Current Ice Conditions in S. Adks.

[JClimbs]

Robin and I walked out to the Outlet Falls, near the western side of Crane Mountain, yesterday afternoon. Since the thaw, conditions along the mountain are great for picking likely ice lines. The snow is largely melted off, leaving well-shaded gullies and potential flows highly visible - and wow, there are a lot of 'em.
I suspect conditions are similar in other sections of the southern Adks, so those of you with the explorer's bug, get out and find something big!
Climbed the left side of the Outlet Falls while there; it's fatter than I've ever seen it before, giving it a nice grade 3 feel for the first pitch. I didn't look uphill much (didn't have time to run the entire way up), but it's probably just as good and the snow-slogging parts aren't a chore right now.
Saturday, Todd & Matt came out for a day of climbing established lines - or so we expected.
Matt started out, building his leading skills on Isobuttress Left, then Todd ran over to a runnel he'd spied at our arrival at the BAW. The start was a steep bit of ice ending out of sight on a sloping ledge, but just above this, the ice ran down a narrow trough of rock and had one more steep section to throw at him before he could call "Off Belay." Crystal Breeze is a worthwhile addition to the growing number of routes in this vicinity. After this, it was my turn on the sharp end, and I chose to tackle the steepest part of the BAW Portal flow. I wanted some practice placing screws, which I got in spades on this. It's steep. The three of us took turns TR'ing various sections of it (TR set-up is easier than I thought it would be), then pulled the gear and headed outward as the sun edged close to Crane's profile.
We stopped at Wedding Cake to see how Matt would do on this new line. I thought there was a WI2 means of climbing the flow, by starting far right and traversing diagonally up left. While I still believe that is possible, Matt opted to finish the route a bit more directly, and the last step is quite awkward, lending it a definite 3ish feel. Good job on the sharp end, that.
The sun was setting as we hiked out, so we made a full, wonderful day of it.
Lots more to do here; the southern Adks are comin' alive!