Tuesday Ice Climbing Trip Report

So, I didn't get very many pictures of this particular adventure, because the climbing was so amazing. Travis and I originally decided to do Too Cold To Fire Monday, but we were both so fried from Ice Fest that we barely managed to drive up the Valley. So we decided to save it for Tuesday. It was about 42 degrees when we left Deer Creek Campground, and the sun was shining. Good! After freezing to death on Smoked Turkey, I welcomed the change.








Too Cold To Fire.















Travis leading pitch two.














Trav trying to figure out how to get around the headwall.












Tuesday was a perfect day for this kind of climb. It's usually rated a pretty solid WI4, but with the temperature the way it was, sticks came easy. The hardest part was all the weird moves to clear bulges, and getting tools to swing in ways they aren't used to being swung. There were some beautiful windows, just left of Trav's line, where the ice was probably two inches thick, and completely clear. You could see the rock and water running behind the thing. Of course I had to smash one on the way up, since it was the only place I could get a tool to go in. Once over the crux headwall, things were definitely snowcone. One swing would bury an axe to the hilt, until the very top, which was some fairly tricky mixed climbing. For Cody it was tricky, anyway. We were back down to the car by noon, back home by one. Good short day, very much worth the hike.