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mother_sheep
Sep 30, 2004, 10:03 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: That's the plan, guess we forgot to invite you. Just joking... :wink: Your family pet will pay for that slight. Just kidding! In reply to: mother_sheep and I are planning to meet at R&J South this afternoon at 5:30pm, climb for a bit then go booze for a bit and talk about upcoming alpine excursions. Great. Would you guys mind giving me a call before you head over to the bar? Thanks. Or your family pet will pay the price.
And what shall we call you Timmy Tim?
Okee. Will do.
And Aaron, I would never point and laugh at you! Unless you were
"That Guy." You know the one that grunts and sweats while trying to work the opening moves of a tricky 5.5. I'd only laugh at him and him only.
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mbg
Oct 1, 2004, 4:34 PM
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It sounds like Lincoln Falls, usually one of the first places to come into shape, is surprisingly "dry" right now. :?
Has anyone been up to the Park in the last week?
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timstich
Oct 1, 2004, 4:42 PM
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In reply to: Has anyone been up to the Park in the last week?
No, but sharpie is going up there this weekend.
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sharpie
Oct 1, 2004, 4:52 PM
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Although the current weather may throw a kink in those plans, all the new snow over the past 24hrs may need a few days to consolidate.
All reports are that the park is coming in early!
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mbg
Oct 1, 2004, 5:10 PM
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The weather doesn't look ideal for the weekend but I don't think all that much snow has fallen recently. If the highcountry was getting dumped on the ski areas would likely be hyping it up; WP and Eldora have only gotten a dusting.
Sharpie, what are you going to try if you make it up there?
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sharpie
Oct 1, 2004, 5:42 PM
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Lamb's Slide > Broadway > Notch Couloir
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mbg
Oct 1, 2004, 6:26 PM
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I was looking at the various webcams and didn't see much but I'll take your word for it! :)
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coclimber26
Oct 3, 2004, 3:26 AM
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Went up to Mosquito Pass near Alma...1/2 inches of windblown...maybe in a few weeks.
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timstich
Oct 3, 2004, 10:47 PM
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Did Dead Dog Couloir with sharpie and michael today. Tracey's asthma inhaler was making her heart rate too high, so she turned around after the hike to the base. There really isn't a good snow coating on the couloir yet, but it's obviously doable. I wore down my crampon points hitting rocks just beneath the snow. There are two climb-ups on the route about 5 feet tall where the snow footing at the base of the steps is hollow. This makes getting up a bit sporting. The route was a blast, none the less, especially the last 200ft. to the summit from the knife edge ridge. Should be in better shape later in the season.
Also, the angle of the slopes never exceeds 45 degrees. We comfortabley soloed it. Maybe bring an 8.8 mm line or something skinny just in case you want to belay. A few slings and some rock pro will suffice. One mountain axe is all you need.
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mbg
Oct 4, 2004, 12:46 PM
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Had a go at Dreamweaver on Mt. Meeker on Saturday and I regrettably have to say that the enthusiastic early season reports that have been circulating the past week or two appear to be a bit overblown. The route is mostly a snow slog with mixed climbing at the steeper sections; we only saw 30-40' of ice on the entire route. All in all, it was a fun but exhausting outing; summer has definitely passed in the highcountry, we saw full winter conditions for much of the day.
We didn't get a great look at the Notch Couloir but what we could see of it didn't look all that good either. The Darkstar Couloir also appeared to be in far from ideal shape. There was a fair amount of ice on the upper Diamond so the Smear of Fear could be decent before long and the positive reports I’ve heard about Alexander's Chimney may be more accurate.
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timstich
Oct 4, 2004, 4:26 PM
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In reply to: Had a go at Dreamweaver on Mt. Meeker on Saturday and I regrettably have to say that the enthusiastic early season reports that have been circulating the past week or two appear to be a bit overblown. The route is mostly a snow slog with mixed climbing at the steeper sections; we only saw 30-40' of ice on the entire route.
That's exactly like it was on July 5th.
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mickymac1
Oct 4, 2004, 5:57 PM
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I'm sitting here in work dreaming about my move to Colorado as I study a topo of RMNP and I notice that Gem Lake Trail is only 1 mile from where I hope to purchase this condo. I invision strapping on a pair of skis or snowshoes and taking a walk up this trail and low and behold I see it takes me to Cow Creek Trail and BRIDAL VEIL FALLS!! Now I know I'm no genius, but I do know that water freezes once the temp reaches 32 or below, so now I envision a backpack with a rope, ice screws, crampons, and ice tools!! Has anyone in here climbed Bridal Veil? Anyone want to once I get my sorry ass out there? Any one know what it might be rated? I'll wait here patiently as I continue to, in the words of Steven Tyler, DREAM ON!!! There's rainbows and lollipops dancing in this boys head today!! :lol:
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mother_sheep
Oct 4, 2004, 7:55 PM
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In reply to: Had a go at Dreamweaver on Mt. Meeker on Saturday and I regrettably have to say that the enthusiastic early season reports that have been circulating the past week or two appear to be a bit overblown. The route is mostly a snow slog with mixed climbing at the steeper sections; we only saw 30-40' of ice on the entire route. All in all, it was a fun but exhausting outing; summer has definitely passed in the highcountry, we saw full winter conditions for much of the day. We didn't get a great look at the Notch Couloir but what we could see of it didn't look all that good either. The Darkstar Couloir also appeared to be in far from ideal shape. There was a fair amount of ice on the upper Diamond so the Smear of Fear could be decent before long and the positive reports I’ve heard about Alexander's Chimney may be more accurate.
