New Vertical Ice!
Yucca Dune has discovered another more severe wall of ice along the Niobrara River - Simmons Cliff ~180 feet and WI4-5! Call for details: 888-996-9292 or click image below for info and pictures.
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Status of the Niobrara Cliffs
aka EAGLE BEND
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ATTENTION PROSPECTIVE CLIMBERS
On January 23, 2001, a local climber was issued a letter of warning from the Ft. Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge Manager stating "Any Form of technical climbing is not permitted in the Ft. Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge. A warning, in the form of this letter, is being sent to advice you of this regulation". (Letter case and spelling are as they appear in the original document). Subsequent to this issuance, this page of the Yucca Dune website advised ice climbers to refrain from use of this area. Unfortunately, little progress has occurred toward resolution of the climbing prohibition at this site. This is very discouraging because:
- the 180 foot walls (WI3-5) at Eagle Bend are the absolute best vertical ice terrain within a 300 mile radius of Valentine;
- the walls underlying these ice formations are within the boundaries of the Ft. Niobrara Wilderness which raises the question: Why is climbing prohibited in this Federally designated wilderness area while climbing is wide-spread in wilderness areas throughout the nation?
- The walls underlying these ice formations and the Ft. Niobrara Wilderness Area lie within the Ft. Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge which raises the question: Why is climbing prohibited in this NWR when it is permitted in Alaska NWR (Alaska) and the Wichita Mountains NWR (near Lawton, OK)?
The Access Fund has been alerted to this situation but they need to hear from you, the climbers, before they will take action. Since you are very busy scouting new routes, sorting gear, and dry tooling in preparation for ice, we have provided email links and/or addresses for both the Mr. Royce Huber, the Ft. Niobrara Refuge Manager and to Mr. Shawn Tierney, Access and Acquisitions Director at the Access Fund. Please email and/or write them today to urge them to facilitate ice climbing access to Eagle Bend - this greatest ice climbing area in the Great Plains!
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Royce Huber
Refuge Manager
Ft. Niobrara - Valentine NWR
HC 14 Box 67
Valentine, NE 69201-9706 | Shawn Tierney
Access and Acquisitions Director
ACCESS FUND
P.O. Box 17010
Boulder, CO 80308 |
During the Winter months, we'll track the conditions of this wall, and post a status report in
News.
The pictures series below shows the expanse of ice-wall.
Historic Conditions
This can't be Nebraska!
Geology for Ice Climbers
As the relatively abundant (surprise?) groundwater percolates down through
Sandhills yucca roots, sand, topsoil, (whatever), it encounters a more dense
layer of rock known as the Ogallala formation, which forces the water to move
laterally, until it encounters either a fracture in the formation, OR
the Niobrara Cliffs, at which point it dribbles, year-round, down these rock
North-facing cliffs, forming ice encrustations several feet thick and ~180 feet
high. In the Winter, the Niobrara, slightly visible in some shots at the base of the
cliffs, freezes into a jumble of river-ice-cubes, complicating river access
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Fortunately, the cliffs are easily accessed from above, where abundant Ponderosa
pine and cedar trees stand ready to anchor your belayer. Wow, is this really
Nebraska? Come see for yourself
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