Waterton Ice Opener

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This year marked the 3rd year in a row Lethbridge climbers had their annual Ice Opener & BBQ. Turnout was lower than expected due to poor weather and ice conditions. Initially people were considereing not even bothering to head up to the ice. Conditions looked poor, the rain was steady, so the BBQ was left behind. Up at the ice, conditions looked unsafe for most routes. Dave and Scott Harms led up French Kiss, and a few ropes were set up on Pillier des Putains, and Pearl Necklace. As the day wore on a cold front moved in the the temperature dropped rapidly. The ice firmed up and climbers started in on the pillars. Aaron Hemphill came down from Crowsnest Pass with demo tools from Austri Alpin. There were amazing deals on complete sets. Blair tried the fancy mixed tools on the rock behind Pillier des Putains. He managed to get soaked, but couldn't quite make it to the roof. Chris also tried, but gave up right at the start. A couple of Americans from Choteau also showed up. Expect some info soon on the ice and rock routes west of Augusta. Sounds like things are good. All in all it was a good day.

Sounds like Blair will be planning a rock opener out at Drywood in the Spring (Probably the first weekend in June.