The 2011-12 Colorado Ice Conditions Thread

Was at Lincoln yesterday. I'd never been before to compare. The main flow was in good. That WI5 pillar was really beat out, but worse it has a 2' diameter hollow section for the last 20'. It seemed like a lot of the climbs hadn't formed up.

One of our guides was out in Loch Vale last Friday. Mo' Flo Than Go is still forming up with wet ice on both lower and upper tiers. Crystal Meth is leadable but would require ~15' of decently hard climbing (a mixed move or two) to get reliable protection. Lochluster and area was fairly good but one of the bolts at the anchor is pretty rotten-looking. The brown pillar/stalagtite right of Lochluster (Rock & Ice, or Rock, Ice & Wood) is still wet, dripping and forming.

All trails seemed good without flotation. Lots of windslab formed on the hill below and the slope above Mo' Flo Than Go; these slopes have avalanched in the past. They didn't feel too touchy but the guide did notice localized cracking in 12" deep pillows.

Went up to AMU area today and there is still plenty of ice BUT the ice is beginning to thin-out.
Several pillars are sorta shaky, rock gear might be nice.............Ice further to the right is still climbable but also getting worse. On the positive side you can now easily rap directly down the route to your packs using two 60m ropes and we kicked in a new trail so you shouldn't have to punch steps...........Avi danger from above seemed very low.

Any updates on conditions in the Longs Peak Cirque?

View from the house last week and it looks mostly dry up there at the moment except for the Loft and some patches on the NF. Lots of wind and little snow have kept avi danger lower and the ice is mostly sublimating up high. Martha will be in the best shape in the cirque plus the Columbine Falls. The Loft is way too far to walk for such a short ice climb and theose unsupported slopes would have the highest avi danger in the cirque. Everything else is less than it was a month ago. Could be a one of the best weeks for winter ascents of the Diamond.

Any suggestions for routes with good conditions in RMNP right now? Looking for a longer alpine route rather than single pitch cragging.

Eli...I know the blowdown in glacier gorge has seriously curtailed access to black lake. Are you aware of an easier path such as traversing the flank of Longs rather than hitting the carnage area head on? Thanks...

West side of wolf creek pass is all blue ice. Treasure is great. High tea is dark blue too. Chain station is über sun baked.

Has anyone seen notch top and/or how much snow is on the NE face?

How about Redstone? Especially The Drool and Redstone Pillar? Anyone been there recently?

this thread is sooooo last year. isn't about time we all moved on?

seriously, i was thinking about creating a new post for 2012, starting with a summary of what's in/not based on the last month or two's worth of posts. i'd include a link to this thread for people who want to see pics.

but, before i take the time to do that, i was wondering if people would find that useful or if they'd just continue coming back to this thread. please chime in.

kdavis105 wrote:Anyone seen CCC lately?

I drove by it yesterday, 1/4/12, and there is ice on it, not much....give it a few more weeks and hopefully if we get more snow it could develop nicely. Todays 60+ degree temps won't help.

Any word on Silverplume at this point?

There is almost a whole page of questions....wow no comment... Here are some pictures from what I've seen.

Bird Brain is "in"

Talisman is out last time I checked (Blob traverse didn't even look to be formed)

Silverplume looked to be semi out from the highway(chunks of it seem to have came off)...to warm

Notchtop is in but avy danger....

Does anyone know the conditions on Jaws right now?

Crag Dweller wrote:i was thinking about creating a new post for 2012, starting with a summary of what's in/not based on the last month or two's worth of posts. i'd include a link to this thread for people who want to see pics. but, before i take the time to do that, i was wondering if people would find that useful or if they'd just continue coming back to this thread. please chime in.

Unfortunately I think you're right that people would get confused and keep coming back to this thread. And there would be more confusion in October or November 2012 if someone tries to start a new thread at that time but there's already a "2012" thread out there.

Can't the site admins rename this "The 2011-12 Colorado Ice Conditions Thread"?

Rodney and I got up to Mt.Lincoln today. The main flow was wet & sticky, but the upper pillar has definitely seen better days.
Here's a couple beta shots.

change the name of the thread to 2011/2012... problem solved... seems like this happens almost every year...

REDSTONE CONDITIONS HERE!

Did D7 yesterday with Kirill Langer.

The North Chimney was surprisingly fun as a mixed route.
Getting from Broadway to the base of D7 also had some nice smatterings of ice.
Table ledge was a bit treacherous with its mixture of consolidated and unconsolidated snow.

I forgot a base layer for my legs, so I wore a pair of jeans under my shell pants.

Kirill stood on top of a 14er for the first time.

We bonked on the descent and that long walk back was really horrible. In my hallucinating stupor I left my pack in the parking lot. I'll be going up there in a few to look for it. Cilogear 45L (not the expensive dyneema kind), blue, black, and grey. If anyone returns it to me I promise to give many thanks and many beers :)

Also does anyone have ideas for lost/found boards besides mountainproject? I was thinking of contacting the estes park ranger station.

Nice job Mr. Simon! That's badass - especially the part about the jeans : )