Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 10, 2011 - 04:32pm PT
silver strand is shaping up
Credit: mctwisted
silver strand and artist bowl
Credit: mctwisted
tis the season, and some things are starting to look climbable, thought you hardcore guys like vitaliy would want to see this.
the strand is getting fatter every day, still has a hole in it where theres running water, and the first pitch is a little thin, but crux ice pitch looks thick enough. it probably is climbable but not protectable. ive seen it be alot better for leading, might be good in about a week???. artist bowl is looking thin. widows tears is not even close to having enough there
i have a bit of carpentry work to do up in foresta off and on this next month, so ill try to take pics every week when i drive by
also when reading the tahoe ice thread a guy was asking about easy to get to ice to play on in yosemite. we used to go up near nevada falls, not the mist trail but i think its the john muir trail, and right before the top of nevada falls, theres alot of ice on the trail itself, with t.r.ing below the wall (100+ feet?) and leading/bouldering on a blast cut above the trail, this is like 12' vert and then slab ice for 50'? all fairly mellow and a great spot to play for a few hours, with incredible views
That was me looking for noob ice beta... Thanks for the tip!
... wife and I met Sue last year while staying in one of the cabins. Didn't connect the names to the faces! Might have been stoopit enough to say we'd been climbing (you know, like some gnarly 7's?...).
<sheepish grin>
holly's right. upper sentinel falls looks pretty good, thats the section above the unconnected fang, (the fang i believe only had one ascent when walt and fosberg went up and did the whole enchilada from the ground (pretty sick stuff)
that upper sent. is i think 4 pitches of fun wi3, and stays good for awhile(stable)
where the strand and widows tears will fall off with a warm spell,sent. stays good
two ways to approach, now with the lack of snow, the four mile trail is the way to go, or if it snows a bit climbers can ski/snowshoe from badger, actually now if the road was open to badger you could ride your bike out there with the lack of snow (on the glacier point road)? but i bet its closed to the bottom till the ski area gets up to speed
Thanks for the pics and conditions comments, mctwisted.
Scoped out ice conditions with binoculars on Wednesday (12/14/11).
Despite our wishful thinking, the Widow's Tears, Silver Strand, and Artist Bowl ice (also called Octopussy?) still appeared too thin. Developing, but not there, yet. We went with our fall-back plan (as expected) to climb warm rock in the sun on Wednesday and Upper Sentinel Falls ice on Thursday.
Widow's Tears, Silver Strand, and Artist Bowl ice on 12/14/11.
Credit: BMcC
Sentinel Falls - with 4 well formed upper pitches, Yabo's Tooth touching down, and water pouring down the bottom 4 pitches of the falls (the Dream Stream) on 12/14/11.
Credit: BMcC
Upper Sentinel Falls on 12/15/11. The 3rd and 4th pitches from the top were pretty wet in the early afternoon (the temp had been 25 in camp at 4 a.m. in the Valley, but rose to the mid-40s).
good job BMcC
yeh every ice climb ive ever done here has been wet, just part of the west side ice program, i remember on the crux pitch of upper sentinal putting in my tool and punching a hole that immediately started covering me with water like a hose on full blast
19 degrees here in e.p. so ice is still building
i bet it was nice not having to trudge around in 3' of snow up top to get to the base of the route
thanks for the pics, that is very inspiring,
if anyone is thinking of doing any ice in yosemite please let me know so i can take some pics from down below, thanks
dan
p.s. glacier point road open, which saves many hours of hiking to get in position to do upper sentinal falls
Wow. Those Valley ice climbs could be the ultimates if they would only freeze up. Tempted to make the poor choice and buy a plane ticket as I have two weeks of vacation right now.
yeh kevin, the bonus for me would be walking down without having snow up to the armpits and wallowing for miles like the last couple times!!!:)
bottom of widows tears 12/19/11
Credit: mctwisted
yabo tooth and below
Credit: mctwisted
dream stream
Credit: mctwisted
were getting the fairly low temps at night, but its shorts weather at the cookie during the day, so i know its pretty wet up there. im crossing my fingers for colder temps. seems like everything ive climbed here is wet though, till it gets dark and then of coarse we still have climbing to do and the ropes all freeze up to 15mm, and you cant use the belay devise. good thing we were taught the body belay! sometimes i wonder if these things should be best climbed at night when its cold and dry???
kev got any fa shots of widows you can share?
That descent is a hellish gully wallow if you went the way we did. I remember Minx being covered with snow from head to toe, as he was wearing all pile, and we were basically ploughing our way down the gully sometimes in control, sometimes not so much. Fun times.
