Caribou Creek

I met up with Bill, Carina and Todd and we all headed back Caribou creek together on Bill's snow-go.  Bill and I climbed what I like to call the Trifecta.  The one on the far left grew smaller and more mellow as we approached...it ended up being a single pitch of juicy grade 3...my favorite.

The Trifecta: Double Take Area

Bill got to lead the original double take, its seems just the same as it used to, steep.  I got the right climb, and it was great moderate ice.

Bill on the original Double Take

Carina on Double Take

Bill and I were both surprised that we finished all the climbs by about 2, still leaving lots of light in the day.  Carina and Todd came and climbed Double Take, then we all went down to the next climb.  I've never seen China wear in this big before, the top had some nice steep lines and was wide enough that we all climbed relatively at the same time.

China Wear

Beers and burgers at the long rifle lodge was a great end to the day.

Another Foray into Caribou Creek

Caribou Creek has been amazing this season, and with temps still above zero out there it was an easy decision to go back.   None of us have climbed STD and were all game, Bill won the rosh.

Ryan with The Double Take Area Behind Him 

 

It was a long, beautiful pitch.  The climbing was steep and fun.

Ryan Following STD 

 The Double Take area was just a short walk away, I was in rotation for the next pitch, and from far way the old Double Take looked steep and unrelenting.  I was feeling happy to pass the lead on, until I stood underneath it, and it looked doable.   It was as steep as it looked from far away, but the ice was reasonable and I made it up with only a little internal whining.

Me, Bill and Ryan at the Top of The Old Double Take 

 

Bill Rappelling The Old Double Take 

Caribou Creek: A Whole New Approach

I hadn't been to the end of Caribou creek all winter and really wanted to check out the land slide that took out the climb Double Take. Billmier had the grand idea to ice skate back there. It was probably not ideal conditions, but it was definitely more entertaining than walking on ice.

Billmier Skating Past the Sublimation Wall

 

I was pretty proud of me and Bill when we got to the base of Robopick, saw it melting in the sun, wanting to climb it, but not even going through the the huge rock fall debate like we have the last 2 years, its already been confirmed, rocks fall off that wall down the route when its warm and sunny.

So we went back to the new wall of ice to the lookers right of the old Double Take. There were so many lines to choose from, all in the sun, all looked fun. I won the rosh, and got to lead a stellar soft, perfectly angled pitch of ice.

Billmier Rappelling the New Route Above the Landslide

 

Bill won the next rosh for the first pitch of Rhythm and Blues, I was bummed I really wanted that one. The pitch above is usually brittle and cantankerous, and this day was no exception. The difference in ice quality from the sunny to the shady side is stark, I much prefer soft and easy.

Rhythm and Blues (I think?)

 

The mild gradient back down Caribou Creek made for some fast ice skating. The climbing pack definitely upset the balance, and I went down twice at a complete standstill.

There was still a lot of light left in the day when we were walking past Kids Corner, so it was hard to pass up. My pack felt heavy and my mojo to low for a solo on the first pitch so Bill belayed me, but from there we soloed side by side and were at the top in well under an hour.

 

Caribou Creek Spring Style

Caribou creek is awesome when its warm in Anchorage. Tanya, Jon, Bill and I, all went back to Cantellya, Robopick and Double Take for some spring climbing. Cantellya is pretty amazing this year, this is only the second year the left side has come in, and I really wanted to climb it. Billmier and I did the customary rosh, but I lost this time.

Billmier Getting Ready for the First Pitch

 

Bill took a really aesthetic line, it was super steep and really fun climbing. I couldn't really get good pics of Bill since I was in a cave, but Tanya took the same line and even had the same blue coat.

Tanya Climbing the First Pitch of Cantellya Left

 

Cantellya with Tanya on the Left Side

 

Bill and I headed over to Robopick and it was just gleaming in the sun. It looked soft and beautiful, and it was my pitch. Snow and rocks were starting to melt off the steep walls in the canyon, but I told myself that it was only over there and not above my route. I was only 20 feet up when a small slide came down the center of the climb right on top of me, I didn't get hit but started to feel nervous. Then a much larger snow mixed with rocks slide came down loudly to my right and I was ready to call it quits. Its funny how just the day before I was telling Jon the story of how I'll never climb around rock fall again because of how a previous time on this same climb last year...one year later I can't believe how tempted I still was to climb it...so so so bummed.

With plenty of time still left in the day, Tanya, Jon, Bill and I all did Double Take. It was short but had a nice section of steep soft climbing...my favorite. Then just a short snow machine ride later we were all back at the vehicles, no headlamps necessary. Super fun day out.

Tanya, Bill, Jon and I on Top of Double Take

 

The Best Day in Caribou Creek Ever!

I have to say that Billmier is one of my favorite climbing partners. Both of us are horribly efficient, and usually always on time. We met up at the Long Rifle lodge, I arrived at 9:32, and Bill was packed and ready to go. We were looking up at Cantellya and Robopick by 12.

We immediately disregarded Cantellya as a possiblity. It looked like a falling rock war zone, plus there were huge chunks of ice from hanging daggers that had fallen. Robopick on the other hand was in the sun and like a siren lured us in. We saw rocks falling on either side of route, but nothing coming down the middle. After staring at it for 5 minutes we decided to rosh for it. I won the first lead.

Robopick

 

We decided that Bill should belay by the river, and I would try and climb as fast as I could out of the potentially sketchy spot. Oh my, the rope drag was brutal! Luckily the ice was thunker, and soon I was setting up the belay on the second step. Bill came up and within minutes was heading up the last pitch. By this time the sun was HOT, and the activity all around us had increased, rocks began falling down the middle of the route. Yuck. Luckily we made it down in one rap and literally ran away from the base unscathed. Bill and I felt pretty silly for playing such bad odds. Stupid idea, but excellent climbing nonetheless.

Left side of Cantellya

 

There was still lots of time left to the day when we walked up to Double Take. We roshed again for the lead, but this time Bill won. He picked a super pretty line. The ice was HERO! So amazing to climb sticky ice, it makes everything so much easier!

Double Take

 

It was only 5:30 by the time we got to Kids corner. We had our skis with us, and toyed with the idea of bringing them up the route with us. But instead we decided to just solo the route and leave the skis at the bottom on the river. It took us a 1/2 hour to get to the top, the route was in prime conditions, wet and sticky. I love spring climbing!

Bill at the Top of Kid's Corner

 

A super cool thing about this day is that we didn't use our headlamps at all. We were back to the car by 6:30 and it was sunny. I have never walked all the way back to the end of the canyon, and gotten three routes in. Usually it takes me all day just to do two pitches on Cantellya. More typically a trip back here is a battle royal with frigid fingers and brittle cantankerous ice. It was absolutely delightful to be warm, climbing sticky ice in the sun instead.

Caribou Creek

I love going out to Caribou creek, its a long burly day in many ways. First you have to get up early, drive 2+ hours, hike or ski 2 hours, and then finally you arrive at the climbs, which are also BIG. At least in comparison to most ice immediately around the Anchorage Area.
Bill and I had a fantastic day. I like to climb by the Ro-sham-bo method aka rock, paper, or scissors and let fate decide who wins the rosh. I was staring up at the first pitch of Cantellya making my peace with leading it, then went back to where Bill was and lost the rosh....I have this weird karma with roshing.....its a bit ass backwards, whenever I want to win the rosh I don't, and pitches that I dread leading the most, I typically win the rosh on....fate seems to want to make me be a better climber.

I took pictures of most of the climbs, click on the album to see them!