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Old Conditions Reports: these may be useful if you're planning a trip and want to know what's in at various times of the year.

NOTHING in Haffner Canyon at the moment is easy, fat, holed out, down, filled in, iced over, dry, prepped, a soft touch, or suitable for your friend who heard about this ice-climbing thing and was wondering what it was all about. The creek is presently open and running and you have to be ready to warm up at about M6. There’s ice coming down everywhere, though. Excellent.

Drove into the South Ghost, did Sorcerer (photo at left) while our friends did Hydro. The crux was thin, dry and detached at the bottom, harder at the top compared to last year. Didn't look like anyone had done it this year but could be.

The drive through Waiprous was OK, the "skeg" as the Calgary "Mudboggers" call it is frozen but the creek crossings are ice-berg filled creeks. The rutted hill before the skeg meadow was technical for our friends without studdded tires, no problem with. It's probably a good idea to go in with two vehicles.

Brad Wrobleski reports that This House of Sky isn't really there yet but should be with the colder temps, Huisman says Marion and everything else up that drainage isn't happening at all.

Went out to give ”S&M” a try on Sunday, 18 November w/ Joe Buszowski and JD LeBlanc. The first “thin smear of ice” hung in there long enough for Joe to get the draws on, but came away entirely on my first attempt at the route. There’s a little bump of ice up in the crack under the overhang that can still be used for one stick, but that’s all that remains. I don’t think the smear will reform this winter. ‘S okay, though, cause you can still tool up where the ice was, albeit a little more strenuously. The route will probably be really M7 when it cleans up a little more (high anxiety rock, or what, eh?), but as it stands the possible outcome of any given attempt is pretty arbitrary. Hard to onsight, too. Joe had a hell of a time locating bolts under the snow on the slab above the roof when he first went up. I struggled through clean on my second attempt, but that felt pretty iffy as well.

Fun rig, though. There’s climbing all the way. We had a hell of fine time. You should send notice to Will Gadd’s route updates page on his GravSports website. Get some people out there to pull the dogfood and cornflakes down.

Drove into Field on17th Nov. Many routes had no ice or only a little ice higher up. Guiness Stout was the only route that looked to be there. Note there was no snow in the valley bottom... Moved on to Bow Falls area.... plenty of ice there but very thin and hollow (care !) U2 looks to be in similar shape to the picture in the mixed guide. Anyone know the name of the route about 200m right of Bow Falls (about halfway between Bow Falls and U2 / Uli's Revenge) ? (ps. I know it was climbed about 5 years ago). Pointless Gully looks ok. Crowfoot falls (well at least the second pitch) looked fat...

Polar Circus is in and has been done, but the lower pitches look wet and somewhat thin, you can avoid them on the left. Weeping Wall is weeping like mad but little ice. Cascade still hasn't formed enough to climb. The Stanley Headwall offers the best selection of climbing at the moment. The Gulag had no ice two days ago but that didn't seem to matter much, the problem was the waterfall off the lip... The Waterfowl gullies have smears of ice in them now, and I expect that many of the melt/freeze climbs will come in this week due to the warm temps and cold nights.

Rob Owens climbed the old bolt ladder below Suffer Machine at M7+ (that grade now seems to be the equivalent of 5.9 A2 in the Rockies), and Raphael Slawinski and partners have been doing new things as well. Very warm in the valleys for the last week, but cold enough up high that things are holding together well enough.

Contrary to another report, Nightmare on Wolf Street is in. Rob Owens and Jason Billings did it on Sunday the 11^th. (There are bolted rock pitches to gain the daggers.) Mike Verwey and Andrew also did Acid Howl.

Nov.12 -Moonshadow Gully approach pitch not "in". Marhall Arts area gives two seperate one pitch lines of thin but reasonable Gr.3 ice.P.S.- first pitch on M.G. might go mixed-bring pins tho. Upper pitch is thin but looks doable.P&R.

Not much available as of Nov. 9, unless one is keen on mixed or water ice under seracs (e.g. Reality Bath). Louise Falls has a ways to go. Nothing fully formed on Mt. Wilson that we could see from road. On Hwy 11: 2 O'Clock dry, Nothing But. . . barely wet, In Search of. . . dry.

