Ice Season 07/08
Ice Conditions in SO 2007/2008
(and wherever else I or friends happen to visit)
back
Disclaimer - You will get hurt ice climbing. Take these reports, recommendations and everything else on these pages as second-hand information
(because it is)! Conditions change hour to hour... Judgement and experience are paramount to staying safe out there. Remember: you can still make the
wrong decision for the right reason and get away with it, but the ice will always be there. Just make sure you are too!
Check out the latest Petzl video - funny, entertaining, realistic, worthwhile (yes, it'll take a while too download, but
persevere!) - better than Ice Up! http://sambeaugey.petzlteam.com//index.php/post/2008/03/20/Quebec-ICE-TRIP-the-video
April 27, 2008
I guess the ice is but a distant memory, now that spring (summer?) is in full force. Oftentimes I hear people comment on a poor season only to speak to someone else,
who raves how good it was. It really is all about perspective, making the best of what is frozen and standing in front of you and the good times with the people you care
about. Thanks to all who sent in good vibes and ice conditions to share with others. I've inserted the latest new routes into the special inserts. Danylo is working on a
"mini guide" to Sherbourne. Stay strong, take care and keep all your points sharp. Have a great summer season!
April 8 - Bancroft (Justin)
Here are the nest conditions as of today. The ice is very plastic and heroish. Also white elephant from the vanlueven lake crag looks to still be in.
Hard to imagine a new route at Bancroft, but wanted to mention that I climbed a rarely formed smeary flow, to the left of what you call "the mtn-eers route" (the easy
gully to gain access ot he curtain belay trees). It's to the left of what you thought was Green Beer (which might me Boot Sauce). Thin ice to a ledge with cedar trees
then finished on fat vertical ice on the left hand side of the "green beer" upper bulge that sort of joins the "2nd pitch" of roller coaster. The route is noteworthy and
very entertaining on solo. I would say a grade of 3+R as the thin ice in the bottom 8meters is unprotectable.
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April 2 - Bancroft (Justin)
Condition pics from today!
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March 28/29/30 - Bear, Restoule, Oxtongue (David Broadhead)
Franklin Cockshutt and I climbed Frankenhooker and Bump Signs on Fri. We did the direct start to bump. It's thin but o.k., the top is honkin fat. Sat we climbed the
Snake twice at Restoule and put up a (new?) line left of Anaconda. To start climb left up the gully at the base of the Snake, traverse left under Lookin' like Elvis, and
Ananconda until you're about 100 feet left of The Snake and start directly under a large v-notched overhang with a prominent white pine growing outwards in the notch.
Climb up and left on thin ice (30 feet) to make a few mixed moves. Traverese up and left on more thin ice (#'s 2&3 BD. stoppers helpful.) Then place a screw at the
bottom of an 18" diameter 20'tall pencil and climb straight up. If it hasn't been climbed, I propose ("Myotoxin" 3+R/22M). Sunday: we went to Oxtongue to try Pillar of
Doom but it was totally baked(see attachment). So we put up a line 100 feet right of Lost Arrow. Start in the trees behind a prominent cluster of Birch trees. Climb 30'
straight up a hollow hanging curtain, then head up and left through the trees. If this has not yet been climbed then we think ("War and Peace" 3/20m) is fitting.
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March 30 - Nest (Danylo, Andriy and Justin)
The nest is fat, and the temps were GREAT! Dirty Harry was climbed before sunset, when it was nice and wet. Rotten in sections, great wet ice - handled very well by
Justin. Blue Angel's start fell off during the day; too snicy to be fun anyways. NFofEiger is in (both corner start, and the rarely formed pillar (highly featured pillar)
closer to the left margin of the wall facing Tim's... The mixed route section of the curtain is entertaining right now, with various lines to "play" on. The rest of the
curtain is fat and solid, varying from thick and plastic to new lacy icicle-covered grooves... Not too boring looks baked, but wide. (re: pics below -you may scoff at the
screw/tricam anchor, but it actually did serve it's purpose - ask me later)
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March 23 - Restoule (Bob and Cinta)
The Snake at Restoule was in large and rock hard on Sunday. It looked like it will be in until May. None of the other routes were in though.
March 22 - Oxtongue (Bob and Cinta)
Pillar of Doom at Oxtongue was in and will likely hold up for another weekend.
