S. Mineral climbs are all in and the road is still drive-able with no special precautions or equipment. Final pitches are all super wet and chandeliered but good fun still to be had. Snowblind crux is spicier than last year - bring stubbies, balance, and courage.

Stairway is in but definitely harder than normal right now. You can drive to this climb still too. Will post any other observations tomorrow. Should be a worthwhile Thanksgiving destination.

I concur with Mountainmaiden. 2nd Gully is in fat shape - but no Grade 5 option at the top :^( 1st looks good too. Stairway had 2 parties on it today, but be aware it'll be steeper/harder than "normal" until it fattens up. Goldline is slush in a corner (i.e. not in). The crux pitch of Hoser's Highway looks awesome, but looks a bit scrabbly getting up to it. Highway to Hell (AKA Highway 666 or Highway 66) looks excellent and not much snow on the approach. P1 of Whorehouse Hoses looks "interesting" - the lower half is offset to the left of the upper half by quite a few feet (might be normal, this is the earliest I've looked at it). Upper pitches of WHH look reasonable. We drove quite a way up Cunningham Gulch looking for ice but didn't find anything up to the point we were willing to drive (about 2 miles). I'll post some pics when I get a few minutes. Word in the gear shop is that the Skylight area doesn't have anything right now (but I didn't drive up there). Ice Park is coming along nicely (but still thin smears and hanging 'sicles)

took a tour in to the longs cirque yesterday. Lots of wind up there.
not much ice. dreamweaver looked climbable but more snow then ice. marha's looked the same. Mt lady WA n.face was bare. Nothing on the lower E. face of longs. maybe alexanders? Didnt go that far though.

The N. face of Meeker seemed to have the most ice on it. Excluding dreamweaver and darkstar.

Lots of snow being dropped and moved by wind with not much ice to hack at.

meeker conditions. Submitted By: SAL on Nov 23, 2009

Went to Vail yesterday. The Designator and Fang are still a long ways off.

There are a couple of new bolted routes in the Amphitheatre area and it looks like another new bolted line going in right of Resurrection. Booth Creek is dry. In Officer's Gulch The Needle aka Candlestick continues to grow and grow. Lots of water to feed the formation of routes but it's just too warm.

On the Telluride Front, Ames Ice Hose is IN and has seen a couple of ascents. First pitch is thin and skinny but if you can sack up, it's climbable.

Climbed AMU on saturday. 2nd pitch is thin in spots, but protects with rock gear. Upper pitch was super fun, with lots of spin drift. Posted a conditions photo to the database. More photos here: zclipped.com/?p=107

I climbed Stariway yesterday and it was good. It was steeper than usual and some of the top outs were a bit spicy. We started early to beat the afternoon heat and were rewarded by being the first party on. The temps are still not really low so start early to avoid thin conditions with warm temps. I was at campbird yesterday afternoon and there is nothing.

On Mt. Evans, Ben Collett's The Road is still in. We were the 2nd party on it 11/22/9. The trail and the road aren't dry anymore. It's cold and no visible melting is going on, so it might not last too long. Also, it felt like 5 miles in and 7.5 miles out, so count on an aerobic day.

Across from The Road. Submitted By: Leo Paik on Nov 23, 2009

Right of The Road. Submitted By: Leo Paik on Nov 23, 2009

Climbed at Lincoln Falls today. 30 people were there by the time we were leaving at 1pm. There isn't a lot of ice there. Only the flow on the left which isn't very steep.

Tim

Lincoln Falls today Submitted By: Tim Banfield on Nov 28, 2009

Blind Assumption on Pikes is still in good shape. Pretty decent amount of ice. Gear is about half screws (13 and 16cm) and half rock gear. Bring a #3 Camalot for the P2 (the way we did it) crux. Approach is hard slab over sugar - make your own assessment. Significant added snow load would make it pretty serious in our estimation.

-edit- and thanks Jack, for the climb and the encouragement!

Made it out to Vail yesterday to mess around near the raquet club...

Conditions seem to be well on their way-> Check out a few pics Here.

Conditions in Vail are improving. There is a new bolted M8 route left of 8mm with a possible new line to the left of that. There is also a new bolted M7 line right of Ressurection.
Spiral Staircase is nice and steep with the Pencil and Eraser formed up behind. The Firehouse is formed and is nice and steep. The Fang and Rigid Designator is along way off.
Frigid Inseminator is climbable. Doctor Delicate is forming real nice. Booth Creek climbs are still dry.

In RMNP Jewel Lake climbs are in, Grace Falls, AMU, NE Face Notchtop, Black Lake climbs, Alexander's are all IN and getting climbed.

Hessie Chimney is out.

Did Blind Assumption today. Lots of ice. It's getting hooked out and broken up though.

Beginning of the second pitch Submitted By: Daniel Battin on Nov 29, 2009

Drove by Silver Plume today, and its forming. The creek down to I-70 is frozen, but it didn't seem developed enough to climb.

Photo of the Big Thompson, Upper Flow. . .

Big Thompson, Upper Flow, Conditions 11/29/09. Submitted By: Wes B. on Nov 30, 2009

Non- conditions, but Silvertip has some good deals on axes & boots, especially the BD venom and Vipers.

site.mawebcenters.com/silvertipmountaincenter/silvertipmount>>>

Headed to Lake City a couple days ago. The approach to Sherman had little snow and there was a boot track heading in.

The Lake City Ice Park Submitted By: Tim Banfield on Dec 2, 2009

Sherman Climb Submitted By: Tim Banfield on Dec 2, 2009

Crux pitch on The Sherman, running with water Submitted By: Tim Banfield on Dec 2, 2009

Some good RMNP ice updates on the CMS blog: coloradomountainschool.blogspot.com

New ice conditions for Colorado posted this morning.

There's a new mixed line that just went in at Vail.
As yet Brad Grohusky, one of the first ascentist's hasn't named it but it looks pretty nice. At 100 feet long, protection consists of 8 bolts and a couple of cams.......size unknown. Located in the Firehouse area and just right of the rightmost ice flow. Powerful roof moves take you up and over a roof (crux), protected by a cam. After the rest above the roof continue upwards on thin, technical face moves straight up to the top. Lower off.......

If you check for updated conditions search the areas not the individual climbs section. Thanks.

Clear Creek Canyon: dang, looks lean.
Beer Garden - not.
Coors - P1 looks fragile. Let it fill in.

P1 of Coors Submitted By: Leo Paik on Dec 4, 2009

P2. Submitted By: Leo Paik on Dec 4, 2009

P1 - seemed not as fat as photo appears. Submitted By: Leo Paik on Dec 4, 2009

Now that it's finally gotten cold, I've posted an updated for ice conditions in the park:
climbinglife.com/current-rmnp-conditions/current-rmnp-condit>>>

In RMNP, Jaws is in pretty fat as is the Crypt (climbed the former yesterday and the latter a week or so ago). The Squid may be good too since it shares a similar aspect but I haven't been up there to check. As has already been noted here, lots of ice in Glacier Gorge is in but Loch Vale area seems to be suffering another thin year as is AMU and the Chasm Cirque area. South facing ice routes seem to be doing fairly well up here in the Park.

Lots of good ice around Vail with Booth Creek stuff starting to come in (as of 12/7/09). I do my best to keep a current (weekly) update of ice/skiing conditions on our company website: www.totalclimbing.com, if you're interested. The Colorado Mountain School also puts photos of recent trips on their blog which may be helpful. Have fun out there!