This weekend was much like the last one. I wasn’t really motivated to get too rowdy, but all the same I was very happy to be outside playing in the mountains. But unlike last weekend, we actually had good skiing and ice climbing conditions this time around.
With no real plan when we left my house yesterday, Hunter and I decided to head up into White Pine, where I had not been for years. I forgot how much fun this place can be. It’s a bit more of a skin to get to than some other places in the Wasatch, but the varying nature of the terrain pretty much assures that you’ll find some good snow on an aspect that hasn’t been baked out yet. It wasn’t blower, overhead Utah powder or anything, but it was creamy goodness just the same, and the turns were worth the work.
Today, Jen and I didn’t even muster a crack-of-noon start. Neither of us were feeling too good, but by early afternoon we were bored enough that we decided to head into the canyon anyway. After running up the first couple pitches of the Icicle, we caught up with two other climbers, which is pretty standard for this route. I was just about to bail when the leader lost his crampon, and it fell half a pitch before landing on the ledge where I was standing. Luckily, he caught his slip without taking what would have been a pretty horrendous lead fall, and I offered to climb up with his crampon.
So, instead of turning around to avoid climbing under other people, Jen and I got to pass the other party and continue to the top. Not bad for a day that didn’t get going until after 1:00 in the afternoon.
Lake Peak looking very tempting.
Hunter keeping the poles handy for the occasional flat sections.
High pressure moving the inversion back into SLC.
Looking down the last pitch of GWI.
It was a bit Scottish up top with lots of turf sticks.
