Quincy Quarries Ice Climbing Guide
Quincy Quarries is one of the last places where you’d think there’d be ice climbing. But it’s there, at least until it isn’t. And when it’s “in,” it’s actually pretty good. Here are my favorite routes as well as some beta.
Left of Main Flow. Although this route only comes in occasionally, Left of Main Flow (Route 1) is a must-do when it does. Start as for MFL, then climb up and left. The route ascends mixed terrain up the same ledges as MFL, just further left, before reaching a comfortable rest at the same height as the crux ledge on MFL. From this ledge, blast up steep, fragile ice to the top. The hardest route on A Wall, it’s probably WI4.
The Main Flow Routes. The most reliable flow in the Quarries is near the left end of A Wall. It has two main routes—Main Flow Left (Route 2) and Main Flow Right (Route 3)—that meet about halfway up. The routes are 35 feet tall and are WI3-ish.
Main Flow Right begins with several moves up a series of horizontal ledges on the wall on the right of the arete. The climbing here is often mixed, combining turf sticks, fragile ice, cracks, and small quarry incuts, and drill holes to reach the large ledge about halfway up.
Main Flow Left begins on the left side of the arete and is a little more challenging than Main Flow Right. Like it’s neighbor, the route ascends a series of ledges before moving right to the large ledge at half height. The crux is just before the halfway point—a mantle move onto a hard-to-surmount ledge. The move increases in difficulty in thin conditions.
From the halfway ledge, the two routes join and follow good ice towards a small tree at the top of the climb. The ice typically gets thicker and better the higher you climb. The first foot placements off the ledge are usually thin.
MFL and MFR both have straight-up variations that increase the difficulty. The MFL variation (Route 2a) climbs straight up from the crux ledge on a steep WI4-ish column-like feature of ice that is sometimes in. To get to the MFR variation (Route 3a) move a few steps right on the midway ledge towards a small tree, then climb up a slabby section of very thin ice. When either of these variations are in, they’re definitely worth trying.
The Right Side Route. Another reliable Quincy Quarry flow, the Right Side Route (Route 4) is a WI3 route that starts about 10-15 feet right of the start of MFR. On good days, the route starts on an eight-foot bulge at the bottom, then climbs through easy terrain past a couple of trees to a small ledge at half height. From the ledge there’s often a fun column-like feature of steeper ice to ascend to the top. Occasionally there are a few variations on the top section as well.
Looks Better Than It Is. This route (Route 5) looks pretty cool, but it’s hardly ever in. And even when it looks in from afar, closer inspection usually reveals there’s not much ice.
The A Wall Snow Gullies. If climbing steep snow is your thing, there are gullies at either end of A Wall that are worth checking out after a deep snow. Of the two, the one on the left end of A Wall is more accessible and a bit easier. Both are super-fun in the right conditions.
Be sure to check out the best dry tooling cracks at Quincy Quarry and my favorite QQ rock climbs, one for each grade.
