Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
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- Ecocrazy
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Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
I was hoping to climb the north couloir on Castle on Tuesday. With a bit of rain Sunday and a low of 32F at the summit Monday night, do you think that would be reckless?
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Re: Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
Reckless or not, it'll certainly be a posthole fest
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Re: Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
We had a pretty good refreeze last weekend on Castle (freeze at ~13000, low of 28F, clear skies) and still had rockfall in the couloir around 8am. I'd be thinking about taking the NE Ridge instead if I were in your shoes. Either way the basin is going to be posthole city.
- Ecocrazy
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Re: Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
Thanks. I was really hoping to get some couloir climbing in this June. I think I'll hang out at lower elevation this week and look for early wild flowers or scrambles, and maybe conditions will improve at high elevation later.
Re: Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
I wouldn't necessarily say reckless, but make sound decisions. Right now, I'd try and avoid anything east facing. Look for north and west facing options.
Coullies that are deeper inset would be a better too AS LONG as you start early and finish early. I'd plan on finishing by 8:00am-ish. Having said that,
you still need to pay attention to localized overnight temps. You need to consider night time temps before deciding what time to start and what line
to climb. And more important, don't be afraid to bail if it comes to that.
I climbed Traitor Couloir on American Saturday and by 7:30 am, the snow was already mashed potatoes. And that's a deeply inset, north-facing couloir.
Planning on climbing Naked Lady next Sunday but in lieu of conditions, I think that one may have to wait till next year.
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Re: Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
We did the Bell Cord on Friday June 4th. Off of the main trail at 4:45 am then topped out at 7:40am. Summit of Maroon Peak at 8:05am then back to the top of the cord at 9:05am. Back to the trail at 10am. I would not have wanted to be up there any later than we were. I think we ended up timing it just about perfect. On another note I can not believe how much rock fall was on all the snow we were climbing up. That mountain is falling apart fast.
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- HikesInGeologicTime
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Re: Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
How did the ridge look? I'm trying to talk a couple friends into doing Castle and Conundrum this weekend, but the last time I was up there (5/25 - my partner and another pair he linked up with summited, I did not), the ridge had enough snow on it that crampons and an axe were necessary just to get from the one peak to the other.stickmann wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 10:23 pm We had a pretty good refreeze last weekend on Castle (freeze at ~13000, low of 28F, clear skies) and still had rockfall in the couloir around 8am. I'd be thinking about taking the NE Ridge instead if I were in your shoes. Either way the basin is going to be posthole city.
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Re: Cancel couloir plans due to conditions?
There is a thin layer of snow left along the NE ridge of Castle. We left crampons on and walked over some rock on our way back down. Really 'mixed conditions' last weekend. It was fun but never felt spicy. Personally, I was more comfortable doing it with traction and axe even though the snow was pretty soft by ~9am and a thin layer. The only moderately spicy part of that route was a tiny traverse right before the summit. There are good rock holds but a drop if you slipped.HikesInGeologicTime wrote: ↑Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:07 pm
How did the ridge look? I'm trying to talk a couple friends into doing Castle and Conundrum this weekend, but the last time I was up there (5/25 - my partner and another pair he linked up with summited, I did not), the ridge had enough snow on it that crampons and an axe were necessary just to get from the one peak to the other.
I never feel like I can describe it well so PM me if you want some additional pics I snapped while on the ridge.