Really cool - some rarely seen/climbed formations there.
Was it 1995 that was the monster year on the eastside? (Bridgeport flooded out). 2-3 pitches formed on the N. side of Lee Vining, Leversee and Andy Selters (though maybe not together) got on that thing. There was all kinds of ice madness down in Whitney Portal too, good times.
yeh, i remember leversee's voice whenever he talked about that thing, sounded real serious like, and in total awe, wason might have been there with him too. i look up there every summer when im cragging in that amphitheater, and try to imagine what it would look like, but its so overhanging and with the roofs its hard to picture (might be something like that wicked yabo tooth). wouldnt it be cool if someone had a shot of that thing (with those guys on it)???
dan, on that ice you're talking about on the north side of lee vining canyon, i remember andy telling me that was a crazy formation with lots of overhanging chandelier ice. either he or his partner took a pretty big fall as i recall. i'll email andy and see if we can get a report.
heres a few shots from today, pretty sure drug dome had 5 parties climb it today! (and greg you did have the correct beta with the raps being on crystal meth) widows tears is liking this weather and getting thicker, artist bowl looks in, and the strand is hanging in and getting thicker
drug dome midday
Credit: mctwisted
Credit: mctwisted
tears
Credit: mctwisted
lower part of the tears
Credit: mctwisted
after googling widows tears to try to find a shot of mark chapman and kevin worrall on the fa, i stumbled across shots of nidivers crew up there doing some wild looking mixed climbing to get up to the fat ice, pretty sick looking stuff the mixed climbers are doing nowadays! makes me rethink if something might be climbable or not
35º in Yosemite Valley at 6:30 a.m. this morning, the warmest morning in weeks. I'm under Yosemite Falls, and there are some strange Pohono winds blowing, too, which can make it warmer.
Illilouette Falls is one of the most beautiful ice climbs I've ever seen, a stunning shade of blue. I really wish we'd taken a camera up there. I doubt it gets climbed much because aside from the usual problems with Valley ice, it's very hard to scope from any convenient locations.
Walt and I had been on somewhat of a roll ice climbing in Yosemite. We bagged the probable first ascent of Sentinel Falls and the super-unlikely Nevada Falls over the course of a few winters around 1990. We'd heard rumors Jay Smith was chomping at the bit to do Illilouette Falls and it was a route we'd talked about doing. Walt kind of loved it I think when he could imagine someone else gunning for the exact thing he wanted to do.
We walked up there during a particularly cold spell to have a look but also with all our gear just in case it was in. You almost have to get all the way to the base of that thing before you can even see it. We passed several promising lines on the right on the way up Tenaya Canyon. When we got to the base we were blown away because it was fully formed.
It was warm though, probably right around freezing and it kind of gave me the creeps because it's so big and such a high-flow route. The first pitch was totally running with water. I remember Walt saying something to the effect of, "This things gonna come down any minute, we gotta get on it!". He was right about the first but maybe not the second.
I remember a little discussion about what probably was going to be the second pitch and crux. Walt had lead the Yabo Tooth (although hanging to put in screws) on Sentinel Falls, and the crux of Nevada Falls so I felt strongly that I wanted the crux on this one just to keep it fair. He agreed willingly.
The route wound up being 3 pitches and not too hard technically, probably 4+/5 but very memorable for the beauty and remoteness of the location and as with all Valley ice climbs, the utter unlikeliness of it all.
artist bowl looks in, white fang is in, and upper sentinal falls is in, the yabo tooth looks good??? lets just hope the weather guys are wrong and its not going to warm up like they are saying
Wedberg - Excellent! Looks steep. How many pitches?
Thanks, it was fun. It'll go with two 30m+ pitches with the transition happening at the big obvious ledge. My partner was nice enough to let me have the whole thing and I did the climb to just above the steepest section on the face in one pitch with a 70m rope. The photo I shared above was taken from the road. Here's the photo again for reference:
Ice formation near Stately Pleasure Dome, December 22, 2011
Credit: Wedberg
The lower area of the climb is difficult to see but actually has some difficult and delicate climbing on a couple of thin pillars. The large boulders are obscuring the view.
The main face visible in the photo is steep and thin. It took delicate placements and carefully placed 10cm screws (with screamers attached!).
I'm uploading to my photo gallery site photos that my partner and I took. They should all be up by tomorrow morning and I can post a link to them. In the meantime here are a couple more photos of the climb:
Climbing a small pillar on the lower section.
