Hyalite Ice: Thrill is Gone and Magically Delicious

Sam and I hiked to the Unnamed Wall to do some mixed climbing. We started with me leading the Thrill is Gone for my first time which Sam followed. Then we moved over to Magically Delicious which Sam lead half way but ended up lowering off a tool. I lead it the rest of the way and retrieved the gear. Black Magic is on my radar and since it is in one-in-twenty year shape, this is the tie to do it. Turns out I didnt have the necessary gear so we just took pictures of it.

You can barely see Sam about half way up TiG

Sometimes the ice fights back!

Black Magic: start in the crack and finish on the ice.

The right smear has not formed since it was first climbed over 20 years(?) ago.

Hyalite Ice: Horsetail Falls redemption and a new mixed route

Last time Sam and I were at Horsetail Falls, we were able to climb 2 of 3 pitches. More like 2.5 of 3 pitches. I backed off the climb because I was having a hard time protecting it. Imagine a handful of straws on end glued together. Not ideal. This year I went back with Kyler on a two part mission. Firstly, I needed to send that climb to the top. And I did. I encountered maybe even worse conditions but my head and body was strong enough to run it out to the top. The second part of the mission was Kyler's. He wanted to clean and bolt if necessary a crack just to the left of the main (only really) ice flow that starts in the back of a cave, shares the tippy top of the ice climb and finished up steep hero moss maybe 5 yards climber's left of the standard tree anchor. I belayed him for a couple of hours while he swung around, scraped, poked and prodded everything, looking for natural gear placements. Since virtually none were encountered, I sent up the drill and Kyler started placing bolts. By now he was on rappel and I was free to do whatever. Since it was cold and snowy, we decided to get a fire going. In all my years of climbing or skiing in the winter, I have never started a fire. Not exactly sure why. It was glorious! We stayed until dark but the route was not finished. We cached some gear and committed to returning the following day. Did I mention it had been snowing all day? We got back to my truck and apparently we were the only people that made it up that far. No other tracks in the snow. I somehow got my truck turned around before burying it in the snow. The snow was deeper than the bottom of my door! I had to throw my shoulder in to it just to get it open! So we started digging until we could get my chains on. Once we got the chains on, it was no problem getting back out. But since we had left a bunch of gear and it was still snowing, the thought of driving back up the East Fork road was daunting. What do you do? I tell you. Be the first person up the road in the morning so you dont have to worry about other cars and floor it! Keep your momentum up as much as possible. We actually made it the TH without chains. We got back up to the climb and Kyler resumed bolting and cleaning while I started another fire. He finished up the bolting and then lead it cleanly to the top! I followed but was unable to do it without sitting on the rope. Most mixed routes seem a little contrived to me but this one was actually fun! Kyler felt the same way. The current name and rating 'Taint Fur M7-M8'.

Pitch 3 the money pitch

Taint Fur M7-8

Quick draws make great chain binders

Me on my redemption climb

Hyalite Ice: East Fork; Treasure Hunter

(record keeping post) Had to go out and check on my baby! Didnt make it up to the last pitch last year so I went free soloing up there this year and tagged it.

Hyalite Ice: Flanders; Champagne Slot

Hoping to link up Champagne Slot with High Crime and Misdemeanors, Sam, Manfred and I got to the Flanders TH just in time for Sam to remember that he left his boots in town. A couple hours later, we were back. We got to Champagne Slot before the climbers on Champagne Sherbert were able to get it. Some extremely run out climbing, 70m later got me to the top. A couple of stubbies, a goldy and a spectre protected the entire pitch. Thats one piece of gear every 15 meters or so. If you are 15m above your pro, you stop 15m below it when you fall. Dont fall that far. We traversed up and over to High Crimes and misdemeanors but they were not in to out liking so we found our way back to the Slot and Manfred.

I like playing around with filters. This looks cartoonish!

Sam following.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Champagne Slot WI3R