LA ice climbing

Is there any ice in late November 

Check your local supermarket.

Early November has as much potential for beach weather as it does for cold and rain.  It has about zero potential for a long enough cold and wet spell to create ice.

Guessing Nick meant Lee Vining.  

Scoop wrote:

Guessing Nick meant Lee Vining.  

I meant by mount Baden Powell 

Stuff does form up on the north side of Baden Powell though its a good walk for not a lot of ice.  If you're up for a day out, you'll probably enjoy it.  Check out summitpost for more info.  Taco del rio used to post a fair bit of info there about the local peaks.  Not sure if he removed those pages, but worth checking to see.  

Not by late November.  Later in the winter you can find lots of good ice down at Williamson Rock, the waterfall wall, the chimney to the right of Being There and the main face can form giving you 400 feet of fat ice top to bottom.  

Of coarse it’s illegal to go in there, but I’m just saying the ice can be pretty damn good. 

Rumors exist of a legendary freeze on the baldy waterfalls that makes climbable ice.  I think if you go to the mount baldy page you might be able to find some pictures.  But everyone's right, the cold you need for climbable ice comes once a generation in the LA area.  Better off going north or out to Colorado.  

yosem1te wrote:

Rumors exist of a legendary freeze on the baldy waterfalls that makes climbable ice.  I think if you go to the mount baldy page you might be able to find some pictures.  But everyone's right, the cold you need for climbable ice comes once a generation in the LA area.  Better off going north or out to Colorado.  

Thanks

I've found ridiculously short sections of ice in the San Bernardino mountains, but nothing worth climbing unless you like climbing through narrow chutes with a lot of rockfall for 5 ft of ice that may or not even be there. I usually drive up to Lee Vining, and make a trip to  Alaska and New Hampshire/Vermont.

yosem1te wrote:

Rumors exist of a legendary freeze on the baldy waterfalls that makes climbable ice.  I think if you go to the mount baldy page you might be able to find some pictures.  But everyone's right, the cold you need for climbable ice comes once a generation in the LA area.  Better off going north or out to Colorado.  

Don't hold your breathe for this one.  I've lived in LA more or less my entire adult life and have heard of only a couple times that this has happened, and even then it'll last maybe a day.  Lee Vining is the closest, most reliable ice to LA sadly.  One winter, a buddy and I drove to Ouray, which was totally doable.  About 10 hours but then more ice than you can shake a stick at.  Well worth the time investment.  

I have climbed ice as low as Lady Bug canyon below Red Box on Hwy 2 but it rarely forms due to it's low elevation.   The same with the North Face of Strawberry Peak, it forms occasionally and is spectacular when it does.   The best ice hands down in the San Gabriels is Williamson Rock, just keep it on the DL when you plan on going.

Williamson Rock this past winter.

Fat Dad wrote:

Stuff does form up on the north side of Baden Powell though its a good walk for not a lot of ice.  If you're up for a day out, you'll probably enjoy it.  Check out summitpost for more info.  Taco del rio used to post a fair bit of info there about the local peaks.  Not sure if he removed those pages, but worth checking to see.  

Yeah. Not likely in November. Usually there is stuff after xmas until maybe April. Really depends on the year. The north gully on Baden Powell forms reliably but you won't know if the top is melted out away from the face until you're under it.

Peruse my pages/contributions and you'll find some stuff. It's all short, but it's all there, assuming it IS there. ;)

Anywho, don't die.