[MCR] Mt Andromeda - Skyladder

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

We climbed the Skyladder on Mt. Andromeda today (June 20).
 
A rainy evening on Tuesday turned into a clear morning with a weak overnight freeze. The temperature at the parking lot at 3:00am was +2 celcius. Clouds moved into the area about 8:00am and helped keep things reasonably cool.
 
Travel conditions were highly variable this morning with occassional post holing across the glacier. Above 2900m on the Skyladder snow conditions improved dramatically, and travel was faster and easier on a well developed crust. New snow amounts of 1 to 10cm were found above 3000m. Crevasses were well bridged and the bergschrund was easily passable. All belays were on snow (the ice is still deeply buried). Large cornices exist along the traverse of Mt. Andromeda's ridge. 
 
We descended the East Ridge to the AA Col. This route is currently a bit tricky because there is still significant snow in this piece of terrain. Many of the pre-existing anchors are buried under the snow, and even under mostly cloudy skies the solar radiation made for some sticky snow conditions. I would not want to use this descent route on a hot day or during a poor freeze (or both). This descent currently requires careful planning and evaluation.
 
Extensive post-holing was experienced on the AA Glacier to finish the day, but with a good overnight freeze this condition will improve.
 
We observed very little avalanche activity today, but a couple of large sluffs were observed on very steep south facing terrain on Snowdome. We could hear seracs calving in several locations through the day. There is still a lot of snow in the high country and cornices are large in several areas!
 
 
 

Jeremy Mackenzie
- ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

Mike Koppang - ACMG Ski Guide
 		 	   		  
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