On Wednesday (Jan 25) Peter and co. went to Marble Canyon and climbed all three pitches of Icy BC. A tonne more ice here then 2 weeks ago.

Highway 99 South – Duffey Lake Road

(Peter and co.) got out Tuesday (Jan 24) on the Duffey and put the garbage bags on to go climb Deep Throat WI4+ (Ed. Note: requires calf-deep creek crossing on approach; hence the bags). First two pitches were in great shape, but the third has a giant hole – due to a tree that has fallen down the gully and changed the water flow.

(Ray and co.) were on the Rambles just north of Duffey lakes on Saturday Jan 21. Ice is formed thinner than normal, and is climbed more at a WI3 level right now, with the ‘crux’ being ½ way up the main pillar. The middle line is in and the bottom tier gives you a few line options for the first 5m or so. Verglass forming on the far left, and would be a sporty mixed climb far right. You had to pick your line in order to get screw placements. 16CM screws were used on this climb. Tools hit rock under the ice once or twice.

Upper tier of the first pitch is WI3 and thin but a few very small mushrooms formed making it good for foot placement, but is sporty.

The climbers-left tree that is normally used as a belay/rap station needs new slings. I avoided that tree and created a new belay/rap station with brand new webbing on the tree on climbers-right. Next group please pull the old loops off the left tree – there’s a lot there since I forgot my knife at the car.

Highway 99 South – Pemberton

(DLC and company) went to The Plum yesterday (Jan 25). It’s in great shape, but prepare to trudge through thigh deep snow between tiers. First pitch was a little slurpee-like, but second was perfect. The third tier was covered in 6 inches of snow. Ran out of time for the top tier.

The Plum's top step

Leading the Plum

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Paul Backhouse, Eric Carter and I (Nick Elson) climbed White Blotter today (Jan 24). It’s a bit of a wallow up to the base although there’s still not quite enough snow to smooth out the talus. The first pitch lived up to its reputation as a sandbag; the climbing was steep and insubstantial, and it was impossible to avoid being showered by icy water for the duration of the pitch (a fine lead by Paul). The second pitch was easier. We climbed the right-hand edge where the ice was a bit thin but at least we weren’t getting soaked. It’s a fantastic route, although it would certainly benefit from some prolonged cold weather.

Photos below. The first one (freestanding pillar) is pitch 1, and the second is pitch 2.

Amazing shot! Paul leading White Blotter

Leading White Blotter's second pitch

Goldpan ice area is starting to come in… Still better to wait for a couple weeks. We decided to top rope the 20m section of After the Gold Rush – after not feeling very confident in the quality of ice.

Francis St. Pierre and I (Jeremy) went up to The Plum yesterday.  Sadly, we got lost on the approach (again…) so we only got to the bottom of the second pitch, but it and the first were in fine form.  Snow on the approach was awful – just deep enough to hide the holes and roots.

Of note to whomever put/uses the fixed line off the first belay tree (left side of P.1) – we discovered that one of the two rap slings (some blue webbing) on that same tree had been cut (rough edges, so by a falling rock?) and yet the sling had frozen pretty securely into the ice.  It took some excavation to eventually determine that there was, in fact, no knot.  One could have yarded pretty hard on it and not pulled it free of the ice, at least not right away.  I wouldn’t have wanted to be jugging that fixed line if the same rock had hit it…  We almost cut it away but decided it wasn’t our role to pass judgement on the setup that someone else must have put up there for a reason.  In hindsight, I should have cut it.

White Blotter looked pretty well formed, but can’t say for sure.  It looks like there are twin pillars touching down right next to each other.  If they’re substantial enough, it would probably make for some wicked stemming and ease the grade a bit.  Maybe a good time for anyone looking for the tick.

Politically Correct Valentine looked thin at the bottom.

Some great shots (January 20) on Dave’s Flicker stream of the Seton Lake ice climbs. If you’ve got a boat and a hardy constitution, they look to be in for the taking.

From left to right in the first hyperlinked photo below:
Comedy of Errors – far left gully
Deliverance – left leaning ramp with curtain at the top
Squeal Like a Pig – start on the same ramp as Deliverance, but then straight up the wall of seeps
Fishin’ Musician – the big, obvious line. Stunning.

All the ice formations in this photo to the right of Fishin’ Musician are unclimbed and un-named, as is the incomplete upper curtain left of the top of Squeal Like a Pig.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbsteers/6734248441/in/set-72057594059028164/lightbox/

Another shot of the same wall from the cockpit, Fishin’ Musician just in front of the cabin pillar, and one of the unclimbed formations out the side window:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbsteers/6734216541/in/set-72057594059028164/lightbox/

The third photo shows the big climbs further west down the lake.
Winter Water Sports climbs the left strand of the huge lefthand formation above the instrument binnacle.
Piss and Vinegar follows the right strand.
Icecapades takes the next formation to the right.
The discontinuous smears and runnels further right are unclimbed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbsteers/6734215279/in/set-72057594059028164/lightbox/

Brent and I (Mike) climbed Hells Lake Falls. It’s the one across the lake from the weigh scales on HWY7.
It was interesting climbing with ice over snow and 2″thick ice over moss at the top. Well worth the short hike in.
The Family Man is also in if anyone wants an easy multi pitch.
It was -10 at 5 this evening so go get them!

