Ice Season 2013/2014

[Shawn B]

Something to think about if you are out climbing that sometimes we may here in NB not think about. Avalanches. Especially if you are headed into Parlee. Conditions are prime and even a small slide could pile up deep in the gully.

[Joe]

Dan and I put up two new ice lines in St. Martins, about 1 km west of Browns Beach, which is just west of the Quaco Head lighthouse. We drove up Giffin Pond Road to the last house and walked 100m to a cottage road on the left, walked past the cottage, and bushwacked about 200m to the first brook and followed it to the cliff top. An easy rappel got us to the base of The Portal. Low tide allows walking along the shoreline but when high, the tide comes right up to the seacliff. It is not hard to access these routes from the top.

The Portal, WI4, 40m, J. Kennedy, D. Kennedy. 27 Dec 2013. An obvious 5m wide drainage flow with a WI2 flow on its left side.
White Rabbit, WI3, 40m, D. Kennedy, J. Kennedy. 27 Dec 2013. Ascends a narrow flow just left of a blocky rib. About 150 meters west of Portal.

[*Chris*]

Conditions at Mt. Misery are already as good as they were anytime last year. Most lines which normally form are 'in'. I also noticed several of the pillars at the left end of the lower tier are forming now. I have not seen these come in since the first year MT. Misery was discovered. Things are off to a great start with freezing rain falling as I write this!

[theriault]

Jan 07 : Waterfall wall was Fat Fat Fat! but sadly Cave Fever completely lost its first part ( up to the cave) du to the rain, it should come back quickly tho.

[austinconrad]

Waterfall was a popular spot on Sunday. I beleive there where as many as 10 or 12 people there at one point (more than most sunny days I've gone there rock climbing). I'll be back this sunday

[austinconrad]

Waterfall was a popular spot on Sunday. I beleive there where as many as 10 or 12 people there at one point (more than most sunny days I've gone there rock climbing). I'll be back this sunday

high of eight on Sunday FFS! Maybe not.......

[Dom]

high of eight on Sunday FFS! Maybe not.......

Nothing wrong with that. One day last January Tristan and I climbed Waterfall and when we realized it was too warm to climb ice,we climbed Smithers at Simpsons and Tristan hung his Ice boots on the first bolt and then we climbed Waterwalk, Astroboy, Kapow

[theriault]

high of eight on Sunday FFS! Maybe not.......

Luc and I climb all day Sunday in +8.... it was amazing! Hero Ice!!!!

[austinconrad]

Luc and I climb all day Sunday in +8.... it was amazing! Hero Ice!!!!

Nothing wrong with that. One day last January Tristan and I climbed Waterfall and when we realized it was too warm to climb ice,we climbed Smithers at Simpsons and Tristan hung his Ice boots on the first bolt and then we climbed Waterwalk, Astroboy, Kapow

Allright I will keep that in mind for next weekend

[theriault]

Jan 13: Bad news folks, I went in search of climbable ice this afternoon in the Welsford valley.... everything is OUT; no ice left at all in the Quarry; Waterfall wall has only 2 routes standing out of the 3 main lines ( probably VERY unstable), Moe, witch was about 6 feet thick on Thursday is now completely gone... so is Cave Fever; Eagle rock is bare and so are the Southern Road Cuts.....
The weather is supposed to stay on the + side for most areas till next Saturday..... I am usually very optimistic when it comes to ice, not this time.... the coastal stuff is probably in the same situation. Sunday Parlee was still in good condition, probably our only hope for the near future.....

Cross your fingers for a cold snap! We need it Bad!

[*Chris*]

Thanks for the report Marty. Not surprised. That fecking secks.

[austinconrad]

Sad news

[Stacey]

Jan 13: Bad news folks, I went in search of climbable ice this afternoon in the Welsford valley.... everything is OUT; no ice left at all in the Quarry; Waterfall wall has only 2 routes standing out of the 3 main lines ( probably VERY unstable), Moe, witch was about 6 feet thick on Thursday is now completely gone... so is Cave Fever; Eagle rock is bare and so are the Southern Road Cuts.....
The weather is supposed to stay on the + side for most areas till next Saturday..... I am usually very optimistic when it comes to ice, not this time.... the coastal stuff is probably in the same situation. Sunday Parlee was still in good condition, probably our only hope for the near future.....

Cross your fingers for a cold snap! We need it Bad!

Looks like Dom will be back out for those rock routes like last year in the mild weather (heck - IF the rain will ever stop!)

[Dom]

Looks like Dom will be back out for those rock routes like last year in the mild weather (heck - IF the rain will ever stop!)

If I still had my slack job working from home, I'd be on the rock this afternoon.

[austinconrad]

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/14-day ... redericton

Looks like Monday we will be back to freezing temperatures How long does it usually take to form back up? What does it depend on?

[Shawn B]

Was in to Parlee today. Fabulous conditions. Walk in was a breeze...nice firm snow to walk on with good traction. Everything was in and fat. And if you believe that I have some great Russian made ice screws to sell you that place better than any BD screw. Heinous walking on a sometimes breakable crust. There is still ice left but we didn't deem much good enough to safely lead. A couple of short lines on the right side of sunbake wall are prob ok. Blue Pillar and back wall still have fat ice but delaminated. Yellow pillar gone. Bottom of 3 Amigos gone. Top of Patricks gone. Lots of water flowing under and on top of any existing ice so should form up again by next weekend assuming forecast temps are accurate.

