[MCR] Rockies, Mt Kitchener, Grand Central Coulior

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

My guest and I decided to go check out the Grand Central Coulior on  
Mt Kitchener on Wed, Nov 3rd. We had our eyes open for slabs on the  
drive up as friends of mine had witnessed a large slab avalanche rip  
wall to wall on the big half-way ledge on the North Face of Mt  
Cromwell on Oct 30th. That avalanche turned the whole lower wall of  
Cromwell white. Also I got a second hand report of a team retreating  
from the Asteroid Alley route on Mt Andromeda because of slab  
conditions. I started noticing recent slab activity from around Bow  
Summit, and northe, with a very large slab out on the summit ridge of  
Mt Epaulette. The below pictured slab on the Ramp route of Mt  
Athabasca was spooky to see, but we decided to go stick our noses  
into Kitchener and have a look. Thus far the principal risk of our  
trip was hard packed snow on the highway. It is time for winter tires  
on the 93 North.

The approach into the face is in fine walking shape with no water to  
walk through on the Sunwapta River. Picture of the face below. We  
camped on the glacier below the face. A number of slabs were out on  
the face.

Nov 4th we left the tent at 5am. The initial bergshrund had been  
scoured down to summer snow by avalanches. One hundred meters higher  
we entered the first pillow of storm snow, got out the shovel and dug  
a test pit. We found a moderate shovel compression test and two easy  
to moderate shovel shear tests. The failures were clean pops with the  
recent storm snow failing on the October surface that had been rained  
on, and then frozen (this surface had granted us fine climbing  
conditions on our ascent of the Robinson/Arbic route on Mt Cromwell  
on Oct 19th). It appears that the snows and, mostly, the winds of the  
last week have overloaded that interface. We turned around and went  
back to tent for tea.

As a consolation prize we made the first ascent of the below pictured  
ice/mixed climb: WI 3+, 5.7 mixed, thin -you need rock gear. The  
route is on the lower cliffs between K2 and K3 (Kitchener 1 and 2),  
and we called it K9 because we got pooched on Kitchener.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com



Nov 3rd




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