Hey guys, fairly new to the area and I was wondering what the PNW had to offer for ice? I am near the CDA/Spokane so I was hopping there was something closer than Hyalite?
If you are into ice climbing then just make the drive to Banff or Bozeman. Both are 6-7 hrs depending on road conditions. But depending on the year there are a few closer spots.
1) Banks Lake - most reliable close ice to Spokane (although reliable may not mean anything this winter if the weather is warm like last winter) 2) Leavenworth/Cascades - hit or miss, needs a good cold snap for the classics around Leavenworth, otherwise plenty of Alpine ice in the cascades although access can be challenging. 3) Copper Falls - 1 waterfall near the Canadian border north of Bonners Ferry, ID. 4) Bull River Canyon - up around Cranbrook. Plenty of short steep lines for mixed and ice. 5) Cabinet Mountains - Lots of options from road cuts to waterfalls. Not much beta on what's out there. Go exploring, find something small or huge. Check out this link to Alpinist for a sample of what was done last winter. alpinist.com/doc/web15w/new… 6) If it gets really cold locally lots of things freeze up. There are a variety of waterfalls from Spokane going north all the way to the Canadian border. I am sure they would freeze given cold enough temps.
Good luck! In the mean time get out dry tooling to train for the a longer trip to Canada or Hyalite.
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