Credit: Wedberg
Above the lower pillar. I stemmed my foot out on the rock to the right. Rock pro around 3/4" would have been handy here. The ice was poorly protected.
Credit: Wedberg
On the main face that's easily visible from the road.
When I looked at that ice on Tuesday-Dec20 in the afternoon, the wind was blowing and the air temp was pushing 40. The ice looked like it had seen a lot of sun and seemed pretty thin on the steep headwall.
The route gets morning sun at around 8-ish. The 22nd was definitely more windy than the 19th when Trevor and I climbed Drug Dome. The wind stayed with us for the entire time we were on the route. The air temperature remained cold and the ice never showed signs of water dripping. The sun leaves the route by early afternoon.
The photo galleries are almost done uploading now as I type this. You can view the rest of the photos here:
Thanks man... it was a fun climb. Thanks for all your pics of these various formations that are in right now.
Trevor is having trouble finding the history of this route we just climbed. Do you or anybody else out there know anything? Who did the FA? What year? Any cool stories about it?
Posting from LatteDa in Lee Vining. Just came over from the Valley. South rim of the Valley, all waterfalls are formed up as u can see from pics above. Ice skating on Tenaya lake on 6" of ice. Good ice in Lee Vining Cyn. Several parties climbing. Yours truly testing out the new Black Prophet tools I got from TYeary on the left side falls below the dam. Easy access right now. Pictures to follow when I get home n unload the camera.
E and I did the upper Sentinal falls this morning. It was 3 fun pitches probably 600' worth of blue ice. First pitch WI4 second WI3 and the third a 2. A little wet but not to bad. We were hoping for a bigger prize like the Strand but we didn't feel like it was quite ready. We bagged the Drug Dome route and upper Sentinal going home with 5 pitches of ice neither of us had done before. I am driving home content.
McTwisted -- thanks for the great photos!!! Climbing the white line on Drug Dome with Vic was fun, and to have you capture a few images was the coolest gift ever. You are the Santa I never had.
since there's a few more ice climbers now than back when i used to climb ice, i just wanted to let you guys know that the ice climbs in the valley area that survive the warm snaps are usually upper sentinal and white fang (they are both much more stable than the ice down lower in the valley. both are up high and in the shade, and a pretty quick approach now with the glacier point road open. theres some pretty good info from tommy's post on the upper sentinal back a few posts, i'm not sure if my beta to him was correct for these conditions but you can almost walk down to the base of the 3-4 pitches if you take the ramp down (to the east of the climb), we had snow years ago when i did it so did perhaps one rappel to get to the bottom of the ramp.
also if your looking for some mellow wi3- (2 pitch) to play on, consider white fang, sue and i lead the main route and t.r. ed another nearby, but there was one route way left (shown in photo) and one way right, that is hidden by buttress. probably in the same range of difficulty, that may have never been climbed. i dont know anyone thats ever been out there, except chapman and rudy tried to find it years ago and got turned around in the woods. to get there park at the taft point trailhead, walk to taft, then west following the rim, to ice (1.1mi. to taft then west less than mile??? to ice) big trees to rap in to bottom, around 200'???.
you can lead or do everything on t.r. with big tree anchors. the ice can be seen by walking more west around to the top of the buttress that can be seen in the pic, to the west of ice
white fang can be seen from the pullout near the entrance to manure pile, and upper sentinal best from pullout before rixons
this would be a great weekend destination to do both climbs, and if a guy really wanted to get the heart pumping you could go down to the yabo tooth too !(hee hee)
some fun easier ice climbs (white fang)
Credit: mctwisted
whiteFang
Credit: mctwisted
great views of el cap from white fang
Credit: mctwisted
the white fang
Credit: mctwisted
also for you eastside guys looking for another 2 pitch route, sue and i (when we lived at tpr in the winter) did this cool wi3 back at cascade lake (at the base of north peak). go to north side of saddlebag, hike to cascade lake and you will see beautiful east facing blue ice, when we did it there was a great big ice cave half way up the route to belay in
Kurt that looks cool, nice score.
Hopefully twill stay cold after this brief warm up in order to do some more mystery ice pitches
Thanks Dave! The climb is a lot of fun. Here's another angle on it that shows the lower section of the climb a little better than the previous picture I posted earlier.
On the lower section we climbed the right drip just to the right of center of the photo. On the upper part we climbed the left side of that curtain. It looked like the right side would go as well. The issue would be getting to it.
While climbing it was obvious to us that nobody had been on this flow this year. We're still trying to find anybody who knows its climbing history. Maybe a past backcountry ranger or former TPR employee?
