2015-16 Colorado Ice Conditions

Don't tell anyone else, but.....it is kinda "in" now with some ice. We climbed Hessie Chimney on 12/29/15 and there was ice on the first pitch that made it a nice mixed climb.
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Nice work Mike! That looks about double the ice to when Antin and I climbed it about a month ago!

Unfortunately not too much ice in the Gunnison/Black Canyon right now. For those of you complaining about crowds in Silverton/Ouray the Lake City backcountry has a huge assortment of ice with zero crowds. Many of these routes are still waiting for their first ascent of the season. Gunnison/ Lake City Ice Conditions Black Canyon -Curecanti Monster- very thin as of 2 weeks ago -Blue Mesa Smear- Looks Fat -Blue Balls- Looks thinner than usual -Chipeta Falls- Fat -The Real Blue Creek- zero ice on the headwall -Gandalfs Beard- likely not formed -Shadowfax- unknown Taylor Canyon/Spring Creek/Cement Creek -Disorderly Conduct- first pitch thin and rotting, no ice on second pitch -Corpse- No ice -Loch Ness- No ice -Cement Creek Climb- Small pillar in first pitch Cimarron -The Train Route- Couple of dry tool moves to gain ice, some rotten sections, but mostly solid -Highway 50 Pilar- Dry Lake City -Ice Park- Fat ice on right side, steeper middle climbs a bit thin but still climbable -Henson Creek Road- Lots of short roadside routes climbable but mostly pretty thin -Sunshine Falls area - most routes look climbable -The Sherman Climb- lots of ice but snow covered on first two pitches, 3rd pitch pillar looks in but small -Cotton Picker/Cotton Mouth- Fat blue conditions, some sections snow covered -Cotton Balls- Bottom portion in fat conditions -Open Casket/Closed Casket- Both look fat, approach pitch is also in good shape -Cuba Libre- Delicate pilar doesn't quite touch down -Havana Knights- All 3 pitches fat -Senor Presidente- Both steep pitches in great condition, final pitch thin and rotten Photos can be found in the Colorado Ice Conditions Facebook Group.

Scott Krankkala wrote:Unfortunately not too much ice in the Gunnison/Black Canyon right now. For those of you complaining about crowds in Silverton/Ouray .

Those that generally complain about crowding in Ouray, don't know where to look for ice and are not very adventurous. They want to climb the same old routes with easy access or already have a boot pack established or they saw the climb posted on MP.

The truth is damn near every drainage in Ouray has ice in it right now, all you need is a pair of snow shoes, walk further than a 1/2 mile, and a willingness to get off the beaten path and you can find plenty of solitude and lots of ice to climb without running into another party.

We put up a nice boot pack up to AMU yesterday. Enjoy

Hw is AMU looking. From an earlier post it sounds like the first pitches had sublimated a bit.

Mike McNeil wrote:Hw is AMU looking. From an earlier post it sounds like the first pitches had sublimated a bit.

The first pitch is thin, but takes stubbies in a couple spots. The second pitch ice doesn't connect to the top of the slab on the first pitch. So mixed climbing is necessary. The rest looked good, but I alas didn't climb it, fell through some snow into a pool of slushy water on a ledge that went over my gaiters and into my boots (my guess is the snow insulated it from freezing), so we reluctantly bailed. In hindsight I'm glad we did, ended up with minor frostbite on three toes. Two should make full recovery, the doc says one is going to have permanent nerve damage at the very tip. Objectively, I was lucky to not have more damage, but it sucks that we had to bail on a day with such good overall weather conditions.

If only that damn water would to find a better use of it's time by filling in the second pitch rather than drowning my feet....

Right.

I'm buying gaiters. The big ones.

Shit.

Glad you made it out with your toes. Hope you recover from the trauma to climb another day.

"Two should make full recovery, the doc says one is going to have permanent nerve damage at the very tip."

Just the tip?

phil wortmann wrote: "Two should make full recovery, the doc says one is going to have permanent nerve damage at the very tip." Just the tip?

When the Doc told me that I said "that's what she said".

He didn't find it funny

FWIW, as of Sunday the 10th, most of the Clear Creek stuff was looking good. All the Coors Lite pitches are in and fat - though right side of the P1 is quite wet. Plastic, hero ice. Pretty pegged out, but what do you expect...

This is from loch vale, conditions looking north. Are these climbs identified correctly?
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Anyone know how Lincoln falls is looking? Hoping to get out there this weekend.

mtmanchris83 wrote:Anyone know how Lincoln falls is looking? Hoping to get out there this weekend.

Lincoln Falls is always "in" to one extent or another from mid october to late march every year

The Blueprint Part Dank wrote: fell through some snow into a pool of slushy water on a ledge that went over my gaiters and into my boots (my guess is the snow insulated it from freezing), so we reluctantly bailed. In hindsight I'm glad we did, ended up with minor frostbite on three toes.

The EXACT same thing happened to me on our way to Black Lake in Early December. I ended up with superficial frostbite all over my right foot and insane blisters, one of them was two inches wide! It's nice to be able to walk again.

Nick Sweeney wrote: The EXACT same thing happened to me on our way to Black Lake in Early December. I ended up with superficial frostbite all over my right foot and insane blisters, one of them was two inches wide! It's nice to be able to walk again.

Damn straight dude, it's a hell of a bummer. At least ya'll got to finish your route right?

Climbed the main Redstone slabs yesterday solid wi5 first pitch , 2nd pitch wi5 conditions,3 pitch wi4.

The Blueprint Part Dank wrote: Damn straight dude, it's a hell of a bummer. At least ya'll got to finish your route right?

Unfortunately not. We flew up most of the approach but we found isothermic, terrible snow on the last mile. The snow conditions were no problem for my 150lb partner who experienced minimal postholing, but I'm probably hitting 225lbs with all my gear and was doing more "swimming" than walking. I was practically at Black Lake by the time I broke through into a hidden stream, which forced us to turn back.

At one point on our return to the trailhead, my partner had to whack my boots with the hammer of an ice tool to break off the ice that encased them completely... I had to use a wheelchair at the airport the next day.

keep up the stoke! still plenty of unknown cool climbs out there!

Looks like the left side pillar/curtain fell down at Moffat.