The place is FULL of killer lines. Is this an extra huge year or something? LONG lines, skinny lines, thin lines, fat lines. ice all over the place. most unexpected to see that.

Is there an ice guidebook for the area that features these climbs? Any pics you can post?

no guidebook, just rumors of good ice in the back of the canyons. usually its a pretty short window for the ice to be good, but i've noticed that the lines have been up and around for a while now- although i would bet that the window is closing fast, maybe a week or so left- if that.

there is a guy at desert rock sports who is into ice climbing(he was showing me pics). Im sure he;d be happy to help

IDK guys...?

I haven't donned crampons in a couple of decades.
I know standards have soared, screws gotten better etc.

But still I am not sure that most of the smears have enough time to mature to a state that has them very well bonded to the rock. I took the above picture Friday 02/01/08.
It looks like a viable climb for a super hot ice climber or some psycho 'wing nut' that climbs sans pro/solo, however the bottom half fell down around noon or so.

Maybe as John said, back in the depths of the canyons you might find some good lines that are more stable due to being in a chute/ gully. However all the ones I have seen form on the walls and slabs are way to unbonded to be safe and that is regardless of the thickness and maturity of the ice. For the most part it would be a very 'Scottish' outing of harem scarem verglas with ultra sketchy or no pro.

But hey ... post pic's, it would be exciting to see.

Has anyone ever recorded an ice ascent in Red Rocks before ?
(John, Larry ...?)

i've only heard rumors of really good lines up in the limestone in the back of Oak Creek- and those are short lived in a wet/cold year. This year looked the best i've seen since the first year i started climbing when i saw lines that definitely were big enough to go up in the back of the south fork.

of course, this is all speculation, since i havent been to the base of any of them, just checking them from the distance.

i've never seen anything on sandstone that would be thick enough to even entertain.

with temps broaching 60 in the valley this weekend, i'd be willing to bet any chance of ice is gone for this year in RR- maybe up at charleston for a few more weeks...maybe.

Truly an oasis...


Tenesmus, are you Ben's friend?

Be great to hook up sometime.