Suggestions for handling mixed conditions

So the quick story.
This weekend my partner and I attempted Bear Creek Spire. After the recent storm the weather was clear but the conditions on the approach and the climb were quite bad. Not enough snow to cover the talus and just enough to make the hike from Dade to the first pitch a post hole nightmare.
But my real question is this. As this was the first time I attempted a route this late in the season and I have not done any mixed alpine. When we got to the base of the route the rock was covered with thin ice and heavy snow(at the base of the rock), and the temps were in the high 20's in the shade.

So for you mixed experts what gear would you recommend for these conditions. I probably could have just aided (with etriers) past most of the ice. I had crampons with me as well as a basic BD Ice axe.
A few friends have suggested to bring one mixed axe (like a petzl quark or similar) and one basic axe for self arrest. Along with crampons that I can front point well with.

In the end we decided to bail, as though we could have made it through the climb with a little struggle on the icy parts the decent worried me with the ice and snow covered exposed 3rd and 4th class.

What gear do you all suggest I pick up for this in the future. Medium budget and for someone new to mixed climbing but a solid high 10's trad climber.

thanks!

I've done only a few routes in the winter in the Sierra, including Winter Route on Lone Pine Peak, the NE Ridge of Bear Creek Spire, and the East Buttress of Whitney, but voila my experience: winter routes in the Sierra consist mostly of rock climbing with approaches conveniently covered in snow. If you ski or are otherwise comfortable on snow, this means fast approaches! It's awesome. The climbing itself will be normal rock climbing with snow in sometimes inconvenient places, and it will be colder than usual. One usually climbs in boots, but when you're not in the shade, it can be reasonable to climb in rock shoes. If it has snowed recently and the rock is still dusted, you will have to climb with crampons on. This makes the climbing feel significantly harder, since Sierra granite tends not to have the best features for dry-tooling, but it's not at all unreasonable. Depending on the amount of snow and ice and the rock features, you will either have to climb with two tools, one tool and one hand, or two hands. It just depends. The following picture is of NE ridge of BCS, and I assume from your post that you want to climb routes in conditions like these:

Or these:



If you've done the 5.7 first pitch on the headwall above Winter Route and Summer Ridge on the south face of LPP, that pitch is pretty easy 5.7 face climbing in the summer, but with crampons on it feels like 5.9 or 10. I needed to use tools often on that pitch, since the slabby, dusted rock had few useful holds for be-gloved hands. I did half of the East Buttress route in boots (Nepals) and half in rock shoes when it warmed up, but it was dry enough that we climbed with hands only. We kept boots and crampons on for the entire NE ridge of BCS, since it had snowed two feet the previous day, and we had two tools for the leader and one for the follower. This picture is on the 5.7 headwall pitch on LPP:



This is the gear I've found useful both in the Sierra in winter and at Tahquitz in the winter: two tools, umbilicals, a set of old crampons (you will do very little ice climbing in the Sierra, so expect your points to get blunted by rock), a few good pairs of gloves (OR Vert, Extravert, and MH Hydra are some of the best), usual rock gear (but throw in some hexes for bashing into icy cracks), a screw or two (depending on route), no pickets, and a few pitons (icy cracks will sometimes take nothing else--knifeblades are the most useful).

I think the general rule of thumb is that alpine conditions in the Sierra aren't as awesome as they are in the Alps or Canadian Rockies or other comparably-sized ranges, since we never get any damn ice, but they are still plenty fun. Have at it!

Thanks Hamik,
We were on the first pitch of North Arete on BCS when we bailed. So I think like you noted, I could have done the climbing in my guide boots (garmont vetta gtx, which were amazing in both snow and on rock, and great in the cracks) and the cold was harsh on the hands though as it was in the 20's. And sadly I wish I could have skied in but the snow was just not enough to cover the talus, so it was rock jumping and traversing, just rough.

What brand/type of axes do you climb with? same for crampons?
I am curious what works well on the rock, as like you said the ice is not thick enough so you'll be on rock mostly..

A really thin pair of leather gloves, whether 20 dollar work gloves from Ironclad or the expensive outdoor company equivalents (e.g., Marmot Amphibian) work well for rock climbing in the cold. Fit is pretty key, so order from a place which takes returns. I usually stuff the thin climbing gloves into my pocket after a lead or follow, then put on a warmer belay pair. Any pair of technical tools will work--the fashionable ones are the quarks, nomics, vipers, and cobras. I use quarks. I don't climb hard enough to want mono points, and there is never any hard ice, so I just use horizontal front point BD Sabretooths.

Climbing in the early season before there's much snow is rough, agreed! But it's a nice time of year--the sky's a weird color, it's nippy and fresh, and there's no one out there.

edehaven wrote:Thanks Hamik, We were on the first pitch of North Arete on BCS when we bailed. So I think like you noted, I could have done the climbing in my guide boots (garmont vetta gtx, which were amazing in both snow and on rock, and great in the cracks) and the cold was harsh on the hands though as it was in the 20's. And sadly I wish I could have skied in but the snow was just not enough to cover the talus, so it was rock jumping and traversing, just rough. What brand/type of axes do you climb with? same for crampons? I am curious what works well on the rock, as like you said the ice is not thick enough so you'll be on rock mostly..

You guys went in terrible conditions. Has nothing to do with "mixed climbing." To me this is worse than doing it in winter. Enough snow to cover up gaps between boulders, which leads to injuries. Might as well wait for winter and work harder for a true winter ascent! I carry a small Black Prophet tool with me when it is a sierra rock climb on my list. When it involves ice I bring cobras.
Hamick mostly nails it though...

Hamik Mukelyan wrote:I've done only a few routes in the winter in the Sierra...

Those were great posts Hamik! That's the kind of info and perspective (not only of the sierra, but of winter/mixed climbing in general) that I've found to be overlooked in most instructional books.