April 12-13

Well it looks like the weather is going to be stellar this weekend. For those that haven't been down to the park in a while, there is still a sizeable amount of snow down low. It is, however, quite patchy. For instance, last weekend I had to dig through 5 feet of snow to break into my shed. However, places that didn't get drifts are quite clear. Blair mentioned the trail up to Vimy required constantly putting on and taking off snow shoes. With that in mind here is a list of some of what is possible

1. Ice climbing - quite a few routes are still in excellent shape. Irish dreams on Vimy has been fattening up everynight. The top pitches of both compound gullies are still in, but the bottom is definitely out. Sullivan's is quite fat, and its nearby routes are also nice and large. Crypt would be in great shape.

2. Rock climbing - with the warm sun and warm weather, the hump would be great. Ticks are out. I think the choice would still be a bit cold to climb, but this may be the year to get up there soon and jump on some new routes before others get to them. I am taking off to Stonehill for the weekend. If you are interested in hooking up down there, send me an email - cgoble72 at the gmail thing.

3. Kayaking - nothing is flowing but the Kan. I am hitting Kootenai falls on Saturday even though it will be on the low side (4000cfs)

4. Hiking - intermittent snow cover makes this hard. You could hike up the red rock highway and then try Bellvue ridge. That is quite a nice outing. You can get a little bit of scrambling by sticking to the arete's edge. It is fairly snow free.


If you are looking for partners for this weekend - post it here - don't be shy