Kitty Hawk looked largely in but thin, but couldn't tell about lower pitches. Found a little ice in Cline River Gallery (BTW approach is much shorter if you ignore guide and simply head toward river from parking, through gravel pit, to nice trail above river)-- did a fun but rather dirty gulley that was mixed at the top. Possibilities for top roping other incomplete lines- take long slings or an extra rope.

We found a little ice up R&D way......the best ice as you know was up on the Terminator wall unfortunately it a little out of my range for leading. R&D was missing the lower portion (does it usually touch down?) with 2 pins to protect the start....then its 30 feet of solo (no pro) thin ugly ice. For reasons of self preservation I had to give it a pass. If we had driven through Rogers pass during the day we would have seen a really nice line that was actually safe from the great white cloud!!! Unfortunately we only saw it on the way home and didn't have time to go for it. Something to keep in mind for early season next year.

As of last weekend the front ranges were very, very dry (little snow). Here are some roadside comments as I have been looking for ice in that 3-4 grade range.....

Don't think there is any ice at Coire Dubh. In Kananaskis, Amadeus only had ice on the top couple of meters. None of the Mt Kidd routes looked to be in. Some ice visible at Palm Sunday, nothing at Solid Cold. Very limited thin stuff in King Creek apparently. Whiteman falls only had a touch of ice visible at the top. On the Smith Dorien, Hoser and Parallel falls looked thin to none existent. Nothing visible at First Blood.

Enough has been already said about R&D. Trick or Treat has been climbed (said to be in grade 5 shape)

Scott Semple went into Whitemans today by walking around the canyon, but found a shower with not a lot of ice. He said Red Man Soars looks good. WG and Rich Marshall did French Reality today, excellent climbing, four pitches to top it out in the cave, rap off a column. Great route!

Eugene Adds: The approach pitches to whiteman's aren't in and bow falls looks to be 2 nice pitches of climbing. maybe something for the americans that were looking for stuff.

Mike Verway and I did French reality today, great! First pitch is thin ice for 25M above the ledge, followed by 50M of classic M5 grovelling. Leading it is serious. Third pitch is 60M 5+, really cool, totally wild and exposed.

Only 8 people waiting to climb r&d today! (wed nov.8) my trusty keychain thermometer said -10, the americans said we just didnt bring enough whiskey. the climb is missing 5ft of ice close to the bottom, but has nice pins to clip(and hold a lead fall, i've tested it so you dont have to ). you may want to bring a knife blade? i dont do mixed, maybe M7 to gain the upper ice, depending on your reach, get both feet planted and tie off your 10cm screw. first half of ice is thin, dust off those spectre hooks unless you dont mind tiing off stubbies. the good ice doesnt really happen until the last 25 meters. super lead jeremy!

Any ice reports from Lake Louise, Icefields Parkway? BTW, went into Ghost River Devil's Gap area last Sunday-- nothing even close-- in fact some climbs (e.g. Green Angel) were dry. Nice hike though--

Went into the North Ghost today. Nothing is in. GBU looks to be a couple of weeks away. Virtually no ice leading into the Valley of the Birds. Heard about people doing House of Sky, but can't imagine it is in very good shape. Burning, Drowning didn't have any ice on them anywhere.

Ended the day driving to check out the Borgeau climbs. Neither is close although the Lefthand might form up one day this month

Nov 5: Climbed most of French Reality. "Crux" ice is the easy stuff... hard climbing is in the gully down low. Thin, wet and not bonded (at all!) to the rock. Give it some cold weather and it will be good. Discovered best approach to Monsieur Hulot area... stay on main trail until directly across from the climbs, cross valley bottom and head up to a buttress/ nose in the lower cliff band about 50 left (east) of french reality. There is a big cave just to the left of the lower part of the buttress (good place to gear up.) Climb up the rock nose just outside the cave entrance for 10m (there is an anchor just on top). You are now on the traverse ledge in between French Reality and Nightmare.../ Day after...

