Colden trapDike Jan 29th 2012

nangaparbat · 01-30-2012, 09:15 AM

Pictures can be found

Pics have been removed by Myself because I realised that some readers do not appreciate the risk involved by doing this kind of trips.

In the future images concerning slide climbing will be post on this forum, I will post them later again here.

I have removed also my Trip reports on fousderandos.

Hello, yesterday , I have climbed the Trapdike. Although this ascent is NOT a hike it is an ice climb, you need crampons, 2 ice axes and the knowledge on how to use them safely, avalanche danger exist on this route and the conditions will vary from day to day.

I have decided to write this TR, because I thought some of you may have been there in winter or have done the climb in iceless conditions and wonder what it is all about.

It took me 2 hours to get to the base of the route. Not much snow till you reach height of land before droping to Avalanche Lake.

The Lake was solid ice, weather snowy, mild.

Wen I arrived at the base of the dike, I have noticed a faint trail in the newly fresh snow, the trail was partly filled.

I look up, but did not see the climbers, they were at the base of the route. Peter && Bruce, will be my partners for this climb.

We climbed mostly close together, but did not use any rope for security and progression.

There was a lot of snow at the base and between steeper steps of ice.

The ice was excellent, not brittle, we managed to get to the base of the Irene slide, that we followed to the top.

Once at the base of Irene, I noticed that the whole slide above was covered with snow, but under it was ICE, to get establish on the slide offered very enjoyable climbing, but after, the length of the route, plus having to take care at each steps, began to take its toll.

A fall from the route is OUT of question, this would lead to dire consequences.....

We finally reached the summit of Colden after about 2 hrs 30 min of climbing including breaks.

When I have done this route last september, it took me 50 minutes, climbing in winter is a much more serious thing.

Went back down toward Lake Arnold wearing snowshoes.

mudrat · 01-30-2012, 10:22 AM

Was thinking about you last week and I was going to email you today and see how the trip went. Nice!!! Thanks for posting!

Neil · 01-30-2012, 10:23 AM

So, Nanga, if I read between the lines of your TR with any degree of accuracy then attempting the Trap Dike with micro-spikes and hiking poles is ill-advised.

mudrat · 01-30-2012, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

So, Nanga, if I read between the lines of your TR with any degree of accuracy then attempting the Trap Dike with micro-spikes and hiking poles is ill-advised.

Why bother with the hiking poles?

bignslow · 01-30-2012, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

So, Nanga, if I read between the lines of your TR with any degree of accuracy then attempting the Trap Dike with micro-spikes and hiking poles is ill-advised.

Neil, everyone knows yaktrax are the way to go for the trap dike

nangaparbat · 01-30-2012, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

So, Nanga, if I read between the lines of your TR with any degree of accuracy then attempting the Trap Dike with micro-spikes and hiking poles is ill-advised.

Only the Ill will advise something like that.

nangaparbat · 01-30-2012, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudrat

Why bother with the hiking poles?

After all Mudrat is right, take a flying saucer instead.....

RTSpoons · 01-30-2012, 11:45 AM

Ah, your pictures are worth a thousand words. Nice TR.

vieWseeker · 01-30-2012, 12:05 PM

fantastic photos, love the crisscross pattern i just learn that on ice this weekend..thanks for sharing,.

Gregory Karl · 01-31-2012, 09:43 AM

Please put the pics back up! The squeamish don't have to look.

mudrat · 01-31-2012, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nangaparbat

After all Mudrat is right, take a flying saucer instead.....

Oh, we're going to be a good team when we get together on a slide in the future.

Brew · 02-01-2012, 09:56 AM

Well done, Jean-Luc.

I saw some of your pics before you blew away your TR on the French forum. Seems that you made it up first and your 2 new companions followed way behind. Did you leave the summit before they topped out?

Did you top out beside the large rock or via the new Irene slide all the way? Did you get a chance to chat with the other 2 guys afterwards to get their perspective on the climb?

I'd like to do the Winter Trap Dyke again this winter but will probably wait until early March. Last year was excellent in late March, but 2012 is a bizarre winter with much less snow.

Anybody know if traversing the first brook for Allen is dangerous (with the 'balmy' weather)? I would like to accompany a friend for his 46th soon, but I am very scared of thin ice.

Inge · 02-01-2012, 10:07 AM

nangaparbat!! excellent report! if you aren't allowed to post the pics here would you mind sending me a link? thanks so much!

ingeaiken@gmail.com :-)

nangaparbat · 02-01-2012, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brew

Well done, Jean-Luc.

I saw some of your pics before you blew away your TR on the French forum. Seems that you made it up first and your 2 new companions followed way behind. Did you leave the summit before they topped out?

Did you top out beside the large rock or via the new Irene slide all the way? Did you get a chance to chat with the other 2 guys afterwards to get their perspective on the climb?

I'd like to do the Winter Trap Dyke again this winter but will probably wait until early March. Last year was excellent in late March, but 2012 is a bizarre winter with much less snow.

Anybody know if traversing the first brook for Allen is dangerous (with the 'balmy' weather)? I would like to accompany a friend for his 46th soon, but I am very scared of thin ice.

On va parler de cela demain soir.

nangaparbat · 02-01-2012, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inge

nangaparbat!! excellent report! if you aren't allowed to post the pics here would you mind sending me a link? thanks so much!

ingeaiken@gmail.com :-)

Thanks to all of you for the interest in this adventure, I will find a solution to all this and then I will repost the PICs.

Inge · 02-01-2012, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nangaparbat

Thanks to all of you for the interest in this adventure, I will find a solution to all this and then I will repost the PICs.