March 21 - Bear (Bob and Cinta)
Thanks to Danylo for the tip on Bear Lake. We did Frankenhooker on Friday. There was a thin crack about • of the way up the crux pillar which crossed the pillar and the
pillar was making strange noises when we hit. I didn’t notice the crack until I was close to it. It held for Cinta and I but I doubt that this climb is very safe. Ultra
Hooker did not look to be in. Another party climbed Bump Signs from Hell on Friday. We didn’t get a chance to talk to them, but the climb looked to be in decent shape.
(For photos see below!)
March 21 - Bear (Jon or Don's photos)
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March 21 - Bancroft (Fernando)
Everything is big and fat.
March 16 - Bear (Danylo)
Easy travel over lake surfaces, especially on the tracks - completely frozen. Deep snow in the forest below the climbs.
Conditions observed:
Ultrahooker - thin pencil.
The Cave - fat.
Frankenhooker - initial slab looked suspect from the lake, but had solid, thin, ice; main column was fat, solid ice, surprisingly hard and brittle in the morning. Got the sun
starting at about 2:30 PM. The climb should be good for a couple of weeks yet.
The Ego Has Landed - looked good.
Bump Signs from Hell - soft, hero ice the whole way. The bottom of the direct start was getting quite baked-out and unbonded - the ice there won't last much longer
(but should be Ok to the sides). The climb is 55 m, not 65m as stated in the guidebook, if you go straight up. The approach to Bump Signs is a talus slope from hell.
Peek-a-boo Penny - looked good.
March 15 - Livingstone (Daniel and Andriy)
Did the mixed routes at Livingstone - the ice dagger formed slightly thinner bt more to the left than last year, making Left (see new routes 08) a little easier. Good
safe routes. The ice route to the right was a good warm-up but baked; 2nd pitch not in?
March 14 - Agawa (Jon Gullet)
I've convinced Dave to return there with me next year!
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March 13 - Bancroft (Justin)
Hey Andriy:
Jumped on a chopper at work monday and took some pics from the air.
Just so you know Vanlueven lake is not very good. Hiked in yesterday with Danylo and Katrene, the ice is very sun baked and rotten. Blah!
March 9 - Dacks (Dave Britnell, Jon Gullet and Don Collier)
Wild sleet ice pellets in the Dacks while climbing Crystal Ice Tower/White line fever - the sleet was filling our tracks in the snow in a matter of seconds. Full on winter
conditions!
everything is phattt in the Dacks by Chapel Pond and Cascade.
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March 9 - Clear Lake
Clear Lake is growing! Once the sun hits the ice (at about 2pm it turns nice and soft). Cracks weren't propogating. Put up some more routes - this year's routes have
their own document... Check the general SO Ice page for beta...
March 8 - ??? (DB)
Ice conditions were also good enough that we put up a 20m WI4 route with an easy rock exit. Details and pics to follow.
March 7 - Calabogie (Shayne)
Ice conditions were good enough. Climbed The Shocker (new route - see new routes 2008 under the general SO ice page)! Great moves, great gear...
Feb 24 - Sherbourne (David Broadhead)
Hey Andriy it's Dave Broadhead. Here's a few pics of a route I put up with Danylo at Sherbourne Lake on Sunday. It's a very thin,dead vertical 55-60 foot route. The
fist half is a very thin detatched icicle. I think it's solid 4 but I would like your opinion on that as I think it should be more of a concensus than an individual decision.
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Hope you are all well out west. (Rumours of more unconfirmed FA's that weekend - details coming).
Feb 24 - Rockies Routes and their Slidepaths
From more detailed observations I can confirm that Kitty Hawk hasn't slid. Ice Nine's slopes HAVE slid, both slopes below and above and are pretty safe. There's a
bunch of snow to wallow through at the top of the Upper Weeping Wall. Wilson Major still seemed to be holding onto its snow. Couldn't find a trail that leads to Oh Le
Tabernac (anybody still need to do a good deed for the day?). Slope above Les Miz seems to have partially slid. Not certain if rock rib above OLT, deflects slide debris
to the left of the route, but it sure looks that way from afar... Needs a closer look. 4 of 6 gullies atop PC received control work and also cleared the slope above the
pencil. Field is pretty loaded with snow, and although it has undergone some hot weather, whoch should have solidified the slopes, the Persistent weak Layer still exists!
Tis all for now.
Feb 22/23 - Willoughby(Dave Britnell and Don Collier)
Woober Goober gully is on the left side of Mt Thor. Good climbing.
