Hi all, I'm new to this site-This was originally posted at the Portal Store site-Steve Cosner asked me to copy it here:
So we did go this weekend, but we did not quite make it to the top. Had to turn back at the base of the chute due to soft, chest-deep snow and approaching darkness. We got up to the top of the big ridge between Iceberg and Upper Boy Scout (The Pinnacle maybe?) as a consolation prize.
Overall, conditions were much better than forecast (the gusts and -25 windchill predicted for Saturday turned out to be about 35 and cloudy). On the way up to Lower Boyscout we had to muscle up the hill/through the willows because the ledges were covered in about a foot of snow and a bit of ice (it's hard to see in the picture but they looked slick!) On the way up we came across a kind of step-15 foot tall (icy!) boulder slab forming a corner-we depacked and got out the rope which we used to pull up our packs (and the couple behind us).
We camped at LBSL and headed up Sunday morning with light packs and high hopes. It was absolutely beautiful out-sunny and around 40 degrees by 8:00 AM. We made great time to Upper Boy Scout-up the hill in a little over 45 minutes. With that behind us and the day still young, our chances of summiting were good. So we took a nice rest at Upper, had breakfast, enjoyed the view and took off a few layers (it was getting warm). We headed up around the corner at about 10:00. But things began to get very slow and sloggy between Upper and Iceberg. There was a lot of new snow, and a lot of knee/thigh deep postholing. We put on our snowshoes, which were extremely helpful, but even wearing them we were sinking in a good 6-12 inches. And because it was so sunny and warm (almost 60 degrees by 11:30) the top layer of snow was getting very weak and very slick. We had a lot of slips, short slides and a couple "oh ****" moments while crossing the long, steep slope on the way to Iceberg. In all in took us four hours to get there...by which time it was too late to even think about getting to the top and back to camp at Lower Boyscout before dark. In addition, a couple of climbers already in the chute were pushing through chest-deep drifts, and the wind was beginning to pick up. So we just got out the rope and climbed up to the top of the big ridge between Iceberg and Upper Boy Scout (I think it's called the Pinnacle?) before slogging back down to camp for the night.
slick ledges
the step
no way around it
lower boyscout (note the cloud cover-we weren't quite sure what that would turn into)
looking up the valley
peeking out
a lot of beautiful blue ice ripe for the climbing if anyone's feeling particularly brave
cleared up-on the hill above Upper Boy Scout
you can just see Evan's helmet following me up the basically vertical snow to the top of the ridge.
On the way down Monday morning it was warm and sunny, slick and icy, but the ledges seemed to be completely clear.
Be safe out there!
Nick
