Don_Serl Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 Trip: Shreddie - Date: 2/3/2007 Trip Report: It's easy to get discouraged sitting at home in the city, looking at the monitor and registering the warm fronts as they sweep across the mountains. But it takes more than just a day or two of 'heat wave' for all that ice out there to hit the ground. True, the lower stuff 'round Lillooet and even out the Bridge and up the Duffey has suffered, but - as Simon Richardson, my Scottish friend and fellow ice aficionado so succinctly puts it - there's always something to climb; the trick (and skill) is just to choose the right place to suit the conditions. And I was sure the high stuff up on the Duffey would still be in great shape. The past few weeks have given me one of my most enjoyable ice seasons ever. And as the number of days out mounted and my confidence increased, Shreddie - which, unusually, touched down this year - grew to dominate my thoughts. For nearly 20 years I've been ice climbing up on the Duffey Lake road, and every trip thru, I've stopped and gazed up at this amazing formation, initially wondering if it would ever touch down, then later, when it occasionally did, considering whether I could climb it. I managed one attempt, in 1996 with John Irvine, but I pulled a tool and fell off. I went away undamaged physically, but 'hurt' mentally. And confidence can hard to rebuild, especially on the single-digit number of days per season that coastal ice climbing often provides for us. So I was - frankly - scared when I finally made the decision to go 'have a look' with Graham Rowbotham. There seemed to a be serious warming trend coming, and the chance to test myself might drift by if I didn't take it now. Worst case, I reckoned, I'd fall off again, but I certainly didn't plan to do anything potentially fatal, and I was completely willing to fail, if that was how it was. To not try, however, would be deeply injurious. In the event, almost as an anticlimax, we climbed it. The ice was dry and mostly secure, the temps were maybe around -5C, the climbing was tricky and a few times quite insecure, but after every hard section it was always possible to work out a stemming position and to get a screw in. Most of them would have held. There were plenty of knobs on the face to work with for the feet, and there were a myriad of little hollows and dips to ease the tool placements. And the verticality didn't go on for more than maybe 10 metres - surprisingly, not very much of the climb was pumpy, if you were canny about how you moved. As the angle tipped back that first few degrees and the tension eased noticably and as I stopped talking to myself, I rememeber thinking to myself "Jesus, you're gonna climb this sucker." This was quickly followed with "You're not up yet; pay attention to every placement, cuz this would not be a good place to be making a mistake." And a while later, there I was at the upper belay. Only then did I notice that it had clouded over and that snow was starting to drift lightly down. My life is not now what I would call complete nor have I attained enlightenment, but it's a valuable process to confront one's limitations and fears, and I feel just a touch more content this morning than I did yesterday. Success feels good of course, but even failure is valuable. There's no place for self-delusion when you're battling gravity, and I treasure the self-knowledge and associated humility I've gained out of both the 'wins' and 'losses' over all my years of climbing. Shreddie provided a particularly powerful lesson for me - I hope you have had a wonderful weekend too. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 a few photos: Graham Rowbotham steps delicately thru a tricky section on the opening 40m pitch to the cave, with the dagger looming above. Exiting the belay ledge in the cave - hard moves, even before getting to grips with the dagger. And, luckily, a stem behind… Out of the cave and onto the dagger - time to quell the doubts and to climb with great care! Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevino Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 That looks awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 So what grade would you call that Don? Since it only has 10 meters of vertical, maybe you and Graham would give it 3+/4-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordop Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Yeah, Don! So after reading this insanity this afternoon I felt so lazy sitting behind the desk that I decided to go for a big run up in the Seymour. Pulled some major ligament deal in my hip and one whole side of my body is wrecked. All your fault Don!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpinfox Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderhound Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Sick Sick Sick is all I have to say, except that i am jealous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekend_Climberz Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Nice, that's a classic looking line :tup: Gotta love belay caves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 good job Don! Here's some pictures from Duffey's Delight, same day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted February 5, 2007 Author Share Posted February 5, 2007 (edited) good job Don! Here's some pictures from Duffey's Delight, same day. good job - FAT! wish we'd found it that way a cpl yrs ago. the season ought to be a long way from over, altho let's see what happens this week for temps. it leapt to 7C in Lillooet at noon (obviously "chinooking", cuz it's still only 4C in Pemberton). that's tolerable for a cpl days, but... fingers crossed... cheers, don Edited February 5, 2007 by Don_Serl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 for full disclosure the uppermost pillar was brittle and insubstantial dry icicles. We were scared off and bailed from the high tree out right. We should have brought more rock gear. I am optimistic about the quantity of ice remaining in shady and high locations around and about. I spotted someone climbing The Groke on Saturday too ... I hope they thought they were making an FA, because I can't imagine being enticed by the guidebook description to bother wading the river and hiking up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Maybe they were gonna go for the rock finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jens Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Sweet pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Thanks for the inspiring TR, and well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmace Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 good job - FAT! wish we'd found it that way a cpl yrs ago. for full disclosure the uppermost pillar was brittle and insubstantial dry icicles. We were scared off and bailed from the high tree out right. We should have brought more rock gear. haha, I love Ice climbing... nice don, better than walking in the dark all night.. any reports from you guys on the other stuff...on the Duffey..? Did you guys all go home after 1 day or..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 any reports from you guys on the other stuff...on the Duffey..? Did you guys all go home after 1 day or..? the middle-duffey stuff hasn't really changed - shreddie (obviously) in fine; closet secrets is fattening up; lotsa ice on the rambles; carlsberg about like it was (boney but with a climbable line); bullock-amelunxen looks good; lotsa ice on cowabunga dude; the waiting game is dangerously close to coming in (the ice is continuous, but the pillar on the upper pitch looks extremely tenuous). obviously Duffey's Delight is 'sorta' in. can't say anything beyond that. there were 2 Wash plates and a BC plate on Rambles while we were on shreddie - anything to report, anybody? we day-tripped (16 hrs door-to-door), cuz it was hockey tournament weekend, and no motel rooms available in Lillooet last w/e. Ok for the coming one, i think. cheers, don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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