Pway conditions

Anybody been out there lately, anything in boulder natural dry?

I haven't been since before the rain storm last week but a fair amount of the climbs should still be dry. If Boulder Natural isn't good then Round Pond usually has some stuff from getting plenty of sun. I know some climbs are no good, like hobbit hole, since the crack is entirely iced in.

Some advice is that although a climb may be dry, the top out will be snowy/icy so choose boulders that you can easily get to the topout without climbing the intended route and brush off all the snow. I do this every time I go out in the winter and the top out is usually dry after a few minutes of brushing the snow off.

I was out last Sunday (2/23/14) and most of the boulders were covered in snow and ice or wet with snow melt (round Pond, the Slabs were still snow bound and Overlooked was dripping wet... Never made it out to Boulder Natural...

The ice climbs on Lower Cliff might be climbable...

Thanks for the update guys

I hiked Pway today. Round Pond Rd is as good as in the Summer. The parking lot is plowed. All the boulders have snow and ice on top. Some of the faces are clear. The Whip is climbable but you can't top out. The Hobbit Hole crack is filled with ice. Lower Cliffs had some cool ice. At Upper Cliff The Roof is clear. I took a bunch of pictures...

The cracked boulder at Round Pond

The Whip

Atlas

Cream, from the side

Lower Slabs

Lower Slabs

Ice on Lower Cliffs, behind Overlooked

Boulder Natural

Boulder Natural

Hobbit Hole. The crack is filled with ice.

More pictures.

Ice on way to Upper Cliff

Another view of the ice

The Roof looks climbable. The snow build up at the bottom should make the start easier.

The Chimney, Obscene Phone Call, No Answer

The Start

Backside of Lakeside Crag, on the path back to Round Pond

Thanks for this visual update!

What about Blair? Anyone walked the loop recently?

I might head up Friday, will report back.

Bumpity. Josh, how was/is it? I'm guessing the sun the past couple of days has done some good.

I was in Blair yesterday and almost everything was soaked. The only dry climbable problems were Pimp Juice, F the Method, Extra Ion,Giving Up Skin for the New Year, Brett's Arete, Crack Arete, and the incredibly sandbagged Bake Sale. All of these were completely dry but the top out only have minimal room so if you want to stay dry then you only have a few inches to use. I broke off a lot of ice on Gran Torino, so it may be climbable now.

So today, Sunday, we went to blair woods. Everything on method was dry, hero block mostly dry, a lot of the stuff at warmup boulders, the scoop was seepng but climbable, general lee was mostly wet, trail boulders looked good, half of swirley was wet but Stand and deliver was pretty much perfect, and the welcome boulders were pretty wet.

Beautiful day out though.

I'll be heading up tomorrow if anyone wants to meet up, plus I'll re-update the conditions.

I went out last Tuesday, (3/11) and everything from round pond to boulder natural was soaking wet except for a few of the trail-side boulders. and Power and Grace in the zoo. Look forward to your update, Josh.

josh villeneuve wrote:I'll be heading up tomorrow if anyone wants to meet up, plus I'll re-update the conditions.

Sent you a PM about tomorrow Josh.

Brendan Blanchard wrote: Sent you a PM about tomorrow Josh.

PM Sent

I was in Blair yesterday and the Devils Den the day before. Good news is that more boulders are climbable each day but a lot still have snowy/icy topouts. Most of the popular den problems are try with enough room for topping out like Up in Smoke, Big Ocean, Throng, Individual Medley, and Numb Thumb. Scala is even climbable since the pool beneath it is still frozen.

Boulder Natural still needs a lot of thawing out. Ride the Lightning still can't be topped out and Hobbit Holes crack is still filled with ice but there are a bunch of easy-moderates that are climbable.

As for Blair, the majority of the loop is climbable now. Only things wet or frozen were the Welcome boulders and General Lee. Every climb on Hero Block was dry. Crack of Pain was completely dry and there is enough room to top out and sit down up there. Rio's crack looked dry but the topout was completely frozen over still.

Almost everything on the loop was dry...until about 3pm when most stuff started seeping

As of yesterday (before it rained/snowed/whatever) there was still about a foot of snow on the ground, but most boulders I came across in Blair were climbable, with the exception of north facing, low angle parts. Top outs will vary from climb to climb, but most will probably be doable if you're willing to deal with a little snow or ice.

bump. anybody have another update?

andyelliott wrote:bump. anybody have another update?

No idea, I might head up this weekend but the weather outlook does not look good at all. Its suppose to rain both Fri and Sat