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| Steve barely above the sea of clouds and also just above the crux pitch of the route. |
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| The sea of clouds below us. |
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| Steve again, "How's the ice up there?"
Me in the clouds under the overhanging stretch of ice, 'Steeper, maybe about 3+ for this bit." Truly fine and fun ice (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). |
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| Steve to me, "How's the ice?"
Me, "About AI 3" (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). |
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| Heading for the crux chockstone. Swinging leads and simul-climbing worked out perfectly to my advantage again - thank you, Steve! (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). |
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| Steve's turn leading in the Narrows. |
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| Steve coming onto lower angled terrain after a steep section. Note the clouds below him. |
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| Higher in the Narrows (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). |
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| The Narrows (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). |
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| A happy climber just below the Narrows - some 500' of 50 to 60 degree ice with some steeper steps. Portions of this were barely a shoulder width wide. Excellent, easy ice. Would be awkward for more than a party of 2 or for a party to rap down past another |
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| We simul-climbed some with Steve in the lead, clipping but not stopping at the belay/rap stations he passed. |
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| Back into the shade - Steve on lead.
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| More sun with elevation - we weren't racing the sun; instead, we reveled in the fleeting bits of warmth it almost provided. |
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| Steve leading a steepish icy bit. |
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| Steve surmounting an ice step.
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| Sweet views that got sweeter as we climbed higher. |
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| Steve about to re-enter the shade for a while. |
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| A little fuzzy, but you get the idea: steep, fun ice as far as the eyes can see! Kind of narrow even though we were still far below the actual 'Narrows.' The ice was solid and even thick enough for short ice screws (pic courtesy of Steve Towne).
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| More excellent snow and ice coming up the 3rd pitch (pic courtesy of Steve Towne). |
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| Good snow and excellent ice - we were having fun. |
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| Although you can't see his face, I'm sure Steve was smiling as he climbed this. |
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| The next lead was more of the styrofoam-snow-under-soft-snow combo topped off by a steep icy slot. |
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| My lead was a bit of steep ice (below Steve in this pic) followed by squeaky styrofoam-like snow under some soft stuff. Easy cruising terrain - we were all smiles! |
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| Steve at the 1st belay above the steep snow and the rock crux. Pro for this bit of climbing was a solid screw in good ice and a trustworthy #1 camalot in the rock. |
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| Steve starting up the 1st pitch of 'Shaken, Not Stirred.' |
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