Ice conditions

[Danger]

Ice is thin at Halls, not thick enough to take screws, but enough to make it to the top of about half of the routes.

[Danger]

Baxter harbor has thin ice, but nothings leadable.
Coby Irving falls at Fern Gully isn't in, but is forming decently. Climbed a new route with Wilsie today, the corner to the right of Scagnettes Revenge has filled in with ice, you can climb some tricky thin ice, and reach back and clip the bolts. The exit moves are a little spicy.
The Black Hole area is in decently and we led the two main lines on the Left. The furthermost Right line isn't in enough to lead.

[peter]

I have updated the Ice Conditions Topic above. Don't know some of these places, or don't know them by these names ... Peter

[Danger]

Hey Peter
The area I refer to as Black hole is the area at the end of Black hole rd, a few kilometers East of Baxter Harbor, more or less beside Black hole Falls. Might be what is referred to as the Baxter Woods? The Coby Irving Falls/Fern Gully is the sport climbing area developed by Andrew Nette, and is in the woods between Black Hole and Baxter Harbor (but much closer to Black Hole).

[Rich]

Not sure how well known this is known but for the last few weeks there has been available from MEC an "Ice Climbing Guide to Nova Scotia" put together by our beloved Mr. Fage. It's a great resource for anyone seeking out ice in the province and it only costs a few bucks! Also a great step towards documenting the (largely unknown) history of ice climbing activity in the province and will likely encourage new development if the ice ever comes...

[chameleon]

ahhhh, the thankless job of the guidebook author........

good job Mr. Fage

S

[Danger]

Thanks guys, CNS was a big help in getting out and deserves some thanks as well.

The ice is here... well... at least there is some.
Talked to a local fishermen, the warm wet we get in Halifax was cold and snowy down in the valley.
Harbourville has a fair amount of ice, with some lines leadable. I found new beach access that get's you closer to the ice on the East side of the harbour, would save about half an hour of hiking along the beach. If you want the details give me a shout.
Morden was about the same... most stuff fairly burly to lead.
Found a new location to me (though Luke Marshall may have been into the area? but he called it Victoria Beach) near Victoria Harbour. It had fat ice, and about 5min from a road. Perfect for those of us who shun approaches.

[chameleon]

Perfect for those of us who shun approaches.

I'm with you on that one. It seems that the hike to the far end of Ground Zero is arduous enough.

[Danger]

yeah... you really need to break down the approach if your going to redpoint the approach to the far end of Gz. I usually break it up with a good sit on the couch, a chat at the cash register, a stop by the crappers, before the final push to couch at the back of Gz.

Halls wasn't in, but this cold will help. They got rocked by a big storm/high tide, and most of the climbs had the bottom 6 feet cut away. One line was leadable.
Harbourville however has stuff in that's leadable.

Don't know if anyone has checked out the Bedford quarry lately but there's a lot of new development in what used to be the empty train lot. Entry will likely have to be super covert now...

[Danger]

Climbed in at Baxter. Nothing yet leadable, the ice has formed a large pillar in the middle of the wall that hasn't yet touch. The mixed line hasn't formed on the upper half enough to lead.

Nette's Sorrow WI4, 20m
FA Dave Wilsie and Roger
Went to the new location Black Rock found East of Harbourville and climbed this line.
Lots of potential in the area for some bad ass lines. We arrived there after Baxters, and it was still a few hours before high tide, but certain sections of the shore were already inaccessible. ie you can really get yourself in a pickle if you mess up on reading the tides. Poor Nette, stuck in Ontario.

I'll include a pic soon

[Danger]

Beach Bums 20m, WI3
Fa Rich Lapaix and myself
The prominent line at Blomidon Beach. Hike down the shoreline to the left. The cliffs were littering with rock fall, and this line being predominantly South East facing was melting out quick. Beautiful setting.

Coby Irving Falls 12m, WI3
A super cool pillar. It has formed all the way and is solid.

