Tahoe - Sierra - Ice Season 2014-2015

Hello,

Does anyone have any updates on LV, June Lake, Tahoe ice, etc

LV was good enough for TR the week of Thanksgiving.

Cheers,

Johann

I know someone that TR'd some thin ice at Coldstream a couple weekends ago, but not sure how it's been since. Temps have been warmer then they were before that weekend.

June has nothing yet.

Lee Vining warmed up quite a bit and saw some set backs over this past warm trend, as well as people hacking away at what little ice there was. Let's let it wait another week with these cold temps and should be nice and climbable after.

Anybody seen, or heard of, conditions in Tahoe? Its been getting cold last few days plus some precip so hopeful something is forming up.

a few icicles hanging out at donner, nothing in the train tunnels that is formed enough yet.

You should check out the Nor Cal ice climbing Google Groups for the latest conditions. It's a nice spot to post photos and conditions reports.
groups.google.com/forum/#!f…

Went to Lee Vining yesterday- approach was pretty brutal. Temperature was probably 35-40* with some water running. Maybe a few of the routes were leadable, but we just top roped.

Thanks for the update Jesse. Appreciate it!

Whats up all!

I was there last saturday and we had fun, but:

The conditions we're not leadable. The ice was slushy.

The approach is harder right now due to the minimal snow.

A large chunk of ice fell off the main wall - it was warm up there.

Hopefully colder conditions up ahead.

Any new on tahoe ice?

Cheers,

Johann

no tahoe ice...yet. looking like its gonna be pretty cold for a bit, hopefully something forms up. train tunnel has no ice. dry tooling wall (man made wall outside the train tunnel) has been fun...long traverses.

only ice ive found this season has been underneath the giant chockstone at the gully at snowshed wall on donner. fun 10 foot ice/mixed boulder problem, maybe m7 if you go the hard way.

havent been to coldstream yet.

some pretty good ice over the last week, i've just been at donner pass.

soloed the nordwand today and there was lots of little flows you could link up to make a very fun climb.

it's getting warm again though, but maybe it'll be ok? will still be pretty cold at night.

Conditions of Coldstream as of today. Ice was funky today. Bullet hard where there was no running water but where it was wet/drippy it was almost slush. Lots of water running down the routes despite the cold temps. Most of the water was flowing on top of the ice so hopefully they will grow in the next few days. The three main flows are lead able with good pro. Snowshoes highly suggested for the approach!

Silverstrand in yosemite is in. Climbed it yesterday. About 600 ft with a crux that is about wi5ish.

Nice work! Photos? TR?

There was a 70 degree slab that formed above snowshed my 12 year old daughter found exciting.

It's likely 55 degrees here in Truckee so I doubt things will be in shape until another cold snap. That said, we're in the annual June-uary corn cycle right now and the skiing tomorrow will be darn good.

Sunny Falls climbs were in on 1/3, not fat, but protectable. The fattest ice was on the right side of the wall, probably WI3-3+. The left side of Sunny Falls had what looked to be some easier stuff, with some mixed climbing in between the two areas.

Also, one of the shaded canyon climbs on the left as you approach Sunny Falls was in. We didn't do it, but the first 3/4 of it looked solid, then some rock before final section of fat ice at top. Looked to be WI4.

Here is a video I made about climbing the Silver Strand in the Valley on 1/2/2015. Hope it can come in again this year for someone, good climb. Wouldn't try it now, it has been really warm for the last several days...

youtube.com/watch?v=jCy_wQr…

Edit: for some reason it doesn't work posting it here, but you can see it if you want, if you go to youtube and search for silver strand climbing ice

Nice work on the video, that's awesome!
Also, I posted a few photos of ice in tahoe (Rainbow and Eagle Lake) from last weekend on the Norcal Ice climbing Google Groups. Had some pretty decent ice, but it looks like it has warmed up a little since: groups.google.com/forum/#!f…
Check it out!

Good vid of Silver Strand. I climbed it a couple days prior. Rad climb!

I gotta say though, WTF? I mean, WTF?? No seriously, WTF???

Richard, you're continually hammering your tool into the rope and then front pointing and kicking directly into it on lead. I said it thrice, W.................T.................F ??????????

haha i thought that too.

ice in emerald bay is looking real nice right now!

Looking for a partner for tomorrow morn if anyone is interested.

Rude boy, be nice. Next time I do a vid I will have to screen the footage for imperfections so people online can sleep well. lol.
I heard of a party that went a few days earlier to top rope the upper pitch from the rim, were you with those guys? There was no sign of passage on a snowy ledge at the base of the climb...