Pine Creek Ice Conditions

Submitted by Snarg on Sun, 11/05/2006 - 21:18
It looks as though Blue and Green Gullies need some more time and colder weather. They were barely formed as of Nov. 2 -Olin

As of this past Monday, the climbs @ Pince Creek were coming along nicely, albeit thin. The lower two thirds of both Green and Blue looked good; the uppers looked sketch, but climbable. That was before the deep freeze we have been in the past two days, I'm sure they have improved substantially since. The Falls were almost as 'in' as they were before the end of October meltdown. Ice quality looked lousy, but nothing that couldn't be overcome with a few days of good cold temps - like the past few days. Dale

My friend Doug, his daughter Jessie and I hiked up to Green Gully and found excellent conditions. A little background on our story? Last year Doug and I climbed this classic route, which was his first climb ever. A week later he visited the Mayo clinic in Minnesota for cancer treatment. From December 05 till May of this year Doug spent the majority of his effort healing, with a return to Green Gully a carrot at the end of the stick. We returned with his daughter, a senior at Big Timber High School, to close the loop. All was well ? he climbed the route with out any effort. The climb was in, ice all the way with sticky conditions. I suspect it will have grown as we popped several holes in the flow. These leaks tend to make the climb grow. [img]http://static.flickr.com/114/311016659_48ee38075c.jpg[/img] The other cool thing is the picnic shelter an architecture class from MSU is constructing. They harvested and milled the wood (except for the glue-lams) from the campground and are building a nice structure to be used for get togethers. The road is blocked lower down and climbers need an extra 5 minutes on their approach. [img]http://static.flickr.com/103/311017255_cb2002f5c1.jpg[/img] Three Happy Campers Post Climb

You all know what a great person Conrad is and I can't thank him enough for making this possible. Jessie and I consider ourselves blessed to call him friend. Looking forward to next time and I'll try and keep up a little better :wink: Thanks again Conrad! Doug

A foot of fresh snow at Pine Creek as of 12/28. Watched from the trail as a LARGE avalanche swept Green. Climbed the lower falls and White Twister, both in good condition. Upper falls was running a substantial amount of water.