[MCR] Rockies, North Ridge of Mt Athabasca

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

I guided an ascent of the North Ridge of Mt Athabasca with two guests via an approach on the lower North Athabasca Glacier "Ice Tongue" yesterday, July 12th. We accessed the ridge by climbing a couloir that gains the ridge just below that crux rock step (note that we didn't climb from the Boundary/Athabasca Col). The couloir that we climbed accommodated good step kicking with a bit of ice to finish. Once on the east side of the ridge the snow went from sponge to wet oatmeal and we started several wet snotty avalanches that flowed from our footsteps to slosh off down mountain entraining more wet mushy oatmeal en route. All of the rock was dry from the crux up. I incorporated two snow stakes in my last anchor on the summit ridge line, the only place that I used the two pickets that we were carrying. Direct sun was on the AA Col descent at 4 pm so we opted to go down the Ramp route. Knee deep postholing, at that time of day, from the base of the Silverhorn Ridge to the far end of the ramp.

Spooky walking through the killing fields of serac debris from the monster that ran down the north glacier in late May/early June sometime and overran the creek as per one of Peter Amann's posts from around that time. Note that one third of the serac/glacier pictured below caused that avalanche (the biggest I've ever seen in 30 plus years of climbing and guiding on Athabasca) and that there are still two thirds hanging up there and, in my estimation, the remainder has slipped about 10 meters downhill in the last month. I think there may be some more catastrophic failures, possibly two, from this feature; or, as can be hoped, it will go in smaller events over time. I'm spooked by this feature.

 We left the car at 03:15 (+ 8 C on the car thermometer) and got back to it at 18:30.

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Happy trails,
none the less

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