Climbed A Scottish Tale on Thursday.  Great day up there with spectacular views. Bring your stubbies, the ice is quite thin in sections.
Hadrian’s might be climbable currently, but would certainly be challenging.  Tough to find in the dark, so best to head up while our track is still visible (although weather is forecasted to crap out).  If the track is covered, look for pink tape (its faint), there are two pieces, along with a piece of orange marking the “trail” up from the roadbed.  When Mr. Serl says start early, he means it.

Highway 1 – Harrison Lake

Rockwell Drive Ice: its running in some sections underneath, but if you choose the right line, it can be fun! Suggest TR from tree above, or low level bouldering traverse, left to right. Its a ‘bumper belay’, five minutes from home, and a good ‘after work session’ when you only have an hour of daylight left at the end of your day!

A pic from today’s ice session. It’s probably melting when the cold snap leaves the Valley… but if it holds on, this ice is fun to play around on.

Harrison Ice

Another highway drive from Squamish to Cayoosh summit revealed a slight improving trend for vertically oriented ice features, and definite worsening trend in horizontal ice features, and a vastly improved skiing situation. Despite the current Arctic conditions the only route that looked possibly climbable was Psycho Pillar at Suicide Bluffs.
Blue Moon on Rye is trying hard. but has a long way to go (maybe by the weekend).
A Scottish Tale may be a good gamble but I haven’t laid eyes on it in a week, so take that estimation as an optimistic guess only.

Richard and I climbed the first 80m or so of South of Soo near Whistler last Friday (Jan. 13) and the conditions were quite good.  Plastic ice, a bit thin in places but very protectable.  The whole climb was maybe WI2+ with some easy mixed climbing higher up that we didn’t have time to continue up.  Here’s a couple of pics:

South of Soo's chasm

Climbing South of Soo

Cold (-24 Celsius/-11 Fahrenheit)
Deeping wall: Forming well. When we arrived there was a large group of Americans TR’ing it. Saw up to three ropes on it at a time, plus one more rope climbing the smear way right.
IcyBC: On the US holiday monday, Patrick and Lee climbed at Marble Canyon. Large hole/cave in the middle down low on Pitch 1, but many parties climbed right of it just fine. We climbed the first two pitches. The first pitch had less ice than previous years, but went easier than I have experienced it before… maybe WI4+. Climbed the second pitch which had a huge cone around a massive hole with water spraying everywhere; weird climbing. Tried the 3rd pitch, but backed-off due to really weird ice that looked too tricky to protect; lots of mushrooms and weird spray ice that made pro tricky. Better climbers than us could certainly get up it. We then TR’d the Deeping Wall which is in great condition running it’s typical WI5. Overall, conditions were good and we had a great day out. With the cold snap, lots of Lillooet ice should be in good condition.

Highway 99 South – Duffey Lake Road:

Rambles Right: IN but thin.  Saw several people get their first ever leads on it though.
Rambles Center (only climbed/saw the first pitch): IN, but thinner than I’ve ever seen it.
Carl’s Berg: Continuous Ice, looks pretty thin though… but then, I always think that about Carl’s Berg.
Synchronicity: Still missing upper pitch

Highway 1 – Lytton

Didn’t have the book, and I only observed as I was driving from Cache Creek to Hope on Jan 16. Only climb I recognized off the top of my head was Jackass.
Jackass: Lots and lots of ice, but also lots and lots of water.
In general though, there were lots of roadside smears – more than I’ve seen in years past.  The creeks off the side of the road all looked frozen pretty hard.  Clear, dry, and cold (-8C). Very little snow even up high. Impressive alpine line forming across the Fraser River just north of Lytton (not all the way continuous).

I hate to be the bearer of lousy news but in the interest of no one wasting any time here’s the dope on the Sea to Sky corridor, as of Jan 13:

Viewed from the road, there appears to be no climbable ice from Squamish up to Pemberton. Only very thin and anemic dribbles of ice on all the usual suspects. Skiing sucks as well. The ice skating looks excellent however.

Highway 3 – Manning Park

Simon and I (Henrik) climbed Nepopekum Falls on Jan 15. Climb was in overall good shape with some sections of rotten ice on the top few inches. The trail in is also straight forward, as per Peter’s post.

On lead on Nepopekum Falls