[Matt Peck]

victoria park is in and leadable. If you want to use ropes, that is.
The brook is still pretty thin, so rapping/downclimbing is probably the best idea. or you can partake in the tradition of the local youths' and try running down the 75 degree slopes, hoping to grab trees as you pass to save you from certain future vegetable-ness.
Your choice.

[Scooter]

Anybody heading out Sunday? Roger? Seb? Willsie? Beuler?

[tintanium]

I'm definitely up for Sunday. The tides look great - high tide is around 8:30 am - leaves the bulk of the day open. Might be a good time to explore more Black Rock lines.

[Scooter]

Count me in.

[Danger]

Went to Black Rock today and completed some exploration.
The ice for the most part is in and things are generally leadable. There are 7 quality lines in there, with 4 of them now having been climbed. Worth the adventure in.

Equanimity WI5, 35m
FA Seb Launcellot and Roger Fage
This is a classic line, has some wild gull wings at the top protecting the exit. The bottom is undercut by the tides (likely made trickier by the surge tide about about two weeks ago) and you need to surmount a little roof section along the bottom. Pic included

Jamies Closed Project WI3+?, 15m
Ascented... Jamie Simpson, Dave Wilsie and Scott Richardson
Found just around the corner along the face.

The Scoots WI4+, 15m
FA Roger Fage and Seb Launcellot
Tricky steep little line, ascend the right pillar to the roof, do some fun moves left onto the face.

[mick]

Impressive line guys. Nice work.

[Rowan]

That looks significantly more awesome than I had imagined. I'm tempted to dust off the old Footfangs and Stubais now!

[Rich]

Nice sends! D. Boyce and I made it out to west Morden on Sunday but weren't nearly as productive. Did lots of walking during which we went past many steep and / or almost-in lines. Settled for an easier 30mish WI3+, not the proudest line but fun...

[Danger]

Nice work Rich and Dan... is that East down along the coast?

Headed to Morden today for more of the same of what Rich and Dan found. So we blew that off and headed to Victoria Harbour.
This new area holds potential for maybe 9 good lines, with 3 of them now being leadable. 8 of them West, 1 around the corner to the East.

Mini's Tempest WI4, 25m
FA Roger Fage, Matt Peck and Adam Benjamin.
The furthest along to the West, with good weather this could likely come in easier as a big curtain.
This area offers good climbing, and if your willing to rap in, a 5min approach. If you want details on directions, give me a shout.

[Rich]

West. We walked east too but didn't find much of interest.

Our original plan was to hit up Victoria but the road we were taking was unplowed and we had to turn around a couple km's from the coast...am curious what way you guys went...

[Danger]

Headed down near Harbourville today, did two new lines.
We accessed these lines from the first drainage East of Harbourville, and followed the beach for a few km. Only one line along there is in, and most of the lines are either too thin and wet, or not formed all the way to the ground (there is a lot of evidence that some had formed, and then lost their bottoms...probably in the rain storm)

We did two new line on the East side of the third main drainage way down the beach. These are the first two lines you'd encounter if you walk around the headland from Black Rock (about three hours before high tide this section of shore is inaccessible). We hedged our bets, and climbed till high tide and slogged/bushwacked out the third drainage. About a half km walk, with thigh high snow.

Gaucho WI4, 25m
FA Roger Fage and Jordan Sharpe
A steep quality line, with an interesting bottom section and a gaspe style top out. Full value...
The nearest line in the pic, you can only see about half the route.

Pork Chop WI3+, 15m
FA Roger Fage and Jordan Sharpe
A mediocre line. First half of it is ice climbing, the other is half is steep bushwacking.


I'll pass along some other conditions that I heard on the grapevine
"Ice up past Windsor was good. The lower pitch was pretty snow-covered, but the exposed ice was pretty fat."

[Danger]

Down to the Old Baxter Mill Rd area for a beautiful snowy day with Wilsie.

