N.Ghost, West Fork of Claw - ice

*The driving was generally straight forward and Creek crossings easy. A couple crossings had icy ramps in/out adding just a touch of spice. *The approach up Claw Creek is the same as ever, stumble blocks. At the fork we crossed to the bank along the right side (north). It provided easy walking while it lasted. Just after Keso, where you reach an ice step, we chose to go around the slope on the right rather than crampon up. Possibly wise as from above it looked thin ice though the short narrow canyon. There is a boot pack to follow now however our in tracks were partially blown over so they may get hard to follow as time goes on. *Valley bottom observations. BlackRock Falls looked huge. Morning alpenglow was amazing. GBU looked climbable on the left, hard on the right, and neither side is as wide or as formed as usual yet. Actually better than I expected given it sunny aspect. Someone had posted a pic of the Sliver but it's now missing a section and not in. Sitkas Slide looked in. The lower ice looked blue, last pitch is there. Kesos Curtain was in although we could only see the lower steps. *Tuk Taku. Climb is in and we belated three pitches, with some small steps and walking between belays. Generally there was a fair amount of fracturing but the ice was pretty fat and 16cm's were easily used. 10's not really needed. We observed some minor snow being blown down the slope beside the start of the climb. Some pockets of wind slab on route with cracking as we climbed though those slabs but mostly it was faceted. While belaying the first pitch my partner broke a small water dam and a trickle of water came down the left side. He climbed the centre so rope stayed dry. Climbed and protected well. As I moved above him toward flatter terrain I broke another water dam that released an enormous hydraulic. A wave of water washed down the small steps and first pitch and lasted 5-10 minutes. My warning allowed my partner to move over on his belay and stay dry. I managed to mostly flip the ropes out of the deluge in its initial stage, but he likened the wave coming at him to the scene from Indiana Jones. The second pitch we belayed leads me to believe the climb is well under graded. It was very steep and long. Initially the ice was somewhat chandeliered but improved, with some shell needing to be broken in a couple spots. Another walk/small steps above that lead to what would be our final belayed pitch. Another nice pitch but during the lead a small snow squall passed through. As I climbed I had some snow spindrifting on me. Above that another low angled pitch existed. We couldn't see above that so don't know how much more of the route was left. Between the snow that was happening, the increased snow surrounding the route, and the time of day, we opted to begin descending. We would have made the base before dark however while building the v-thread above the steep pitch, I'd put my tools down. Turns out they were almost lost in the facets and I didn't notice till after rapping. I had to jug up the ropes to get them and it was dark when we returned to the packs. The walk out in the dark and the wind, back down the Claw Creek stumblefest was miserable. Don't forget your tools haha.

Weather Report

Cool and breezy walking up Claw Creek. Less windy in the West Fork of Claw Creek. On the climb it varied from calm to moderate. Most of the day was not snowing and the climb was either shaded by the mountain above or there was cloud cover. It was sunny in the morning although mostly cloudy with some sunny periods but we never had sun on the climb itself. Approximately 3.30pm we had a light snow flurry move through the area. It lasted maybe an hour but came with some spindrift at one point and combined with the late time we opted to descend. There was at least one more ice pitch above us but we were unable to see above that pitch to ascertain how much more climbing or surrounding snow conditions. We decided what we could see at our level warranted descending.