BETA PHOTO: Is that tiny piece of ice on Chiefshead this route...
Description
The route climbs a thin, ephemeral, smear on the lower right portion of the NW Face of Chiefs Head. We climbed two moderately angled, poorly protected pitches to the gully system descending from McHenry's. Under thicker conditions it may be possible to join this with a smear formed above the left rising ledge that defines the start of Path of Elders (but still right of Birds of Fire). FA (?) conditions were full on Scottish, with wind driven snow and poorly consolidated rime. The line had apparently been noted earlier by the much-missed Mike Bearzi, but has not to our knowledge been climbed previously. (Note, however, that we both have real jobs, so will not be too disturbed to learn that we are mistaken.) The line was scoped while descending from the Barb via the N. Ridge of Spearhead in slippers under wintery conditions a few days earlier- a more difficult proposition than the smear itself.
By brent armstrong From: Closer to RR than the Strip Oct 12, 2002
He boys... hate to shit on your daisies, BUT....
My superhero friend and I (he lead), I believe climbed this around Sept 14ish of this year. Sounds very similiar, and we scoped the BOF and POE ice too, but passed it up as it was pretty early in the season.
We have a proverb up here, "If you scope it, Duncan did too...".
Glad you had a good time up there, and I hope the Scotch was as cold as the Scottish conditions.
Dougald, If it is the same line you are speaking of..Topher, Eli Helmuth and Simon Fryer climbed it. They called it the Headdress (aka chickens on ice).
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