The 2014-2015 Colorado Ice Conditions Thread

Taylor-B. wrote: May the force be with you;) or you may have to use lethal force in order to ski Kieners. I made numerous attempts to ski Kieners the last two spring and got shut down on multiple occasions due to people on the route:( Austin, go do it! It's a beautiful and contrived ski descent!!!

That's awesome how much of it did you get to ski? Let's link up and get it done!

Anyone have an Indian Peaks condition report? Any ice up there? Skywalker? Decent skiing?

TheBirdman wrote:Anyone have an Indian Peaks condition report? Any ice up there? Skywalker? Decent skiing?

I'll be skinning up Audobon tomorrow - will report if it looks like there's anything noteworthy along the way.

Heading up to Vail mid week to ski and climb. Conditions look pretty warm during the day. I am looking to climb WI 4-5 with a partner and on another day set up some top-ropes for my kids.
Any recommendations? Looks really warm during the day, though cold at night. I am from the East coast and though I have been climbing since the 70's I have never climbed Vail.

Thanks for any advice.

Steve

Has anyone been up to Lincoln Falls recently? I'm likely to head up on Monday. I'm hoping that, despite how warm its been and will be, there's something worth getting on.

You must be new to Colorado :-) There's ice in Colorado Springs at 7k. It's extremely doubtful that ice at Lincoln around 12k and north facing has melted out. I would venture to his guess it's fat. It would not be a wasted drive to check it out.

The warm weather may of helped heal the beating it's taken since it came in around October. It will be fat til May probably. First in, last out sort of thing.

jmeizis wrote:You must be new to Colorado :-) There's ice in Colorado Springs at 7k. It's extremely doubtful that ice at Lincoln around 12k and north facing has melted out. I would venture to his guess it's fat. It would not be a wasted drive to check it out. The warm weather may of helped heal the beating it's taken since it came in around October. It will be fat til May probably. First in, last out sort of thing.

Born and raised here; but I am new to ice climbing ;-)

I mostly figured it would be in, but it never hurts to ask. It's not just a potential wasted drive: it's a potential wasted day off. Besides, I understand things are prone to sublimation if it's too cold (not enough melt). But I'm a newb, so I seek advice where it's offered.

Punkonpins. The Firehouse area should be good fun for the kids. It's a bit of an approach depending on how young they are. Stairway and the Rigid Designator would make a good WI4-5 afternoon. Have fun.

Went up to Lincoln Friday. The ice is there but in terrible shape. The main flow had water running under a thin shell of ice. Had to excavate to get to anything good to put in screws. Lots of slush/ice that made it difficult for a new leader. Only one of the pillars on the right has touched down and it looked in bad shape. Someone might lead it but we decided not to TR it based on the conditions and fear of totally destroying it. I am by no means an expert on ice conditions but it was the worst I have seen it in 3 years.

Thanks T-BOB I don't get in until Wed. Hopefully conditions won't change to much before then but the weather looks awfully warm.

ryan fifer wrote:Went up to Lincoln Friday. The ice is there but in terrible shape. The main flow had water running under a thin shell of ice. Had to excavate to get to anything good to put in screws. Lots of slush/ice that made it difficult for a new leader. Only one of the pillars on the right has touched down and it looked in bad shape. Someone might lead it but we decided not to TR it based on the conditions and fear of totally destroying it. I am by no means an expert on ice conditions but it was the worst I have seen it in 3 years.

Went to ski the dragon tail in RMNP yesterday, and this is the worst winter!!! I think even 4-5 years ago at least started out strong before it died. Everything is bare and it looks like late spring.

Start sending out prayers to Ullr.

Scott McMahon wrote: Went to ski the dragon tail in RMNP yesterday, and this is the worst winter!!! I think even 4-5 years ago at least started out strong before it died. Everything is bare and it looks like late spring. Start sending out prayers to Ullr.

Really? I don't remember it being all that different around this time last year! We still have a good 3 months of snow season left, so I'm not despairing yet...

Anyone been up Martha on Mt Lady Washington lately? I'm a bit worried with these temps and south facing...

Alexey Dynkin wrote: Really? I don't remember it being all that different around this time last year! We still have a good 3 months of snow season left, so I'm not despairing yet...

It's only snowing like once every 1-3 weeks. Last year we had consistent dumps all week. After thanksgiving we had 3 weeks no snow, then occasional dumps. The most snow we've had in 2 weeks was last wednesday and that was 6-12" depending on where you were with no snow / high temps all this week.

It's pretty much february, but man I hope you are right. We are going into our typical snowy months; however that hasn't been consistent since I moved out here almost a decade ago.

ULLR!

Scott McMahon wrote: It's only snowing like once every 1-3 weeks. Last year we had consistent dumps all week. After thanksgiving we had 3 weeks no snow, then occasional dumps. The most snow we've had in 2 weeks was last wednesday and that was 6-12" depending on where you were with no snow / high temps all this week. It's pretty much february, but man I hope you are right. We are going into our typical snowy months; however that hasn't been consistent since I moved out here almost a decade ago. ULLR!

Actually, according to Snotel most areas in the Front Range and the northern and central mountains are right around average for this time of year as of a couple days ago: Snowtel map

Of course, this is only an estimate, but I actually feel like it's pretty accurate. I was on Quandary a couple weeks ago, and I feel like there was at least as much, or possibly even a little more snow on the upper mountain at that time than around the same time last year. It's all highly variable though, so maybe RMNP just got the short end of the stick somehow?

Alexey Dynkin wrote: Actually, according to Snotel most areas in the Front Range and the northern and central mountains are right around average for this time of year as of a couple days ago: Snowtel map Of course, this is only an estimate, but I actually feel like it's pretty accurate. I was on Quandary a couple weeks ago, and I feel like there was at least as much, or possibly even a little more snow on the upper mountain at that time than around the same time last year. It's all highly variable though, so maybe RMNP just got the short end of the stick somehow?

Maybe it's the constant winds. Windy Mountain Park. The dream chutes are a mine field of logs and rocks. I know the middle mountains and passes have done "ok".

Dec, jan, February, are the driest months of the year here. Jan particularly. Last season was the anomaly, not this season. Things have been pretty typical all year this year, to include this summer etc. Maybe it's been a bit warmer here and there, but the general trends are pretty average.

Anyone have recent info for No Thoroughfare Falls? Thanks!

ryan fifer wrote:Went up to Lincoln Friday. The ice is there but in terrible shape. The main flow had water running under a thin shell of ice. Had to excavate to get to anything good to put in screws. Lots of slush/ice that made it difficult for a new leader. Only one of the pillars on the right has touched down and it looked in bad shape. Someone might lead it but we decided not to TR it based on the conditions and fear of totally destroying it. I am by no means an expert on ice conditions but it was the worst I have seen it in 3 years.

Thanks, Ryan. I had a lovely day in Eldo :-)

Jeff Shafer wrote:Anyone have recent info for No Thoroughfare Falls? Thanks!

I heard from a friend, who also shared a picture, who hiked to it on Sunday. It was there (in?) but super soft. Looked like it had been climbed but not recently. It was really warm and the trail in was completely clear of the snow until the very end.