Seasons in the Abyss (M5+) on the Panther Den

Details

Mileage/duration: 16.5 miles / 15.75 hours

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3JJtSbur26vbJwrD7

Video: Route & Partners: Seasons in the Abyss (M5+) with Robbi Mecus (lead) and Emily Schwartz

Thoughts

I still have a few things in mind for Panther Gorge ice/mixed routes. Most are fickle or a little harder than ones I’ve looked at in the past (with a couple exceptions). As I often do, I pondered what the recent rain and a couple sunny days may or may not have done to the ice. I had a primary target in mind for this trip based on what I saw during the last visit in December—a line that sometimes forms along the circa 2003 rock route called Le Chat Noir. This would fit the bill for the mixed lines that Robbi Mecus loves and leading it would be a heck of an introduction to PG climbing.

Into the Fray

Robbi Mecus, Emily Schwartz, and I set a date to hunt ice on New Year’s Day a week before. What better way to start 2021? We watched the weather forecast trend from clear stormy over the preceding week, but the system tracked east and left us with a window before sleet/snow started during the evening (it was literally a prayer answered). I always say prayers to Christ before these trips—but usually just for safety, humility, and sound judgment. He granted all of it.

The usual 4:00 A.M. start placed us at the Panther Den at 9:30 with about 10” of snow on the ground. Waking Cerberus, a consistent route in the large right-facing corner of the cliff, was climbable, but many of the ice lines were thin or beaten by the sun. Even the route we put up in mid-December had atrophied from recent rain.

None-the-less, we trekked down to the Feline Wall where the Chimæra ice route/smear was popping and sloughing small bits—this ruled out anything on Agharta especially with the sun glaring down warmly on the dark stone. The best option seemed to be to put up the original thought that I hoped would be “in.”

Robbi was the leader this day and set to work on the hard start up a foot-wide flow that narrowed into an off-width crack with ice in its back. The crux was the transition, which involved bad feet and unintuitive hooking on the rock. It was a bit of a battle, but she worked into used a variety of protection including ice screws, cams, and a large hex. The route eased, but was still challenging until reaching a ledge where yellow ice bulges with wind-blown parasols allowed us to actually ice climb behind a large block. A partially delaminating sheet in a corner led to another ledge with easy mixed climbing to the perfect anchor terrace in a huge corner. A large, delicate parasol decorated the corner like a frozen amoeba—(or maybe octopus).

The wind and day continued to be mild as I then Emily followed the new mixed line. We were safely back at the glade by 2:00 P.M. It had taken Robbi 1 hr. 45 min. to lead the muscly route. I briefly considered a shorter line nearby, but it was merely veneered and a shorter PG day seemed appealing. While discussing names, Robbi mentioned Seasons in the Abyss—a Slayer song. The name fit in other ways, which is good since Slayer isn’t my musical cup of tea. Predominantly, we have had four seasons in the abyss of 2020. It is time for more hopeful days.

We arrived back at the trailhead at 8:00 PM, just 15 hours, 45 minutes after the start. …a stunning way for Robbi to put up her first route that she described as her most difficult mixed climbing lead to date.

Thoughts: I looked back at photos from the last 5 years in various months and found that only once did this line hold more ice—on December 15, 2018…likely from a rain event/flash freeze. Predicting some of the harder lines has been difficult and involves a bit of luck and guesswork. Lines shaded from the sun are the most reliable—Waking Cerberus, even By Tooth and Claw (though this sees some sun but is receives substantial seepage).

...and finally, it is quite nice to know that a Ranger with this skillset is in charge of the technical rescues in the area!