Echo on Ice

[tcott]

Made it to Middle Echo yesterday bright and early (before the sun came up). The trail up is covered with ice and snow and can be a bit treacherous. I thought the trail would be clear since it hasn't really snowed much this year but I threw in a pair of microspikes just in case. Those spikes were a lifesaver! I could walk up the ice like it wasn't even there. The canyon was full of ice and snow (and water under the ice if you weren't careful). The ice is fairly thick, I made it across most of it without breaking through. My friend that came wasn't as fortunate, so I would say the weight limit on the ice is somewhere between 150 - 230 pounds . All together conditions are great right now, but I would highly recommend taking some kind of shoe spikes (mine were the Kahtoola Microspikes and worked great).

[ilipichicuma]

Awesome! Excellent work!

[The Good Cop]

Great shots, nice job, thanks!

[ratagonia]

Wow!!! Any swims? Wet suits? Dry suits?

T

[tcott]

Wow!!! Any swims? Wet suits? Dry suits?

T

We were both in wetsuits, me in a 6/5/4 and the other guy in a 4/3, and we stayed plenty warm. As for the swimming, that depends on a combination of how heavy you are, how careful you are, and whether or not you are the first one down . There is definitely deep enough water for a lot of swimmers if you don't make it across the ice. The room right after the semi-keeper is full up to the base of the log that you normally have to climb up over.

[trackrunner]

careful pics like this make it too hard for normal people to do and leads to this canyon being closed until july

nice tr

[ghawk]

[Don]

Beautiful. Looks fun.

[maarten.1975]

The pictures looks cool and cold
Nice trip man, and I also see that Zion looks beautiful in snow!
Can't wait to be there again myself.

[socal]

man i thought there was enough steps to ascend without ice... i have never been to zion in the winter.. it looks way to cold trudging into the ice.. it looks awesome

[Iceaxe]

I notice Echo is currently closed to protect us from ourselves.

Echo Canyon has been closed for the following reason(s):
Condition: Closed due to large mass of snow/ice and constantly changing conditons.
However, you can continue to make reservations at your own risk.

[tcott]

I notice Echo is currently closed to protect us from ourselves.

Right, because it's warmer, and everything is melting, so naturally there must be more ice now than there was when went through without a single problem 2 months ago....