Ice formation near Stately Pleasure Dome.
Credit: Wedberg
Kurt I looked at that Thursday I think... isn't it right where "Fuel Rod" is located?
Nice score!
Thanks Tom! If you looked at this in the morning on Thursday you may have seen us on the route. We were off of it by late morning though.
I think "Fuel Rod" is located much farther to the left from where this formation is. It's about a 1 minute drive east of Tenaya Lake.
Yea Dan your beta was good and helpful.The only thing I would do different is not take the ramp approach. It was a casual 30 minute stroll to the top of the falls from the Sentinel Dome parking. From there we skirted around the rim to the east to the recommended ramp that took us to the base of the upper part of the falls. The ramp was a KNARLY bush whack. Once we committed and dropped in there was not going back. I think the ramp is were Yogi (the Bear that is not Werner) bivies for the winter. There was a ton of bear sh#t and a lot of nice caves to hide in. Anyway I think it would be better to just go to the top of the falls and rap into the climb. The top of the first and second pitches both have fixed rock belays. You would only have to leave an anchor on the top to get into the route. We did it Friday morning and it looked as though it had been climbed a few days prior to us. I sure wish the valley hosted colder temps for longer periods of time then the frozen water would be as world class as the rock.
Cool Scott! Did our V-threads melt out yet? Did you take it all the way to the rim? Wasn't it an awesome vibe in Tenaya canyon right now? Way to motivate!
Ice in the Meadows--both Kurt's line and Drug Dome--is good as of today. Though it did seem warm by the afternoon, the ice seemed fine--no real dripping or softness. Looked like there might be some other things through the trees West of Medlicott Dome, but I didn't have time to trudge over there to see if it was just a winter-style mirage or if it was real...
Actually it's in the picture - red is Fuel Rod, and yellow is High Heels:
Thanks for clarifying that Greg. I've never climbed "Fuel Rod" (obviously) but tom Carter must have been correct. I used this SuperTopo page to answer tom's question. The picture of "Fuel Rod" in the SuperTopo page makes it look like it's in a different area.
And nice job, Trevor and Kurt!! Matt and I looked at that, but didn't have time for a "close look..." maybe next week??? :)
Thanks Vic! I'd be psyched to see that line get another ascent this year. Trevor and I keep looking around for somebody else who's previously climbed it and so far we haven't found anybody. We're certain it hasn't been climbed this year but I'm curious to know if it forms the same way consistently each year or if it varies. Or, maybe on a "normal year" it's covered in snow? Get in touch if you want some beta and definitely let us know if you guys give it a go! According to Brian (a couple posts above) on the 26th: Ice in the Meadows--both Kurt's line and Drug Dome--is good as of today.
Though it did seem warm by the afternoon, the ice seemed fine--no real dripping or softness.
The good news is this climb gets morning sun but by noon-ish it's back in shade. Hopefully it'll stay there until the snow falls!
Friend and I did Third Pillar on 24th of Dec. We saw Dana Couloir. There was no streaks of ice obvious, but on the way out we saw couple of guys who did it and said there was a bit ice in there. I saw some streaks of water ice on North face of Dana itself. Will post pics tonight...
Please post regarding current conditions on Drug dome if someone climbs it. I am most likely going to attempt it on Friday if the thing is safe enough with this temperature rise...
Hiked up there last spring. Parked halfway up to tunnel view, gained the old road and then go up before the major stream that crosses the old road. The stream will take you west of the SS. Steep but not bad.
I went up this morning for a second lap on Kurt's new(?) line. Two days made a big difference. I was on it early, well before the sun came around, and it was streaming with water. I was without a partner today, so I soloed up to the big halfway ledge and then walked around left to drop a line and mini-traxion the crux curtain. (Note to self, mini-traxion on a single 8.2 cord feels sketchy, even though it's rated down to 8mm ropes.) I was off the route about the time the sun came around and hit it, and was bouldering over by the Knobs by 9:00am.
Anyhow, the crux curtain was running with water (behind it and on the surface). The climbing was straightforward and no harder, but it would be stubbies in wet, soft ice for pro. There are lots of folks stronger, braver, and more experienced than I, but I have been ice climbing a long time and I would definitely call it absolute no-fall territory in its current condition. I'd trust the stubbies in the thicker, upper section; but in the lower part of the curtain they might hold body weight.
Thanks Kurt for posting about this. I'm up on the Eastside a lot, but I'm no local so I feel super lucky to have gotten two laps on this route.
