Ice Climbing: Lee Vining and Ouray
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:00 pm
I'm lazy but better late than never:
On December 21, I went up to Lee Vining with a couple of friends (Alex and Harvey) to go ice climbing. Originally our plan was to hike up the mountaineers route to these falls between Lower and Upper Boyscout Lake. Forecast called for single digit temps overnight with wind chill so we decided upon Lee Vining instead. We arrived at the power station parking lot around 1400 and walked the steep little trail to the falls. The main falls were thin but further up the canyon Chouinard falls had some ice formed. Alex led the route up to a set of bolts.
This was my first time climbing/belaying on vertical ice. I quickly realized how "dynamic" this medium was when a small cooler-sized chunk of ice broke off and slammed into the ground next to me.
Alex made quick work of the climb and was soon calling to be lowered off. My 60m rope wasn't enough to get him back down so we ended up tying in a second rope. I was next, and top-roped the climb just as it was getting dark. My technique was pretty poor and I was amazed at how different it felt compared to rock climbing. It felt sorta weird hanging from ice on 6 little metal spikes 
Harvey was up after me and had the privilege of climbing in the dark.
It got cold and we headed back into town to look for a place to stay. Murphy's Motel in Lee Vining offers great accommodations and a discount for ice climbers. The next day we decided to try to find some ice around June Lake. Fail. The top rope setup for the suspicious-looking ice climbing was way too high up and I didn't have enough rope to rap down... plus I took a wrong turn above the climb and ended up waaaay further than I planned. The weather got bad again and that was it.
Round 2: Ouray, Colorado
Alex and I decided that more ice-climbing was necessary so we headed back out on the 27th through the 30th to Ouray, Colorado. The climbing was unreal. I didn't really know much about the town or the epic ice falls they have there. The town pipes water from above a narrow box canyon and sprays it all along the edge of about a 1/4 mile stretch of the canyon. The resulting ice falls are insanely beautiful and even more fun to climb. The best part is that the entire park is completely free to all.
View from the park entrance.
We stayed at the Antler Motel. Many of the hotels in Ouray offer a 20% discount to ice climbers that have a membership to the Ouray Ice Park fund. I'd definitely recommend the Antler Motel. The room was only 55 bucks a night and it was clean and comfortable, not to mention warm... even with the heat turn off.
Topping out.
Alex
Petzl Quarks
Alex climbed the pillar in the middle on our last day. For scale, that's about 100ft of vertical ice!
Taken from a great viewing platform on the opposite side.
Words of wisdom.
On the opposite side of town there are public hot springs ($10). It was great after a full day of climbing.
Needless to say, we'll be returning soon.
On December 21, I went up to Lee Vining with a couple of friends (Alex and Harvey) to go ice climbing. Originally our plan was to hike up the mountaineers route to these falls between Lower and Upper Boyscout Lake. Forecast called for single digit temps overnight with wind chill so we decided upon Lee Vining instead. We arrived at the power station parking lot around 1400 and walked the steep little trail to the falls. The main falls were thin but further up the canyon Chouinard falls had some ice formed. Alex led the route up to a set of bolts.
This was my first time climbing/belaying on vertical ice. I quickly realized how "dynamic" this medium was when a small cooler-sized chunk of ice broke off and slammed into the ground next to me.
Alex made quick work of the climb and was soon calling to be lowered off. My 60m rope wasn't enough to get him back down so we ended up tying in a second rope. I was next, and top-roped the climb just as it was getting dark. My technique was pretty poor and I was amazed at how different it felt compared to rock climbing. It felt sorta weird hanging from ice on 6 little metal spikes Harvey was up after me and had the privilege of climbing in the dark. It got cold and we headed back into town to look for a place to stay. Murphy's Motel in Lee Vining offers great accommodations and a discount for ice climbers. The next day we decided to try to find some ice around June Lake. Fail. The top rope setup for the suspicious-looking ice climbing was way too high up and I didn't have enough rope to rap down... plus I took a wrong turn above the climb and ended up waaaay further than I planned. The weather got bad again and that was it.
Round 2: Ouray, Colorado
Alex and I decided that more ice-climbing was necessary so we headed back out on the 27th through the 30th to Ouray, Colorado. The climbing was unreal. I didn't really know much about the town or the epic ice falls they have there. The town pipes water from above a narrow box canyon and sprays it all along the edge of about a 1/4 mile stretch of the canyon. The resulting ice falls are insanely beautiful and even more fun to climb. The best part is that the entire park is completely free to all.
View from the park entrance.
We stayed at the Antler Motel. Many of the hotels in Ouray offer a 20% discount to ice climbers that have a membership to the Ouray Ice Park fund. I'd definitely recommend the Antler Motel. The room was only 55 bucks a night and it was clean and comfortable, not to mention warm... even with the heat turn off.
Topping out.
Alex
Petzl Quarks
Alex climbed the pillar in the middle on our last day. For scale, that's about 100ft of vertical ice!
Taken from a great viewing platform on the opposite side.
Words of wisdom.
On the opposite side of town there are public hot springs ($10). It was great after a full day of climbing.
Needless to say, we'll be returning soon.
i gotta feeling if i try i might get hooked. if i could just live out of my car i could afford everything...