Thanks!

It’s always the biggest variable with conditions, but the opportunities for pro felt pretty solid (March 2024)!

😂

Hey thanks! These are the details I was looking for before I climbed it too! We did indeed climb in ski boots, I personally find my ski boots more comfortable for ice climbing than my mountaineering/ice climbing boots--and they have the same degree of performance and protection, if not more. My climbing partner skied the Old Chute from the summit ridge--I can't imagine DKH is a viable ski line ever, to say nothing of the potential for climbing parties on their way up. The ice quality was definitely variable throughout, but there was enough places that had either quality enough ice for screws, or quality enough snow for pickets. I trusted almost every piece of pro we placed, but no one took a whipper on anything. People did take rests that fully weighted the belay stations, and we were half-hanging at all belay stations so they were constantly weighted. The only time a pice looked suspect was a picket at our second belay station after cooking in the direct sun for a while. But we just backed it up with an extra picket and felt fine about it.

Great question! Let’s see… so for the first belay anchor we used one screw and one picket. For the first pitch (including the 3 main ice steps), we used 4 screws and one picket. The second belay station was built right above the 3rd ice step/crux with 2 screws and one picket. From there we simul-climbed and I think as a team we placed two pickets during that stretch before unroping and finishing the climb solo.

Depends where you live and the experiences you already have! I personally love learning in the field from and with friends who have similar goals. But you can also join local orgs (Portland has the Mazamas, Seattle has the Mountaineers). And there may be great local Facebook groups that organize meetups so you can make future adventure partners! In the meantime, research, learn online, practice in low consequence terrain.