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stymingersfink
Feb 23, 2006, 7:11 PM
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Fat chance! (but may consider swapping leads x ya
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stymingersfink
Feb 23, 2006, 7:19 PM
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Fat chance! (but may consider swapping leads x ya)
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guanoboy
Feb 26, 2006, 10:00 PM
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Hey this website works! With about 24hrs notice I found a partner for the Stairway on friday (Feb 24th). The route was in fine condition all the way to the top (~p10). This warm weather could be trouble for the P7 pillar and P10 is getting mushy in the sun, but i think the rest of the route will remain in good shape if there is a cold night. The Bridalveil area looked a little rough but, the Finger through the Fang looked to be in great condition from the road.
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stymingersfink
Feb 26, 2006, 11:32 PM
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(shameless narcissism shining bright) Um, you gonna post any pics? I stitched together a panorama of the entire thing... it ended up being somewhere in the neighborhood of 10Mb! One of the commandos in Granny Goose's party reported the elevation gain from bottom to top at 1020' !
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stymingersfink
Feb 26, 2006, 11:35 PM
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BTW, Good job on your leads. I think it was the first time the right side pillar was lead this year. Not too shabby for your first day on the ice this season! You busy this week? Need someone to hit Santaquin with.
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builttospill
Feb 28, 2006, 8:18 AM
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http://community.webshots.com/album/548079927NWvjNw Images from today on White Nightmare (Feb 27). Still in nicely, only one hollow spot and that was on a low-angle section below the second belay (the first if you run the pitches together as some do I believe). It's melting quick, but hopefully the colder weather starting tomorrow (I believe) will slow the melting down some. It's still fat for now.
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builttospill
Feb 28, 2006, 9:03 AM
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out of curiousity: In Provo Canyon, what would be the most likely WI4 climb to be "in" latest in the season? I'm wanting to get out again if possible, but recognize that the ice may be deteriorating quickly. Figure, I might as well know which climbs to try to hit....any suggestions for WI4 late season in Provo Canyon?
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guanoboy
Feb 28, 2006, 3:47 PM
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I'm not a local, but when i was there on friday it looked like the finger of fate, and miller's thriller are really well tucked into ravines. These should hold longer than others.
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stymingersfink
Feb 28, 2006, 6:22 PM
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If the weather changes for the better soon, Stairway to top of P4 should provide you with some good WI4 for a bit. Its north facing aspect and getting less sun than most anything else in the Wasatch helps. Another plus is the fact that with the exception of P4, the pitches are all based on solid ice being bonded to the rock, rather than a tube dependent on remaining closed in order to be ascended. One thing to keep in mind however is the reputation P5 has for falling down en-mass and roaring down the mountain like a freight train. ~sty
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builttospill
Feb 28, 2006, 8:50 PM
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Thanks for that info. Hopefully conditions will stay good so I can get at least one more day on the ice in. I started late and now I'm regretting it.
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stymingersfink
Mar 1, 2006, 8:54 PM
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Have some tissue handy, you may need it. (Click the photo.) Stairway to Heaven, Provo Canyon UT Feb 25, 2006. 1020', from base to summit. 3 pitches WI5 or steeper, 5 pitches WI4, 3 pitches WI3. I stitched the pics together with canon's photostitch software. http://i35.photobucket.com/...h_StairwayStitch.jpg Here is a pic of me on the pillar of Pitch 7 known locally as Highway to Heaven. Thanks to guanoboy for the following pics! You may pick out p7 in the second frame from the top in the above photo. The fixed line i believe is someone's attempt to provide a seed-line for the pillar. It proved largely unsuccessful this year, being about 5' west of it's ideal location for the current flow. The pillar has formed rarely in the past, here you may see it with a base the diameter of my thigh. In the first pic i'm placing my first screw on the pitch! http://i35.photobucket.com/.../ICE/th_121_2101.jpg http://i35.photobucket.com/.../ICE/th_121_2104.jpg
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builttospill
Mar 5, 2006, 3:14 AM
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Meant to post this earlier. Went ice climbing in Provo CAnyon this morning. Messed around on the first two pitches of Stairway to Heaven and they were fine. Felt fine leading the first two pitches. Not sure about above that, but it was fun climbing. Things were melting, but I think it's getting cold enough at night to stall it some, at least for a little while. I'd say if you want to climb, there's ice to be had. The Bridal Veil drainage routes like White Nightmare might still be doable but I didn't get a close look. I'd guess they're still fine. Stairway was fine, but you had to choose where you wanted to go if you wanted FAT ice. There were some hollow sections, but there were sections with plenty of ice. And temps look okay overnight the next few days, so you'll be fine I'd imagine. Sorry I don't know more about the upper pitches, but we were just messing around mostly. Got my first "hard" ice lead in though.
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stymingersfink
Mar 5, 2006, 4:58 PM
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Spent yesterday on some R&R (recon and relaxation). Low-down on the Hoe-down: Put your tools away and bust out the skis, it's time to ski corn. Possibly the only piece of ice that's climable is Squash Head down in Santaquin Canyon. I'll not hold my breath to see if Maple is still standing, let alone waste the gas to go down there. So, that was the recon part of my day yesterday. For the relaxation half, I hiked into the tubs at diamond fork. Well, it was kinda recon, too. Supposedly there's some ice in the general area there, but I saw none other than what was covering the trail. Someone's done some real nice rock-work up thatta way, y'all outta check it out.