On another note, there is indeed another sheet of ice west of Medlicott Dome (on the south side of the road). It looks relatively low angle, and from across the valley I couldn't see how thick it is. There is also another column coming out of a chimney uphill from Kurt's line, but it looks pretty sun-baked and I didn't walk up to check it out. If we get another serious cold snap it might be worth a recon.
Not sure how these temps are impacting the Drug Dome route. There was a car parked there when I drove in this morning, so maybe that team will post up.
Brian
Ice west of Medlicott (sorry for the image quality, taken with a cell phone).
Credit: Brian
Ice uphill from Kurt's line (sorry for image quality, taken with a cell phone).
Brian -- good on ya' for firing up the Stately Pleasure route one more time. Superbum Vic and I checked it out this morning around 10 am and it sounded like a navigable waterway. As we discussed what to do, we watched ice exfoliating from the route. Ah, life on a warming planet.
Instead, we headed for a yellowish flow southeast of Lee Vining Canyon. From a distance it looked like a longish vertical route. If you've looked at it and thought about shwacking over to check it out, well, I'd recommend enjoying it from a distance. It's short, pretty low-angle, and getting wet by early afternoon. That said, it would make a great first-timer's lead or a nice venue to teach ice climbing. The shwack through willows and cliff bands means there will be short lines, as opposed to the routes in LVC right around the corner.
As to Silver Strand approach, there is a band of talus which runs up the fall line towards the buttress btw Widow's Tears and the Strand, it's visible on Google Earth, pretty much from road to cliff. After you reach the toe of the buttress, you can follow the base of the wall up and right to the Silver Strand. The park spot is a long dirt shoulder on the north side of the grade up to the Wawona Tunnel.
Hardly any bush if you go the right way. This year it should be cake - when there's loads of snow the talus is hellish.
Me an Macronut are gonna go get frostbite on Snake Dike on New Years Day. Anybody know if we will be able to refill water from the river above Nevada and Vernal? Is it still trickling or is it frozen? I really dont want to carry water for the whole day from the car nor carry a stove. Any beta would be great.
Thanks.
Scott
Micronut - was in Little Yosemite Valley Tuesday doing some recon on the waterfall ice west of Bunnell Point. It was balmy warm in the sun. It's been warmer since so maybe there is more open water on the Merced than noted below.
BTW - climbed Snake Dike on 10/9/11 in the afternoon sun and found the top of the descent down the cables to be pretty iced-up. Attentiveness recommended.
Open water?? There were patches of open water out away from the river bank...
Open water coming off Vernal Falls (12/27/11).
Credit: BMcC
-and this-
Nevada Falls from the adjacent overlook (12/27/11).
Credit: BMcC
Other stretches like this:
An icy bit above Nevada Falls (12/27/11)
Credit: BMcC
It has been warmer, so there's probably lots more open water now...
2 guys had a TR set up on the ice just below Ellery Lake. Approach from 120 to top of this ice is about hmmm...45 seconds?
Drug Dome
Credit: em kn0t
Drug Dome looked pretty wet and thin from the road (but it looks that way in photos upthread on the day people climbed it)
Ice above 120 near Pywiack
Credit: em kn0t
Photo from parking area for Pywiack. This ice also looked pretty wet and thin in spots
Roadside ice just east of Yosemite Creek
Credit: em kn0t
solo'd this pretty little icefall just east of Yosemite Creek, probably WI zero but some nice ice and fun to strap on the crampons and swing the old CFBPs.
Maybe not this year, but BMcC's Vernal photo gives hope for an FA one day. Like, the icicles on either side of the flowing water would only need to extend a little farther down, to provide a continuous path from bottom to top.
Just went ice climbing for my first time today at Lee Vining! I'm so hooked!
I have everything, but axes. If anyone is looking for a partner (experienced alpinist, trad/bigwall climber, but ice newbie) hit me up! I'm roadtripping until the 16th.
Can anyone report current conditions in the canyon? Looks like there might finally be weather moving in at the end of the week. How is access to Ellery Falls if Tioga road ends up closed? Thanks all!
Access to Ellery Falls is the normal approach to Lee Vining Ice, though with minimal snow on the approach once these systems come in, the approach is a bit treacherous.
It should be noted that Ellery Falls gets real ugly once the snow buries that lower angle ice.
Climbed Drug Dome last Wednesday and it was still good. It's getting thinner but I think it'll hang in there for another couple weeks. Our line next to "Fuel Rod" is officially done.
