Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides

With yet another recent thaw and deep freeze cycle....it's back to ice climbing. As you would expect with such drastic rain/freeze cycles- the ice is fat, dense and plentiful. Cold temps should keep it that way for awhile, and we'll be climbing on north-facing aspects all through March. Traffic on popular routes starts to drop off and days are longer and warmer. I call it the 'spring skiing' of the ice climbing season.

I climbed yesterday with Steve H. at Poke-O-Moonshine. We basked in the sun on the Waterfall (WI 5) and Steve put his new-found appreciation for leashless climbing to the test- and and did a great job removing a lot of my screws from the steep ice. For a dedicated bike racer and scientist, he's not afarid to step it out in the mountains a couple of times a year too!

Recent rain/freeze cycles have made the whole wall a little 'bulgier' than usual- but the resulting density and quality and 'healing' of the ice was great. Out of the sun in the afternoon, temps plummetted back to single digits....we cooled down on a fun, less traveled two-pitch line with some bouldery short pillars, over at the Forbidden Wall.

So while the skiers are yearning for the sweet days of spring skiing, don't forget about the joys of spring climbing!