2009/2010 Colorado Ice Conditions

The ice conditions have been posted on previous threads and on other websites.

Some people just can't be bothered to look very hard. There is more than the usual amount of ice in RMNP and there is also ice around Ophir, Lake City, there IS ice in the I-70 corridor and if you look around Breckenridge you'll find..........ICE!!

How much more of a REAL discussion do people need? Go out there and look around!!

In Cody, well, there's ICE!
Down on Pike's Peak?.......LOTS of ice!
In South Mineral Creek?........There's ICE! In Glenwood Canyon?.......... NO ICE!
In Redstone? NO ICE! ........... but there is plenty of M-climbing in Vail.
Should be enough climbing there to tire out the most enthusiastic climber.

BUT, writing is boring. I have to get up early in the morning to go into RMNP and climb ICE!

jack roberts wrote: ice around Ophir

Love to hear it, is anything in Ames in.

Yea, Pikes Peak has ice. Good luck finding a time when the highway is open. Might need to skip the road and bring you bivy gear if you want to get these done in time.

OK, everyone. First: We all have to takes turns walking around RMNP looking for ice through strong binoculars.......I can't be the only one. I'm too old and bitter!!!

Ames Ice Hose. My friends down there tell me that it is very close to forming. Probably just a week away. Ingraham Falls seems to be the climb with the best chance of forming enough to be climbed anytime soon. Sometimes those guys at Jagged Edge sports know the current condition. Bridalvail Falls generally comes in before Christmas and fills in enough to not be too fragile until after that. The Bone has not formed and neither has Coronet. There is ice that is getting climbed in Bear Creek but as we know, all that is pretty short.

Mount Lincoln has the usual amount of ice. Someimtes there is ice on the other side of Quandry, by Blue Lakes. There is a four pitch moderate route over there but I don't think it has come into shape yet.

Now, Officer's Gulch. Up by the Needle there is a one pitch section of ice. The Needle (Pencil, Candlestick etc) will probably be solid enough to climb this weekend. There are other potential routes over there also but you have to pull off the highway and scope them out to be sure. Right now is a good time to do that because there isn't much snow to obscure the view. Avi danger is also low.

LEADVILLE: The Chalk Cliffs may be in. Call the Outing Center or Outdoor Rec department at Colorado Mountain College and ask. They use that cliff for practise.

Now, the biggie is the Sword of Damocles over by Mt. Anteres IN? Don't know but there is a bed and breakfast over there that allows for a clear view of the climb. They have changed hands since my last guide and have renamed I'll try and find the phone number.

WOLF CREEK: nothing that I have heard of. Treasure Falls should be in very soon.

Remember there is another ice park besides Ouray, and that one is in Lake City. George's Gorge has 50 routes and is fully operable and free. Check lakecityice.com for more info. Also remember there is splitterchoss.com for info around Redstone and Carbondale.

RMNP has alot of ice right now. Alexander's, Dreamweaver, The Eighth, All-Mixed-Up, Black Lake area, Notch-top have all formed. Now the tricky thing is that what remains are routes which come and go like the wind. Some of these routes just require that people go in and LOOK. The rock around Hallett's is unusual in that there are many features that are horizontal and as such hold snow longer than say, the rock over by Long's Peak. So what that means, funlovers is that you may have to actually go right up to the route and begin climbing to actually determine whether or not a route is climbable. You can't just tell by scooping from the trail. You may be surprised at what is actually climbable.

Don't forget Craig Peak ovevr on the western side of RMNP, over by Grand Lake. Consistently every year ice forms over there.

Mostly figure that when we get a couple of big dumps, spaced about 3 to 5 days apart with warm daytime temps and then night time temps around 17 degrees there will be ice in these places:

A) Long's Peak area
B) Glacier Gorge
C) Emerald Lake/Dream Lake

But I digress.........it's time to go climb this slippery stuff.

Good to go. Snow seemed a bit funky to my pacific northwesterner eyes.

hoosier pass/lincoln falls is in (just the bowling alley is in fat. Curtain formation to climbers right of bowling alley is mixed)

Went down to Lake City today. Sherman was not in. Some stuff starting to form up in Henson creek. Still searching for good ice between elk seasons.