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builttospill
Mar 7, 2006, 12:20 AM
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Hey stymingersfink: Looks to be very cold again this week, highs at 8000 feet around 20 or below for the next several days following tonight's predicted snowstorm. Ice should be good for a bit at least if people want to still climb. A question for you: have you ever climbed the Timpanogos Couloir? It's in Ice Climbing Utah, as WI3-4 on the north side of the cirque and a gully above it eventually leads to the summit of Robert's Horn. The book says it is better as a fall climb because heavy snows cover the ice and make it more of a steep snow climb. Any thoughts? I'd like to get out and do it sometime this season, but I'm not sure when the best time is and you seem to know a lot more about this area than the folks I climb with. Any thoughts? Not really looking to skin up that high to find it out of condition.
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brianinslc
Mar 8, 2006, 10:32 PM
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In reply to: Looks to be very cold again this week, highs at 8000 feet around 20 or below for the next several days following tonight's predicted snowstorm. Ice should be good for a bit at least if people want to still climb. Gettin' a bit late for Utah ice, especially at our usual low elevation locations. Be careful pushin' the season out too far. It can all come crashin' down. Or you can. Or wet slides. Etc.
In reply to: A question for you: have you ever climbed the Timpanogos Couloir? It's in Ice Climbing Utah, as WI3-4 on the north side of the cirque and a gully above it eventually leads to the summit of Robert's Horn. The book says it is better as a fall climb because heavy snows cover the ice and make it more of a steep snow climb. Any thoughts? Some times the conditions on Timp pop up on Telemarktips website. Careful up there... http://www.avalanche.org/ -Brian in SLC
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builttospill
Mar 9, 2006, 1:05 AM
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I watch the telemarktips site as well, but nothing's been mentioned just yet. And don't worry--no venturing up toward Emerald Lake in anything but low avy conditions. Too many burials up there over the last 3 years. I won't be able to get out this weekend anyway as I have other skiing and climbing plans, so it's kind of irrelevant anyway. I would like to climb Timpanogos Couloir sometime this year, but I'll have to check conditions later in the season to see what it's looking like up high.
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stymingersfink
Mar 12, 2006, 12:14 AM
Post #44 of 48
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In reply to: A question for you: have you ever climbed the Timpanogos Couloir? It's in Ice Climbing Utah, as WI3-4 on the north side of the cirque and a gully above it eventually leads to the summit of Robert's Horn. The book says it is better as a fall climb because heavy snows cover the ice and make it more of a steep snow climb. Any thoughts? I'd like to get out and do it sometime this season, but I'm not sure when the best time is and you seem to know a lot more about this area than the folks I climb with. Any thoughts? Not really looking to skin up that high to find it out of condition. Yeah, what brian said^^... that, and see too the approaches to Marys Lake climbs in the Joes Valley section. Got one of those handy? With the road closed it's a little farther than I care to skin in on a weekend. BTW, took a friend down to squash head last weekend... well actually she took me. The bottom section (of the ice, you ass-hat. get your mind outta my gutter) had a nasty 6" horizontal gash in it and it was warm, but she wanted to climb, so I drug a rope up to the one-bolt on the left. I didn't bother placing gear, cause the ice was soft enough that it probably wouldn't have held if I had fallen. Bringing her up, the wind blew a cantaloupe-sized boulder off the upper reaches of the climb, it detonating about 15 feet away from my position at the bolt and continued on down the climb. When she arrived at the belay it didn't take much convincing to get her to rap off, and I quickly followed. In short, I stand by my previous analysis that its time to put away the tools and bust out the skis/snowboard. Unless you're going to drive to canada, eh?
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stymingersfink
Mar 15, 2006, 1:56 AM
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quick FY-eye... provo canyon was looking like mid-november yesterday afternoon. It would appear that everything below 5 has fallen completely off, and is in the process of reforming. It would have been thin, virgin ice to the top of 4. However, the temps were in the high 40's- low 50's today, so don't know how it looks today. Probably not much worse. I was hearing reports of Storm Mountain trying to form, but with the hour or two of direct sun we got this afternoon, I haven't bothered to drive up there and check it yet. Full Moon tonight (?) would be a good time to go for a run up something easy.
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builttospill
Mar 15, 2006, 4:50 PM
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if you get info on storm mountain forming up, let me know, will you? I have a friend who was interested in it this fall but never found a good time to go. I live too far away (by my standards) to drive up there and check, especially just for a damn friend.
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brianinslc
Mar 15, 2006, 5:28 PM
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In reply to: if you get info on storm mountain forming up, let me know, will you? I have a friend who was interested in it this fall but never found a good time to go. I live too far away (by my standards) to drive up there and check, especially just for a damn friend. Looked fair last weekend on Saturday. Surprisingly fair. Ditto Scottish Gully on the JACOB wall. Both thin and scratchy, but, looked sorta doable. So hit and miss. Any sun a'tall and they're gone. -Brian in SLC
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nieder
Feb 6, 2009, 7:15 PM
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I have created a new site for Utah ice conditions, check it out, please sign up and contribute! http://iceutah.com/
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