Suffer Machine not doable yet, ice doesn't start for 30 or so feet above the roof. Drytooling above roof is tricky (very!). Thriller quite doable.

Nemesis on November 4^th: Easiest line to the ledge is W4. Funky W5+ pillar to the top. Friendly shape with decent gear. 70m rope makes a quick, two-pitch day.

In response to the query by Kim Heidel: This pitch of ice forms regularly and really does look very nice (a wide curtain). However, the approach to the climb is dubious once the snow accumulates because of avalanche danger. I have not climbed the pitch but I have heard of others doing it. If memory serves me correct, I believe Simon Parsons did it a few years back.

Mike Meilekie and I climbed Hydrophobia today, it's in great shape. The first pitch is pretty wet at the start but it gets better as you go up. Good value, Mike did it and thought it was full grade five. Probaby be better if it wasn't so wet. The next two pitches are nice an plastic, great climbing. Wear your sweat-tex. Cryophobia is not formed yet, the top is just starting, but the sun is still hittting it and doing alot of damage during the day. There's not much ice in the middle, I wouldn't recommend it yet.

My girlfriend and I had a good look out in the Icefields Tues. and Wed. We climbed 'Shades of Beauty', it is in excellent shape. Curtain Call was forming but looks to be in WI 7+ shape right now! Polar Circus is looking good on the top two thirds but the bottom third or even just the approach ice are still considerably wet (flowing). It won't be long before it will go. Bow Falls looked completely formed however the approach ice would probably we scary hollow. Riptide looked awsome! There is a fairly large accumulation of snow out there, and we saw a couple of big rippers come off up higher in the alpine. Six inches to a foot at roadside, probably getting close to a meter above treeline in spots. The Lady wilson group is forming but nowhere near touching down. Hope this is informative for you. Climb on...

Oct 29th: Anybody know for sure about this route at Boom Lake? Email to gadd@gravsports.com if so, thanks.

We were back at boom lake to view birthday present and red commy star however neither appeared to be in(according to there descriptions in the book) however there was a fairly large flow directly at the end of the lake to the left of a large rock face. we climbed a 55meter pitch of 4+ ice up to some large quartzite boulders. the terrain above went into a large bowl leading up to quadra. new ice? i'm not sure... could you respond?

Hi, we went into the Wooley Drainage on Oct 27 hoping to find ice, none to be had, the visiability was poor as it was snowing quite hard at times. We searched a few drainages above tree line to find nothing that resembled what was described in the guide.

Eric DomoreCrack and Jeff N. were up at the Stanley headwall yesterday. Nemesis climbable, very wet. Suffer Machine climbable as well (via bolted start).

Here's an update of what I've heard is going on out there. Brad Wrobleski tells me Hydrophobia is in, he didn't walk to the base. When I went to get him unstuck from the bog, I didn't get a chance to see it. He also said The Sorcerer looked good too, but I'd bet that first pitch is still pretty thin. He did say Cryophobia is not formed yet, but it should start with some cold weather. Be sure to ask him about his trip into the Wiaprous!! I'm also hearing that Nemisis is formed, although reportedly very thin. Did R&D, thin but not too bad, but you already knew that from your other posts.

WG note: It took a Hummer to get Brad's rig out. Don't drive into deep holes... The Replicant also looks in, the Sea is actually non-existent. Different patterns this year for sure.

Some info for the page....things are coming along nicely! Climbed trick or treat on oct 15, two hour walk (not nearly as far as it looks) one pitch of steep ice (4+) followed by another of easy wet plasticness. R+D climbable as of oct 10, went half way up chalice and the blade, but either curtain would be a little too bold for me, though others might find the right hand side ok, drove by today (oct 18) and it looks the same.

Climbed R&D on the 13th. Its down and in nice shape. More interesting than usual but far from desperate. Chalice could be climbed, but it would be an adventure.

Owens climbed Trick or Treat on Saturday, said it was in pretty good shape, 2 hr walk. I drove up to R&D on Saturday, looks like it's touched down. With the cold night last night I figure it should be good in the next couple of days. Chalace and the Blade looks in but pretty nasty, might have gotten bigger in the last couple of days though.