Pictures of + words on Notchtop Conditions from Saturday
zclipped.com/?p=78

Jason,

Great stuff. One of a kind adventure. Brings back fond memories of the route and that unique area of RMNP.

Climbed lower Ingram Falls in Telluride a couple of days ago. Pretty sun rotted. Ames is close, but it has been 50+ degrees and is supposed to stay that way for the next 4 or so days. More water for the ice if it stays cold. Here is a pic of upper Ingram.

Jon

Ingram Falls 11/1/09

I had a great time yesterday on this:
mountainproject.com/v/color…

It seemed to be sublimating a little towards the top, but should still be good next weekend.

Went up Total Abandon in Pikes Peak yesterday with some great weather. 1st pitch was a little thin with hollow ice. 2nd pitch had just enough ice and was well protected with stubbies. Last pitch was the requisite snow slog. Get up there while it lasts. Photos courtesy of Pete.

1st pitch of Total Abandon
looking down on the first pitch of Total Abandon
Top of Total Abandon courtesy of Pete

I drove the I-70 corridor today.

Glenwood Canyon:

Glenwood Falls, Wet rock, Hidden Falls, Wet rock.

Vail:

Pumphouse, thin, you can see the rock under the ice.

Designator, nothing, Fang, nothing, Spiral, maybe climable......

Some ice in Officers Gulch,

All viewed from I-70.....

Hot Doggie and New Beginnings(?) on 11/11/09

Hot Doggie is close to touching, Grace Falls is in and looks steep, New Beginnings(?) looks good as does Guides Wall. Notchtop is still in but requires some care on P1 to preserve the ice; the snow above, below, and on the route merits careful evaluation.

Hey Jack, looks like the Pike Road is open again! Blind Assumption???

Thanks all for the good updates.
Jack, I've been watching the Sword like a hawk and there isn't a lick of ice on it. I was certain that it would start forming after the Halloween storm, bunch of snow, warm days, cold nights, etc.
Nothin doin.
We went up to climb the North Star route on Hoosier last week. The upper pitch had some ice on it, but the first pitch was a wet spot. Maybe something has formed up there.

For those who are interested.........

Just arrived in Boulder from an enjoyable afternoon climbing at Mt. Lincoln.........10/13/09

Current conditions are not good..........

At Lincoln only the Scottish Gully or "Bowling Alley" is in shape. The Middle and Upper curtains are almost completely dry. This makes it great for drytooling 'cause usually there is ice all over the rock but bad otherwise...........There is a short WI4 over to the left but otherwise, nothing.

Nothing in Officer's Gulch but the Needle, which is fully formed but really wet. Silver Plume is just a long, wet slide..........

It's been too warm for much to form and conditions are worse today than one week ago.............

It is a similar story in Telluride. All the warm weather has set everything back. It is currently dumping snow, so we at least have some good skiing right now. Hopefully it will continue to cool down so everything can come in.
Jon

Went up Three Tiers on Officer's Gulch today. The ice on the two lower cruxes wasn't "fat" but it certainly wasn't skinny, the third was thin so I didn't go for it in interest of not knocking it down. The approach and walk off was slippery.
I'm off through Sunday if anyone wants to get out. It's puking snow right now, which could change conditions greatly, especially up high in O.G. with slide danger and all. There's a lot of wind slab/sun crust/melt freeze up there. Let me know though.

Three Tiers condition 11/13/09

For those interested in Wolf Creek ice conditions.

I just got back from two days of awesome skiing at WC but after a through tour of ice sites I didn't find even one completely formed route. Treasure Falls come the closest to being in shape and even that was just 35% formed. There is a lot of snow on the rock and I thought that maybe some of it would melt, freeze and creat some interesting mixed climbing but it never got cold enough at night so the snow just melted away. I didn't come back via Creede or Lake City but a friend of mine did a three pitch WI3 climb in Gothic that looks in fine condition. Let's hope there is more ice to climb around Thanksgiving time............

Jack

anyone seen the longs peak cirque this week after the new snow? Avi conditions any less?