[MCR] Lyells, Banff National Park

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Spent August 17th-20th at the Lyell hut and climbed Lyells1-4 on Friday August 19 and Lyell 5 on Saturday the 20th.

An aggresive hike of over 6000ft was required to reach the Lyell hut from the end of the Mons road.  The Lyell icefield had good coverage and only the biggest crevasses were visible and easy to walk around.  Most bergshrunds were still filled in.  We gained the Lyell glacier by going around Tivoli shoulder and traversing the White Ledge.

We started the traverse from the North and peaks 1-3 went by quickly and easily.  Lyell 4 (Walter) provided very steep snow climbing, a snow covered 5.4 rock step and very careful cornice management along the upper ridge (see photos).  Tricky indeed.  There is now a 2 piece fixed station on top of the rock pinnicle at the base of the 5.4 step (piton and wire).

We dropped off the West side of the 4/5 col to get back to the hut Friday morning.  This route is not described anywhere but it is the safest (and easiest) way off of the ridge and gets you back to the hut in about 45 minutes via the upper southewest Lyell glacier.

The Valenciennes road had a minor washout around the 16km mark and required driving through about 50cms of water.  The rest of the road was completely passable but high clearance was nice to have a couple of times.

Overall an amazing trip in a stunning location.  One of the most beautiful places I have visited in the Rockies.  Highly recommended.

Have fun!

Mike Stuart

CanadianAlpineGuides.com
On Twitter: @CdnAlpineGuides

Photo credits: Paul Zizka Photography
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110823/37d53a31/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Approaching L4.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 30222 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110823/37d53a31/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 5.4 rock step.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 52028 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110823/37d53a31/attachment-0006.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: upper ridge L4.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 39332 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110823/37d53a31/attachment-0007.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Forbes.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 51352 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110823/37d53a31/attachment-0008.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: L4 and L5 from L3.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 34516 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110823/37d53a31/attachment-0009.jpg>