Ice 2010/2011

[theriault]

Parlee is in.... if you want ice its there, if you want hero ice, wait... Dom, Max, Michel, Bill and I where in there today, All the kings Horses, Blue pillar, Yellow Pillar and Three Amigos Where lead. We also took a side trip to Quaco Head, everything is coming in nicely! should be ready for next week if the weather holds!

[Dom]

Along with what Marty said, I'd say wear gaiters...There is a ton of snow in there. I wish I had some today (my feet were very wet) .

There are also A LOT of fallen trees whoah!! even in the gully itself...the storm really hit that area hard!

[theriault]

Just checked my gear and I am missing a BD brown (13cm) screw taped yellow/blue, it should be around Three Amigos.

[GKelly]

Were you able to drive in via lisson sett?

[theriault]

Like Dom said, the storm last week hit the area bad! There's fallen trees on both approaches and deep powder snow. A ski approache would be best! Also if someone had time and a chainsaw.... would be great!

[*Chris*]

Hayes falls is in. The center line and the smear in the woods were led. The main falls have a huge volume of water running under the ice... especially on the right hand side. Another week and the whole thing will be fat.

Jon C. also led a nice little 25' falls half-way between Fredericton and Hayes Falls. It's not a destination in of itself but the thing is almost literally roadside, so it's worth a stop. Park at KM #250.

[gwa]

A couple friends called on their way back from the Gaspe asking if I wanted to hit up Parlee on Friday the 31st. I had been in there with the Adamsons and Cory Hall on Tuesday and the ice was real bad. But after Marty's update I thought it might be worth another shot.

We hiked in from the bottom. There was an excellent boot track laid down making for relatively easy hiking

Rich lead All the Kings Horses and then we top-roped a scrappy line between the Blue Wall and the Back Wall. A short pillar at the top and bottom with mucho snow in between. The wet snow that fell last week seems to have covered most walls.

Parlee Brook is hurting right now. It's pretty scrappy all around. You can find some ice but expect lots of snow, delamination, and bottoming out on wet rock. I think it was better a month ago.

With the warming weather I think it will be cruddy for a while. The warmth may help it reform from scratch again when it gets cold.

Cheers,

[Joe]

Parlee, Sunday 9 Jan 11.

Conditions are still thin. Sunbake, EMC, Patricks and KF Gully are climbable but screws are spaced and maybe tied off. Blue Pillar and Kings Horses are good. Boot trail is well packed and now unobstructed of brush. We need colder temps!

[theriault]

Took a side trip coming back from work... Waterfall Wall seem (from the road) in half good shape (again ... from the road) and Hampton Marsh is totally out, not even one line is completely covered in ice.

[*Chris*]

I also drove through Welsford today and looked from the road through binoculars. Waterfall wall looked ok... but it was hard to tell. The Quarry was almost completely bare. It will take a streak of idea conditions to bring it up to shape.

Is anyone keeping an eye on Mt. Misery?

[Joe]

Jan 20. Hampton is too thin for screws but OK for top-roping. It's got good flow, so the forecasted cold temps over the next few nights should make it good, likely for Sunday. Mt. Misery should be good too, but I'd still be careful of crossing the river. May be best to access from the Kingston Penn. side.

[coryhal]

mt misery is still in bad shape, but everything is dripping so all we need is cold temps. I climbed the gullys to the right of the main lower wall..they were thin and wet, and you probably would'nt be able to get much for pro.

On the plus side i crossed the river and it was 6 inches thick all the way across....probably thinner at ministers face tho!

[Joe]

Sat 22 Jan. Waterfall Wall is quite good. All lines leadable. Joe.

[theriault]

A crew of us were down in St-Martins all weekend. In Quaco Head, everything other than Ariel and Bouffe are IN. Funky stuff that I have never seen are starting to form pretty good! Superbowl and Fundy Gully are also IN and in great shape!

[coryhal]

jan. 22. 2011

lucas and i skiied our way into bald hill today, and we actually found some ice. we decided to "short-cut" our way to the base of the main cliff....bad idea, dense woods and skies sucks, chest deep snow sucks....thus the route names.


Bushwhacking - WI4 15m FFA: Lucas Toron, Cory Hall Jan./11
Near the center of the main wall, on the lower tire, are two twin flows. Climb the left one, very thin ice for the first 20 feet, then great ice and gear to the top.

Jungle Shwacking – WI4 15m FFA: Cory Hall, Lucas Toron Jan. 2011
Near the center of the main wall, on the lower tire, are two twin flows. Climb the right one, similar to bushwhacking but a little thinner.

we also climbed matt peck's routes whick were super fun.

the quarry looked like it was in good condition when we drove by

[STeveA]

Joe and I were at Minister's Face on Sunday. Other than being very cold, the ice is in. No curtains at the top yet, but even with the intense cold, the ice was still dripping so hopefully they will form soon.