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Feb 20- Rockies Conditions
Check the file names for the names of the climbs. I played with the tint, brightness and contrast to show as much texture as possible (snow slopes and/or ice). Hope
this helps.
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Feb 18- Hydrophobia, Waiporous, Cdn. Rockies
Travel in there was better than we thought it would be, but still, not good enough, as the jeep took a beating. The first bridge had overflown and created a 2 inch ice
sheet over 6 inches of water. (Fernando swears it was 3 inches thick over 8 inches of water... The jeep nearly stalled!) The other hills were snowpacked and manageable.
The big river crossing was thankfully frozen solid. Approach was good, although we stamped it out with snowshoes! The climb was in good condition.
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Feb 17- Devil's Gap, Cdn. Rockies
Road is ok. Watch for drifts, and weak river crossings. Day was almost made much more involved for us, but the Jeep reversed back out of the river on iots third try!
MAlignant Mushroom in fine shape, although screws were all less than stellar! Wicked Wanda looks to be good as well!
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Feb 16 - Restoule - Slither to Restoule and Snake your way up! (Dave Broadhead)
Curtis and I were up at Restoule this weekend and we climbed Slither. The verglass slab didn't quite touch down and for the first 35-40 feet it was no thicker than
paper. So I did the right-hand gully mixed line. Yes, the fixed pin is possible and yes establishing oneself on the ice slab above it proved most entertaining. The final
pillar had a single icicle as a possible point of attack before the thicker vert up top, but unfortunately it had a very nasty horizontal fracture line about twelve feet up
and my first delicate swings took out a chunk half the diameter of the pillar. So I opted for the highly entertaining mixed finish to the left (hand jams and hand/foot
match stein pulls at the same time - I'm still smiling : ) which allowed a traverse in to finish with two good screws and a great view. Overall it was 50/50 rock -ice, and
just the kind of gloves-off trad mixed climb that I love. The Snake is HONKIN'!!! Go get it while it's good. On the way back home on Sun. we stopped at Kushog for a
quick burn up the Blue Pillar. There was a climbing school there (two guides and eight clients) with lines up on Caramel Coating and Blue Boy by 8:30 a.m. The direct
result of the Rosseau closure???
Feb 10 - Clear Lake
Made the hike in to Clear Lake for its amazing, reliable and steep ice! Another beauty, although conditions were cold and windy (which led to me sleeping in a parking lot
that was hwy 11, later that night - should've taken hwy 35 south - d'oh!) The left-most line was in, but is thrashy through a pine tree, the one to the right is sporting a
super thin curtain flowing over an overlap, My Turn is good, and the steeps to the right are great. (the right most pillar is trying to touch down...). The pillar/sheet did
make cracking/settling noises, but we figured it was the lake ice adjusting to the cold ;-)
Approch Note: Redpine Lake had large open sections, requiring "end-runs" similar to glacier tactics. Once you get on West Shore Road (off of Kinnisis Rd), drive 10.9 km
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to Royal Mile Dr. Park or drive to the end (if plowed) and jump onto Redpine Lake. All snowmobile tracks lead to their "lunch spot", where they can watch the crazies
climbing ice!
Feb 9 - Raven Lake & Kushog (David Broadhead)
I was at Raven lake with my friend Franklin this week end. Unknown Soldier is in and super fun. The book says WI4 5.4 but there was not much bare rock at all! We also
did Unknown Civillian - good ice for 10's and 13's on the bottom (some stubbies were tied off) and longer screws up top.(fun vertical top-out pillar). (SEE RAVEN LAKE
UPDATES) We also did a route to the left of unkown civillian with much the same type of climbing (read: long thin ice slabs with short screws to slightly thicker ice at
the top and a vertical top-out pillar).Here are a couple of Raven Lake photos. On the way home we drove past Kushog and slowed down for a look. Everything is in and
FAT! Hope you're climbing.
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Feb 9 - Watt Lake
Made the hike into the most fickle of ice crags... Parking area is 13 km from hwy 62. Holy Hanna was as big as I've ever seen it! Beautiful route. Thin-ish at the bottom,
but well bonded; wet at the top (is it possible that it's still growing?). The route makes my top 5 Ontario list (for what it's worth). The ice here sublimates away very
quickly, so move quick boys and girls! Other things are in too.
Feb 9 - Eagle's Nest
Fine. The headwall is thick. There is a diagonal crack across the right-most column of Jetstream. East Meets West is almost completely covered over. Powered by
Donuts has a thin sheet covering the top, and Max's Route has one that's even thinner!
