UKH

Mid Winter blues.

It looks like eleven months before my next route, once I attach the replacement picks to my ice tools.  No dry tooling or mixed routes for me - it rounds the points.

Where will be in condition in the next couple of weeks? 

Snowdonia seems finished; Sottoguda is out; Rjukan is limited; heavy snow in North East USA.

Cogne and Ceillac seem ok AFAIK.

Suggestions for a trip about this period next year?

In reply to Pay Attention:

Northern Scandinavia looks fine for temps, they've had a few days around or above zero in Tromsø for example, but it looks colder going forward. Inland in Sweden and Finland it looks like it has stayed at or below freezing and will be getting much colder again through the week.

In reply to Pay Attention:

A team have been up on Senja Island, northern Norway, seem to be having an epically good time. Check out Ramon Marin's Facebook feed. I know of someone off to Iceland too. 

In reply to Pay Attention:

There’s a very good FB group called Alps - conditions for (ice) climbing. Regular photo reports in a variety of European languages. Stuff is still getting done in the higher up areas. 

In reply to Pay Attention:

Cogne was a bit thin compared to good years as of weds this week but plenty of routes in pretty good condition

In reply to Pay Attention:

I've just come back from a month in Canada (Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise area).  Was excellent overall with great ice conditions but a bit cold at times (got to -40 with wind chill a couple of days).  Once you get over the extra flight cost and travel time there is so much to do within a relatively small area.  Recommend staying at the Alpine Club of Canada huts in Canmore and Lake Louise.  From these you have access to as many climbs as you want from single pitch to very long multi-pitch and grades from WI2/3 to WI6.  And lots of back country or piste skiing if that is your thing for rest days.

In reply to tjdodd:

Canada is usually reliable but can be very cold as mentioned above. I've just returned from the Dolomites and found good conditions around Colfosco and Corvara in the Alta Badia. Whilst we were there we met a visiting Austrian guide, Matthias Wurzer, who told us about a new venue in the Austrian Tirol where water pipes have been used to create the routes. Here's a link.....

https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/alpinism/eispark-osttirol-the-new-ic...

There's plenty of other ice venues in Austria, of course, many of which are shown in Mario Settori's guide. Maybe this new venue could provide an early focus before venturing out on to serious 'Beat Kammerlander' terrain.

Hope this is useful.......Jeff

In reply to Jeff Ingman:

We were in Austria a week ago and climbed every day for 6 days in Otztal and Pitztal, there are some venues such as Kitzgarten and Taschachschluct which are very reliable as they are in small gorges and feature some artificially created routes as well as natural lines. This year they have also created an ice park at Oberried in Otztal. The Climbers Paradise website https://www.climbers-paradise.com/en/climbing-disciplines/ice-climbing/ has details and topos for almost all the routes in the area and a free 80 page guide for the Kaunertal area can be downloaded from the Issuu website: https://issuu.com/diewest/docs/eiskletterfuehrer_tiroler_oberland.

Conditions can vary with the weather and the amount of lying snow but there's usually plenty to go at.

In reply to tjdodd:

So it didn't get to -40 then.

In reply to TobyA:

You are a silly sausage. 

In reply to Pay Attention:

Cogne is currently happening in the main. We have been here now for 5 days and today Friday is really hot with predicted heat continuing. However many of the routes are fat, having said that Cascade de Lillaz is incomplete and not happening.

last time we were here was in 2017 and it was colder but still not considered by the locals as a typically cold year....so make of that as you will

In reply to Jeff Ingman:

It's fairly unusual to get a sustained period of extreme cold, normally the Chinooks warm things up by 30C after a few days.  It's manageable by climbing sunny routes or taking a short trip to the warm side of the Rockies like Kicking Horse Canyon or Bull River.  Having said that I'm not going climbing much below -20C these days, but then I have the luxury of being a local.

In reply to Pay Attention:

PM me if you come to the Dolomites again - more than happy to share knowledge of the area and what's in and whats not. Saw you wnt to look down the road in Caprile and could have told you that was not going to be in - and also could have dirrected you to a new canyon 5 minutes from Sottoguda where there are 4 routes with a couple more waiting for a FA...

In reply to beardy mike:

BM: You are undoubtedly THE expert on Dolomites conditions!  You did previously mention to me the 4 climbs awaiting a FA - are they still unclimbed?

We found Le Grazie in condition Jan 22nd. We got lost looking for La Forra.  Up at Davare / Moe we were warned off leaving the hamlet because of the alarming extent of treefall from those autumn storms.

In reply to Pay Attention:

No, I've done three, plus another 2 outside the canyon. The damage is extremely localised - sometimes it's a total nightmare other times its absolutely fine. Moe did have a lot of damage above the hamlet - I've not been up to take a look yet as I have no car. The day before yesterday I spent time up by the Fedaia dam and found two routes which had previously been climbed, both in good condition, although the ice was very cold despite the warm temperatures and as a consequence was brittle. I know that people have been climbing in the gorge and have it on good authority that there is not that much ice in there, although Excalibur is in good condition. Its getting a bit late in the season for Cascata del sole (which as the name implies) catches the sun and is thin this year. Spada Nella Roccia has not formed at all, Cascata del attraversare has an exceedingly thin first pitch, cascata della luna is hollow on the first pitch, and Cathedrale di Destra is hloow high on the second pitch which I'm led to believe makes it a bit scary. Or so the people who climbed it tell me. I'm in the middle of writing up my new canyon so I'll let you know when it's ready!