....and don't be snipping out all the good ones

mudrat · 02-01-2012, 12:20 PM

I'm gonna jump on board here for a moment. A couple reports I was involved in (white slide, trap dike in rain) kicked off the usual risk related conversations. We (meaning several people) brainstormed and Neil had the slide climbing usergroup created and posted a sticky warning "death by slide climbing". Didn't we segregate these reports so those of us who were interested could comfortably post our low/medium/high relative risk trips?
Neil?

DeepForest · 02-01-2012, 09:34 PM

Are pictures of slide climbing no longer permitted on the forum???
I feel silly even asking this question, but one never knows.

mudrat · 02-01-2012, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeepForest

Are pictures of slide climbing no longer permitted on the forum???
I feel silly even asking this question, but one never knows.

Yup, they are permitted.

01-30-2012, 09:15 AM	#1
nangaparbat Consultant Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: On a mountain Posts: 336	Colden trapDike Jan 29th 2012 Pictures can be found Pics have been removed by Myself because I realised that some readers do not appreciate the risk involved by doing this kind of trips. In the future images concerning slide climbing will be post on this forum, I will post them later again here. I have removed also my Trip reports on fousderandos. Hello, yesterday , I have climbed the Trapdike. Although this ascent is NOT a hike it is an ice climb, you need crampons, 2 ice axes and the knowledge on how to use them safely, avalanche danger exist on this route and the conditions will vary from day to day. I have decided to write this TR, because I thought some of you may have been there in winter or have done the climb in iceless conditions and wonder what it is all about. It took me 2 hours to get to the base of the route. Not much snow till you reach height of land before droping to Avalanche Lake. The Lake was solid ice, weather snowy, mild. Wen I arrived at the base of the dike, I have noticed a faint trail in the newly fresh snow, the trail was partly filled. I look up, but did not see the climbers, they were at the base of the route. Peter && Bruce, will be my partners for this climb. We climbed mostly close together, but did not use any rope for security and progression. There was a lot of snow at the base and between steeper steps of ice. The ice was excellent, not brittle, we managed to get to the base of the Irene slide, that we followed to the top. Once at the base of Irene, I noticed that the whole slide above was covered with snow, but under it was ICE, to get establish on the slide offered very enjoyable climbing, but after, the length of the route, plus having to take care at each steps, began to take its toll. A fall from the route is OUT of question, this would lead to dire consequences..... We finally reached the summit of Colden after about 2 hrs 30 min of climbing including breaks. When I have done this route last september, it took me 50 minutes, climbing in winter is a much more serious thing. Went back down toward Lake Arnold wearing snowshoes. Last edited by nangaparbat; 01-30-2012 at 01:35 PM.

01-30-2012, 10:22 AM	#2
mudrat Slide Junkie, 46R 5430W Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: ADK Mountains Posts: 881	Was thinking about you last week and I was going to email you today and see how the trip went. Nice!!! Thanks for posting! __________________ May your ambition for the goal allow you to be a student of the journey. http://www.mackenziefamily.com/46/46r.html

01-30-2012, 11:45 AM	#8
RTSpoons Landscape Surveyor Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Troy, NY Posts: 1,589	Ah, your pictures are worth a thousand words. Nice TR. __________________ What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson

01-30-2012, 12:05 PM	#9
vieWseeker Winter46er Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Fulton, NY: On Wright Posts: 3,281	fantastic photos, love the crisscross pattern i just learn that on ice this weekend..thanks for sharing,. __________________ ADK 46-R #6750W CL-50 - #51 CATSKILLS- 9/39 Hiking photos

01-31-2012, 09:43 AM	#10
Gregory Karl * — * — * — * — * Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Jay Posts: 1,942	Please put the pics back up! The squeamish don't have to look. __________________ "a politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man" (e. e. cummings)

01-30-2012, 10:23 AM	#3
Neil Enjoying Wellness Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Montreal Posts: 8,400	So, Nanga, if I read between the lines of your TR with any degree of accuracy then attempting the Trap Dike with micro-spikes and hiking poles is ill-advised.

02-01-2012, 09:56 AM	#12
Brew Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Montreal, Quebec Posts: 41	Well done, Jean-Luc. I saw some of your pics before you blew away your TR on the French forum. Seems that you made it up first and your 2 new companions followed way behind. Did you leave the summit before they topped out? Did you top out beside the large rock or via the new Irene slide all the way? Did you get a chance to chat with the other 2 guys afterwards to get their perspective on the climb? I'd like to do the Winter Trap Dyke again this winter but will probably wait until early March. Last year was excellent in late March, but 2012 is a bizarre winter with much less snow. Anybody know if traversing the first brook for Allen is dangerous (with the 'balmy' weather)? I would like to accompany a friend for his 46th soon, but I am very scared of thin ice. __________________ http://picasaweb.google.com/RandonneesetAlpinismeGBLL

02-01-2012, 10:07 AM	#13
Inge Commander Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 619	nangaparbat!! excellent report! if you aren't allowed to post the pics here would you mind sending me a link? thanks so much! ingeaiken@gmail.com :-) __________________ inclined to climb...

02-01-2012, 12:20 PM	#17
mudrat Slide Junkie, 46R 5430W Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: ADK Mountains Posts: 881	I'm gonna jump on board here for a moment. A couple reports I was involved in (white slide, trap dike in rain) kicked off the usual risk related conversations. We (meaning several people) brainstormed and Neil had the slide climbing usergroup created and posted a sticky warning "death by slide climbing". Didn't we segregate these reports so those of us who were interested could comfortably post our low/medium/high relative risk trips? Neil? __________________ May your ambition for the goal allow you to be a student of the journey. http://www.mackenziefamily.com/46/46r.html

02-01-2012, 09:34 PM	#18
DeepForest Backcountry Bastard Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Burlington, VT Posts: 291	Are pictures of slide climbing no longer permitted on the forum??? I feel silly even asking this question, but one never knows.

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