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| Messages 1 - 15 of total 15 in this topic |
looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 4, 2015 - 12:07pm PT
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A waterfall? Or does the runoff flow elsewhere?
I'm trying to convince a friend to hit it with me in a few days, but it would be disappointing to get there and find it unclimbably wet or (considering what time we'd start) icy. The pitch 1 and 3 traverses especially seem like they'd be sensitive to being wet, and look the most vulnerable to being in the path of a stream.
My mining of the Taco and elsewhere hasn't turned up any complaints about this, so I'm optimistic, but I figure I might as well throw out the question directly.
Fwiw, we'll be using half ropes, so if it really comes down to it bailing, while frustrating, wouldn't be as big of a nuisance as it could be.
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WBraun
climber
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Snake Dike right now
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PAUL SOUZA
Trad climber
Central Valley, CA
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Have you seen the webcam photos today? Those 3rd class slabs, which go for about half of that face, will be wet and super sketchy, IMO. The steps leading down subdome will be covered in snow. We ended up rapping from tree to tree with one 70m rope. Then had 2 miles of snow to hike through.
I'd recommend waiting until that face is dry to the top and be prepared for a sketchy descent. Be sure to have Gore-Tex shoes as well for the trudge back. Don't rap the cables because you will swing away from the line of cables and will be on a blank face, which was covered in a veneer of ice when we came down. You could clip a draw from your harness to the cable to keep you from swinging away from the cables.
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 4, 2015 - 12:49pm PT
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Thanks for the link to your TR, Paul.
I've been looking at the webcam this morning and weighing what the threshold snowline would be for me to attempt it. Definitely higher than it is now, and I'm not sure if 4 days in the 40s will be enough to melt it back. That's part of what's given me pause, and I always like to hear other voices to gather more info than my single trip up SD has given me.
Plus when I just re-looked at the weather forecasts two of the four are saying 20% chance of precip Sunday; that'll make my decision easy.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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The route itself usually dries up quickly but, as others said, the endless slabs after the route could get quite a bit more unpleasant.
John
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scooter
climber
fist clamp
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100%, Yer gonna die!
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Watch for great guillotines of ice coming down the route. Could be a rare but unpleasant chop.
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2015 - 02:38pm PT
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Snow's melting back much better than I expected. Too bad each time I check the forecast it's wetter than before.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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The critical pic from Paul Souza's report. Looks doable, but gives you an idea what to expect during runoff, especially if it's refreezing.
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2015 - 08:38pm PT
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^^^Those rivulets weren't apparent when I looked at that pic on my phone. Yikes!
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
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... worse yet, that's Wesson, not water.
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2015 - 09:22pm PT
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Wesson
Well, at least it won't be icy...
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rwedgee
Ice climber
CA
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Nov 29, 2017 - 06:45pm PT
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Bring some webbing and rap the route, probably won't be anyone else on it.
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| Messages 1 - 15 of total 15 in this topic |
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