Center Weeping Wall

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Center Weeping Wall

Center Weeping Wall

After 15 minutes of traversing and climbing up in search of better ice, I decided to bail and climbed back to the belay. The pillar was chandeliered and protection very poor. I still liked this photo of me posing, despite the fact I bailed :) Photo by Hedd-wyn Williams. Lower Weeping Wall, Center (5+). December, 2008
pvalchev
on Jan 8, 2009 6:11 pm
Lat/Lon: 52.14361°N / 117.04472°W
Image Type(s): Ice Climbing
Image ID: 478278

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cascadetraveler

cascadetraveler - Jan 11, 2009 11:42 am - Voted 10/10

Great Self image.

I have never ice climbed, Though I have set screws and pickets in frozen snow On steep traverses. My question is what other types of pro do you set? I have had Ice climbing demo'd using a screw to build a donut notch in the ice then sling it. Do you always use two ropes for protection?

Larry.

pvalchev

pvalchev - Jan 12, 2009 2:18 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Great Self image.

Larry, ice screws are pretty much the only protection for ice climbing these days. The abalakov anchor (also called v-thread) is what you are talking about (drilling 2 holes to form triangle inside the ice and sling the resulting column), and that is only used for rappelling - it takes too long to set it for normal climbing. It's useful to train and know how to set one quickly, as it provides the best way to get off of climbs :) And yes, on most climbs two ropes are used, to facilitate full length rappels - I like double ropes, others use twins, and some like to use one fat rope and carry a skinny rope for rappel only. Hope that helps!

cascadetraveler

cascadetraveler - Jan 12, 2009 3:50 pm - Voted 10/10

Re: Great Self image.

That was perfect,

Thanks.

rpc

rpc - Jan 12, 2009 2:35 pm - Voted 10/10

very cool shot P.

cheers!

pvalchev

pvalchev - Jan 12, 2009 11:56 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: very cool shot P.

Thx Radek, too bad the ice was crap and I didn't actually climb the thing :) But especially w/ ice climbing I find it important to bail once in a while to keep ourselves honest.

AJones

AJones - Mar 8, 2009 11:55 pm - Voted 10/10

The Weeping Wall is

funny - I seem to have bad luck on the Weeping Wall, in terms of bad ice. I remember doing the last pitch one year, and the ice was so bad it took me 1.5 hours to lead it. Normally it's 20 minutes. Good for you for reversing - that's the smart thing to do.

pvalchev

pvalchev - Mar 9, 2009 1:50 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: The Weeping Wall is

Thanks - yeah I am not sure why it was so bad, I hadn't seen anything like that on my other climbs in the Rockies. May have to do with the sun exposure it gets for the whole day, and -30 temperatures for the 2 weeks before I went, making for too-fast-formation without a chance to consolidate? Who knows..

MichaelJ

MichaelJ - Mar 23, 2009 10:35 am - Hasn't voted

central pillar

In March the traverse was still a little sketch, but once you hit the grove the climbing became super fun with lots of stemming and good enough pro.

Steve Larson

Steve Larson - Feb 1, 2012 8:14 pm - Voted 10/10

Sounds familiar...

I did some soul-searching on that same pitch, but eventually decided to go for it. The pro was kinda so-so, and you had to dig for it, but the hooking was superb, which made it technically easy. It turned out to be a superb pitch, but I was glad to top out!

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