In reply to Jeff Ingman:

Also has the benefit of it's own excellent webcam (with history back through last winter) here

https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/eispark-osttirol/

In reply to Toerag:

That's a very useful resource.  Thank you.

In reply to Pay Attention:

There is a photo on FB of current conditions in Garvanie - and it looks fantastic,

Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Can't find it .... where to look?

In reply to Pay Attention:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2194138503982483&set=a.80303149...

Does that work?

Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Looks fantastic! We where choosing between Gavarnie and Stora Sjöfallet in northern Sweden but opted for the latter after speaking to the tourism Office in Gavarnie and checking the forecast. Anyone with experience of the place and can tell how much colder it is at the ice venue than in the village? (According to the girls at the Office it only differed a couple of degrees?)

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Thank you.  That looks great.

In reply to Pay Attention:

Just back from the new canyon and it yielded a new line and we found the upper amphitheatre has atleast another 4-5 lines in it, bringing the total in that ravine to 9-10 routes once it's all climbed out!

In reply to beardy mike:

Lots going on in Rocca Pietore!

Here in Birmingham it looks like summer has started.

In reply to Pay Attention:

Same here, I'm not going to pretend the conditions were ideal today - heavy spring snow, ice that was quite frankly f*cked, but it don't matter then you're climbing new routes

In reply to beardy mike:

Haha - not sure what required an unlike about climbing new routes... UKC at it's best

In reply to beardy mike:

Jealousy?

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

Be careful what you say.  You're on thin ice there.

In reply to Pay Attention: Increasingly thin ice - I just got back from a ski tour - worst snow I've ever skied and it was 16 degrees in Caprile! WT actual F. ITS FEBRUARY. SOMEBODY TELL THE WEATHER! I'm going to be switching to rock climbing in the next week I think.

In reply to Pay Attention:

I'd go to Senja, there was plenty ice and it has stayed cold

In reply to Ramon Marin:

You didn't see the weekend forecast then! It was horrific. For three days it was heavy rain, strong SW winds, with the freezing level above the summits, and cat 4 avalanche risk on all aspects above 500m. There was even landslide warnings! We bailed from our long weekend before we had even reached the airport but it's on the list for next year. We would have certainly been indoors for all but the first day. The outlook looks cold again though but I imagine the ice was fairy badly damaged, at least in the short-term  

In reply to Mr. Lee:

I though the OP said "Suggestions for a trip about this period next year?" maybe i got it wrong...

In reply to Ramon Marin:

Yes, that's right.  Hopefully this early summer won't be replicated next year.  Current conditions are not an accurate indicator of future conditions.

Is there an article on Senja (or is it yet to be written?) taking the highlights and lowlights into account.

In reply to Ramon Marin:

You're totally right! My fault for not properly reading the OP. 

In reply to Mr. Lee:

It's still helpful BL... I imagine a trip to Senja from the UK would take a good deal of advance planning.  A risk assessment of what might happen (based on what happened to you) would need to be considered.

In reply to Pay Attention:

You can book everything you need pretty straightforwardly on the net. But it won't be cheap, especially not currently!

I'm going not far from there at Easter and suddenly realised I should probably get insurance, which is a first for a Norway trip.

In reply to TobyA:

There's a good UKC article on northern Norway here

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/arctic_norway_-_ice_in_the...

In reply to Pay Attention:

Yep, my mates and I stayed in Nick and Jim's cabin for a few night when our trip intersected with their first trip up there but that was in Lyngen which is actually a good number of hours drive away from Senja. Wiggly roads around the fjords make the driving distances kinda epic up there.

In reply to Pay Attention:

As Toby said, Lyngen is probably more know for ice, but Senja had plenty amazing ice up to grade 5 to keep you busy for a couple of weeks. I wrote a blog recently about it. I haven't written an article as some people (British) have made it very clear that are against it. But info is fairly easy to come by and I'm happy to help you out. As Toby says is not cheap, but with a bit of planning shouldn't be more than Europe. Our acc was £18 pp/pn, car hire £190 each and flights around £200 (including an extra bag with all the food for the trip).

In reply to Ramon Marin:

thank you Ramon.  That's really helpful - much easier and more economical than I would have guessed.  I'd assume this was for a group of 4?

i can't imagine a good reason why 'some people' would be against publication of useful information.

Brexiteers!

In reply to TobyA:

Yes Toby Catalan is my first language, but someone got some beef with me not writing an article and we are not best terms (to put it mildly) so I wouldn't want to piss him off any further, even if the article is encrypted in catalan!

For flights, I hear you, and I had the same experience but then my mate found really good ones with WizzAir from Luton.

In reply to Pay Attention: We were a group of 6 in Laukvik Northern Adventures (bonhtnam) the price was cheaper than senja lodge, I think it's a set price for 4 and then add on extra people. Senja lodge is about £30a night. But yes as Toby says maybe Lyngen is a better shot for ice as it's not by the sea.