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Out touring some local rock over the last few days.
Generosity on EEOR is dry all the way (including the chimney crux). Kicked in a new path for the traverse out of the scree bowl on top yesterday, which was, as always, a bit slippery, loose and exhilaratingly exposed for a few metres. No snow of consequence remains at the top, and everything seemed pretty sticky up there as far as spontaneous rockfall from the bowl is concerned.
If you haven't done it, it is surprisingly well protected in the 5.9/.10a cruxes, fairly sustained in the upper two-thirds and I'd recommend it for the rock quality and variety. However, it is quite a bit longer than shown on any of the topos I've seen. I'd put it at around 550m, not the stated 400m. On a side note, if you have to retreat, almost all of the 12-14 bolted belays need fresh rap slings.
On Brewer's Buttress on Castle over the weekend. The route is dry with no unavoidable snow on the approach. Still plenty of snow in the descent gully and lots of water running in the approach gully below the hut. The hut got a new stove and some deluxe thickness foamies since I was last there!
Up Ha Ling's NE Butt as well. Surprisingly little evidence of the massive rockfall that ran over the lower portion of the route a couple of weeks ago; however, some of the approach ledges on climber's left of the initial scrambly pitches seem more eroded and discontinuous than I remember. No particularly significant new death blocks or other loose rock hazards, at any rate. Overall, the route was in perfect shape except for a couple of avoidable water seeps in the upper corner pitches and some newly precarious blocks/holds there. Sisyphus also looked totally dry.
Carl Johnston Rock Guide |