UKC

Please could somebody tell me what conditions are required to bring the ice routes into condition? Is it days or weeks of sub zero or well below sub zero temperatures that is required. Or does it require freeze thaw action to make the springs run over the old ice to build it fat?

In reply to Andrew Holden:

doesn't need freeze thaw for the main ice routes, just cold. last season was the first time I went there so don't have much else to judge on, but it took over a week of consistently sub zero for anything to be climeable, and took more like 2 weeks of decent cold to have most of the upper tier routes in good nick, even then the lower tier wasn't in.

no reason it cant happen this year, but the ground and groundwater are much warmer than you would expect fro mid feb as we have had no winter so far, its much more akin to November than feb, so ice will take slightly longer to form than you would hope this time of year...

In reply to Andrew Holden:
It depends how cold it is to some extent, sometimes it can be in when some would think it isn't. The base of the cliffs are at about 700 metres. I wouldn't think about it unless it had been on average well below freezing for around a week at this altitude. If it was really cold maybe 5 days. If it was closer to freezing it can still come in but it takes longer.

Some routes do tend to come in fast and others much less so. quartzvein scope is often one of the first to form and sunshine gully is fairly reliable. A few of the harder routes come in reasonably fast and others rarely.

In reply to Andrew Holden:

Very helpful. Thanks for the info guys much appreciated

In reply to Andrew Holden:

I'd suggest not yet, LOVE you to prove me wrong!
As stated it's quite fickle but may be worth a look early next week if the temps stay low. Not really a necessity for freeze thaw.