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Climbing is dangerous! Every year many climbers are broken, maimed, and killed. Don't be so foolish as to trust your life to what you see here. I'm not a guide and neither is this web site. If you don't know what you are doing or where you are going, please take a course or hire a guide! |
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Lillooet, BC Ice ClimbingDecember 15-16, 2001<lame TR and few pics. My digital camera just does not like the cold> Meager ice, warm temps, and slim pickings characterized this early-season ice outing. Also included were one "remediation", two flat tires, and a long drive out to Terghazi Dam, which ended up being just for the scenery. We spent the first day at Marble Canyon/Crown Lake. Crossing the lake was entertaining, as the ice was a bit thin. We walked gingerly and made it safely across. Jens and I started up Icy BC while Chris S, Chris, and Brett worked on The Dihedral. I felt good on the first pitch, placing one screw at the the base of the first column, and two more above (one for each of the doubles). I climbed up another fifteen feet, looked at the chandeliered final column, and decided that I should be generous and share the lead with Jens. I set a belay on a horizontal tree and brought him up. He finished the pitch and brought me up. We walked off and found Chris S, Chris, and Brett. Chris S went back up with Jens to climb the second pitch, while I took a lap on The Dihedral. I walked back up to the second pitch of Icy BC while Chris and Brett finished up on The Dihedral. When they joined me I led the pitch, and set a high belay where I could chat with Chris S, who was waiting while Jens set a TR on the third pitch. I belayed Chris up and he, in turn, belayed Brett. We each took a turn on the third pitch, and then Jens and I worked on a mixed line to the right. We packed up and walked back to the car, where we found a flat tire on Brett's truck. Stuck lug nuts led to a broken stud, which led to some colorful cursing. We eventually freed the faulty tire and drove back to The Reynolds. Hot showers and a desperate search for a person to fix the tire ensued, followed by dinner at Dina's Greek place. Despite a failed attempt to get the waitress' phone number, the meal was good. Back at The Reynolds I watch the Wings get spanked by the Canucks and fell asleep. Sunday morning we headed up Bridge Creek and into a warm rain. Despite the long drive, we decided not climb in the rain and headed back to Marble Canyon. We were pleasantly surprised to find the skies clear and the air cool at Marble. Crossing the lake was less stressful that the day before. Chris, Chris S, and Brett worked on the first pitch of Icy BC while Jens and I set up a TR on Deeping Wall. A mixed start followed by thin, steep ice made it interesting and pumpy. After we'd each climbed it we traded ropes with a nice group of guys from Seattle. They worked Deeping while we climbed Waite For Spring. Done there, we rejoined the others at Icy BC. Jens did some dry tooling on the the rock prow, then I climbed the left column and onto the thin face directly under the tree with the chain. Brett, Chris S, Jens, and Chris each took a turn before we packed up for the day. We were surprised to find standing water on 1/4 of the lake. Though it was just on the ice, not melted through, it caused us to take a different route. As we stepped off the bank an ice fisherman yelled out, "Not there! The ice is really thin, eh!" I stopped dead in my tracks before I realized he was kidding. We returned to the cars to find that the tire Brett paid $100C to have fixed was again flat. We replaced it with the spare and drive back to Lillooet for dinner at Subway. The road from Lillooet to Lytton was littered with dirt and rocks. Torrential rain added to the driving fun. The border crossing was no problem, and I even scored kudos from Jens for making the border guards both laugh. I was home at 11:30 PM. Thanks Jens, Chris, Chris S, and Brett! Everyone kept good spirits despite car problems, non-functional alarms, rain, meager ice, and one rehabilitation. There is plenty of moisture up there, all we need is some sustained cold air.
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This page was last edited on
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 |
