Central Pennsylvania Ice Climbing

David Tandberg reports: Shawn Dorius and I decided to give Gemini one last look and see if we could play around a bit on whatever ice might be left. Well, Gemini was a complete wash as the photo shows.

Season Over - Gemini Gullies, 3/7/08

However several yards up the tracks we found enough ice to get our fix. The ice was not great so we did not get too high but it was better than nothing on the last weekend of the season!

Thanks for the report Dave! The Game is over for another year.

Railroad Cut - Right of Gemini Gullies, 3/7/08

Dave Luber reports: Made it up to Lock Haven today with my friends Timm Smith and Mike Merrick. Scoped Roadside on the way in. Lots of running water and almost no ice to be seen. Didn't make it up to Hidden but on the drive in to Gemini looking across the river did not see what appeared to be too much ice. The drive in to Gemini was a bit tough for my 2 wheel drive vehicle given the ~4 inches of snow received on Fiday. Road was plowed for the 1st 2 miles and then we were fortunate to be able to follow the tracks of a 4 wheel drive vehicle which stopped at the train track crossing. Loosing traction here we decided to park and hike the rest of the way. Not too bad in the beautiful 35 degree weather.

As far as they could go with 2wd.

The climb was pretty good. We choose to do Left Gemini. Down low was wet and snow covered making for moderate climbing. Up top I followed the gully headwall. Strenuous fun climbing. Conditions on the headwall were quite good. Finished with classic dirt sticks and rhodedendrum hooks. All in all a great day.

Left Gemini Gully headwall.

Hopefully the cold will last and we'll be able to get a bit more in. Thanks for the report Dave!

We finally got out to climb some Pennsylvania ice today. The Gemini Gullies has the only climbable ice available in the Lock Haven area. Roadside and Hidden still look pretty bleak. It is definitely worth the extended trip down the 7 mile dirt road approach. The road has been plowed and is easily passable by 2 wheel drive. Tom Mrotek and Jon Lawrence started up the left gully and Wayne Barnard and I headed up the right.

Tom and Jon at the mid height belay station, Left Gemini Gully.

After scoping out the thin and detached conditions on the right gully headwall, Wayne and I crossed over to join Tom and Jon in the better formed left gully. Wayne led the right gully headwall and then graciously belayed the rest of us to the top. We rapped out on the fixed stations and called it a day.

Wayne on the sharp end, Left Gemini Gully.

Headwall, Left Gemini Gully.

Drove up and took a picture of Roadside today after getting a promising report this morning from Jim Bowers about the Gemini Gullies. Unfortunately, Roadside has a large volume of water flowing out of it and it has not been cold enough for it to completely solidify. Nothing on the steep upper tiers appear to touch down or top out. Bummer.

I suspect the Hidden Amphitheater is also open water because it has a larger stream supplying it similar to Roadside.

The Gemini Gullies traditionally have a very light flow of water, and because of that, they have not been washed out by the recent rain events. That is the only site worth visiting at this time. Be advised, the area has close to six inches of snow on the ground and the 7 mile dirt road is not well maintained in the winter. Four wheel drive may be handy to reach the Gemini’s.

Jim Bowers reports: Did the Gemini Gullies Sat 2/16 - not bad shape - did the rightmost gully right side topout which was rather thin at the top. Photo is Mike in the Right Gully.

This is good news! Hopefully the rain that is forcast for today will not wipe out what we have. Thanks for the report Jim! (And also thanks Jim for getting me into this sick game of climbing ice many years ago.)

The weather has not cooperated this week. We had warm temps and rain on Monday. The temps fell to seasonable values on Tuesday, but we had another heavy rain event on Friday. The ice sems to have taken a hit and looks poorly bonded to the rock. There are many holes with running water in Roadside’s low angle approach that were frozen over last weekend. It did not seem worth the effort to check on Hidden Amphitheater. I expect running water there.

I hope it soon gets cold. If anyone visits the area and encounters more favorable conditions, please pass me a report.

George Matthews reports: A friend and I went out to Angel Falls today not expecting too much. We were pleasantly surprised to find the falls in pretty good shape. There were quite a few sections of thin ice over running water and even a few holes in the main falls, but in general the ice is coming along nicely. We had a great time soloing the first two thirds of the falls -- everything except the thin and steep top section.

As usual, another week of cold temps is all this area needs for good climbing conditions. The afternoon sun was taking its toll on a steep set of columns and drips further downstream on the right side of the lower falls and the lower falls themselves have quite a long way to go. Let's hope for continued cold. Thanks for the report George!

David Tandberg reports: We hit Lock Haven this Saturday. Roadside is coming in and may be climbable in a few spots down low. However we decided to continue to Gemini instead. We climbed the lower left and right sections. The ice was passable but we did not feel comfortable placing screws so we took turns top roping and did not go any higher than the first pitch. We also limited our time so that we did not chew up the little ice that is there.

Based on the amount that is in and the weather report, it may be a while before the real climbing begins. Thanks for the report David!

The wife and I took a recon trip up the Renovo Road to get a handle on the ice conditions. Roadside is coming along nicely. The low angle approach is filling in, but the middle third is still running water. The first steep bulge looks climbable, but the pillars on the second and third tiers will need another week of COLD temps to get them to touch down and fatten up.

I hiked up into Hidden Amphitheater to get a look at the conditions there. The first tier looks climbable. The second tier’s pillar has touched down, but looks a little thin and fragile to allow an ascent. The lower angle flow on the left side of the second tier looks quite thin and needs to grow. The third tier has not touched down yet and would be a mixed nightmare.

I could not get a good look at the Gemini Gullies across the river because of falling snow. They are traditionally the first to come in, so there may be something over there to climb. Be advised; I doubt you would be able to top out in either gully this early in the season with out some mixed climbing.

George Matthews reports: I drove out to Montgomery today (Saturday) to see if this recent cold spell has done anything good to the cliffs there. Well, as you can see in the photos, things are starting to form but are still pretty lean. I'm not sure I'd want to lead any of those lines.

Hopefully the warmer weather forecast for next week won't set things back too badly. Thanks for the report George!

Ed Hosler, the climbing director at the Lock Haven YMCA reports:


Good news; I was up along the Roadside Gully today, and the ice is starting to take form. Its still very thin and clear, but a couple more days of cold will hopefully allow for some good sticking! Attached is a pic that shows the lower formations. I still think the upper tiers have some time yet before they are ready. Hopefully we will be on the ice soon! Thanks for the report Ed!

I will be taking a trip up the Renovo road tomorrow morning and will post a report of my findings tomorrow evening.

12/13/2007 - Last week we experienced several nights of cold temps and ice began to form in Central PA. It was short lived as the temps rose over the weekend and we received heavy rain on Sunday and Monday. This early season teaser has us anticipating a better season than last year.

HELP WANTED! Please help keep this site up to date. Use the form listed on the right or email your Pennsylvania Ice Climbing trip reports and photos to dave@hikebikeclimb.net and I will post them to this site.