Packing Heat Into Rifle

Guest blog by Rob Griz.

Cave man’s view of the Ice Palace.

Rifle holds a unique mystique amidst it’s overhanging limestone walls. The stream meanders below, ravens cackle overhead and pure white ice lines stretch high into the most cobalt of skies. Sipping from the tailgate, we watch as the morning sun quickly rises over the East rim, beginning a daily ritual of destruction. If you’ve never been much of a believer in solar energy, spend a late winter morning in Rifle canyon watching the spectacle unfold. Free-hanging pillars weighing tons silently release their grip from the limestone lip, crashing down on the carnage below. It’s a bit exciting, albeit unnerving, standing behind the semi-translucent curtain, racking up.

Tony the cave man.

Like a rodeo cowboy with spurs jingling, the sounds of tingling aluminum and the clanging of cold steel echo off the quiet canyon walls. I leave the warm safety of the massive cave under the Ice Palace and step onto the face. The detached pillar reverberates with a guttural echo from the back of the cave with each tool placement. In the back of my mind I’m fully aware of the 4-inch gap that separates this curtain from the upper ice above. I can’t help but revel in the sun-tempered ice on the steep sheet, easy sticks all the way up make it feel like I’m cheating. A grade easier fer’ sure. A rattly hook in the fracture line and things start to get interesting. The final 35’ to the anchor is a bunch of sun baked shit with dollops of funky cooked snow. Water, the Yin/Yang of all ice routes, proves to be hurting more than helping my passage. The upper slab runs heavy with water. Knowing all to well that moving water carries so much heat, I resign myself to the conditions that may loom above. I start having conversation within, “Don’t count on any gear and work with the slushy ‘eggshell’, rely on the surface lattice to allow you to connect the dots”. Poking through the icy crust, I make my way up through the ‘soft-serve custard’, landing some secure turf placements and a root hook, life is good. Clip in, sit back and soak up some sun.

Big and beautiful, the Ice Palace.

Daggers are dropping and even with my 70’s, there may not be enough rope to initially belay safely, so Tony ties in and hops on for the ride. He cruises the line and even though I was a bit light on the gear, I can only imagine that by now he can pull those warm 22’s out by hand. See, I’ve learned that in many ways ice climbing is a game of chasing time. The clock starts the minute you start swinging. The sunny conditions in Rifle give you that extra element that synchronizes with the ‘seconds’ hand. Even snow packing those screws did little in blazing sun. Rapping off, precarious pillars are sent down and the shower spray chases us down the rope.

Creative lines on Stone Free.

Just warming up we search for more contrived and difficult lines. Linking starts behind blown-out pillars to short roofs formed from snapped daggers, traversing around to the face and gapping a free-hanger to a steep finish on fresh ice. All what you make it. Although I climbed out Rifle in a day, I found that on my second trip back, a creative mind and a desire to run laps can make the travel worth the effort. Talking creative, a handful of challenging mixed lines will surely sprout bolts. The temperatures seem to be reasonable and sending it in the sun is a welcome reprieve from the usual north facing ice boxes. One can’t beat the approach, reminds me of the East Coast ice I’ve done…roadside cragging at it’s finest!

Rob is a recent transplant from Pennsylvania to Colorado. He’s a climbing guide, guidebook author, and also offers a great ice screw sharpening service. This is his first post for SplitterChoss.com.