Spring Fling October Style

Ry and I were finally on the ball our last day. I was super motivated to climb before we had to drive back to town. We debated White Knight briefly and then decided for the closer and longer option up Spring Fling.

It was FREEZING out when we left the car. I hiked with my gortex, super puff, and face warmer. The lodge owners said -7 and I believe them!

Ryan Heading Up to Spring Fling

 

Why is it that most ice climbs are steeper and harder than they look? I'm definitely not at my best right now! The ledges I spied from below in reality were too down-sloping and steep to get much purchase on. I just got the new black diamond spinner leashes, and still have to say that for steeper pure ice, leashes save my arms and offer more security. I do like leash-less for mixed, or grade 3 and lower, and for how easy it is to switch tools to move around broken bulges or rocks.

Pitch One

 

If I could climb routes like this every day I would be satisfied forever. The views were gorgeous, the steep rock walls truly make it feel impressive, and the ice climbing was interesting. This is my favorite style of climb, so fun it makes me giddy.

Ryan Heading up to the Belay

 

We decided to try our luck at rappelling again since our ropes weren't frozen and it seemed like a straighter shot down...plus v-thread practice is invaluable ; )

Ryan Rappelling

 

It was a quick and easy rappel, and we were back to the care before dark and in Anchorage by midnight. Awesome day out!!!

Slide Show!



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White Mountain Exploration

Another late night followed by another late start. We were both feeling a little bit worked and decided it would be a good day for a little exploration. We parked at the end of the airstrip where all the houses are at the end of the open road.

White Mountain

 

We weren't really sure where we were heading, so we kept going down the road our eye on what looked like an ice climb. We found a four wheeler trail that went up to Ramble mine and then cut across the mountain above treeline till we found the gulley we thought held ice.

Rambler Mine

 

Heading up to White Knight

 

There was no way we could do it before dark, it looked mellow till the last pitch which stood steep. Next time.

White Knight...I think

 

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The Corridor..

Ryan and I pulled into the Paradise lodge cabin at about 1 am, it took us about 6 hrs to drive up. We were in the small cabin this time, but it was perfect, the toyo stove had it at 77 degrees within ten minutes! Loving it.

We got a bit of a late start due to coming in so late, and then Ry's car broke on the way to climb. We macguyverd a wire back together with some duct tape and secured the battery, and amazingly enough the car started!

Finally we parked at Jack creek, officially now a part of the crack of noon club.

Awesome Tundra Walking

 

It took about an hour to get into the corridor and I was surprised at all the drips coming off the walls. A beautiful place for sure.

In the Corridor

 

We looked at the climb, a wing and a prayer, but the top pitch looked pretty ugly, and definitely not like something I wanted to be my first lead of the year. I like to warm up to ice climbing slowly.

The climb in the corridor was thick, wet and overall just lovely. The only downside to wet ice, is frozen ropes...which really suck.

Ry at the Base of a Step

 

We got to the top of route at about 6pm, just as the sun was leaving alpenglow on the mountains. We knew we would be in the dark soon, so we sat at the top for a little while and enjoyed the view.

Topping Out at Sunset

 

The last time I did this route I walked off across the mountain and down by spring fling. We decided to try and rap the route instead this time, and I think it would have been ok, except our ropes were frozen. It was a little dodgy, but overall fine for the rappel, but pulling the ropes around corners didn't go so great. It took us as long to get down as up, and it was much harder!!

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And A Little More: Nabesna

On day three it had finally turned cold. I spent at least a minute doing the sniff test to see how hard my nostrils were sticking together to guestimate the temperature....I'm pretty sure without the windchill it was a solid 0 degrees ...which is my cut off for ice climbing in the first place..Lucky for us we had an hour hike to get to the bottom of the route, I was down to two layers of wool and a houdini, by the time we got back to the big cleft.

Me Coming Up the Canyon
Photo by: Bill Billmier

 

The Approach Pitch
Photo by: Bill Billmier

 

The top of the pitch had not one drop of running water on it, and it was brutal steep. When Bill tapped on it, scary noises put thoughts of total pillar collapse in my head...I probably wasn't super encouraging, "looks like shit", "I don't want to climb it on toprope" things like that....somethings just aren't meant to be climbed on certain days...

A Very Cantankerous Wing and A Prayer

 

A Wing and A Prayer

 

Slide Show

Kid's Corner Times Two: Nabesna

Day two dawned with soft grey clouds and whimsically falling snow...we parked and headed back up behind Jack Creek. This time we went for the largest cleft in the mountains on the lookers left. It was a pretty spectacular rock feature, especially with steep jagged daggers of ice looming high above. Again it took us about an hour to get to the bottom of the route(s).

Bill Walking up the Super Cleft

 

There is this climb back up there called "A Wing and a Prayer" and I think that is a very descriptive title....I pretty much took one look at it and in my mind there was no way it was happening....I'd love to lead it some day, but this day was not the one!! Maybe at the end of the season....maybe... instead we went up route that I have no idea of its name but was super mellow similar to Kids Corner in Caribou creek..

Top of One of Many Steps

 

I tried a new technique that Bill wanted to use, doing short pitches and doing blocks of pitches instead of swapping leads. I could see the possibility's of using such a method...the climbing was again deep in a narrow cleft, I love routes like this, they are super aesthetic to me.

Going up Pitches

 

When we got to the top we decided to go for the walk off again. Bill wanted to traverse across a slope, but I was disorientated and wanted to go to the ridge above. It ended up being almost a perfect loop around the entire mountain. Outside of the extremely slippery talus slope it was a fantastic way to get a feel for the whole mountain.

The Beautiful Walk Off

 

Slide Show!

First Day of Ice Climbing: Nabesna

I've been to Nabesna once before about 10 years ago, and my memory of the place had definitely faded, so much so that it was almost like being there for the first time again. As Bill and I drove down the road, the light was good and we immediately saw the big streak of ice coming down the mountain behind Jack Creek. It doesn't look as huge in the pic below, but on the right side of the pic you can see a huge gash and a small streak of white above the pine trees.

The Mountain Behind Jack Creek

 

The Ice Streak

 

We pulled over, looked through the binoculars, and decided to go check it out. The walking was almost great through a couple of inches of snow on top of either spongy tussocks or slippery rocks, the bushes were marginal and it took us about an hour to get to the base of our route.

Heading up the Drainage

 

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Bill won the rosh for the first pitch. This pitch was super fun, and the first time I had swung my tools since last April. I always feel a bit off the first couple outings of the season.

Bill on the first pitch

 

Outside of a small mixed section that topped out into a loose talus field this climb was a perfect series of moderate ice steps. The thing I liked the best was the steep, narrow walls and the funky rock textures, it was truly beautiful up there. All in all it was five pitches, and we got to walk off the top.

Bill on the Last Pitch

 

More Pics in the Slideshow!


Note to self: Don't throw pack over small cliffs. I think the route is called Spring Fling. The Sportsman Paradise Lodge is warm and awesome.