[MCR] Polar Circus (Jan 31)

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Four of us were team guiding on Polar Circus yesterday. Only trace  
amounts of snow along the Icefields Parkway and on the route. The  
Weather Network for the Columbia Icefields forecasted up to 10cm of  
new snow over the weekend but that never materialized. Our maximum  
temperature of -3 C was around 11 a.m. at the base of the final two  
pitches. We saw the evidence of the previously reported cornice  
failures (huge craters equals good slope test), but all was quiet on  
Sunday (Jan 31) due to full cloud cover blocking the solar effect. We  
would most likely have changed route objectives if there was no cloud.  
Temperature and cloud cover are two factors that now must be  
considered on south-facing route with overhead hazard (i.e. avi  
slopes, cornices, hanging ice daggers) as the February sun begins to  
pack a punch. There is a packed donkey trail through the snow slopes  
to turn the Pencil. Good hooks and plastic ice on almost all pitches.

Sean Isaac
ACMG Alpine Guide