Thought I'd post a quick TR on our climb in case there are fellow climbers out there wondering what the conditions are like right now in the ravines and since skiguy asked.. 
Giggy and I really had no idea what to expect so we brought the works. Ice screws, snow pickets, even rock gear. The morning started out sunny as we began to hike in around 8-8:15 a.m. We had a quick exchange with Harvard Cabin caretaker and he said a few teams went up Central yesterday and conditions were a bit sketchy but they all got to top.
Once in the ravine, we were socked in and the wind picked up. It would stay that way all day. We decided on giving Central a go. We've both been up there and with visibility low, it seemed like the right thing to climb - something we were both familiar with, plus giggy knew the approach to Yale and Diagonal would be awful given the early season conditions. I've been up 1/2-3/4 of the way this past spring with Woody and giggy has climbed the whole route probably a half a dozen times now. Plus, we thought if we had to solo it, an easy climb would be the best. Giggy wasn’t keen on being on grade 3 ice with no pro, marginal ice conditions and very unforgiving run-outs. Can't figure out why!
There was another team in the ravine and they set off for Odell's. We'd find out later the conditions there were not ideal, but the first pitch did take ice screws, so there's ice there. They reached the top also. We passed Pinnacle Gully on the way and it looked like there was no ice in it at all, just snow. But I could be wrong. Bottom line is, that gully doesn't look like it's IN yet either.
We weaved in and out of the boulders at the bottom of the fan, which were mostly all exposed and there were thigh-high deeper snow drifts in places. The start of the climb was pretty well-packed with snow, some consolidated neve and wherever the wind blew the freshly fallen snow, some unconsolidated drifts. That would be the theme for the snow up the gully. Just below where the ice bulge usually forms, the tricky conditions started. I took a long look before I picked my line. To the left, near the Pinnacle Buttress wall, some water was flowing. The snow pack wasn't bonded well, obviously, and the crust thinned out. To the right, there was a thin layer of ice on rocks, certainly nothing you could sink a screw in. We decided since there was no way to protect the climb we'd go unroped and solo. We were both comfortable with that. I climbed where there was enough hard-packed snow below the thin layer of powder to throw my ice tool in and have a stable hold keeping alert of the conditions to the left and right of me.
The second small bulge was much the same. This time we had some overhead hazards to be weery of, big icicles, so we moved fast. Between more icy sections we had a snow climb in between. This seemed a bit tiring because my feet would slide backwards a bit with each step, but it was a break from the calf-burning ice climbing. Once the third icy section came, there was more solid ice in there to swing the tools into so we weren't relying on the snow pack to anchor into. This was very enjoyable, but I did wish I'd brought my Petzl M-10's and not my Black Diamond mountaineering pons. Oops! One or two times, we've break through the snow crust and see a nice gap between it and the rock. Obviously, another section we moved quickly through.
There was alot more ice (due to lowsnow cover BUT ice was very thin) in the gully than Giggy has seen all the times he's been in there and I can say the same for the one time I was in it. I wouldn't call the gully IN. I wouldn't recommend it to others. It was climbable and I was confident in both mine and giggy's abilities that we could assess the risks and climb safely up.
Near the top of the ravine was a mixed bag of loose exposed rock, snow and ice. I actually did some dry-tooling up there, ha, but the general rock scene was unstable. Then I heard "rock!" I did what I wasn't supposed to do and looked up before shielding myself - but I'm glad I did because I saw where it was headed and got out of the way. It was bigger than a breadbox.
The weather was blowing snow all over the place and it made for an awesome alpine environment. Loved every second. It demanded our attention, alertness and skill. Before we topped out the wind was really whipping around and snow hit my face hard, it was very tough to look up. Giggy had taken the lead and gone ahead, climbing strong. I was trying to look up and find him at the top but I couldn't. I was thinking, this could get ugly.
Once we topped out - around 12:30 p.m. we were hit by some pretty high winds, but things were not as ugly as I thought they'd be. Walking across the alpine garden wasn't too bad. I'd guess a few 50 m.p.h. gusts may have blown by. We chose to descend Lion Heads, which was nice because I've never been down that way. It was getting really cold and I was glad to duck into the trees when we did. Back to the car at 3 p.m. We moved pretty quickly all day and it was nice to get back before the sun set. Great day out and good first climb of the season to get back into gear. In fact, I think Central gully will be so much less exciting once it fills in.
General scene for climbers, it's a mixed bag, mostly unprotected climbs right now. I'm no expert, obviously, but I hope this gave you guys a sense of the conditions.
Thanks for the day, gig!
