Wayne Barnard and I got probably our last sticks of the season at the Gemini Gullies today. The ice was surprisingly good, but the close to 50 degree temps had a lot of water running down the climb.  Not sure if this will survive another week.

We passed by Roadside Gully and the low angle approach now has several spots of open water and ice is coming down onto the road from the steep stuff above. This route is currently not recommended. 

Randy Edelman and I enjoyed the mellow ice on Little Four Mile Run Falls at Leonard Harrison State Park, Tioga State Forest today. Conditions were excellent.

(left) Upper Falls from the Turkey Path trail.          (right) Lower Falls from the trail.

(left and right) Lower Falls

(left and right) Randy led a couple lines on the Upper Falls.

(left) Topping out on the Upper Falls.          (right) Finished up on the Weeping Wall.

Ice is hanging strong at Roadside Gully. Some ice has fallen to the road, so use caution on the warmer days while traveling the approach gully.

Last weekend, Ben Nevin had a great outing in the PA Grand Canyon in Tioga State Forest. Ben writes: "Campbell Run above Tiadaghton was a beauty last Saturday in the almost 50 degree temps. It had suffered a little in the warm temps and rain from the previous few days, but a number of formations were great. The main falls was more vertical, less stepped than it had been in other years, and had a horizontal crack opening on the lower third. The side walls had nice formations, and the N. Wall has some solid formations, although one of the big pillars had fallen. I'm thinking all the ice routes I saw survived the warm temps. I'm hoping to go back this weekend."

(Ben Nevin photos)

Received a report from Brandon Tarr. Looks like they had a fine time up in Hidden Amphitheater on Sunday 2/16/12014. Brandon writes: "Climbed Hidden Amphitheater this past Sunday with Adam Coda and Doug Manning.  Lots of snow up there and really fat ice.  The third tier was a little thin near the top."

The second (crux) pitch at Hidden. | The second and third pitches at Hidden. (Brandon Tarr photos)

Brandon also sent along a couple photos of Roadside Gully.

Two shots of Roadside Gully from the road. (Brandon Tarr photos)

Received a post from Jim Bowers. (This guy is directly responsible for my ice addiction, as he introduced me to ice climbing back in the 1980's. ) Jim reports: "Southeast of Hughesville, PA at N 41°10'48.34"  W 76°41'2.79" off of Rt. 442 south of Hughesville. Impressive looking flows coming down a cliff. Took these photos from a good distance away. Two flows - the one on the left looks fun and the one on the right looks sporty. Most likely virgin. I'd have a go myself, but don't know if I will have the time and I don't actually need the adrenaline at the moment. Last week I had fun on the Rt. 322 roadcut South of Philipsburg which was in unusually bad condition considering the great ice year everywhere else. http://youtu.be/pvpaJLCCczQ"

New routes near Hughesville. (Jim Bowers photos)

Received a report from Ben Nevin from their trip into Ganoga Falls at Rickets Glen State Park. Ben reports: "Sarah and I went to Ganoga on 2-8-14, and met up with a good fellow who knows you, Rick Rodgers from Sunbury. There was a group on Dutch Eagle and Rick and I had an eye on what was left of Ganoga, so I rapped the Right side(nothing decent for pro) and Rick and I climbed it. The crux was the top where a buldge hadn't formed well enough to get any good feet easily, but we both got it. Nothing too serious, but fun right next to the falls. I'm eager to get out to see some more ice, possibly in the canyon, this Sunday." From the photos, it looks like Rickets is all in and considered a destination.

(Ben Nevin photos)

Took a trip across the river to Gemini Gullies today with Randy Edelman and Bruce Fontneau. The 7 mile trip down river was quite sporting as the unmaintained road is now covered with 8 - 10 inches of crusty snow. It is now four wheel drive only. The gullies were in great shape. We topped out on Right Gemini and then Randy and Bruce trekked over and ran a lap on Loner Gully to the South. Lots of climbing activity in the area today. There were parties on Roadside Gully, Hidden Amphitheater, and a second party in Left Gemini.