WG Note--Big Brother looks in too, the second ascent awaits. This is a really fun route.

A couple of days ago I drove up into the Kananaskis, where there were lots of smears forming. R&D, the world's most popular early season climb, looked to be almost in.

Yesterday and today I drove the Icefields Parkway and was very surprised by the amount of ice; the upper bit of Polar Circus is icing nicely, and there are several poorly formed runnels in tempting places. Nothing really worth hiking to yet, but maybe in another few days!

My partner Mike and I did get on the weeping wall on
thursday. We climbed the central pillar route and had a blast! The second
pitch is overhanging slightly! There were a couple of other parties on the
wall that did the lower right and lower left hand routes.
The lower left hand was really wet. Our line was chandeliered on that second
pitch but we had good gear all the way up.We went up to the upper wall and
the only thing in was teardrop on the left. It looked good but we backed off
and made it an early day. Yesterday we went to Field and climbed Extra Lite.
The bottom pitch is really wet and there is a lot of snow on the rampy part
leading up to the upper grade 4 pitch.

Climbed from Feb. 25 to Mar. 03...

- Bow Falls (Feb25): in, great, very windy, very cold (-25C + wind chill).
- Johnston Canyon: the main pillar (Prism Falls) has fallen, but hooking-fest on
the left side. Worth the trek ;-)
- Professor Falls (Feb27): in, very easy (lots of traffic) until last pillar
(WI4). Try to get a lift from the plant guys for the lengthy approach!
- Polar Circus (Mar01): fabulously in, from the first WI2 steps to the very top
(hum... the Pencil has fallen, but the rap is memorable).
Lots of hooking spare strength on lead...
- Grotto Falls, His, Hers: in, popular (very).
- Coire Dubh integrale (Mar03): ice not worth the trip, no mixed higher up, but
a nice mountaineering trip - with widlife.
The corner "thin ice" of the first "rock" pitch is dry and... interesting.

Gilles

One other update that I missed earlier from Bill McConachie, sorry about that!

> Climbed Feb16 to 21: Planned on Cascade (WI 3) as warm-up but reports
> said 15cm of snow had fallen on Feb14. No tracks in fresh snow and
> Cascade looked to be a terrain trap under a basin of snow of unknown
> depth ("worst snowpack in 50 years"). Waited for Banff info center to
> open but only got same info already had from recorded phone messages.
> Consulted Joe Josephson bk for climbs not subject to avalanche hazard
> and headed for Louise Falls. Late arrival had us waiting behind a fast
> party (Sharon Wood and Laurie Skreslet) and another party. 1st pitch was
> easy well-filled-in ice. Above the ice cave (cool views looking out!)
> the difficulty jumps (loose veneer over steep icicles). Rapped with
> sunset approaching.
> 17th: Very windy in open. Air temp barely 0 degF. Climbed Grotto Falls
> (WI3 50m) and Hers (WI4- 15m) and then top-roped both to get in more
> ice. Alpine club group of 5 on Grotto generously invited us to climb
> along side of them. Also had the pleasure of meeting and talking with
> Barry Blanchard.
> 18th: Ghost River. Blowing hard again. Some big drifts. Ghostly cloudy
> and gray. Late in the day to Wicked Wanda to find that we were behind 2
> parties. 1st pitch was stellar. Getting dark as I neared the crux on 2nd
> pitch, so rapped. Pushing and shovelling, helped out some locals with
> stuck truck. Long drive back to Canmore.
> 19th: Stopped short of Weeping Wall for some almost road-side ice. Too
> bad it was 10x shorter than it had appeared. Laps on steep pillars and
> curtains to get some ice mileage and consolation for being there.
> 20th: Climbed 1st pitch of Whymper Wall - almost 60m of about WI4-.Too
> sunny for partner's choice of belay spots (perhaps the most exposed and
> dangerous spot possible beneath thin slabs of ice on steep, sun-warmed
> rock) at the base of the 2nd pitch. While I was setting up a safe belay,
> falling ice panicked partner. Rapped.
> 21st: Warmer (shady high of 15 F). Quite windy! Had Murchison Falls to
> selves after party ahead of us rapped off with frozen hands. They passed
> on my offer to use my spare mitts bk at my pack. Pleasant sun (!) and
> air temps for crux pitch. Broke pick - thank goodness for 3rd tool.
> Weeping Wall and Polar Circus looked excellent. Slipstream looks
> impressive but unsafe due to snow slabs up high. Professor's (but not
> the walk) and Cascade later said to be in fine condition. So many more
> climbs to do.
>

