Planning to do Diedre on Tuesday, Dec. 13 - BAD IDEA???

[Khoi]

I got a friend who's heading back to Australia in a few days. He really really wants to do some a climb on the Stawamus Chief before he leaves.

I'm planning on taking him up Diedre. As of last week, tomorrow looked like the best option weather-wise. But it looks like that has changed. The most recent forecast I looked at calls for snow. I was also warned if ice in the cracks and on that last slab pitch.

Can anyone in Squamish give me some beta on the likelihood of a successful go a Diedre, or any other climb on The Chief for tomorrow?

Thanks!

[slopr]

maybe a bad idea, maybe not. Bring an extra rope or ice tools if ur scared & you'll be fine.

[AaronRN]

If it's not dumping snow on Tuesday calculus crack is a better option, it's dry and unlike Diedre you're not going to have any traversing iced up slabs to contend with. Also, I've been spending a lot of time in the Bullet heads lately and cream of white mice would be a good option as well.

[Khoi]

Calculus Crack is one option I am considering. Old start? New Start?

Another option that was suggested to me is Sunblessed in the Solarium. Hopefully it's higher elevation and exposure would make for friendlier climbing conditions.

Anything else I should consider?

[Khoi]

How about Europa or Exasperator?

[JSmith]

Calaculus is your best option for front side climbing, Sunblessed is dry and gets the sun from 11am, Europa will be a nightmare, Exasperator is in good contition. Go get it!

[Cloudraker]

Europa will be a nightmare

Ya but according to Jim Bridwell My Best Vacation Is Your Worst Nightmare. So Europa may in fact be the thing to do if you want to aspire to be badass.

[squamish climber]

Looking at the webcam at 11am this morning, Squamish looked overcast but dry. I was going to suggest something on Solarium as well but with no sun you may as well hit the north Apron. Post up some photos of your day if you can. Glad to see some people are still going after it.

[hevyduty]

Bridwell also said theres a fine line between badass and dumbass !

[Khoi]

So that ended up being a lot simpler than I expected!

We had a ridiculously late start, and, he had very little sleep the night before, so I suggested a (short) day of cragging at the Bluffs and he agreed. The cold weather made for fantastic friction!

Cat Crack was nice and dry. The climbs in Octopus Garden were a different story. Edible Panties and Octopus Garden in the Shade were both filled up with lots of organic debris, dirt, and other biomatter. Even though I've done both multiple times, it had only ever been during the season when the frequent high-volume of traffic ensured that the cracks were quite clean. I am blown away at how much those cracks fill up in a few months!!!

I don't think it would take more than 2 seasons of no one climbing for most of the crack climbs in Squamish to get reclaimed by Mother Nature [cough] North North Arete [cough] [cough]

The vegatation truly is winning...

Edible Panties had a significant wet section in the middle, and a patch of ice immediately to the right, in between the crack and the new line of bolts. These conditions resulted in Edible Panties 5.7 being harder than Octopus Garden in the Shade 5.8 since that one was dry.

All in all, my buddy from Australia finally got a taste of crack climbing on granite and a hint of what friction slab is like.

Thank you for all the suggestions and tips.

We even ran into Hevy Duty!

[joewtc]

Last dry Friday (Dec 9) I planned to do Bottomline and Biedre. But when we got there, bottomline was really mossy and had some frost on top. So we scrambled up hoping to get to the approach of Diedre. At the start of the approach slab, I can see half inch of ice over the slab and so we turned back. Spent the morning bouldering and conditions are perfect. Went to the bluffs (Crag X) in the afternoon and conditions are perfect too.

It'd be awesome if anyone climb any multi-pitch recently and can post the conditions. I suspect the crack in calculus crack might ice up too. (We climbed St. Vitus dance in November 7 but last Fri was noticeably COLDER). It looks like many climbs have become mixed/ice climbing terrain.