Aquarius - ice

<p>Approach ice in reasonable shape although some smaller steps were thin. Very low snow levels in the valley and going up the canyon so rocky walking. Aquarius is building nicely although a little wet in sections. With a party ahead of us we saw the upper half of the climb giving a bunch of fracturing and falling ice. We chose to break it into two pitches to reduce the belayers exposure to falling ice. The halfway anchor had blobs of ice on and around it so it may be harder to spot. Lower half was a little wetter and slightly easier. Upper half was steep off the ledge and had some chandelier but most of the screws seems reasonable if you pick a good spot. I chose to go to the upper anchor in the narrows to make it easy to take a look in the Recital Hall. Decent ice in the narrows. Its a tad spicey but overall good ice and it'll be getting fatter with the surface water. In the Recital Hall, Fearful Symetry is just a hanging dagger and far from formed. Rainbow Serpent was formed but wet with a lot of chandelier. A lot. With a hefty serving of mushrooms. Down in the valley Sunshine looked to be coming along nicely when seen from a distance. Malignant had the upper section fall off earlier this week and while there is new ice forming, it isnt in, yet.</p>

Weather Conditions

Windy, Warm, Cloudy.