Ice and avalanche conditions for the more popular ice routes in Rocky Mountain National Park are updated regularly by Eli Helmuth;  Estes Park resident, IFMGA licensed mountain guide and AIARE trained avalanche educator and forecaster.

March 27th Conditions:

After a weekend of spring-like conditions which continued into mid-week, we are back into wintertime weather with snow currently falling at a 1 inch per hour rate just east of Estes Park.   Daytime temperatures are forecast to stay near or below freezing throughout the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend and so the ice season is still in great shape with many routes very climbable and with temperatures a bit more mild in this spring/winter season.

                                                 The Squid still standing on March 24th, 2008

Amazingly, the south-facing ice route- The Squid is still up and solid enough for climbing despite the warmer temperatures we experienced through the last weekend and the cloudy weather and wind has kept his "hot spot" cool enough to keep this beast around a bit longer.  Spring can be a season of re-formation of many ice routes, especially on the south aspects where snowmelt during the day and cold nights often cause routes like The Squid to form.  Other higher alpine ice routes, like Alexander's Chimney, The Window, Vanquished, and Necrophilia can also form well in this spring season when the combination of snowmelt and cold temperatures are conducive to forming the springtime ice.

The north face of Thatchtop on 3/23 with the Deep Freeze partly formed and Necrophilia just a patch of wet rock  

There is still more than ample ice at the Loch Vale ice area, on the Jewel Lake flows, and at Hidden Falls to satisfy all but the most discriminating ice junkie.  The multi-pitch routes West Gully and All Mixed Up are in great shape and with the snowpack gaining strength daily, the avalanche danger is mostly falling in areas like the Lambslide and on the approach to Chasm Lake where HIGH avalanche danger has made this cirque almost inaccessible for much of this cold and windy winter.

           A pair of Asolo plastic boots on their last day of climbing at the HIdden Falls in Wild Basin, RMNP

HIgh winds have been the crux of much of the above treeline approaches and climbs this winter season and this trend has continued through the current week with winds exceeding 60mph in the alpine zone regularly and only about 1 out of 7 days so far giving reasonable conditions in the "wind zone".  Tuesday the 25th this last week turned out to be a calm day at 12,000' despite the forecast for winds over 60mph, which goes to show that the forecasts are not always correct and that often it is best to go for it despite the forecast.  We climbed the Dragontail Couloir on Tuesday and found excellent cramponing conditions in ankle deep step-kicking and some hard neve in the upper third of the couloir. 

The average wind speeds for the last week at 12,000' from the Niwot Ridge Meteorological Station showing the 21st and 25th to be the lowest wind days which is what we experienced up high in RMNP

Mixed climbs at the HIdden Falls area and at the Loch Vale are still in great shape including The Dangler (M7 WI4) and Mixed Emotions (M5,WI4+) and the Olympic Games area which lies in the Terrain Park (Glacial Knobs) nearby Nymph Lake is currently in "phat" shape.

                      "The Dangler" in great shape at the Hidden Falls in Wild Basin, RMNP

Please contact me at   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   if you would like to discuss training in ice or mixed climbing, avalanche education, or any type of rock climbing, ski mountaineering or guide training programs.

LOW Avalanche Danger          

Necrophilia WI 5, M5	Deep Freeze   WI5, M5	Black Lake Slabs  WI 2
OUT	OUT	IN

MODERATE Avalanche Danger 

CONSIDERABLE Avalanche Danger

The Window WI 5,  M4	Vanquished WI 5,  M4	Hot Doggie WI 5+
OUT	OUT	OUT

HIGH Avalanche Danger 

East Face of Notchtop WI 3+,  M1

OUT (due to high avalanche danger)

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