Louise Falls

Froze my nose hairs on our day 1 (-25 F). Laurie Skreslet, Sharon Wood
showing us how. Epic'd with frozen ropes rapping out the cave; full-on
gumby parade. Vapor lock. Bill got to lead on the static 7 back up via
the "secret passage". Self-rescue fortunately under cover of darkness.

Grotto

Took the scenic route c/o Jojo, hiking past no trespassing signs and
Husky prison. Another full-on gumby parade, but we weren't leading it
this time; 'friends' from Seattle are having conniptions -- plus 2
classes, and a local kid out soloing for gear. Top roped, shook Bubba's
hand...

Wicked Wanda

Despite early start, got behind two parties (one from CA); waited hours,
climbed to cave, got halfway up pitch 2 before admitting we're not Alex.
Didn't help having Rick Harlin (a proven badass) saying it was "weird" up
there, and haunted atmosphere. Will we ever top out (i.e., will Bill ever
top out and pull me up something)?

The Gully?

Headed for Sniveling, saw ice (ooh ooh, ice, must climb!!); too much (or
little) coffee. Glorious afternoon high on slope across from Chephren, WI
I w/upper curtain photofest. Still and sunny. SWWEEEET!!

Whimper

And we did; belayed below pitch 2, BIG refrigerators falling -- too warm
despite cold temps. Run away, run away!!

Murcheson

BIG ice in eye-bugging setting. Strange refrigerated
downdraft. Mostly my kinda climbing -- low-angle, complete with safe cave
belays. Ice stays crisp, even in the sun. Bill breaks a pick, exits cave,
leading final curtain as the sun sets. Bitter, windy, 3.5 full-value
raps, bouncing to keep going, 2 in the dark.

Icehouse luge

En route to the airport, we asked some dudes working on the luge track
when the next luger was due; "A, well, there's one on deck now, so I
guess that means that they'll be coming...". Just then, we hear the roar
of the rudders, and here comes one past at 90 mph about two feet away.

Special thanks to Bill for getting me up every day at 06:00, and letting
me get back to the car once before dark...

Was in to the Good, Bad, and the Ugly on Feb 11^th, looking for a place in the sun on a cold day. It was the right choice – calm, bright, good climbing a couple metres from the truck, even if my brakes did freeze solid after the river crossing (Rick Felber kindly dragged my Toyota 4x4 with an old climbing rope and his diesel farm truck until the wheels started turning again). Climbed the new “DSB” behind the ‘Ugly’ cigar, centre. Many, many bolts. Looking up from the bottom, I only saw three, but there were at least seven when I got back there on the rock. Soft touch for M7 in present conditions. JD popped a tool while following, bulleted backward and took a surfboard-length off the end of the drip with his back. There’s another line of bolts left of centre, currently only separated from the trite ‘Good’ by one or two metres. But the real reason I’m posting this is to say that someone needs to tackle the horizontal ice roof between the two lines, where all the icicles have broken off at the same height to form a perfect blue ceiling. When the afternoon sun shines through this, it has light that would guarantee a sponsored climber a year of magazine covers...

"Well, it's certainly not a "new route" but it is the funnest WI pitch I've
climbed in years... We were both smiling the whole way up. I'm talking about
the 2nd pitch of The French Maid, which has seen at least one or two other
ascents this year before Deb and I climbed it yesterday (Feb 3). The
avalanche concerns are non-existent, and I'd say the ice is in great
condition except for the first 20 feet or so.

- Tom Wolfe + Deb Lantz"

Today my climbing partner Mike Klapey and I climbed Coire Dubh
> Integrale (550m 5,7 WI3) on Goat Mountain.We then ate lunch at the Rose and
> Crown and hung out in Canmore for a bit.

