yup... i generally do a bunch of granite scratch'n on lily rock each year. believe it or not, the trough is usually at its best late march, early april. one year, it was in such fine form, wallspeck and i went back and did it the next day. i think one year, the last ascent was done first week of MAY! another time on the larks, we got turned around 4 pitches up. 3 feet of dry powder over granite made getting through the overhangs kinda tough... swimming up was virtually impossible. i met dave and deb that day...

but for some good, mixed scratch'n, the north face can be pretty darn good. and it has a lot to offer, with good one pitch fright fests and easy rappels off trees or blocks to get back down. if yer gonna wait for good conditions on lily rock, you will never climb the ice...

That's the spirit !

yes gary, JT was perfect! PERFECT!!! and no one climbing! at least not on anything other than the same 3% of the routes.

and not so perfect conditions to keep it on topic... thanx to dave daley...

Bob Burd wrote:If the weather is looking sucky in NoCal, look to SoCal.

If it sucks around LA, look in the desert. This weekend is a great one for heading to the Mojave. Weather report for Barstow:
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... it=0&lg=en

I used to pooh-pooh desert peaks until I actually climbed some. They are awesome. For a good start, you can get a whole list of interesting ones on the DPS website. Try it, you'll like it!

(If you can't stomach 6-7hr drives, then forget the above. But I tell ya, they're worth it!)

Well then Bob.....guess you wouldn't have a problem doing Old Woman Statue then.....seeing you haven't done it yet.

Casaval ridge should be perfect right about now

depclimb wrote:Casaval ridge should be perfect right about now

define perfect.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... it=0&lg=en

@12k' which is around the Catwalk?

M.L.King Day: Snow. High near 15. Wind chill values as low as -24. Windy, with a south wind around 41 mph, with gusts as high as 60 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 26 to 32 inches possible.

the only time where I climb in below 0 and these type of conditions was going up the fixed line on Denali to the 17k' camp. I seriously thought I was going to die. the only exposed part of my body was the little strip between my goggles and bavaclava and it got flash frozen.

The drive back down 395 was beautiful yesterday, but the rain caught us just south of ridgecrest and made for a slower last couple of miles. I am glad I went up there. the pre storm weather was awesome.

Dave Daly wrote:Well then Bob.....guess you wouldn't have a problem doing Old Woman Statue then.....seeing you haven't done it yet.

Hey, if you had just taken the time to replace those old bolts...

Dougb wrote:There's a desert peak that I've heard "zero" about that would be a fine one to do in crap weather like this. It's called Castle Rock in the Turtle Mts of SoCal. It's less than 3000 ft elevation. I once walked all the way around it, looking for weakness, and could not find a way to get up it, it's definitely not class 4 or easier (my personal limit for soloing). It's obviously not a huge challenge or it would have a page, but it looked nice to me, the two times I went to the Turtle Mts.

Yes, that is a big piece of shit! I can't imagine what kind of gear you could possibly use for packed mud. Some crazy fools supposedly climbed it in the '70s but I don't know by which aspect. We walked around it and didn't see anything "promising." THEN we got a flat tire!

BTW, the weather at Rock Creek was PERFECT on Saturday. I skinned about 14 miles and got a nice suntan.

squishy wrote:If you were faced with this storm hitting California and only had this weekend to get out...and could do just about anything in regards to our hobby...where would just go? That's either dry or frozen?

This weather situation in Ca right now sucks...what's with the perfect moderate weather thing not happening? I'm worried about the roads...I know where the gym rats will be...should I scurry inside as well? Is this THE ONE!! The skiers will like this news...


It's a great week, to not be in California...

I'm of a completely opposite sentiment. I'd rather be in the eye of the storm, this is great stuff!

MoapaPk wrote:

Dave Daly wrote:Well then Bob.....guess you wouldn't have a problem doing Old Woman Statue then.....seeing you haven't done it yet.

Hey, if you had just taken the time to replace those old bolts...

Why? Then Bob and others wouldn't have the pleasure of climbing and enjoying antiques along the way. Besides, climbing mank is a test of one's constitution. Buck up!