New Ice Climbing Area; The Hatchery

[theriault]

This Fall Luc and I did a lot of exploring in the Sussex region and found this place. In the recent past we spent 2 and a half days climbing the routes, so Voila, New Ice Crag! We took Ice school there this past weekend to sort of unveil it to the community with great results. The Hatchery has about ( dividing the walls into routes) 25 to 30 routes raging for 10m to 30+m with a few multipitches. Full spectrum of difficulty with easy WI2 slabes to vertical 30+m WI4+ pillars! Fun for everyone! The best part…. 10-15 MIN APPROACH on pretty flat ground!

Topo to fallow shortly.

[Greg]

Kudos to Marty and Luc on finding this new spot. They took me in for a sneak peak a couple of weeks ago and I have to say it is pretty awesome. Something for everyone......easy, hard, short, long. Plenty of routes, evenly spread out over a beauty of a canyon. Throw in an quick approach and you've got one of NB's best ice destinations. Glad to see the spirit of adventure is still alive here in NB. Nice work gents.

[*Chris*]

+1

The boys told me that they spent the early season bush-wacking any steep gully they could find on a topo and this was the reward for their efforts. Big variety, and looks like great water flow. The Hatchery just became one of NB's best ice spots. They might even have a few more tricks up their sleeve? Thanks Marty and Luc!

[Joe]

Excellent, a new play area! Tell us where! Any coordinates?

[theriault]

Tell us where! Any coordinates?

3/4 of the topo is almost completed, should be able to upload what I have so far tonight or tomorrow!

[theriault]

The Hatchery

(Topo shots found below)

Directions
The Hatchery is found in Waterford NB. The parking area is located after the second bridge on Parlee Brook Rd, please follow the same directions and parking guidelines used for the the Parlee Brook ice climbing area.

Approach
The trailhead is located on the opposite side (East side) of the abbey and across the bridge. Look for a red hunting marker on the right side of the brook and follow a faint flagged trail through a mixed acadian forest. 10-15 minutes of hiking on this trail will bring you to a valley drainage.
Routes
Routes are listed going upstream of the valley drainage.
Note: All the routes have tree anchors, so this info will not be added to the route descriptions.

Mur Dla Plaise
The first area encountered is concentrated on the right bank of the brook, the routes are as follows;

1. Mur Dla Plaise WI2 15m
FA M. Theriault Jan ''14
This is the first wall found on the right bank of the brook. Easy low angle slabs with many different possibilities. Great spot for a first ice lead.


The 6 Pillars
Just past the Mur Dla Plaise, is a series of 6 steep pillars, that starts with a smaller independent pillar followed by a big wall that contains 5 distinct pillars.

2. Pilier dla grotte WI 4 20m
FA M. Theriault Jan '14
This is the smaller pillar situated over a small cave just before the main big wall. In a short period this pillar can change from a delicate overhung yellow curtain (day of the FA) to a super fat blue pillar lower angled pillar.

3. Pilier dla morue WI 4 35m
FA L. Gallant Jan '14
The first pillar part of the big wall is composed of 2 vertical sections separated by a small ledge halfway up.

4. Maquereau WI 4+ 35m
FA L. Gallant Jan '14
Sustained the whole way, great steep fun!

5. Master Pillar WI 4+ 35m
FA M. Theriault Jan '14
The main blue pillar in the middle of the wall. What you see is what you get - steep, long and awesome! The king of the ravine!

6. Pilier dla truite WI 4 35m
FA M. Theriault Jan '14
The 4th pillar on the big wall, steep but offers a few breaks.

7. Pilier du seaweed WI 4 35m
FA L. Gallant Jan '14
The final pillar on the big wall, the steepness and techy climbing makes this one a must do! Can be delicate early season.