[theriault]

Jan 17 to 19: Spent 3 days in the Sussex area. The recent warm spell has not destroyed this place like the Welsford valley or the coastal stuff. Other than a few thin top outs, conditions where great, perfect hero Ice! I climbed over 20 different lines in the 3 day. Parlee Brook it self has been totally unchanged by the warm spell, I was there the day before the warm spell and everything remained the same. NB is lucky to have such a amazing Ice crag that can survive the hot January weather!

Keep swinging! season is FAR from being over!

[Greg]

Jan 17 to 19: Spent 3 days in the Sussex area. The recent warm spell has not destroyed this place like the Welsford valley or the coastal stuff. Other than a few thin top outs, conditions where great, perfect hero Ice! I climbed over 20 different lines in the 3 day. Parlee Brook it self has been totally unchanged by the warm spell, I was there the day before the warm spell and everything remained the same. NB is lucky to have such a amazing Ice crag that can survive the hot January weather!

Keep swinging! season is FAR from being over!

Parlee is indeed a gem. Like Marty says when the coastal ice is gone you can still count on the Sussex area. Hopefully Glebe will be in similar shape as well. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it was yesterday. Blue Pillar was absolutely awesome.

[Greg]

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/14-day-weather-trend/canada/new-brunswick/fredericton

Looks like Monday we will be back to freezing temperatures How long does it usually take to form back up? What does it depend on?

Hard to say Austin. There are a lot of factors that determine how long it will take........temperature, sunlight, precip, aspect, etc. For south facing crags like Waterfall Wall and Mount Misery it will take at least a couple of weeks before you have something substantial there again and if we get a lot of sun it may take longer. The forecast is calling for a cold snap this week so hopefully those places will rebuild quickly.

[Shawn B]

Just rec'd a rather strange email. I apologize to anyone if they didn't go to Parlee on Sunday based on my obs. I did not report there wasn't any ice...simply that imo the ice was not of adequate quality in most places to safely lead. There was water running both under and over most of the ice that was there. It was +3 in there and this was the coldest it had been in a week. There certainly was adequate ice in many places to place a screw but the probability of that ice holding a fall was not in your favour imo. The top of blue pillar looked so wonky to me from the ground that I wouldn't have even placed a belayer for a top rope anywhere on the floor of the upper ravine. I reported the conditions as I saw them and I still stand by my opinion...take it for whatever you think it is worth. Moot point now anyway with the forecast...should be great by the weekend...but don't take my word for it.

[theriault]

Jan 29/30: Spent some time in the Welsford Valley the last 2 days... Waterfall wall is good to go, Quarry is Out, and so are the Southern road cuts, Eagle Rock has limited stuff.... hard season in the Valley.... Ill be climbing in the Sussex area once again!
Keep on swinging!

[Joe]

Feb 10 - Ministers Face is good.
- St. Martins/Quaco Head - most are in but not really fat.

[GavinS]

Logan and I were out exploring the ice areas in NB

Feb 15 - Eagle Rock: Good, running, PWL was thin in one area

Feb 20 - Hatchery: Amazing. Bumbled around trying to find it. Amazing area, with that amount of snow, the 15 min walk in turned into a couple of hours without snowshoes. But we broke trail......For anyone going there bring snowshoes

Gavin

[*Chris*]

Hatchery ice today was terrific. It's put on significant growth since I was there 2 weeks ago. Flowing well and totally hero ice. Gully was full of avalanche snow.

[*Chris*]

Just curious if anyone has been climbing ice in the Welsford area in the last 2 weeks? Seems like it's been either 'out' or otherwise ignored for most of the winter.

[theriault]

After seeing Austin's pictures of Cave Fever and Waterfall wall I rushed to CL in hopes to tick off a long term project of mine. Sadly things where not what they seemed in the pictures. After climbing to the bottom of the cave on Cave Fever, a human size pillar on the right side of the route decided to let go. This proved what I feared... instability... so I down climbed... freesolo project will have to wait. On top of that, (pun intended) the slabs are almost bare and shedding whats left. Waterfall Wall did not escape this fate, even tho its really fat (most of it) the ice is not bonded to the rock, and very unstable. On every swing and kick I could feel the whole structure move. Also, this weird season has created lots of ice layers (onion peals) wich are now wind blasted and aerated making for great climbing but pretty much no protection (even with long screws). I did a few bounce test on screws and really did not like what i saw. With a sunny forcast for the rest of the week, I personally think this place should be deemed dangerous but this is only my opinion, do what you want with it. The Gully's of Sussex on the other hand are still in amazing shape! they are even still building up! pretty impressive for mid March, so for the Ice lovers like me, this is where i suggest to climb... prob 3-4 weeks left of ice in those gully's!!!

With the end of the season close by, lets remember that every year, Ice climbers are killed or badly injured do to bad assessment of ice conditions... lets not put NB on the news.

Climb safe, climb smart!

[Stacey]

With the end of the season close by, lets remember that every year, Ice climbers are killed or badly injured do to bad assessment of ice conditions... lets not put NB on the news.

Climb safe, climb smart!

a good reminder Marty - from an experienced climber - ...we can put NB on the map for some amazing climbing - nothing else! thanks!

[max]

Got out to Cape Maringouin today. The is SO much ice! Probably 20-25 lines from WI2-WI4 and the ice is hero!

[austinconrad]

Motivation for Ice is already high in my heart! Here's good news for all the optimists in our small ice community!


http://www.farmersalmanac.com/long-rang ... ck-quebec/

Good season everyone!!!

Seems like you Where right!

[Joe]

Marty, the rumor is that you were up to Grand Falls last weekend. If true, what were the conditions like? I might be up there next weekend (12 April).