Lee Vining Canyon / Sugarloaf TR (pics)

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Messages 1 - 16 of total 16 in this topic

rhyang

climber

SJC

Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 19, 2009 - 07:44pm PT

One of my goals for recovery this year has been to start ice climbing again. I accomplished that goal on Jan 2nd with a friend in Lee Vining Canyon. However, the weather was windy and snowing, so there were no pics :(

This time was different - I drove over Carson Pass last Wednesday to stay the night with Doug and Joni in Gardnerville. They had put me up about four years ago when Doug and I climbed in LVC - I was just starting to get into waterfall ice climbing then, and now I was back at the beginning again, so to speak.

Thursday the 15th we headed out early and headed up to LVC.

The Bard-Harrington was not looking too good, a ghost of past winter seasons.

The Main Wall was looking better, but still pretty thin.

I overtook a couple from Australia and chatted with them. They lived near the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. They had spent a little time in the Val di Cogne recently, and according to them things were not in very good shape there.

Finally we approached our goal, Chouinard Falls, aka old reliable :)

Our neighbor started leading, suitably impressed to find blue ice here in sunny California.

I'm not yet at a point in my recovery where I feel confident about leading ice again, and Joni is pretty new to the sport, so Doug headed up.

I followed him.

Doug lowered me off, and Joni came up for a lap.

We did some more TR'ing, enjoyed the day, then moved over to the Right Side. It was short and well-traveled, with lots of hooks and steps. Doug just soloed it and set us up another TR. I and Joni took a lap each and then called it a day.

Not very dramatic I guess, but a big milestone for me. We had a good time and I spent another night at their house, and got to see the dawn's light framed against the mountains. Highly recommended ;)

Friday I headed up to north Tahoe and hiked up Martis Peak, just for some (more) exercise. The road had continuous snow cover from the locked gate, packed down by snowmobile traffic - the snowshoes stayed in my pack all day. Beautiful Tahoe views.

After taking a rest day, my friend Karén gave me a call. We decided to go up to Sugarloaf on Sunday, which neither of us had ever visited, amazingly.

It was a bit cool in the morning, but it warmed rapidly. We hiked up with a couple of other parties. Karén took note of Fingerlocks (5.10b) on Sugarbun for later, and we headed up to the East Face.

We watched a party climb The Fang (5.9) -

Karén headed up, and made short work of it.

I had to hang trying to pull the crux - oh well. We then decided to TR the climbs to the right of the Fang (Stone). Karén went for the 5.10d variation and I went for the 5.10a. Fun knobs !

We wandered north along the face, and noted the popularity of Scheister (5.7)

... but we wanted to do Dominion (5.10a) and Morticia (5.9).

We had a snack and waited for the folks to enjoy themselves on their climbs. These were in the shade now, and I put on another layer.

Karén headed up Dominion, and I followed. I really enjoyed this one, and my acopa chameleons worked well. Morticia was just as much fun. The top section had some great stemming and mantle moves (well, that's how they worked out for me).

It was getting late in the day by now, and we headed down the descent trail to Sugarbun. A couple of guys were finishing up TR'ing Fingerlocks, and Karén decided to lead it. We'd been told that the direct start was 5.11something, so he did some brief 'tree-aid' to get to the 5.10b part. Up he went.

He really enjoyed this one.

My turn to clean. The light was starting to fade, and I headed up, headlamp on (I hadn't really ever climbed by headlamp before =:-O)

I struggled and cursed, but made it most of the way up, at least far enough to recover K's gear. It was good stuff, I have to say :) Though my performance will hopefully be better when I can actually see ..

We hiked out in the dark, happy and tired. Karén was already plotting his return, to climb the 5.10d finger crack we'd seen someone on while hiking out -

I believe this is called The Fracture.

bluering

Trad climber

Santa Clara, Ca.

Jan 19, 2009 - 07:51pm PT

nice the recovery is complete, good job.

spyork

Social climber

A prison of my own creation

Jan 19, 2009 - 07:52pm PT

Haha, cool. I think you caught my friend Tom and I getting ready to lead Farley at Sugarloaf. The guy on the left was about to follow Scheister. Sunday was a gorgeous day, but left me concerned about our snowpack...

Porkchop_express

Trad climber

thats what she said...

Jan 19, 2009 - 08:07pm PT

awesome pics. the rock looks oh so inviting whilst we here in the NE are buried in slush...

rhyang

climber

SJC

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 19, 2009 - 09:56pm PT

Thanks all. Great weather yesterday, though the snowpack has me worried too.

Oh well .. when life gives you lemons, you might as well make lemonade :)

Crimpergirl

Social climber

Boulder, Colorado!

Jan 19, 2009 - 10:01pm PT

I always enjoy your TRs - thanks for sharing!

hungry man

Trad climber

around

Jan 19, 2009 - 10:22pm PT

that looks fuuun.

BrassNuts

Trad climber

Boulder Colorado

Jan 19, 2009 - 10:30pm PT

mmmmmmmm... Sierra stone... nice pix :-)

Captain...or Skully

Social climber

North of the Owyhees

Jan 19, 2009 - 10:32pm PT

SHWEET!...Good TR, broMan.

F10

Trad climber

e350

Jan 19, 2009 - 11:02pm PT

Glad to see you are out DOING IT !!

Lynne Leichtfuss

Social climber

valley center, ca

Jan 19, 2009 - 11:11pm PT

Thanks for the ice climbing pics ! First time for me, I can finally see, how it can be done. Most of the pics I've seen are scary, crazy mountains thousands of feet in the airy, airless sky.

I now realize, we could do this :D Thanks from Lynne

SteveW

Trad climber

The state of confusion

Jan 20, 2009 - 10:08am PT

Good Stuff, R!
I'm envious about the ice!

rhyang

climber

SJC

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 20, 2009 - 10:14am PT

Thanks everyone !

Lynne - there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a try. Sierra Mountain Guides should be able to help you get started. Or better yet, Chicks With Picks in Ouray. The ice park is great - I'm planning to go there next month.

climblight

Mountain climber

Northern NV

Jan 20, 2009 - 11:05am PT

Ha! I was up at Sugarloaf yesterday as well. Farley's, Dominion, some heinous 11b that I couldn't pull, and that bolted slab just right of Scheister. Good day but now I hurt. BTW, Fracture is really good.