Rooster Rock, South Face

Activity Notes

April 18 Update:  At this point, there is a less than 50% probability of the climb happening.  I have not accepted any climbers for the climb to date, so you still have the opportunity to go into your climb application and cancel. The final Go/No Go decision will be ~ Tuesday 8am, so watch your email.  The rain showers have begun this morning and in the 24-hour period ending Tuesday night there will be over ½ inch of rainfall.  There is significantly less than 24 hours of dryish weather starting late Tuesday before the next significant rain which is forecasted to begin Wed 11am.  There is a very small (too small) Wednesday weather window but the weather models have not budged over the past three days and the window isn’t wide enough.  For those of you have not been on the route, the current concern is the base and up the first pitch.  That section is protected from the sun by trees to the South and the Columbia gorge itself.  There is not a lot of sun that reaches in there this time of the year.  The route takes more than 24 hours of strong sun and dry conditions to be considered safe for 5th class climbing. Looking further out in the forecast, the rain continues through the weekend so there is not an opportunity to reschedule.  I had hoped to have better news. 

April 16 Update:  We are still watching the Oregon State Park web site and talking with Rooster Rock State Park rangers about the impending osprey nesting seasonal closure.  So far so good for us that the nesting activity has not started (maybe not so good if you are a homeless osprey).  The next challenge is the weather.  We will not climb on wet rock.  Here is the NOAA weather link 7-Day Forecast 45.53N 122.67W (weather.gov)  We are not accepting climbers on the climb until we get a clearer picture of good weather.  For those of you following Spring weather forecasts, the accuracy of what actually occurs weather-wise is sometimes accurate and sometimes not.  If anyone knows that they can not make this climb, let us know.  We will not be accepting climbers until we know that the weather will be dry or we cancel the climb.  Rescheduling is a possibility but we won’t cross that bridge until we understand more about Thursday’s weather.  

Preference for participants who've completed BCEP and have a history of volunteering with the Mazamas.

We are anticipating that Rooster Rock may close at any time starting April 15 due to seasonal, sensitive nesting bird habitat with one day notice per Oregon State Park ranger discussion on April 5th.