16/17 westside ice conditions

I thought I would update the thread for this years ice conditions. I checked out the ice in SEKI today, too thin to climb, but looks like it might be a promising ice year for those of us on the Westside.

YES! do update on the Watch Tower. I'm itching to climb that thing. Thanx

Rude Boy wrote:YES! do update on the Watch Tower. I'm itching to climb that thing. Thanx

Let me know if you need a partner for it :)

Cool! I've seen moonage climbed in worse conditions than that. No thanks though, ice is scary

mos def

Awesome updates, let's keep this thread alive

Moonage can be climbed even if the ice isn't contiguous. Just do some easy (M3 or 4ish) mixed on the right. Super fun climb. Some lame video I made a few years ago:

youtube.com/watch?v=ecrCsNO…

^^^
Nice little video. I even like the reference to The Chief at the end.

Hey Hamik!

Looks like a bunch of goons in that video - you've nevar been to LEE VINING!11!1

Any more updates?

Thanks in advance.

Any update on the watchtower? Hoping to get at it Saturday.

The extreme avalanche hazard above the Watchtower with all the storms has kept me away. Might be safe by next weekend

So thinking of heading to Tokopah this upcoming weekend 2-3 to 2-5-17. The SEKI website says they plow the road up to wolverton and the wuksachi lodge on weekends and wednesday.

How do I confirm this is the case at the moment? I called the SEKI road conditions phone line and it didn't help me.

I tried calling wuksachi lodge and I got the reservation hotline which isn't on site.

Can anyone help here? Thanks.

Don't worry about Wolverton or the Lodge, you need to get into Lodgepole which is right off the main road.
As long as the South entrance is open you can usually get into Lodgepole with chains. Call that number the day you are planning to go, the recording will tell you where the road is closed (if it is).
There is another storm coming on Friday, but it looks like it might be warm, so maybe not too much snow.

You can also post to the Sequoia facebook page, they can be pretty responsive

If you go, post here on the conditions. I am planning to go up the weekend of the 10th

If I make it in I will update with pics and ice formation conditions.

Woweeee where is that first pic from? The low angle/slabby ice one..

The low angle stuff is beside Tokopah falls. I suspect it will just be a big snow bank by now ;)

Heading in friday. Road to Lodgepole is open at the moment. We'll see if the 5 inches max of snow projected for friday evening closes the roads.

Tokopah Valley in SNP near Lodgepole.

Sierra Avalanche Center's warning is relatively high and research about the area showed this death:
avalanche.org/data.php?date…;sort=&id=415

How risky is ice climbing at Tokopah given the amount of snow and the cirque it sits in?

esavalanche.org/advisory

http://www.summitpost.org/wet-slide-avalanche/187172

8-April-2006: Debris from a recent wet slide avalanche near Tokopah Falls. This of course is more of a springtime event, but it seems to illustrate the avalanche potential of the area. Debris from similar slides was evident all over the bowl. Needless to say I beat a hasty retreat back into the trees.

Tokopah is not sounding inviting this weekend.