Hourglass conditions???

[zdero1]

Has anyone observed recent conditions in the hourglass? I'm hoping for some beta on the amount of water flowing down after the recent rainstorms. It's looking clear for the foreseeable future and I'm hoping to attempt.

Thanks in advance
Mike

[randalmartin]

I would be equally concerned about ice forming on the rock in the early morning. September is a month where great all day weather can actually make it better to start a little later in the morning to give the sun a chance to do it's thing if you have a below freezing morning.

[zdero1]

It's not going to dip below freezing at 14k, per mountain-forecast.com

[kushrocks]

It's not going to dip below freezing at 14k, per mountain-forecast.com

Mike,

When are you going to give it a shot?

[Mark81-gd]

Anyone know rope status in hourglass?

[tree_beard]

was up there yesterday. didn't go thru the hour glass but met up with some friends on blanca who came thru the hour glass and said yes there was a rope, but that they could only climb up the rope part of the way due to ice, mud and running water. At some point they veered left and free climbed ~50 ft of 5.4-5.6. On blanca and all thru the basin leading up to the peaks the rock was frosted well into the day. new snow under all the shadows and cliffs looks like it might be here to stay.

[kendrickC]

On Friday my friend and I did the standard route up Little Bear before traversing to Blanca and Ellingwood. The Hourglass was without-a-doubt the crux of the day as it was a crap show of ice and running water. We never used the fixed ropes as they were right in the middle of the crap show. They appeared in good condition, but we didn't look too hard since we never intended to touch them. We were able to keep our scrambling to 3rd class on the climber's left of the ropes until the Hourglass eventually narrowed to a slight bottleneck. Here we had two choices: try using the rope or climb some 5.easy terrain that was noticeably more vertical, but almost completely free of ice. We chose the later. If you're comfortable with easy climbing and moderate exposure I would suggest climbing on the left side of the ropes versus staying in the ice/water. It's about 50 feet at most of climbing and then you can veer over to rejoin the Hourglass route.

If you would normally be uncomfortable on a dry Hourglass I would highly suggest picking a different peak. The ice/water was pretty awful and our bypass of the Hourglass was significantly harder than the Hourglass would be in dry conditions.

Just my two cents...

[Bullwinkle]

Thanks much for the conditions report. That helps a lot for my planning this week.

[kendrickC]

Glad to help. Here are a few photos of the Hourglass from the day we ascended...

Yes, it's as wet as it looks...

photo 2.JPG (273.1 KiB) Viewed 579 times

The lower section of our bypass around the icy Hourglass. There's about 20-30 feet of 5.5'ish climbing, then a nice ledge to rest (where the photo was taken), and then another short section of climbing before you can rejoin the upper section of the HG.

photo 1.JPG (344.17 KiB) Viewed 579 times

[Bullwinkle]

Any update available on the Hourglass since the 1st? It has been very pleasant and warm around Westcliffe all week.

[Brian C]

For those scared of the 5.5 variation to the left to avoid the ice should know that it is not really that hard and is much closer to 4th class than 5.5. Maybe "5.0" could be tossed out there, but it is certainly easier than trying to climb wet/icy 3rd class which is much more dangerous. That said, down climbing is always harder than going up...

EDIT:
Oh yeah! I forgot that when I posted on an hourglass thread I'm supposed to ask...

"Anybody know the conditions of the fixed ropes??"

[eskermo]

Mark81-gd and I climbed and descended the Hourglass on Monday. We hit the base at first light (just after 6:00 am) and the climbing was relatively straightforward, with a little bit of avoidable running water. We stayed on the summit for an hour and began our descent at 8:00 AM. On the way down, some spots that seemed to be dry or just a little wet on the ascent had definitely frozen and caught us a little off guard. Be extremely careful around the wet sections, especially on the descent. My guess is that because the Hourglass is southwest facing and very inset that it stayed colder there for longer into the morning and temperatures continued dropping while we were on the summit. With no sun to hit it and warm it up, as well as some wind to chill the rock out a little more, it froze later in the morning. So what randalmartin said definitely rings true, in my opinion:

I would be equally concerned about ice forming on the rock in the early morning. September is a month where great all day weather can actually make it better to start a little later in the morning to give the sun a chance to do it's thing if you have a below freezing morning.

I did not use the rope to descend because I won't trust any gear that is not my own. It was definitely doable without microspikes or crampons or a rappel, but was without a doubt a little hairy. I would suggest to keep in mind that just because it wasn't icy on the ascent doesn't mean it won't be on the descent.