8. Le Mur Des Barbots WI 3+ to 4 25/30m
FA divided between M.Theriault and L. Gallant Jan '14
This wall spans from a notch at the end of the big wall to where the final head wall losses its vertical face. This wall has a lot to offer to climbers seeking moderate beautiful climbing. The right side offers steep finishes while the left side stays mellow most of the way with short steep finishes. This wall sports about 12 ish lines.

9. Standard Wall WI 3 30m
FA M.Theriault Jan '14
Super classic! This is the obvious moderate wall in the ravine. Sustained mellow WI3 wherever you go. Multiple lines are possible.

10. Algae Wall WI 3+/WI hard 60+m
FA M.Theriault Jan '14
This is the huge vegetated wall with potential for major lines. So far only the route on the right has come in, but keep an eye out for the rest of the impressive wall in future seasons!

Le saumon
The next 3 walls are situated on the left side when heading upstream of the drainage. A solar collector, the routes receive sun most of the day! A warm place on cold days.

11.La Queue du saumon WI3 20m
FA : M. Theriault Jan. '14
This is the first of 2 bowls situated on the left side of the drainage. Climb up a snow slope to get in the obvious bowl covered in ice. Multiple routes possible.

12. La Nageoire WI 3 12m
FA M. Theriault Jan '14
This wall is situated on top of La Queue du saumon. This make a good moderate multipitch adventure with a variety of top-out options. Great on sunny day, but be careful of sunbaked slabs near the top.

13. La Bouche du Saumon WI 2 to 4 25m
FA L. Gallant Jan '14
This second bowl is also accessed by climbing a snow slope or crossing over from La Queue Du Saumon. This Bowl offers easier climbing in the middle (and way over to the right), with steeper lines on the sides.

14. Le Mur Du Fretin WI 3 15m
FA L. Gallant Jan '14
This small wall is situated on the right side of the brook just across from La Bouche Du Saumon. A few possible lines, great for a quick warm up.


L’Aquarium
This area is located in the next drainage over. Topo not yet completed.


P.S. I would like to thank Dom for helping me do this.

[theriault]

[*Chris*]

Further to Marty's description I've added the Hatchery to NB's ice map at: http://ascentnb.com/nb-ice/

[theriault]

I should also mention that the pictures used for the Topo where taken in lean conditions, Its WAY fatter right now!

[cory]

Félicitation, Luc et Marty! That looks like a substantial area, and a great addition to NB climbing.

[Shawn B]

Sounds awesome. Doesn't look like the potential on a topo...so kudos to Marty and Luc for hiking in to make the find. Looking forward to checking it out. Any chance someone can translate the names so us language challenged can pronounce and comprendre. Merci.

[Shawn B]

This place is great. Quality climbing. Short approach. Don't let the slabs at the base of the pillars fool you...they are steeper and longer than they appear from the brook. A 70m rope is definitely convenient if you want to set up sling shot TR's. The pillar wall was much more filled in than in the pics with some great aesthetic open book climbing in addition to the straight on pillars. Pumpy seemed to be a common word heard.
Again here as with Parlee...be thoughtful of the amount of snow above you and where you are walking...it won't take much snow to pile up deep in the brook. There was evidence of avalanches in this gully on Sat and we don't need a tragedy like this. http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanches/20275

[max]

Awesome!! Excited for some late season ice in there!
Nice work Marty and Luc!

[Dom]

Added tat with rings on a tree atop standard wall and on another tree on the right end of Mur des Barbots.

[Greg]

Another great day at The Hatchery. The popularity of this new area is pretty clear - the count yesterday was 18 climbers! The interesting part was that it didn't seem crowded at all. Mike Delaney and I ventured over to the Aquarium later in the afternoon to check it out. We climbed a couple of routes there including the main waterfall. What a fantastic climb. This is a must do. There are about three lines on the thing all at about WI 3 or 3+. Very cool climbing on mushrooms, cauliflower and chandiliery ice. You will wish it went on forever. Add to this about three other large curtains and pillars right of the waterfall and you have about another day's worth or climbing in just this sub area of The Hatchery. Awesome