[*Chris*]

Mt. Misery is coming along but it's not great yet. The left leaning ramp up the main face and the right hand flow were lead. Strait up was in good shape but a bit baked. The pillars left of the trail are yet to touch down and the log route has a long way to go. There's enough to have fun but it still needs time, cold, and water.

[Joe]

St. Martins, 30 Jan.

Steve and I did Fundy Gully and Superbowl on an incredibly nice Sunday afternoon - sunny, warm and dead calm, and amazing scenery. One of those days where ice climbing is as comfortable as rock climbing. Both routes were thin at the bottom, but fattened up higher. Lots of water in both, so hopefully cold temps this week will fatten them up. Humpback was definitely not in. Thanks to the party on Saturday for leaving a rap station on Fundy Gully. Photo shows Steve leaving rap station. It's 60m to the trees from there. A long and beautiful route. One of my favorites. Joe.

[Dom]

Feb. 6
Hampton is in. Fat blue ice that takes long screws.

[Joe]

New route at St. Martins/Little Beach:

Quahog Falls WI4++, 30m. J & D Kennedy, Feb 2011.
Found on Little Beach, 1 km west of the access trail to Superbowl. Once you get to the beach, head (right) towards St. Martins. The falls are hidden within a little cove along the beach, so you cannot see them until you are close. The falls have a good flow, and at the time of ascent the falls were hard on the outside but soft and liquid on the inside, like a clam. Under good conditions it would likely be WI4+, but when thin/soft the ice is manky and gear is poor. Best under cold and cloudy conditions. These falls are above the high tides, so tide tables are less of a concern.

[Greg]

I hiked into Parlee minor yesterday for a look see. Hullholmes is in great shape but Truancy Falls is only not even close to touching down. Doesn't look like it will form this year. On the plus side someone has been maintaining Arnold Hollow Road from The Abbey to the drainage of Parlee minor. Likely the owner of the cabin. That part of the hike took about 20 minutes.

[gwa]

Hey Greg,

Thanks for checking on Truancy. I was wondering how it was doing.

I thought it would be valuable to write up the story about finding and climbing it last winter. I've submitted it to the Canadian Alpine Journal for their Eastern News section (which is usually pretty barren).

You can read the story and see some photos on my blog:

http://grhmwgh.blogspot.com/2011/02/truancy-falls-elusive-pillar-of-ice.html

Cheers!

[*Chris*]

The quarry is lean compared to normal feb conditions. Drain pipe was lead but ice cheese was too baked. Nothing else is formed. Too much snow.

[Dom]

Awesome story Graham. Super well written!! I'm inspired tabarnak!!

[theriault]

I was in Welsford alone this moring and gave Eagle Rock a try. Its better than expected, condition are good but lots of snow!

[*Chris*]

Was in to Waterfall wall with Ice School on Sunday. To my surprise all lines were formed with stable ice (albeit baked). Bone dry despite warm temps and sun... absolutely no flow going on.

[chossmonkey]

The quarry is lean compared to normal feb conditions. Drain pipe was lead but ice cheese was too baked. Nothing else is formed. Too much snow.

I'm curious about your snow theory. Generally snow pack helps feed ice building and insulates the ground so ground water doesn't lock up. Our fall was too dry and the ground water never really got topped off before things started to freeze.

[PeterA]

The quarry is lean compared to normal feb conditions. Drain pipe was lead but ice cheese was too baked. Nothing else is formed. Too much snow.

I'm curious about your snow theory. Generally snow pack helps feed ice building and insulates the ground so ground water doesn't lock up. Our fall was too dry and the ground water never really got topped off before things started to freeze.

The way it seemed was that a whole bunch of snow got dumped really quickly before the ice actually formed. The snow seemed the insulate the ice underneath it and prevented it from fattening up

-PJ

[theriault]

I think the snow is acting like a big sponge, even when it rains its absorbed by the snow pack.

[*Chris*]

A few observations:

*This winter has had very few freeze/thaw cycles.
*We've not had any wet precipitation to speak of. Usually we get a bit of rain/freezing rain which recharges our flow but that's been very sparse.
*We've had a lot of very regular snow in the form of dry powder. Maybe it's insulated the ground from thaw... maybe it's sponged moisture... maybe both?

I just know that I've seen dramatically less ice this year in regular spots. The ice that is around has a granular consistency which is a bit odd.