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Does anybody have any information on the icefall conditions at Mount Lincoln? I'm wondering if it is coming in and available to climb yet...

thanks.

Yes, I can help you with that. I was out there last Friday.

The start of the main gully is good for the first 20 feet, after which you'll encounter verglassed rock on the low-angled section for about another 20 feet. After that it's big and fat up to the foot of the short upper headwall. The headwall itself is in decent enough shape, with the top in its usual thin shape to the chains.

None of the flows to climber's right of the main gully have formed to any climbable degree, although the pillars are trying really hard. Some folks have been toproping them, but I would suggest they really need to be left alone until they touch down and become fatter.

The gate is closed at the parking lot, and I might also add that the approach up the talus field can be a trippy dorkfest due to the lack of snow and the occasional patches of work hardened snow and verglas. I'm no stranger to crampons on rock, but there is so little snow on the trail that you'd have square points by the time you got to the base of the ice. Coming down with crampons is wise.

I'm out there tomorrow if you need an update.

Awesome, thanks for the info! Any updates you can make are really appreciated.

as of yesterday:
http://zclipped.com/?p=82

Conditions today were pretty much as I reported for last week. We walked out at dusk in a building storm; word is this storm is expected to be fairly productive, so if it pans out scope out the hanging valley above the falls before heading up.

Bottom line is there's not a huge amount of ice for the average weekend crowd and everyone's going to be gunning for the main gully.

Climb safe!