Cobra Verde - ice

Grant P , Monday 20th March, 2023 11:50PM

**Unexpected delays changed a morning solo to an afternoon solo. Snow was softer in the sun going in but had started refreezing in shade as I left. **Important, do not drive through the gate even if open. Park on the road to avoid getting locked in. **Go through the maintenance yard, past the quonset shed, and to the back of the yard, go left of the large log pile. **The bootpack has been put in going up to, then traversing below an avi slope, then up the,right side of the avi slope. Although not a big slope, there are signs of two avalanches having partially run. Not to ground and not to the trees, possibly on a crust and 10-20cm deep. Both have been covered by a dusting of more recent snow. **First pitch is easier on the left and steeper/thinner on the right. Top of the pitch on the left is a very nice length of ice that doesn't seem to have seen much travel. Top out on the right is thin so watch for rock. **Bit of a snow slog takes you up past a hole that will want to swallow your rope when pulling it down. You'll notice a shell in a few places on the climb and this is an example to avoid falling through. Stay left to avoid. **That takes you to the pillar in the middle of the climb with another open hole below it. Cool clesr ice on the left with interesting transition where the clear ice meets the regular ice on the right side. You won't see that transition if you're on the regular ice though. **Above the middle pillar some low angle ice and shallow shell takes you up to the final pitch. Quite sun affected on the left and thin. Better ice further right, possibly shaded lower down by the huge tree. The top out immediately below the rap station has melted out. Be gentle on the top ice and be careful on the loose gravel/rock. The far right top out might offer better ice to top out then move left to the rap. **Didn't place any screws but while some ice is thin or sun affected, mostly its easy to pick a line that should be reasonably protectable. Some nice tools swings, good placements, in generally good ice, with sporadic sun effect or thin ice. **Climb gets some morning sun but moves into shade in the afternoon, so with decent overnight freezes, it should keep recovering, with the possible exception being the left side of the last pitch. I'd avoid the left in favour of the right side last pitch.