Last Friday, I headed up to Illumination Rock to reclimb Skylight on the Northwest face (backside) and see how things were looking for the season up there. Very different conditions than I expected to find. The rime ice on everything was well-bonded to the rock but low quality, so a lot of time was spent digging for gear and finding nothing. Easy sticks in the “ice” but every placement settled under weight. Coupled with a slightly questionable belay and dubious, sparse gear, the climbing was very cerebral. Three-dimensional rime climbing with sidepulls and plenty of awkwardness. I got two shitty pieces in 60 meters and called it quits at the next belay (after taking 30 minutes to dig for pro). There’s now a fixed baby angle with a rap ring about 1 meter to the left of a great belay stance after the 1st pitch. Someone with bigger balls should go get ‘er done.
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- All ice and no mixed.
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- First day of ice climbing.
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- Really, there’s a nice crack in this dihedral.