February 2: General over-view of conditions below regarding a proposed trip up here, email form.

> We'll be renting a mini-van, so carrying space is not as much of an
> issue as it would be with a compact car, but I would just as soon spare
> ourselves the ballast and bulk and not bring skis or snowshoes for
> approaches if not needed.

right now there's not much snow so the approaches are casual. However, what snow is there sucks and is wildly unstable; check the Canadian avalanche forecasts (links off Gravsports) to get a feel for the situation...
>
> My plan is to climb as much ice in 6 or 6.5 days as possible.

good shape, watch the upper bowls for windloading but no problem last I heard.

were all on my want-to-climb list if
> conditions (route, approach, crowds, and mine) cooperate. Bourgeau
> left-hand,

look great based on
> route descriptions in Albi Sole's "Waterfall Ice" and various magazine
> articles, and climbs in the Ghost River area, too.
>
> What would you guess the approaches are like for these routes?

All of the above are casual, no skis or snowshoes required unless we get a big dump.

Is it reasonable to
> do the Ghost area via min-van and foot?? Out of the question? -- are the
> roads into the Ghost area only appropriate for folks equiped with
> 4-wheel drive, studded snow tires, snow chainse, and winches?

You can walk from the top of the big hill, but add an hour to the times in the guide. Rent a 4WD if you want to climb in the Ghost! I have seen 2WD vehicles fairly far back in there, but I've also seen some real epics... The studded snows aren't necessary unless you want to push the boundaries of normal 4wd action, not rec. A friend of mine spent 5 hours stuck trying to drive into the Sorcerer as I did; it only took us 30 minutes to get unstuck on the "first driving ascent...

> Who knows - maybe we'll get lucky on this trip and other climbs I aspire
> to do (Terminator

Way skinny last I was there a month ago, probably still not climbed this year despite some strong efforts that wilted at teh base.

In--it's either in perfect shape (skis probably a good idea though), or corniced heavily at the top due to wind and a small amount of fresh snow last week. Bring binoculars. The descent could be interesting due to minimal snow bridges on glacier and possible wind-loading. Anybody done this one?

Looks like it's getting skinnier to me, post-scriptum was thin when I did it a ways back. There's a really good new mixed start at 8+..

Climbed Curtain Call w/ Eamonn Walsh and Greg Thaczuk on Sat. Very tough shape. 1'st pitch 5+/6- and second pitch possibly grade 7. Good lead by Eamonn. Overhanging mushrooms for 15m the pull out left onto exciting and suspect curtain for 15m w/ no pro to attachment point which is cracked right through. Steep but good ice and pro to top. Beware daggers while rappeling!

Most of the classic spring-fed climbs are in, but the freze-melt drips are not. The Ghost is especially good this year, as is the Icefields Parkway in general. However, the avalanche forecast is calling this, "The worst snowpack in 50 years." Hmmm...

Jason Billing sends:

Things in Field are looking pretty good. Climbed
Carlsberg, very plastic and wet, awesome! Pilsner not
even close to forming, but Last Call is in good shape
with a nice exit onto the ice. Super Bock looks in
'interesting' shape but climbable. WWF looks in, as is
Old Millwaukee. Kronnenburg not even close.

I'd also add that the snowpack is disgusting to wildly unstable, be careful out there...

Dec.22

Climbed Hydrophobia with Scott Semple today. It's in great shape with a few
brittle bits. 2.15 hours from Silver tongue devil parking to the base. Go
do it!

After ten days of hella cold temperatures (-30 or less at night, -20 to -30 day) things are fat everywhere that had flowing water. Basically, most of the standard fatties with the exception of ice 9 and a few other rarities are in. The Replicant is looking more formed, although Terminator has terminated well short of the ground. Ghost is good, Sorcerer fat and hookable. I drove to Johnson Lake from the Ghost side just before the on set of the death cold, 4WD with studded snows essential. Only got stuck once, Steve and Scott were also in there which was good as it took a 5:1 to get unstuck. Chains would help, a chainsaw might also be good. Fun!

