Anyone have conditions on Vail? Trying to go this weekend. Thanks.

Alexander's Chimney still in classic mixed condition, climbed 4-12-12, see route page for details. Also, my partner dropped a camera near Chasm lake, and Notch guys who picked up my black water bottle, thx, please give me info for pickup. Steve

Climbed Martha today. Good conditions with plenty of ice and a few easy mixed moves where thin.

Climbed The Flying Dutchman today; disappointingly, next to no ice on the route -- almost all snow with an optional mixed section mostly on rock.

Anyone been up to Chalk Creek (Fremont Pass) lately? Just wondering if there is any ice left at all. Any Leadville folks been up there recently?

Those that have been up in the Longs cirque - how's the notch looking? Anyone know how much snow fell up there over the weekend?

Chalk Creek still has "ice" and is definitely climb-able. I wouldn't trust screws if leading.

Chalk Creek, 04.16.12. Submitted By: Dinzy on Apr 17, 2012

Here is a photo of Longs Peak from today. I just hiked up the trail and didn't climb, but it looks good. Not much snow really anywhere for April. Dreamweaver, Loft, Notch Couloir, Keiners, and Alexander's are probably all good. Let me know if you go.

Long's Peak, 04-17-12. Submitted By: Mike Walley on Apr 17, 2012

Thanks for the photo Mike, any chance the lake is still frozen?

Did the Notch on Saturday, it's in but still wintry snow. Plenty of snow to wait for it to firm up. The lake's frozen, Lambs Slide and Broadway are in good shape. Broadway and the Notch had sections of soft snow but nothing major, not like the deep death hoar that made BC skiing so scary this year.

I climbed Martha and Dreamweaver yesterday. Martha had nice ice. Dreamweaver is mostly snow. Also last weekend alexander's had little ice and the notch was really nice thanks to the above guy, who punched in steps for us.

Lincoln Falls is still very climbable. Starting to get a little slushy/rotten in places... an adze would have been nice for excavating screw placements.

Lincoln Falls, 5-5-2012. Submitted By: George Barnes on May 5, 2012

Lincoln Falls, 5-5-2012. Submitted By: George Barnes on May 5, 2012

Climbed 'Sheridan inspired' Alexander's/Eighth link up 5-4-12. Still enough ice to stick on lower pitches of Alexander's, crux chimney attention gathering without much ice. We finished on steep direct 'middle' 4th pitch to Broadway (comparable difficulty to left exit, perhaps more sustained), maybe M5+ all dry-tooling.

Continued up Eighth, still some ice on 1st pitch, snow pitches in great shape, P5/6 all dry-tooling along a dry slab (see route comments). Great adventure.

Chris finishes Steep 4th on Alexander's Submitted By: Captain America on May 9, 2012

Some friends and I climbed and skied the Notchtop Couloir and the Right Ptarmigan Finger today. Snow climbing and skiing conditions in the area were great. He had blue skies and were looking down on the tops of the clouds. New snow accumulation from this last storm was pretty minimal, maybe about 2-3 inches over the permanent snow. Most of the south facing rock was completely dry. It would have been a great day to have a sunny warm south facing alpine route all to yourself.

Judging by the surrounding terrain and what views we could get, the following routes are probably in decent-to-good shape:

Hallett Chimney
Quicksilver
Central Buttress on Taylor
Hourglass Couloir
Snow Bench on McHenrys
Y Couloir on Ypsilon

Mt. Evans has a lot of good alpine adventures to be had, and the road is open.

Mini Micro and Snorkmaiden's Surprise. Submitted By: Taylor-B. on May 28, 2012

Climbed this line on 6/1, just to the left of Snorkmaiden. The route had substantial ice on the entire 700ft route.

Mt. Evans. Submitted By: Taylor-B. on Jun 1, 2012

First Apron. Submitted By: Taylor-B. on Jun 1, 2012

We climbed Total Abandon on Pikes Peak on 6/2 and found good, but wet, ice for most of the route. I'll post photos under that route's description.

Total Abandon, 6/2/12. Submitted By: acouncell on Jun 8, 2012

Anyone been up Flying Dutchman lately?

How's the crux?

Anyone had a look at hallett chimney, mt taylor, or have any suggestions for a good mixed route in the park right now?

Heard a report yesterday saying that Hallet Chimney looks like disconnected snow sections and that it didn't really look "in." Apparently Dreamweaver is really good right now but melting fast and won't last but another week or maybe two at the most with this heat.

It seems the best mixed conditions are up high, from 13K and up. An overlooked area that has fun mixed climbing is the steeper chimneys to the right of the Cables Route/N. Face of Longs Peak. It's a haul in there, of course, but there are some steep, shaded chimneys and gullys that often hold ice this time of year. I don't think anything's too hard up there, from what I remember, but definitely a lot harder than Dreamweaver and harder than Martha's...more like Alexander's Chimney. But good rock and good climbing and off the beaten path. Might be worth a look...