Lee Vining Cyn is good but limited climbs have coverage.
Drug Dome Ice on January 11, 2012
Credit: Wedberg
Climbing the first pitch on Drug Dome, January 11, 2012. The ice is getting slightly thinner but there's still plenty there.
Credit: Wedberg
What's left of the ice formation next to "Fuel Rod" January 11, 2012.
Since the pass has closed, and the buzz over high country ice has quieted, it seems fitting to give a final shout out to those unique and appreciated conditions. What an ice season we had through December and the first half of January. Don't get me wrong, I'm psyched to have snow to ski on and smooth the approach to LVC (where, incidentally, ice contiinues to grow... the Main Wall should be good to lead any day now...), but we sure made the most of those dry conditions. I told a skiing and climbing buddy, "we're probably not getting any snow because we're having too much fun on the ice. We should be sulking more".
What does the Valley ice look like lately? Anything at all?
Check out this video from the Cloud's Rest ice. Pardon the "salesy" intro... it really is just a story. We climbed the day the pass closed. The ranger let us out, and closed the gate behind us. I bet the warm storm renewed some of the water flow, replacing the ice where we "climbed" rock. Someone get adventurous and get in there again.
Here's from my first time ice climbing, Jan 9, 2012. I don't recall the name of this fall. It is one of the first ones when hiking up LV Canyon. My buddy Ted had rolled his ankle the day before and didn't feel up to leading it. So we scrambled up to the rapp slings, rapped to the 3 bolt anchor, and set a full pitch top rope.
It was crazy that we rock climbed in the Gorge without shirts, skied Mammoth another day, then went ice climbing another day....all within an hour's travel of each other.
Credit: PAUL SOUZA
And a video of me on my second day. I'm hooked! However, too bad I live on the west side of the Sierras. :(
There are 2 ratings for The Widow's Tears - climbable and unclimbable. Looks pretty good for this time of year.
Better scramble if you're aspiring
David, a little further down river, just up from the Pohono bridge, you can get the critical lower section in your photo from the river's edge. In case you didn't know
Man, that ice in Tuolumne looks AWESOME - way to get after it guys!!
I think the ice in Yosemite is always wet.
Leversee, EC Joe and I did Upper Sentinel Falls back in the '80's and got absolutely drenched.
Then, after an ice climbing trip to Canada where it was wicked cold and everything was dinner plated, Tom Davies and I went up and did Silver Strand and it was like plastic - compared to what we had been climbing on up in Canada.
Actually, we climbed at Reeds the day before in t-shirts, and Werner, you may not remember this, but you were like, yer' going to die, when you heard we were going to go up to the Strand the next day. Of course we got to the base and there was a big hole with water clearly gushing. I remember saying, I'll just climb up a ways and check it out - ha, ha - anyway, we had water coming out of pick holes, but got to the top only to find a huge horizontal crack about 10' below the top. The route fell down three days later...
I had always wanted to do that route after spending several months in Patagonia with Walt - and hearing him rave about his epic on it. Never got to do Widows Tear though....
These two guys Jason and Greg are locals who live and work here.
Greg is a contractor who works all the time but he's done lots of El Cap routes, Fitzroy, Cerro Torre, and free climbs hard trad all while working full time.
These guys were off the couch to speak on this and just went for it.
Blah blah blah
Gagner
Yeah I remember that. The strand has more of a history of water coming out of the pick holes.
It's a scary fuker because of that along with the cauliflower ice up there.
Mayfield free soloed and he had that problem with water gushing out.
Scary ass sh!t!
I was with Shipley once and the whole ice pillar broke with me on it and Walt and Stretch were belaying me with no anchor sliding towards the edge from the weight. (not on Widows Tears)
LOL good stuff ... :-)
And Bruce
Some of us are too poor to fly all over the place to play .....
They climbed it on the 1st? After it was 20F as the night time low? WOW that sounds crazy with all the honesty. Even if it was cooler higher up, it is still pretty warm for ice after just one day of real cold. Well it is awesome they did!
