Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the actual climb, but Blair took a couple, and when I get his pictures,
I'll add it to this page. Basically, the climb is a short fat chunk of ice sitting about 45m right of the right side of
Midnight Madness.
This is looking across Wall Lake. There are two climbs circled in red. The obvious one (left)
is Midnight Indian. Last year, the pillar kept breaking off and never touched down. This year, it's big and fat.
The other climb to the right of Midnight Indian (mostly hidden from view) is Midnight Cowboy.
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Here is a closer look at Midnight Cowboy and Indian. Notice the avalanche slopes above the climb. Just getting to
the climbs is a huge ordeal. Not the safest place in the world.
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Originally, Blair and I were heading to the upper climbs on the west end of Akamina Ridge. Notice the avalanche
debris that Blair is crossing. The gully on the right side of the picture is something Blair and I are looking to
ski down. We figure that would be pretty cool, and given the 4.5 hour approach to reach it, it's probably a first
descent. The ice seen to the left of Blair is Midnight Monkey.
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These are the upper climb. Left to right, we have M.Squeeze, M.Sluffer, M.Monkey, M.Rendevous, and M.Snack.
Notice the cornice that is usually above these climbs.
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To evaluate the upper climbs, it's good to go into the trees on the right. That way, you're across from the climbs,
and you really get a sense of the bigger picture (avalanche wise). This is the same spot that the above picture was taken.
Above Blair is the gully I was talking about, two pictures up. It's a really thin snow pack in that gully. Last year, it was
never completely covered. On the far left edge of the picture, you can see the gully that we ski down when we came off
the Akamina Ridge traverse.
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Now for our climb. Here is Blair chipping away the ice to put in a screw.
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With the screw in place, Blair continues going where no man has gone before.
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This is pretty much the top of the climb. Blair went up a little further looking for ice, but he should have stayed about where
he is now. It took him 20 minutes to find an anchor above the climb. I damn near froze to death.
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