50 classic ice/mix climbs of North America

It’s an idea I’ve played with before and curious what others thought. The qualities that I’d look for are:

Aesthetically pleasing (example Polar circus)

High quality (example Repentance)

Historically classic or significant (example Bridalveil CO)

I feel like it should act as somewhat of a tour of NA’s best lines rather than just the highest quality, otherwise every climb would be in the Canadian Rockies. But also I don’t think super classic lines that aren’t very good should make the list like the “Great white icicle” for instance. And not to over include an area such as having like 8 climbs on the Stanley headwall. 

My incomplete list:

Alaska:

 1. Keystone Greensteps ✨

2. Hung Jury

3. El Shaddai

4. Broken Dreams 

5. Hanging Chad 

6. Peavine Palace 

California:

7. Widows Tears✨

Montana:

8.  Come and get it✨

9.  Black Magic

10. Winter Dance 

 Colorado:

11. Bridalveil falls✨

14. The fang✨

15. Octopussy✨

16. Deepthroat

17. Ames ice hose✨

Wyoming:

18. Broken Hearts✨

19.  Legal at last

Maine:

20. Maine Line

Vermont:

21. Called on account of the rains✨

22. The Promenade 

New Hampshire:

23.  Remission✨

24. Repentance ✨

25.  Valhalla✨

26.  Omega ✨

27. The black Dike✨

Michigan: 

28.  HMR

New York:

29.  Positive Thinking

Alberta/ BC

30. Nemesis ✨

31. Polar circus ✨

32. Nightmare on Wolf Street✨

33. Sea of Vapors✨

34. Mythologic ✨

35. Cryophobia✨

36. Curtain Call✨

37.  Kittyhawk 

38. The French Maid✨

39.  Fearful Symmetry ✨

40.  Le Miserables

41. Bourgeau Left Hand

42. Gimme shelter 

43. The Theft

Quebec:

44. La Pomme D’or✨

45. Speedy Gonzales

46. Le Mulot

Utah:

47. Stairway to Heaven

The sparkles next to the routes mean that they 100% deserve to be on the list and cannot be taken off. The others could potentially be switched out for different routes.

Side note: 50 is an arbitrary number, and I thought that for a proper list the number will most likely be random or low. Otherwise you there might be a handful of routes thrown in to make it to 50 that aren’t nearly as stellar as the others. Partly why I like the Bold n Cold because they only have 25 routes. Just a thought

I also think there’s a book supposed to come out sometime in the future on this very topic? Curious what ends up on the list. Hopefully it’s a more accurate representation of “classic” routes than the 50 classic climbs of NA.

I suspect that le pom de or and Speedy Gonzales  and a few others in Quebec are in the top 5.  don't see how Valhalla knocks Omega, Fafnir and the Black Dike

P2

P3

and The Last Gentleman. 

P1 rock traverse

P2

P3

i totally forgot about Omega!

I’ve climbed the last gentlemen it was good but wasn’t anything too spectacular. Also I feel like a lot of the routes at the lake are somewhat similar.

Idk bruh ask Mark Twight or something

the Prom is quite interesting.. the Gent is interesting when the 1st pitch is thin. 

I have not climbed it but Stairway to Heaven in Utah has to be one of the top10 continental US climbs.  Wyoming and Montana are probably underrepresented too.

ASAP Beckywrote:

33. El Shaddai

Has anyone climbed this since 2002?  I've never even heard of it forming again.  Chad J told me the story about bolting the route and having friends ferrying them out fresh batteries each night. Amazing looking route but hard to call it a classic if its probably seen 2 ascents!

Seems like Wyoming could have some more... Moratorium or something significant on the N facing Benches. Lillooet BC is missing... Winter Water Sports, Icy BC, what's the one MA climbed the direct on? Easier than your other options but you could consider the some of the routes in Lee Vining due to the historical significance of Chouinard testing his tools there. 

Edit: Here's the MA direct in Lillooet... https://gripped.com/routes/hard-b-c-mixed-route-the-theft-gets-second-ascent/ 

You gotta add the GWI in Utah!!

Smear of Fear. If it ever forms again I am dropping absolutely everything and leaving to climb it that day no matter what. Far more classic than Ames imo

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

don't see how Valhalla knocks Omega, Fafnir and the Black Dike

Climbing at ASAP Becky's level, and having done all of the above, I sure can! At least for BD/Fafnir.

They're more "classic" in that they're doable for most, aesthetic, and fun, but Valhalla is a gift!

ASAP Beckywrote:

i totally forgot about Omega!

I’ve climbed the last gentlemen it was good but wasn’t anything too spectacular. Also I feel like a lot of the routes at the lake are somewhat similar.

Careful, you're gonna spike the New England old-man contingent's blood pressure!   

Alex Mankouskiwrote:

You gotta add the GWI in Utah!!

I'm not sure if any Utah ice climbs warrant being in the top 50, but if one does it would probably be Stairway to Heaven.

Guy Lacelle top "100" thread 

This is a good place to start...Now, the real question is who has solod most of them????

And for Utah, Zion ice comes to mind.  Yes, I do believe STH is dang good, but Zion---->Magical!

Double Jwrote:

Guy Lacelle top "100" thread 

This is a good place to start...Now, the real question is who has solod most of them????

And for Utah, Zion ice comes to mind.  Yes, I do believe STH is dang good, but Zion---->Magical!

Zion does look amazing. But there’s not much info out there partly due to how ephemeral they are. 

Double Jwrote:

Guy Lacelle top "100" thread 

And for Utah, Zion ice comes to mind.  Yes, I do believe STH is dang good, but Zion---->Magical!

Outside of Zion, "Angel of Fear" in Santaquin canyon would be a good contender. It's the Utah version of "Fearful Symmetry." But the ice in Zion sure does look special

Guy Lacelles list is a good one and includes  Le Promenade and the Gent. 

Ben Palladinowrote:

Outside of Zion, "Angel of Fear" in Santaquin canyon would be a good contender. It's the Utah version of "Fearful Symmetry." But the ice in Zion sure does look special

AOF only forms like every 10 years, can’t call that a classic IMHO.

Double Jwrote:

AOF only forms like every 10 years, can’t call that a classic IMHO.

Well I did include several routes that are rare. The terminator had only formed twice. Same with El Shaddai, I doubt katana has come in again. But I could be convinced that a route needs to at least occasionally come in to be on the list. Angel of fear does look good though.

I agree that there could be a few more from Wyoming. Fun list either way. 

Newfoundland is in North America... Perhaps a bit more obscure but I imagine there being some serious contenders up there. Maybe not "classic" because they don't get climbed often though... 

As far as the northeast US goes, I'd opine that Ragnarok in Smuggs should be on the list. 

Ragnarok is really unique and pretty serious in the usual mixed conditions.