Received a report from Scott Leroux on the conditions at the Narrows in Eastern PA. Scott Reports: "The Ice along the Narrows has been in for the past 2 weeks and someone plows the main parking lot to fit approx. 5 or so vehicles. Today was a good day because there was only one other party there for the first time, and I have been climbing during the week. If you go by the Griz guide, it looks like the upper half of 45 mph is in and in good shape. The entire main flow is in good shape from bottom to top and the last ice storm filled in broken ice and the old chandelier formation but new chandelier is forming. The top half of Banana is in. The main gully is in but very wet. Dead Deer gully is in good shape and another gully farther north which I want to check out next week. I've seen climbers on all the flows except for Banana the past 2 weeks. Overall, the climbing was wet today, but I managed to find some dry ice on the main flow. If the weather holds, the ice should be good until at least next Thursday."

Main Flow (left) and Banana (right).                             Two parties on Main Flow. (Scott Leroux photos)

Edit on 2/10/2014: Also found this unique aerial perspective of climbers on Main Flow (WI4 330'). Check out this cool video taken on 2/9/2014.  http://vimeo.com/86259657

Received a report from Ben Nevin in Tioga County of several outings in the north woods. The first three photos are from Little Four Mile Falls in Leonard Harrison State Park at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Ben Reports: "Here's some photos from Little Four Mile on the Leonard Harrison Side of the Canyon. I took a family up there for their first time. We climbed the seep beside the falls which was taller, about 140' in length."

The last two shots are from Sand Run Falls in the Tioga State Forest near Arnot. This looks to be a nice backcountry location.

(Photos by Ben Nevin)

Randy Edelman, Ben Cox and I spent the day in the Hidden Amphitheater. Conditions were stellar with all pitches fat and leadable.

Jason Erdman from the Allegheny Outdoor Institute spent the day in the Gemini Gullies.
Jason reports:

"Matt Hirt, Brandon Sisino and I climbed right Gemini Gully today. The ice was in great shape and there were several leadable lines in right gully. We rappelled down left gully and the main curtain is looking solid and leadable. We also climbed a small 60 ft. flow to the left of the Gemini, which I don't see a name for in the Griz Guide. Bastard Chilld and Loner Gully to the right of Gemini looks to be in good shape as well."

The headwall in Right Gemini Gully. / Jason on lead in Right Gemini. (Jason Erdman photos)

The headwall in Left Gemini Gully. / Bastard Child and Loner Gully. (Jason Erdman photos)

Have at it folks! This is turning into one of our better years. Roadside has not been this fat since 2009. Randy Edelman and I took a casual trip up Roadside late this afternoon. Please check out our pics.

The steep upper tiers in Roadside all look leadable. Topping out on Left Pillar could prove challenging. This is the first time in many years that I have seen Thriller Pillar come in, and Mixed Madness looks fat. Motorhead on top left needs a bit more time, but Glass Menagerie on top right looks as good as it gets.

Roadside Gully

Received a conditions report from Westley Shaffer from their trip up Roadside Gully on 1/9/14. Westley reports:

"I'm happy to report that the approach ice is thick enough to climb, at least the left half. Ice is solid up to the landing below the amphitheater. Water is still running on the right side down the first tier. With the coming warm temps I hope some of the ice holds until cold temps return.

I do have to apologize that I'm unfamiliar with route names and info. This was my first time there. Any way you could edit the photo to add route names, so I can get them right next time?"

Upper tiers of Roadside Gully , January 9, 2014. (Westley Shaffer Photo) Routes are labled per Westley's request. Conditions look protectable on most routes except Moterhead. Time will tell how much of a setback we will experience with the warm temps we are suppost to get this weekend.

Hidden Amphitheater

Also received a report from Jason Erdman: "Matt Hirt and I did a little night climbing in Hidden Amphitheater last night (1/9/14), trying to squeeze in some more ice before the thaw. The entire route was climbable with fat ice in some sections, although there is still a good amount of water running and there is still some bare spots where there is usually ice. The first two tiers were leasable, but the headwall on the third tier was still a little thin, but I was able to get to the top on the lower angle section to the left. I backed-up the rappel anchor with a new piece of webbing. Hopefully Saturday's warm temps and rain won't destroy everything. It is just starting to get good!"

