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bob_54b
Jan 13, 2009, 4:53 PM
Post #1 of 3
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Registered: May 18, 2006
Posts: 64
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just a heads up about the avalanche conditions in the S Fork of Cody, Wyoming as of last weekend (1/10/09-1/11/09). a person was killed when he was swept down in an avalanche on The Main Vein, the weekend of 1/3/09-1/4/09. we went up to Bozo's Revenge on 1/10/09. when we stepped onto the bowl at the base of the first pitch, the entire slab settled under us and dropped about an inch. not willing take the friendly reminder, I climbed the first 30 ft of ice of the first pitch to the bench that leads to the base of the second pitch. there was about 1.5 foot of slabby snow sitting on the bench so I backed off...bad juju. we left without furthur incident and went to the north side of the valley and did Stringer which was in great shape...no snow problems on it. there is a lot of loading in low angle areas between pitches on most climbs. a release of one of these benches is what took down the person on The Main Vein. It appears that the descent route off Broken Hearts is pretty loaded with snow up on the long traverse out of the drainage. some people we talked to on Sunday had done only the first four pitches and rappelled off with strings. there is an unusual amount of snow in S Fork at present , especially up high and on the south side of the valley, where the sun has not melted any of the stuff. there has also been a lot of wind so that slab conditions exist, even at the base of the climbs on the south side of the valley. I wouldn't take the safety of the north side for granted, either, as witnessed by the incident on The Main Vein. so, if you go up there, be very aware of avalanche potential. be safe....back off and come back another day: Bob Branscomb, Lander, WY
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southforkclimber
Jan 31, 2009, 3:58 AM
Post #3 of 3
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Registered: Jan 15, 2008
Posts: 13
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We are starting to look a *little* bit better. Climbs like Fredricks, the Ghosts, have been flown over, and have a HUGE amount of snow load above. Main Vein has reblown in, and in fact was reloaded by the time we left the recovery on the Sat. it happens. Miami Ice appears to be stable, since 2 weeks later there was a party up there. Definitely, definitely be heads up. The crown on Vein broke off 1500 or so feet above these guys, way out of most people's "bubble of awareness." john
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