This House of Sky
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Total Height:
Technical Grade:
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1,640 ft (500M)
WI 3
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Note for 28 Dec 00:
I went with Jim Kelly and Ross McEwen. The climb was actually very similar to the approach into the
Valley of the Birds. A lot of small pitches. We solo'd all of the pitches except the last grade 4
climb in the very back of the bowl. I actually broke my pick just before reaching that point, so I backed
off and waited for my partners to return.
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Note for 17 Nov 02:
I went with Gerry Drotar. The climb was really fat. Even the log had ice over it. Lots of people in there.
Note for 18 Dec 04:
I went with Blair Piggot. We had the entire place to ourselves. The main climb was mostly a pick-fest, but
the upper climb (in the upper bowl) was outstanding. Lots of fun.
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This is a typical pitch on This House of Sky. Every pitch is short enough to be climbed
without a rope, but long enough to be fun. Jim climbing up one of the earlier pitches.
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This is Blair climbing one of the early pitches.
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This is another angle of Blair. I sure hope he doesn't fall right now. His crampons would go right into
my shoulder.
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Between the little steps that make up this climb, you have to walk through the canyon. This is Blair doing that.
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Look at this. I'm looking down on Blair. That means I've passed him at some stage of the climb.
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Another picture of me looking down on Blair.
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Well, that didn't last long. Here we see Blair way up ahead of me. As you near the upper bowl, the steps get bigger,
but you can still solo through them all.
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More rambling ice.
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This is the upper bowl. When most people reach this point, they turn around and head back down.
But the best climbing is yet to come. There is a lot more ice above. Blair and I continued up
to the smear next to the red line. The first pitch of that part is actually the crux of the
entire climb.
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This is a closer view of the upper climbs. The red line shows the walk off that we took.
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This is Blair on the crux pitch. Blair solo'd the pitch, but I made him take the rope for me. This pitch was
very chandeliered.
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This shows the low-angle of the last bit of ice. Pretty easy.
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