Winter has come to Central Pennsylvania! Took a solo trip mid way up the Gemini Gullies. From the mid way traverse between the two gullies, I took a few shots of Jason Erdman, Alex Duncan, and Matt Hirt  as they were topping out on Left Gemini. Jason was kind enough to email me a conditions report. He best describes what they found in the steeper headwall section:

"Climbed in Gemini Gully today, which was in surprisingly pretty good shape. The ice was a little wet, but took up to 16cm screws in a few spots. The top tier of Left Gemini is still a little thin, but we were able to complete the climb on the left side with a few mixed moves and some rock pro. The top tier of Right Gemini is coming in nicely, but is still a little thin. After another week of good temps, Gemini should be in really good shape. I also replaced the lower rappel anchor with some new webbing."

Left: Soloed up the Left Gemini Gully to the mid way traverse ledge. Right: I also enjoyed the Right Gully approach. (Kathy Seasholtz Photos)

Left: Alex Duncan on steep step midway up Left Gemini. Right. Matt Hirt climbing up to the base of the Left Gemini headwall. (Jason Erdman Photos)

Left and Right: Matt Hirt seconding the Left Gemini headwall. (Dave Seasholtz Photos)

Left: The headwall in Left Gemini Gully. (Jason Erdman Photo) Right: The headwall in Right Gemini Gully. (Dave Seasholtz Photo)

Left: Jason Erdman rappelling out of Left Gemini. (Dave Seasholtz Photo) Right: Descending Right Gemini (Kathy Seasholtz Photo)

Roadside has recovered nicely with the past several days/nights of single digit temperatures. If the weather reports come true for the next several days, this will be the place to climb by next weekend.

Left: The low angle approach gully is filling in nicely, except for a wet section near its top. Right: Glass Menagerie looks to be now touching down on the top tier.

Roadside Gully

Last weekend's rain event and record warm temps pretty much wiped out what ice we had. Due to the now excessive amount of runoff, the cold temps we experienced this week did little to recover the climbs . One good thing is the third tier on Roadside is now forming as it appeared to be dry before the monsoon. Now if we can get an extended cold snap to get the low angle approach to re-build.

Roadside Gully, 12/28/2013. Low angle approach is wiped out, but Glass Menangerie on the third vertical tier is now forming.

Hidden Amphitheater

A quick hike up into the Hidden Amphitheater showed very little ice currently forming there. We need COLD weather

Andrew Tolliver reports:

I was out at Montgomery cliffs today looking for some ice and assess the conditions. The pictures attached are of Routes 2, 3, and 5 as listed in the Griz's Ice Climbing Pennsylvania guidebook. The conditions were beautifully snowy (up to 1ft. drifts), yet the ice was lacking as the photos show. 

My wife and I were able to climb a small (25-30 ft) route a couple of gullies past route #5.  It ended at a garden hose covered cable attached to some trees and a small set of stairs. Conditions in the gully were too thin for screws, but decent bonding considering the water flowing near by. 

Montgomery Cliff Routes #2 (left) and #3 (Right) - December 17, 2013

Montgomery Cliff Route #5 - December 17, 2013

Took a recon trip up the Renovo Road to check conditions. One word describes what I found: DRY. It appears that we have had a very dry Fall and there is not much runoff or ground water seeping. This is the opposite of what we had experienced in the past several years where we had too much water flowing and not enough cold temps to bring things in.

Roadside Gully

The low angle approach gully (Grade 2/3) to Roadside is now climbable but is probably a bit thin for screw placements. It is best just to solo it as I did. Higher up, the steep tiers will need some more time and cold temps to bring things in. The Left Pillar is close, but not yet ready. Because of the lack of runoff, nothing has yet to form on the top tier. Glass Menagerie is completely dry.

Roadside Gully December 14, 2013. The low angle approach to Roadside Gully is now climbable...the first time in several years.

Definitely climbable, but a bit thin to hold screws. The steep upper tiers still need some more cold temps to build...that, and a bit of runoff.

Hidden Amphitheater

Hidden Amphitheater is really hurting because of no runoff. I was hoping it would be farther along, but the right side of the second steep section (usually grade 3+/4) appears pretty dry. Time will tell if Hidden will continue to build, or completely dry up.

Two shots of Hidden Amphitheater (December 14, 2013).