The first line at OBM is almost all the way in, needs just a bit more time to connect to the bottom, it looks super bad ass. Hiked by Peabodys hardcore line, Winter Warfare and it's all the way in. I can't figure out how to make the pic file small enough to load it, but if anyone wants a pic send me a shout.

Did two new lines further down the coast.

Summer Disarmament WI3, 20m
FA Roger Fage and Dave Wilsie
A fun line, the middle is super thin and you can see the water running behind the curtain...cool!
The second predominant line along down the coast from

Snowglobe WI4, 35m
The next fully formed line down the coast. We did the left hand side, the right side comes in as an independent line, likely a 5, but not yet fully formed.

[Danger]

Harbourville with Seb today...

Deer Falls...WI3+++
First Failed Attempt... FFA?
At the bottom are two pretty recent deer carcasses that the eagles are going to town on, looks like they fell from the top?!...disconcerting at best. We decided to make two pitches of the climb (from the bottom it seems like it could be more then 60m...it's pretty hard to tell), made it too the first belay, only to quickly bail on the second pitch as we're what's known as big babies. Morale is there is a V-thread bout mid-height.


FTS, WI3+, 20m
FA Seb and myself
The obvious high flow line just right of the second drainage. Pretty decent. Needs lots of cold to form. What goes through you mind when you almost pass out from the screamy barfies? F this S

We checked out all the other lines along the shore, Pork Chop and Gaucho are getting thicker, but nothing else is quite in enough to lead. The lines West of Harbourville are still forming but not quite in yet.

[Danger]

The ice...she all melts

Was out Wednesday, there was lots of ice and things were leadable. Out today, and things weren't leadable. The ice is doing that thing were its transitioning to vertical snow...great for top roping or soloing, but none of it would take decent gear.

[Matt Peck]

Was out yesterday in the storm, good conditions at Baxters Harbor (first time in there) with about half a dozen lines in leadable condition. Some sweet mixed moves might be necessary for the bottoms as Ive heard is usual.
Stay tuned for a trip report from the Advocate area.

[tintanium]

Ray, Billy and I were at Black Hole Friday. Everything was very well-formed. The falls upstream have come in, but looked to offer pretty pedestrian climbing. We opted for the line on the downstream left of the falls. I don't think it's been lead before.

Falling Hard, 23m, WI3+
Dave Willsie, Ray Seto, Billy Meuse
From the frozen river bed, traverse left above the swirling pit of doom, then follow the vertical steps up and left to a brushy topout. Take the time to savour that special feeling of screws pulling themselves through surface "ice" into icing-sugar nothingness.

[tintanium]

Got into Black Hole with Peck today. He'll be posting his FFA himself.

Black Magic, 25m, WI4

Starting 20 metres right of WWDD?, up the WI3 7m vertical step, cross the low angle annoyance to get to the good stuff. Tiptoe up the delicate ice to the left of the hanging icicle topped by the huge windblown umbrella, wriggling out the exit crack. Very delicate line that rewards a gentle yet persuasive touch.

[tintanium]

Got into Black Hole with Peck today. He'll be posting his FFA himself.

Black Magic - FA David Willsie, Matt Peck, 25m, WI4

Starting 20 metres right of WWDD?, up the WI3 7m vertical step, cross the low angle annoyance to get to the good stuff. Tiptoe up the delicate ice to the left of the hanging icicle topped by the huge windblown umbrella, wriggling out the exit crack. Very delicate line that rewards a gentle yet persuasive touch.

[HDW]

Got into Black Hole with Peck today. He'll be posting his FFA himself.

Black Magic, 25m, WI4

Starting 20 metres right of WWDD?, up the WI3 7m vertical step, cross the low angle annoyance to get to the good stuff. Tiptoe up the delicate ice to the left of the hanging icicle topped by the huge windblown umbrella, wriggling out the exit crack. Very delicate line that rewards a gentle yet persuasive touch.

Cool - congrats. Think there will be much ice left here by Saturday? Anyone want to head out there with me? I have gear and wheels but only 3 screws