Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Hidden Falls

Ted and I ventured out this past weekend to Hidden Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park, a popular ice climbing area with almost a 100 ft of vertical ice a mere 40 minutes from the car. First sight of the flow from the trail.....


The ice was looking good upon arrival and with only one other party already setting up their ropes our chances of climbing ice were guaranteed .....No crowds yet.
Closer inspection of the flow revealed that the party of two that beat us there also had the most solid and driest line, unlike our line that was running with water. Looked like it was going to be a wet one. With this being the first time either Ted or myself have climbed here we took what we could get.

Ted looking surprised after taking a football sized chunk of ice fall to the face...
What was left of his protective shield...





The climbing was definitely what we were looking for as for steepness but the frozen shower you had to deal with made it a little hard to fully enjoy the pump.
And it was WET!! Frozen rope...















Some interesting looking mixed lines in the area....




So after the right side of Ted's face started to swell up and we were both soaking wet and partially frozen we decided to call it a day, vowing to return when the temps got a little colder.

My rope thawing out in the shower, still frozen...
Peace, Jason

1 comment:

  1. Hope Ted's Face heals quick! You ready to ski yet? I gotta get out/up this weekend.

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