Here's the pics: http://leaf.smugmug.com/Ice-and-Alp...lly-Huntington/10564242_UfJha#734231474_wke2Q
Giggy and I really had no idea what to expect so we brought the works. Ice screws, snow pickets, even rock gear. The morning started out sunny as we began to hike in around 8-8:15 a.m. We had a quick exchange with Harvard Cabin caretaker and he said a few teams went up Central yesterday and conditions were a bit sketchy but they all got to top.
Once in the ravine, we were socked in and the wind picked up. It would stay that way all day. We decided on giving Central a go. We've both been up there and with visibility low, it seemed like the right thing to climb - something we were both familiar with, plus giggy knew the approach to Yale and Diagonal would be awful given the early season conditions. I've been up 1/2-3/4 of the way this past spring with Woody and giggy has climbed the whole route probably a half a dozen times now. Plus, we thought if we had to solo it, an easy climb would be the best. Giggy wasn’t keen on being on grade 3 ice with no pro, marginal ice conditions and very unforgiving run-outs. Can't figure out why!
There was another team in the ravine and they set off for Odell's. We'd find out later the conditions there were not ideal, but the first pitch did take ice screws, so there's ice there. They reached the top also. We passed Pinnacle Gully on the way and it looked like there was no ice in it at all, just snow. But I could be wrong. Bottom line is, that gully doesn't look like it's IN yet either.
We weaved in and out of the boulders at the bottom of the fan, which were mostly all exposed and there were thigh-high deeper snow drifts in places. The start of the climb was pretty well-packed with snow, some consolidated neve and wherever the wind blew the freshly fallen snow, some unconsolidated drifts. That would be the theme for the snow up the gully. Just below where the ice bulge usually forms, the tricky conditions started. I took a long look before I picked my line. To the left, near the Pinnacle Buttress wall, some water was flowing. The snow pack wasn't bonded well, obviously, and the crust thinned out. To the right, there was a thin layer of ice on rocks, certainly nothing you could sink a screw in. We decided since there was no way to protect the climb we'd go unroped and solo. We were both comfortable with that. I climbed where there was enough hard-packed snow below the thin layer of powder to throw my ice tool in and have a stable hold keeping alert of the conditions to the left and right of me.
The second small bulge was much the same. This time we had some overhead hazards to be weery of, big icicles, so we moved fast. Between more icy sections we had a snow climb in between. This seemed a bit tiring because my feet would slide backwards a bit with each step, but it was a break from the calf-burning ice climbing. Once the third icy section came, there was more solid ice in there to swing the tools into so we weren't relying on the snow pack to anchor into. This was very enjoyable, but I did wish I'd brought my Petzl M-10's and not my Black Diamond mountaineering pons. Oops! One or two times, we've break through the snow crust and see a nice gap between it and the rock. Obviously, another section we moved quickly through.
There was alot more ice (due to lowsnow cover BUT ice was very thin) in the gully than Giggy has seen all the times he's been in there and I can say the same for the one time I was in it. I wouldn't call the gully IN. I wouldn't recommend it to others.
It was climbable and I was confident in both mine and giggy's abilities that we could assess the risks and climb safely up. Near the top of the ravine was a mixed bag of loose exposed rock, snow and ice. I actually did some dry-tooling up there, ha, but the general rock scene was unstable. Then I heard "rock!" I did what I wasn't supposed to do and looked up before shielding myself - but I'm glad I did because I saw where it was headed and got out of the way. It was bigger than a breadbox.
The weather was blowing snow all over the place and it made for an awesome alpine environment. Loved every second. It demanded our attention, alertness and skill. Before we topped out the wind was really whipping around and snow hit my face hard, it was very tough to look up. Giggy had taken the lead and gone ahead, climbing strong. I was trying to look up and find him at the top but I couldn't. I was thinking, this could get ugly.
Once we topped out - around 12:30 p.m. we were hit by some pretty high winds, but things were not as ugly as I thought they'd be. Walking across the alpine garden wasn't too bad. I'd guess a few 50 m.p.h. gusts may have blown by. We chose to descend Lion Heads, which was nice because I've never been down that way. It was getting really cold and I was glad to duck into the trees when we did. Back to the car at 3 p.m. We moved pretty quickly all day and it was nice to get back before the sun set. Great day out and good first climb of the season to get back into gear. In fact, I think Central gully will be so much less exciting once it fills in.
General scene for climbers, it's a mixed bag, mostly unprotected climbs right now. I'm no expert, obviously, but I hope this gave you guys a sense of the conditions.
Thanks for the day, gig!
Here's the pics: http://leaf.smugmug.com/Ice-and-Alp...lly-Huntington/10564242_UfJha#734231474_wke2Q
