conditions2002

2002 s.e. ice Conditions

These are the conditions as I posted them in 2002. If you have comments please e-mail to the .

MONDAY: 16 DECEMBER 2002

I WENT OUT LOOKING SATURDAY MORNING AND DIDN'T FIND SQUAT. LAST WEEKS RAIN BROUGHT ALL THE NORMAL STUFF DOWN. I DON'T HAVE A REPORT ON DAUGHTON YET SO DON'T KNOW IF IT ESCAPED THE WRATH OF THE RAIN. THERE WAS A NICE DUSTING OF SNOW AND MORE FALLING AT HOGPEN SO I SPENT THE DAY HIKING THOUGH THE SNOW ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL.

MONDAY: 9 DECEMBER 2002

NORTH CAROLINA

Daughton Park: The big lower climb is in but somewhat thin on the bottom and the top. The upper rim was in very good condition with plenty of good lines.

SUNDAY: 8 DECEMBER 2002

Georgia:

Hogpen Gap: Once again this is some of the best ice in the South. We did the full tour today starting in N.C. and ended up playing with the pigs again. One leadable route and the bolted mixed routes are in reasonable shape.

Yonah Mountain: North side routes are looking decent from the road.

Rabun Bald: Nada.

Black Rock Mtn: North face routes are coming in. Note: Climbing is illegal in Black Rock State Park so hiking and viewing is all you can cop to.

NORTH CAROLINA

Whitesides: Starshine has fallen out but Mother Russia survived the big melt and is coming back. The best options are the headwall at the top of Scotch on the Rocks where we scratched out three routes. Some of the ice on the East face survived and is healing.

Hwy. 215: Ice is poor. This area is seeing a thermal inversion and it is 18 degrees warmer at the top of the gap than down on Hwy. 64. Graveyard fields is also nothing but verglass and sunshine at present.

Winding Stair Gap: Ice is very poor. Not worth even a drive by at this point.

FRIDAY: 6 DECEMBER 2002

THE SEVERE ICE STORM THAT WAS PREDICTED GOT A GOOD START THEN IT WARMED UP TO 33 DEGREES AND STARTED RAINING. NOTHING HAS SURVIVED EXCEPT FOR THE SHELL OF WHAT WAS MOTHER RUSSIA. HOGPEN IS DOWN, WINDING STAIR IS DOWN, 215 IS WHACK AND SO IS WHITESIDES. MAYBE WITH ALL THE WATER AND COLD MORNINGS WE WILL HAVE THE START OF IT AGAIN BY SUNDAY/MONDAY. I'LL BE OUT LOOKING THEN BUT I WILL BE AT THE BOATROCK BOULDERING COMP TOMORROW. CHECK OUT www.seclimbers.org FOR DETALS.

WEDNESDAY: 4 DECEMBER 2002

Georgia:

Hogpen Gap: Ice is in good shape but I expect the D.O.T. to close the road by lunch today and it will be Friday at earliest, if then, before it is reopened.

Yonah Mountain: North side routes are coming in but you must approach by walking up the road. A four mile uphill hump for Grade 2 climbs.

NORTH CAROLINA

Whitesides: Starshine is in and has seen multiple ascents. Mother Russia is getting close. Someone send me some more beta please.

Hwy. 215: Ice is getting decent. Good toproping and leading possible in the next day or so.

WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER A WINTER STORM WARNING AND IT IS ALREADY SNOWING AND SLEETING IN NORTH GEORGIA, NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTH CAROLINA. THE PREDICTED LOWS TEMPS IN N.E. GA ARE PREDICTED IN THE LOW 20'S FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. EVERYTHING SHOULD BE GOOD BY SATURDAY AND THROUGH THE FIRST OF NEXT WEEK FOR SURE. I MAY NOT POST AGAIN UNTIL MY ARMS FALL OFF FROM SWINGING. WILL TRY TO UPDATE BRIEFLY THOUGH.

