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Spiral Staircase (8)

Statistics

  • Date - 11/20/2011
  • Elevation - 8,800'
  • Route - Spiral Staircase
  • Miles - 1.0
  • Elevation Gain - 300'
  • ACME Mapper - Link
  • CalTopo - Link
  • Partners - Jeff Shafer

Description

Backcountry ice seems to be limited this season, and some recent storms made avalanche conditions concerning.  As a result, Jeff and I simply went up to Vail, Colorado, and climbed the Spiral Staircase.  Conditions were definitely early season as this was the earliest and thinnest I had ever seen this ice flow.  Despite being a bit steeper than we had ever climbed it before, we were each able to get three leads and three top rope laps in throughout the morning.

Photos

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