Outaouais and Eastern Ontario

Well late start this year but things are comming in

Outaouais

• Baldface
  • Starting to form

• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • Lots of open spaces and running water. Dead Dog wall is nice
• Castle Wall
  • Forming
• Spindrift Wall
  • Forming

• Erlkoening
  • Right line in
• Edelweisses Valley
  • Main pillar not touched down
  • The climb above the Main pillar is thin but lead-able (just) to the bolt anyway
• Mount Cascades
  • Wet but climbable
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • Climbs present but mostly no in

 

Outaouais This weekends Ice Reoprt 1/14/2016

Generally Speaking there is lots of thin ice about as there is lots of groundwater. Some of the more obscure routes are about 'Half Baked for example was all good ice yesterday.

• Baldface
  • Formed up but not fat

• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • Sill Lots of open spaces and running water.
    
  • Dead Dog wall is nice and fat on both sides
• Castle Wall
  • Forming (pillar still not down all the way)
• Spindrift Wall
  • Forming

• Erlkoening
  • Right line/ramp in
  • Direct line not in line
• Edelweisses Valley (not much snow about and the hike in is a bitch this year and the sandpit is closed for the season, do not block the gate, It is now owned by Captiva ranch so access should be no problem)
  • Main pillar has touched down
    
    • very thick on the right
      
    • the normal left topout is bare rock (well a little snow and varglass)
    • not really leadable,
  • The Cave was nice today
    
  • As a supper BONUS the 'Fang' has just touched down today.
    
    • very thin and delicate we TR the upper part as we did not want to bring it all down. Might be very nice on the weekend. Pray for cold cloudy weather.
  • The climb above the Main Pillar way in the back is in
    
    • very thin on the bottom
    • top left exit in nice this year
    • top right exit still a little thin on top
  • Climbs further down the road to the left of the main climb are in
• Mount Cascades
  • Wet but climbable
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • Climbs present but mostly not in still

 

Outaouais This weekends Ice Reoprt 1/22/2016

Nothing too fat but still lots of obscure thin line in all over the place

• Baldface
  • Formed up and nice

• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • now nice
    
  • Dead Dog wall is nice and fat on both sides
• Castle Wall
  • Main pillar down now and left formed. Some really nice lines in way above. (come quickly they will not last long in the sun
• Spindrift Wall
  • Thick for once. Still a good lead but beginning to get sun baked a little

• Erlkoening
  • Right line/ramp in
  • Direct line in
• Edelweisses Valley (not much snow about and the hike in is a bitch this year and the sandpit is closed for the season, do not block the gate, It is now owned by Captiva ranch so access should be no problem)
  • Main pillar has touched down
    • very thick on the right
      
    • the normal left topout has some ice now
    • leadable,
  • The Cave was nice today
    
  • The climb above the Main Pillar way in the back is in
    
  • Climbs further down the road to the left of the main climb are in
• Mount Cascades
  • Wet but climbable
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • All Climbs present

 

Outaouais This weekends Ice Reoprt 1/31/2016

Despite the warn weather today things are still looking good

• Baldface
  • Nice this year

• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • Thick and filled in
    
  • Dead Dog wall is nice and fat on both sides
• Castle Wall
  • Main pillar down now and left formed.
    
  • Up on top some really nice lines in.
  • Beautiful Bushwack is in. A rather obscured 2 pitch climb way above to the right first climbed in stages some time ago but never came fully in. The name is very apt took me nearly two hours just to get to base this am)
  • Stan's Pillar is nice and thick this year. (another obsure one is far on the right about half way up the cliff under a large tree)
• Spindrift Wall
  • Thick for once. Still a good lead ever bigger than last week

• Erlkoening
  • Right line/ramp in
  • Direct line in
• Edelweisses Valley (not much snow about and the hike in is a bitch this year and the sandpit is closed for the season, do not block the gate, It is now owned by Captiva ranch so access should be no problem)
  • Main pillar has touched down and exit is ok,
  • The Cave was mostly filled in not realy worth the troubble
    
  • The climb above the Main Pillar way in the back is in
    
  • Climbs further down the road to the left of the main climb are in
• Mount Cascades
  • Very nicee
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • All Climbs present

 

Outaouais This weekends Ice Reoprt 2/05/2016

Well the warm weather earlier this week has taken its toll

• BaldfaceNow a little sun-baked bottom section might be very thin or gone
• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • Creek Still there and OK
  • Dead Dog wall is still ok
  • 
    
  • Castle Wall
    • • Main pillar down now and left formed though not as nice as last week.
        