SATURDAY: 30 NOVEMBER 2002

Georgia:

Hogpen Gap: Friday was a good day for wallowing with the pigs. Big Wall was waiting on me and Steggo showed up later. There were multiple routes in top ropeable shape and even a leadable route. Today it warmed up and did a fair amount of damage to the climbs. With the lows being in the high teens to low twenties in the morning and Monday it should be recovering quickly. There will probably be no leadable routes there tomorrow but some top roping will be possible but please don't hack it beyond repair for Monday. By then there should be a couple of leadable routes.

Rabun Bald: Still several days away from any significant ice.

Yonah: Some top rope options on the north face.

NORTH CAROLINA

Whitesides: The climbs above the parking lot in the Scotch on the Rocks area are not in. Starshine is touching the ground but the first pitch is very thin. Probably not leadable but will have better beta tomorrow as that is where we are going to climb. Mother Russia is touching the ground but the upper sickle is not touching yet.

Hwy. 215: Very thin but with tomorrow and Mondays cold weather some good top roping possibilities should form and leadable routes should appear by Tuesday.

Winding Stair Gap: There was one group top ropeing there today but it was very thin. Tonights cold should really help it and by Tuesday there is a possibility for leadable routes.

TUESDAY: 26 NOVEMBER 2002

Two days of near 70 degree weather has destroyed what little ice we had. The temps are supposed to drop again on Wednesday so we may get our traditional post Thanksgiving ice climbing weekend.

MONDAY: 25 NOVEMBER 2002

Hogpen Gap: This morning there was some good traversing and a couple of boulder problems left. The two best routes had been chopped down by two sets of gumby topropers that showed up to climb at 9:30 after the sun had hit the climbs and hacked them down like it was free. If you climb in thin conditions in the south do it in the early morning. If you chop a route completely down then it is not there the next day for others to climb. One of the routes that was left in a pile on the ground I had climbed three times in the past week without leaving a mark in it.

SATURDAY: 23 NOVEMBER 2002

Hogpen Gap: There were several routes in climbable shape early this morning but they were melting out by 8:00 am. If you want in on some of this action do your climbing before daylight or not at all.

MONDAY: 18 NOVEMBER 2002

Hogpen Gap: All three of the standard boulder problems on the left are thin but climbable. Several of the longer routes are close and may be climbable by tomorrow morning.

Sunday: 17 March 2002

It's all fall down. We'll start back up next fall.

Thursday: 07 March 2002

A couple of routes are in at Hogpen and at Hwy. 215. Nothing at Windingstair Gap. Starshine is in at Whitesides along with some bouldering.

Sunday: 03 March 2002

It was cold for a couple of days last week and there was one route formed at Hogpen Gap on Wednesday. There were two routes formed at Hwy. 215 on Thursday. Must have gotten too cold too quickly and froze up the ground water. Rain moved in on Saturday but it is chilly today and the temps are supposed to be cold again next week.

Saturday: 22 February 2002

The weather pattern has been hitting us with lots of warm temps. It has been cold at night and there was a little ice at Hogpen Gap today but very little. Warm again tomorrow then it is going to get real cold next week so lets hope for one more spurt of cold weather.

Friday: 1 February 2002

It has been 70 degrees and sunny or 50 degrees and raining for the past two weeks. Not a thing frozen in the South. I am swinging in New Hampshire at present and will return home when it gets cold again.

Monday: 14 January 2002

It was cold last night and cloudy today. Supposed to be cold every night this week so there should be something to swing at by the weekend.

Friday: 11 January 2002

Everything I have seen has fallen out or is near falling. Climbed yesterday and then went on a scouting trip today.

Monday: 07 January 2002

Georgia

Hog Pen Gap: Several routes are in but road is currently closed. Should be o.k. by the weekend.

Yonah: No report.

Rabun Bald: Flows are coming down but nothing is touching the ground yet.

North Carolina

Winding Stair Gap: In really good shape with several fat leadable routes.

Whitesides: Scotch is thin, Starshine is in. The bottom of Mother Russia is fat but sickle is not touching. Can be done with a little dry tooling on second pitch. Cinderella is in.

Highway 215: Multiple climbable routes are in.

Rhapsody in Blue: In

Solid Liquid Gas: Sickle almost touches.

Doughton Park: Left rim is in. Big Daddy is in.

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