Hyalite Road Conditions

Submitted by hellenga_gary on Thu, 11/30/2006 - 09:14
I thought there used to be a forum specifically for this, but it seems to have disappeared.? With the Ice Fest coming up, and more snow coming in soon, this is a place to post your observations on the driving conditions getting to the Hyalite routes.

Beyond the G1 toprope anchor trail, the path up thru the woods to G2 was very slick under 6" of new snow. Once in the drainage below G2 (crossing the creek after coming out of the woods), the snow was deep and unconsolidated. Major sweatfest getting from G1 to G2. We expected more of the same if we'd continued on to Hangover. The ice at G2 was in good condition - much better than G1, which is really beat out.

I drove up last tuesday to the dam. I was the only one. There was rut with the center being bullet proof but that must have melted out by now. Climbs looked white from the road. I snowmoblied from the dam.

I went climbing Monday and Wednesday, driving the snowmobile from the reservoir both days, several dirt patches to cross from there. It doesn't look good for car driving yet... Scepter and MII were still in decent conditions, same with Fat chance. JV

I drove in on saturday @ about 7am and it was easy! a suby with chains could make it for sure. we came out at about 2 and it was really soft. be careful around window rock because its really slick( potential to slip off road). We climbed Cleo's and the Ice was very soft and wet (Snow cone). G2, hangover, upper green sleeves all looked fat from the parking lot. the septer and mummy 2 still look great as well. dribbles looked like it had been getting alot of sun and might not be there for long. Twin is still huge. Have Fun! Cheers, Colter

We had no problems getting to the parking lot on Friday, however things did get soft in the evening on the drive out. As mentioned above becareful near Window Rock cabin. We climbed Fat Chance, Feeding the Cat and The Septre. Overall the ice was soft but fun to climb, however good protection was difficult to find. Of the climbs we did the Septre had the best conditions with better ice and decent screw placements.

We hiked up to Cleo's on Sunday morning. It's still big, and when we got there at 7:30 it looked good but fifteen minutes later it came into the sun and quickly turned to vertical mushy snow. We only climbed the first pitch and rapped off. We went down the valley where it was still cold and shady and climbed thin chance, which was in great shape. Look for east or northeast facing shaded climbs! We parked near the cabin, fearing the snow would get too soft at the trailhead but when we hiked out at 11:30 it would have still been fine to drive.
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