Duck Soup

Statistics

• Date - 03/28/2025
• Elevation - 7,900'
• Route - Duck Soup
• Miles - 3.0
• Elevation Gain - 1,800'
• ACME Mapper - Link
• CalTopo - Link
• Partners - Brian Kooienga, Kevin Smith

Description

Day two was my pick for climbing and we wanted to get at least one new route in.  I opted for Duck Soup which you could see from the road to the left of Mean Green.  The approach was pretty miserable, and it took us two hours to get from the Cabin Creek Trailhead to the base of the climb.  Positively, the ice climbing was really good and we were ultimately glad we made the trek to Duck Soup.  The first pitch was spectacular climbing for quite some length.  The second pitch was a bit more delicate climbing as Kevin was trying not to knock any ice down on us.  The top-out was a bit tricky too due to the soft and slushy ice.  Nevertheless, it was a big piece of ice that was fun to climb.

Photos

Duck Soup from the start of the off-trail approach.

Near the base of Duck Soup with both pitches viewable.

James leading pitch 1.

James leading pitch 1.

James leading pitch 1.

James leading pitch 1.

Kevin leading pitch 2.

Kevin leading pitch 2.

Kevin leading pitch 2.

Brian at the top of Duck Soup.

Kevin at the top of Duck Soup.

James at the top of Duck Soup with amazing views in the background.

There were thousands of deer and elk in the valley.