Did Polar Circus on Monday, good conditions to the last tier which was solid 5. No avalanche danger to be found without a hard search for once, great outing. Didn't look like anybody else had done it yet but you never know. Pencil very sharp, give it another week and if it's still there it will be good. Left the car after noon, back in the dark. Great day.

Up Stanley Valley Tuesday, Nemesis looks VERY thin, didn't do it but want to go back, I'd be surprised if anyone had climbed this route this year. Sean's new route, Thriller, is quite good, climbs the back wall of Killer Pillar then rock to ice above for a second pitch, nice route.

Sorcerer is reportedly in great shape as is Hydrophobia. Good route finding allows one to drive to within an hour and a half of Hydro from the Waiprous side of the Ghost, good luck, but it's been done this year.

Hafner Creek is a bit thin but many of the mixed lines are doable with less ice than usual. Two decent ice climbs to play with.

Ghost allegedly in except for Malignant Mushroom, GBU somewhat sun bleached but forming rabidly.

I don't think that stemming between the pillars is an option (not until you hit the curtain above).
The right pillar is good for body weight, but the left was quite thin and fragile. There is a fixed nut and good pin placements at this location, which makes for a safe but exciting lead. The ice at the top was not brittle but it was as hard as cement, felt like W4+. Take note, the initial rock traverse isn't in the usual nightmarish condition, there is a thin layer of styrofoam ice along the polished slab to ease things up.

Nov. 22

did Amadaeus on 19th with Rosco. 1st pitch rock, 2nd pitch starting with
cool stemming between two narrow pillars with rock pro and good dry-tool
placements in between, a bit brittle in spots higher up, but mostly good
steep ice. Probably W5-.

The Tease is reported to be formed completely, and in W6 condition.
also in are the R&D area routes, Parallel Falls (thin & R at bottom), and
Moonshadow Gully is in.

Brett

Gadd Note-- The Ghost is also generally in according to Derek Bodner, lots of good adventures happening now.

Sea of Vapors is in, thin and interesting. We climbed the first two pitches, the third is in as well. The traverse is interesting, the ice on both pitches variable. Good screws 200 feet above the first belay, abalakov left. The third looks good, we were just out of time due to posing for a camera. Minimal snow.

Riptide is in. Bad ice, climbing slabby and not much fun, adequate pro if you dig for it.
Approach gully has a lot of snow in it-- allow extra time to wallow up it. Upper half of rocketman well
formed, bottom half appears a little thin-- but I'm not sure how thin it is supposed to be."

Josh Briggs

See below, same but more, especially along the parkway. No big waterfalls in yet, but mixed coming in nicely.

R&D, Blade, mess of smears up off the highway in the same area, Eamon Walsh has done two new routes, many people have hiked long distances for some degree of reward... It's an odd year, there isn't very much snow up high to freeze-thaw, but some things are coming in quite well while some just aren't there. A lot formed up about three weeks ago then melted, now re-forming.

All the stuff around the Three Sisters, many of the early season smearage along the Icefields Parkway (Walsh's new route climbs rock beside the pillar at the base of the Athabasca Glacier), Rocketman.

There's climbable ice all over the south (north-facing) wall of
Grassi Canyon right now, for example, but 50% of what was there at 11 in the
morning yesterday had fallen down quite spectacularly by 4:30 in the
afternoon. The constant tumult lent a nice alpine ambience to the sport
climbing, but if you'd come with 'poons and leashes instead of slippers and
chalk, the question revolved around WHICH 50% was which - would your chosen
line stay solid, or become sudden surf? And would your belayer still be
standing if and when you managed to top out - the path down to the upper
lake was littered with debris - rock, wood, plates of ice, and sprayed with
water - like a grenade had gone off in a Greek restaurant. Perhaps better to
TR, belayed from the trees above.

Climbed the E. Ridge of Storm Mountain yesterday, there is climbable ice in the Storm Creek Drainage, and all sorts of weird-ass lines forming up everywhere. The Sea of Vapors wall is icing up like mad, there was even ice on Cascade yesterday! Someone has GOT to have climbed something by now, tell me about it! WG