Werner - if i remember correctly from a phone conversation almost decades ago with Peter, his solo of the Silver Strand was even more exciting than just water gushing out. I think he said he broke a pick when he was way, way up there and had to hang off one tool while replacing the broken pick on his other tool.
here's a shot of the tears 6 days ago. looks like the curtain fell off the day before this shot was taken. good job to the guys climbing this in less than ideal conditions
yeh i remember doing the strand with peter and his crampon loosened up leading the second pitch, he somehow finished the pitch though
I flew out to Salt Lake once for some "sweet" ice climbing. Of course you buy the cheap ticket a couple of weeks in advance and don't know what conditions you are going to get. Well, a warm front came in and when we arrived is was kind of warm misty all over. Not rain, but you'd get wet after an hour in the stuff. Anyway, we had flown in to climb so we went climbing. On our way in two locals were coming down saying "its too warm". But we went up anyway. Actually, I was like "maybe not today", but my (shall remain nameless) partner insisted. A pitch up Stairway to Heaven I feel the whole curtain settle a couple of inches (should have been a clue). I'm freaked. "leave a f*#king screw and lets get out of here." But no, younger voices pushed me on and up. About 15 minutes later the whole f*#king curtain to our right came down. Maybe 100' wide by 100' high sheet of ice just peeled away from the bare rock. All this less then 100' from us. Finally we got real and bailed. And I made a vow, never to climb on warm ice again. Sh#t does happen.....
Chappy and I hiked in and toproped the Tears (top pitch) one time after our ascent. There are big firs just back from the rim 50 ft or so as I remember.
Some great potential photo positions on the east side rim, as it drops steadily and hooks out to a point where you're looking straight across at the upper third.
It's not too far from the Dewey Point XC ski trail.
David, your photo of the mixed lines to the east of the Tears fires up memories of considering attempting to climb those. There are about three prominent lines which may someday get done with the right combination of conditions. The upper ice climbing looks like it could be spectacular.
With global warming, I don't know if it'll ever happen - the existing temps are so marginal - but maybe some day....
And the middle section of The Tears is climbed to the right of the recent missing section where the curtain remained. If that section hung in there while the side of it dropped, it must be stuck on there pretty good.
Right?
And if you're past the traverse underneath that section early in the day, you're good...
Right?
: )
"What's the worst that could happen?" - Ron Kauk
That route is basically never going to be 100% bomber - it looks pretty solid in that photo - if the temps hold, or lower.
The Valley's funny, temp wise, the inversion layer can mean higher temps on the rim than the floor at times, but that changes. It seems the clear day or two right after a cold snowstorm is about the best bet.
What's the rating on it anyways? Must not be any harder than wi4-5 with some runout sections maybe? It's the objective danger and conditions that is the crux, or there is some hard climbing there too?
I gotta admit, even after all these years, I still get excited whenever it gets climbed. Its such a rare and beautiful climb. Kevin and I were so lucky to get the FA...and survive the experience! Kevin pegged it: rarely will you ever find it in ideal conditions. Probably the closest was in 78 when Dale and Ron did the second ascent and Ed Barry and I did the third. It was so good. Unbelievable really. A complete change from what Kevin and I experienced. I just had to do it again. It was a cold snowy winter that year. Several feet of snow in the Valley floor. The approach was horrendous. I remember once flailing in snow up to my armpits crossing snow covered talus. The drainage from the heavy snow helped it fill in really nicely. Kevin and I did it in mid Feb. of 1975 and the ascents in 1978 were also done in mid Feb. Seems rather late in the year for ice climbing. Goog job Greg and Jason!
Warbler, I was just asking about the ratings to see if it is even worth it for me to bug anyone to walk over to the base and look at it with me. I am fairly new to ice, but like it and obtained more confidence after my last trip. Not Yosemite, but a beautiful spot. I think I took some ok photos there too, check it out if you like TRs: http://vividrea1ity.blogspot.com/2013/01/hyalite-my-post-christmas-break.html
Will post here after I load more pics to the site, it is annoyingly slow....
Anyway, it is such a good feeling to feel like something that seemed WAY THE HELL ABOVE me, as MAYBE possible. Right time, right partner, good luck, and maybe one day....would love to do that climb on the Watchtower too. Did many of you do that one too? Seems cool.
"I remember once flailing in snow up to my armpits crossing snow covered talus"
Had to really want it to go through that eh chillywip? That's history right there!
sure does look good
heres another little morsel, just left of pulpit rock, looks like fair kicks
cant remember hearing of anyone ever doing it, never really noticed it before???
perhaps this will be a good ice year!
Here is some ice on the eastern edge of the park off the Dana Plateau. Has it been climbed? Does it have a route name? It is just climber's left of Cocaine Chute, which is on the right edge of the photo. I didn't really get close enough to get a realistic idea of the quality or attractiveness... The photo is from 2012.
Not in the Park, but very close...
Credit: bearbnz
Nothing to do with ice, but here is an aerial photo of the 3rd Pillar on Dana.