A friend of mine attempted Darkstar on Sunday and reported that it was full of heavy, unconsolidated snow. They had to bail. And according to the party on Dreamweaver, the snow was loose and deep!
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mickymac1
Oct 4, 2004, 9:25 PM
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Oooooops!! I think I got confused with THE Bridalveil Falls in Telluride. Damn rainbows in my head and I can't think straight!! :oops:
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cdb1386
Oct 6, 2004, 5:11 PM
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So anything have enough snow to climb and ski down yet?
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mother_sheep
Oct 6, 2004, 7:30 PM
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I see NOTHING! But I guess that means it's covered in clouds?
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sharpie
Oct 6, 2004, 8:11 PM
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Yeah, I've been watching it all day. It was clear this morning, slowly but steadily it has clouded over to the point it is at now...
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pebbleman
Oct 7, 2004, 1:42 PM
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Smear of Fear? Piece of piss. One hell of a march up there though. I lugged some bloke up that thing years ago, he dropped a bunch of my gear off the route, he had this Arcteryx pack with some kind of an external sleeve, no bottom mind you to this feature, just a sleeve. So, he keeps dropping gear into this “feature’, for safe keeping. Zip, down goes my Albalakov hooker. Zip, down go my OR gloves. Zip, down go the pegs. I say, “Hey, friend, did you know that nifty new pack of yours has a hole in it?” It was like Newton comprehending gravity for the first time, quite the revelation, you could see the 40 watt bulb blink on over his head. So we top out (as it were) and rap off, by now I’ve led all the pitches and rigged the rappels so at the bottom he starts wetting himself that it’s getting dark, imagine it getting dark in the winter(!), so off the little sod goes leaving me with the ropes. I finally caught up with him down near tree-line, I was ready to bludgeon the guy and leave him for the crows… (Pretty hilarious in retrospect, I never did find that hooker, but I did spot the glove down the slope a ways.)
Still, I can’t wait to send it leashless. Whether it forms or not this year remains to be seen. I’m not convinced that snow on Broadway is what does the trick, perhaps water percolating down through the massif itself is the real source of the Smear. While we are having a wet year the preceding years have been drought, I’m curious to see if the smear pops out of the lower east face or not this fall.
Yesterday it must have snowed quite hard up in the park as it rained hard all morning and then throughout the day at my place. Some of the routes people have described being on recently in the Park are more freeze/thaw routes for Spring, I wouldn’t expect them to have any ice in them now (e.g., Meeker). I am certain there will be stuff to climb after this storm clears, just bring the rock gear and be ready to dry tool. Snow, then a few warm, sunny days to work on all that fresh snow, drip, drip, drip, and down into the twenties at night. Personally I’m always up for climbing, anything, mixed, ice, cold rock, as long as it’s steep and involves ice tools.
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sharpie
Oct 7, 2004, 1:54 PM
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OK, now that I can see clearly, this cam is not on top of the peak, it is looking directly at the Diamond and the north face. This is Awesome!
http://www.nps.gov/romo/images/netcam.jpg
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mother_sheep
Oct 7, 2004, 1:58 PM
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HOLY crap! It looks so beautiful up there right now.
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timd
Oct 9, 2004, 1:13 AM
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I HAVE THE FEVER, HERE IN A FEW WEEKS OURAY WILL START TO COME IN AS WELL AS RIFLE MOUNTAIN PARK. I HEAR REDSTONE AND CARBONDALE ARE PRETTY GOOD SPOTS. I PERSONALLY HAVE NOT CLIMED IN THESE TWO AREAS BUT WHAT THE HELL, IF IT'S COLD ENOUGH TO STICK A PICK INTO I'LL TRY IT. I'LL LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW THE ICE IS UP HERE
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timstich
Oct 9, 2004, 6:13 PM
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In reply to: I HAVE THE FEVER...
HELLO BURT BRONSON. NICE TO SEE YOU BACK. OR ARE YOU BURT BRONSON, JR.? A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK I SEE.
And now for something completely different. Sharpie (Aaron) and Tim Sharp should be summitting Longs Peak via Notch Couloir about now, Saturday at noon. I see by the cool park webcam that they have clear skies and sun. Looks like some deep, new snow, so we'll hear about conditions when they return or if they had to bail. Deep, loose snow routed a party on Darkstar last weekend, of course. Looking forward to hearing about the climb.
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sharpie
Oct 12, 2004, 3:35 AM
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Conditions were near ideal and the weather was on our side, unfortunately Timmo reaggriavted an ankle injury he had suffered the week before and we had to back off Lamb’s Slide near Alexander’s.
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