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Feb 9 - Bow Lake
Danylo and Catherine ran into "Granite Girl" and "Choss Monkey" at Bow Lake. Danylo reports the climbs to be IN. Apparently Red Rains was climbed, but from the road
it conditions of the RR pillar don't seem to have changed much. I guess you wouldn't be calling it FAT then!
Feb 1,2,3 - Lake Willoughby
Willoughby didn't disappoint. (From left to right) The Mindbender area is quickly recovering, after the catastrophic heat wave. Called on Accounts of the Rain is FAT
and poked out. It takes an assortment of gear. You can link the ice to the halfway ledge in one LONG 70m pitch. Solstice was climbed that weekend, as was China Shop
(see www.neice.com). Who's Who was delammed on Friday, but after friday night's rain I suspect it rebonded well. (Keep an eye on the number of sunny days before
your ascent. It delams fairly quickly, due to the dark rock around the route and the narrow/thin nature of the climb.) Last Gentleman is fat (1st pitch is in) and has two
major variations for your climbing pleasure. Promenade is fat. The exit most often taken is left, then back right through mixed terrain to the exposed horizontal cedar
belay!!! Reign of Terror hasn't touched down. Bullwinkle is reasonable. Float, 20 Below, Glass Menagerie are all fat and have soft ice. Extensive Homology even has a thin
first pitch, but spit one of us off! (Actually that might be the start to Un-Named). Crazy Diamond, Zephyr an dthe Tablets are all good to go!!! Get it while it's good.
Feb 3 - Eagles Nest (Matt)
Had great time on Dirty Harry. Ice has not touched down on the start: thin and hard above the curtain, but there's lots of good rock gear though.
Jan 28 - Bow Lake (Justin)
This is what Bow Lake looked like from Hwy 28 today. It looks like the ice is coming along well.
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Jan 27 - Fish Lake (David Broadhead)
The lake has about 7 inches of ice on it. (I checked through the holes of the ice fisherman). The crown is in but very thin and aerated. The start consists of a free
hanging icicle about twelve feet tall and twenty-four inches around, and the exit is much the same. We were very careful not to knock anything down so hopefully it will
continue to fatten up. We also did a mixed route left of the crown.
Jan 27 - Diamond Lake (Danylo and Justin)
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Some notes:
Distinct Society – not in.
Guardian Angel – not as thick as it can get, but pretty good ice up the middle. Top curtain is thin. The whole climb in general was very dry.
Where Egos Dare – quite a bit of ice in the corner, and thin ice out of it.
Where Wimps Dare – not in.
Malachite Brocade – in, but snowy.
Ochre Silk – dry, hard ice.
Blue Velvet – Thick ice.
Aqua Plush, Thunderdome –there was ice...
Kermit’s Finger – good, plastic ice with water dripping down it.
Tammy Baker’s Face – in, taking 13s at bottom, 16s at top.
Jan 26 - Anger Management M6 WI3 (Pascal)
I did what I think (pretty sure!) is a new route at Bancroft. Onsight too! The climbing is excellent if you like mixte, mostly rock, but climb is contrived since there is a
longer section of pure crack/offwith/chimney than actual ice to climb. I don't know very much the mixte ratings but it felt hard enough 5.10 (M6-ish?) but there are
many rest on the route and the gear is good (bring big gear). You gotta be careful with a few BIG loose/detached rocks. The ice section is no harder than 3 with thin ice
(stubbies). I left slings for rapping at small tree at the exit but they might get iced over if the exit continues to build!
The climb is in the obvious dihedral to the climber's left of ice castle. Just left of the orange ramp and directly above the "main wall" word on page 79 of the Southern
Ontario ICE guide.
Thanks to Justin for the pictures! Thanks to Kenneth Herdy for being the belay slave!
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Jan 26/27 - Dacks (finally I was able to get out ;-)
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I don't know what all the fuss is about in the dacks. Contrary to the recent posts on neice.com and rockandriver.com, there is plenty of ice for everyone to enjoy. Temps
were perfect this weekend. Ice soft enough for good sticks and solid enough for good screws. The ice is continuing to build. Poko is great. Plenty of lines to choose from
on the Waterfall (although the big boy section on the right headwall still needs some time - hehe). Get A Job has filled with thin ice on the lower half, eliminating the
pick crack. Goat's Foot is thin. Discord was being climbed from the ground. Mid-Life was "in" (still gotta get on that one ;-), Positive Thinking got action too, as did
Storm Warning (although it was thin)...
