay.

I suppose if your life is worth one pitch of cruel-looking ice then by all means go for it otherwise I would give this article a wide berth for the time being.

As I recall it did collapse on some bloke a few years back. One year I led it and it came down the following day sometime during the night...

I think the best way to save the Fang from collapsing is to chop out the water source and get it running on top of the ice, not sure if that black piece of PBC piping is still around. This method worked good to get the Lincoln pillars fat this year. Unless we get a wicked cold snap the water will just erode the Fang from the inside-out. Big props to the Herculean effort for getting the cable up there.