The view from inside the Tears Amphitheater is out of this world
How can I get there? Is there directions online or something?
PS: sorry if it seems like a dumb question. I have not been climbing for too long and the Valley still has MANY areas I need to visit. Been only to a few..
The pullout is 1/2 mile below the Inspiration Point end of The Wawona Tunnel. When you look up to your right at the Valley view parking lot at the tunnel exit you'll see The Silver Strand dropping off the rim. East of that about 1000 ft, you'll see a recess in the wall btw 2 buttresses - The Widow's Tears Amphitheater, or as it's known on some maps, The Stanford Point Gully. You can't see the ice climb from there.
You can look up to see the falls inside the Amphitheater from only a few places, as it is a deep narrow corridor. One is on the riverbank just up from The Pohono Bridge by Fern Spring.
Vitaliy,
A good approach is to use the beta in the Reed guide for the approach to climb WindFall (The climb looks awesome). I believe there is beta on mountain project. The approach in the summer was not that bad (about an 1hr). If you get the approach right you should cross the old 41 road at the bottom. If you make it to windfall you can scramble around to the left(exposed 4th class) into theater. This place is great just to walk in the theater. Have fun.
If someone local can take a few pictures of the falls on Wednesday or Thursday it would be awesome. Seems like a warming trend going on, wonder if it survives.
Better pics than mine. Still looked good this afternoon (Tuesday).
Lotta lines appear to be in all over the place. Supposedly a lotta rockfall above Huff/Curry Village today... coulda been ice, everyone here assumes it's rock. Anywho.
18 degrees in el portal, vitaliy it looks like you'll be able to see some good ice if you come up.
hey if anyone goes up there (on the tears) let me know so i can go take a couple pics
thanks
After Jason did the tears he went over to Quarter Domes with Eric Rasmusan and one other guy past half dome and skied down from Quarter Dome to Tenya Canyon.
what a f*#king bitch, had to fall off the day before we attempt the thing. It should be doable real soon though, doable 70% now and probably totally doable for someone with much more skills and stupidity. I bet by Sunday it would be good...oh well
Beautiful place that cirque. Upper pitches look fantastic and very solid.
The Upper Tears doesn't get much better than that, guys. As for the first pitch, there is some rock protection if you bring pins, and it isn't that steep. There are some 2 ft wide ramps that diagonal across it that make it easier than it looks from below. From the bowl atop pitch 1 it looks pretty fricken solid.
Not often you see the Widows Tears in better condition than The Strand, but there it is.
Rick Harlan and Kim Dao are who did the Tears yesterday. Said it was great with the cold temps, and it should hang in there as long as the temps stay cold.
yeh Ken, i remember seeing that climbable before, just barely. fell off the next day though. it will get climbed someday. all kinds of stuff forming right now all over the place
I did a quick tour of the Valley today, checking out the effects of these super cold temps. Lots of ice everywhere, and it looked like the 1st pitch of Widow's had reformed some.
A big frazil ice flow plugged up the main channel of the Merced between Happy Isles and Clarks bridge.
Credit: YosemiteSteve
Bridalveil Fall is in it's crazy ice-monster phase.
Credit: YosemiteSteve
There were chunks of ice falling from the top of El Cap, and the Merced River at the west end of the meadow was frozen all the way across.
There's a party of three on Windows Tears today. They were a little less than halfway up at around noon. I shot a timelapse of the leader on what I guess was the 3rd or 4th pitch. Here's a photo of my viewfinder:
Definitely not rangers. That was Kevin Daniels, Kurt Wedberg, and I. We left the cord but kept a couple of screws we found- missed the draws somehow. Got back to Bishop at around 3 am this morning- 24 hrs after we woke up in the Valley (long drive for us this time of year). Lots of pics between us and would love to see that time lapse when it's ready Steve. Great route! Be safe, chose well, maybe bring a wetsuit.
Vitaliy, silverstrand wasnt looking to good on my way back from work, i only looked at the top half of route, the left 1/3 had fallen off, and i was surprised that it was there at all considering how warm it has been last few days
Thank you guys. haha I heard it was real warm and raining at 8000ft yesterday! Forecast shows good cooling ahead, but by than there might not be any of it left I guess. At least now I have a partner! Can't believe I couldn't get anyone to go with me last Wednesday. I mean damn, it's Widows Tears! Say hell with work and go..especially when there were others climbing the route and conditions were obviously better than usual. :/
Would be very interesting to see how Widows Tears and Silver strand look after the recent warming trend. Watching it all fall off would be quite a scene.
Luke
Let us know!