Chapel Pond was a zoo, the canyon climbs are in (including the normally lean Whales in the Jungle). Power Play was getting some action on all three variants (direct, right
column and ramp)... Big Brother isn't in just yet, but Crystal Ice Tower is...
NFOP is all huge (so I hear, and was rammed with folks Sunday)...
Cascade Lakes had plenty of ice too. Three Flows, Pitchoff Right, Left, The Quarry, The Sisters... are all in good. I didn't have a chance to see Cascade Ice Dance (as I
was driving), but the Jaws area didn't seem to be too fat...
Jan 20 - Tiffany (from Blair)
There was ice, but only in its early stages. If the weather holds, we might have some ice by the weekend. The left side will come in first, but it currently has some freeflowing water. The right hand side has a curtain forming at the top, and a bump at the base, but there is still a whole lot of rock and water in between... As for the far
right hand side: nothing...
Jan 19 - Bancroft (from Dave B)
Roller Coaster is thin: scratchy at the bottom, better ice in the middle and top.
The curtain is good: thinner than normal but leadable (Hollow Victory, Men Without Hats and Jetstream are all good)
Little ice on the Blue Angel slab.
No ice on the NF of Eiger.
Dirty Harry not yet leadable unless your nuts!
Climbed Hidden Gully (Amazing Glace is in thinner than normal - watch where you swing!)
Ice Castles looked ok from the parking lot
Jan 16 (8:00pm) - Bancroft (post heat wave from Justin)
The ice is in on The Eagles Nest! It's a beautiful site!
Jan 3 - Bancroft (from Justin)
Bancroft is slowly starting to shape up... Rollercoaster looks to be in, the Curtain is beginning to touch down, and Dirty Harry looks promising
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Jan 1 - Dacks (from Don and Dave)
The Dacks are fat. Chapel Pond Slab, Weeping Winds and others are in!
Dec 19 - Cannon and Willoughby from Fernando and Mike
All of Cannon (except the 1st pitch of Omega and possibly QIH) is fat. Get on it while you can! Ditto for Willoughby!
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Mean Streaks far left), Omega and P(rozac
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Black Dike / Fafnir
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Fafnir
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Crazy Diamond at Willoughby
Dec 10-12 - Dacks Report from Fernando and Al
Chapel Pond is all good. It was safe to cross when we first got there, but then opened up on wednesday. Power Play, Big Brother were all climbed while we were there. It
looks like ice ofrming conditions down there are ideal right now... Photos say a thousand words, so here they are, with file names describing locations...
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Ice Season 07/08
Big Brother
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Ice Season 07/08
Power Play Wall
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Ice Season 07/08
Chuinards Gully
Dec 8/9, 07 - Bancroft/Rosseau - Oh well, shows I know squat about conditions... :-) AK
Well, the ice report so far is less than ideal, but we did manage to do a few climbs. Bancroft is completely without ice. Dirty Harry is a rock climb at the moment, not a
single ice patch from bottom to top. The curtain is non-existent. We managed to get up hidden gully in thin, soft ice and mostly rock, not much gear but fun. Probably
more fun than usual! Rosseau was better. We did the nice 'alpine' climb in the south area. Grade 3, I think. This climb was wonderfull, small hanging pillar for start then
thin ice, rock and frosted snow, then a nice pillar at the end. I think this one was in perfect conditions (bring rock gear)! The central pillar on the north cliff looks good
but we ran out of time. Rosseau is definatly the place to go but if it gets abuse, whats there will soon be gone. SWING GENTLY PLEASE!!! Pascal
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Ice Season 07/08
Eagle's Nest
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Ice Season 07/08
Amazing Grace
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Ice Season 07/08
Rosseau South
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Ice Season 07/08
the good pillar (forgot name, but it's obvious from the road - good fun, bring rock gear and bugaboos)
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Ice Season 07/08
Rosseau North
Dec 1, 07 - General
The word on the street is COLD! Bancroft is a great early season bet because you don't have to float across water to get there and the routes are as dependable as
any! Environment Canada is calling for the coldest winter since 94-95... And that was a banner year for FA, so get your pipes ready for some pulling! Bancroft is well
below freezing, so it's game on!
any questions/comments - [email protected]
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