      • Anything up high as gone.
      • Beautiful Bushwack is mostly gone
        
      • Stan's Pillar is sort of still in
    • Spindrift Wall
      • Most likely not very nice now. Though the Gully seems to be in good shape

• Erlkoening
  • Right line/ramp is still in
  • Direct line in and fat
• Edelweisses Valley (not much snow about and the hike in is a bitch this year and the sandpit is closed for the season, do not block the gate, It is now owned by Captiva ranch so access should be no problem)
  • Main pillar has touched down and exit is ok,
  • The Cave still filled in not
    
  • The climb above the Main Pillar way in the back is nice
    
  • Climbs further down the road to the left have mostly fallen
• Mount Cascades
  • Very nice
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • All Climbs present though a little chopped up

 

Outaouais This weekends Ice Reoprt 2/24/2016

Well more warm weather but compensated by a mega snow dump last week and today. You need snow-shoes and any low angle ice is now under 30~50 cm of unconsolidated powder.

Last Friday we triggered a rather nasty slab 100 sq m snow avalanche so watch out when on top or under any low angle stuff and todays 15cm of snow and freezing rain are not helping.

• Baldface Bottom sun-baked bottom top is ok
  
• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall (Mind the top allot of loose snow)
  • Creek Still there and OK
  • Dead Dog wall is still ok
• Castle Wall
  • Main pillar down now and left formed up nice. (lots of snow on top)
  • The upper climbs are in but now very thick

• Spindrift Wall
  • Still there and a little bigger but most likely sunbaked and not adhered to the wall
  • Gully seems to be in good shape

• Erlkoening
  • Right line/ramp is still in
  • Direct line in and fat
• Edelweisses Valley (not much snow about and the hike in is a bitch this year and the sandpit is closed for the season, do not block the gate, It is now owned by Captiva ranch so access should be no problem)
  • Main pillar has touched down and exit is ok,
  • The Cave still filled in
    
  • The climb above the Main Pillar way in the back is nice
    
  • Climbs further down the road to the left have mostly fallen for the season
• Mount Cascades
  • Very nice
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • All Climbs present though a little chopped up

 

Outaouais This weekends Ice Reoprt 3/04/2016

Get out there before it is gone as next weeks warm weather, will likely end the season.

• Baldface Bottom is gone
  
• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • both in good shape
• Castle Wall
  • Main pillar down
  • The upper climbs still in but getting sunbaked

• Spindrift Wall
  • Sun-baked not worth the hike in

• Erlkoening
  • Still in
• Edelweisses Valley (not much snow about and the hike in is a bitch this year and the sandpit is closed for the season, do not block the gate, It is now owned by Captiva ranch so access should be no problem)
  • Main pillar a little chopped up,
  • The climb above the Main Pillar way in the back is nice
    
  • Climbs further down the road are mostly gone
• Mount Cascades
  • Very nice
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • All Climbs present and a little thicker

 

If the Mod could please delete last year's reports I can start with this year's


Jan 02/2017
Lots of ground water and snow about but not very colds. Things age building

Outaouais

• Baldface
  • Not forming yet

• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • Left side of Cabin Creek nice middle with lots of open spaces and running water.
    
  • Dead Dog is coming in nicely
• Castle Wall
  • Forming will be thick this year if we get a good cold night or two
• Spindrift Wall
  • Formed up early this year. Was lead able last week-end

• Erlkoening
  • Center piller in and steep, Ramp thin and de-laminated but forming still
• Edelweisses Valley (lost of workers in sand-pit)
  • Main pillar just touched down
  • The climb above the Main pillar is in but not fat
• Mount Cascades
  • Wet as usual not think yer
• Lac Du Poisson Blanc
  • Climbs on the left side present mostly in. Right side still thin

 

Jan 07/2019

Been two years but here is the latest

When the many deep freezes, many many thaws and little snow we have had over December and this January things are a little odd this year. Anyplace with flowing warter is in bad shape while some other areas that rely on snowmelt may be in.

Outaouais

• Baldface
  • Not forming yet

• Cabin Creek and Dead Dog Wall
  • Left side of Cabin Creek is broken and very very wet stay away
    
  • Dead Dog wall is dry and only partilly formed 10%
    
  • The ice cave (between the two) has formed early this year
• Castle Wall
  • Only the main piller is Forming and just touched down.
• Spindrift Wall
  • Formed up early this year. Was lead able last week-end

• Erlkoening
  • Just the very top has formed not climeable
• Edelweisses Valley (Sand pit in operation again and houses being built in some of the lots) access may be a problem
  • Main pillar has just touched down and is thin
  • Cave is climbable and not filled in
    
  • The climb above the Main pillar is in but not fat climbable ony to the bolt at the top
• Mount Cascades
  • Wet as usual
• Half-alump
  • Thick this year but hollow on some of the higher parts well chopped up from two large parites on in over the weekend
• Mount King
  • The piller is comming down again this year but if we get any more sun this week it will be gone.
    
  • The gully route on the left is in for once as it is not full of snow.