Sam and I were scared that we might be pissing off the snow gods by going ice climbing instead of skiing after a 12"+ dump but we went up Hyalite anyway. Keeping with the 'always going somewhere new' attitude, we trudged up to the Alpha and Omega cave; didnt know the East Fork gate was closed so it required a little extra effort. We had the place to ourselves! The snow ranged from boot-top to waist deep but was cold and light enough to not wear us out. Jojo's book labels Alpha as a regularly forming WI4 and Omega as a large volume dagger that infrequently touches down but when it does, its a WI5. I was kinda hoping to get to/have to climb the back of the cave and dry-tool to the ice on Omega but not only was Omega touching down, it's circumference was pushing over 20' at the base! Damn near bridging the gap to the ice in the back of the cave! I jumped right on Omega, the harder looking route, cause I like to get the hard pitch of the day done right off the bat. Probably should have warmed up on Alpha first. The most pump I have felt this year was on one of the shortest pitches I have climbed; clearly I was forgetting my technique and just trying to muscle it cause I stopped just a few feet from the anchor,well beyond the crux. I literally had to cradle my axes in the nook of my elbow because I couldnt use my fingers. No biggy though. The climbs are top-ropable and thats just what we did. These are two excellent, excellent climbs that deserve to be climbed more often than I think they do.
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| Alpha is on the right, Omega on the left. I dont think that central dagger has ever been sent... |
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| Omega column on left: girthy! |
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