[MCR] Mt Athabasca North East Ridge By-Pass Route

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Visitor Safety specialists went for a conditions check on Monday into the North basin and climbed on the North East Ridge by-pass route on Mt Athabasca. Considering all the snow in the alpine we carried shovels, probes and wore beacons today. By checking the volunteer register we found that the area had not had a solid overnight freeze for a few days. We had +4 degrees in the climbers parking lot at 0430am. The north glacier had very marginal travel conditions with a weak crust and boot top to knee deep penetration all the way into the basin. An intrepid group of three blazed a trail ahead of us for several hundred meters before turning back and their steps were the only supportive steps we had all day. The North Face has shed a bunch of snow and is quite unconsolidated and hip deep leading up to bergschund. The 'schrund was not difficult to find a place to cross but the weak bridge did make it prudent to find a narrow crossing. The face was all snow and had no exposed ice on the by-pass route. A crust was found down 25cm that seem  to bond well to the snow on top and there is no evidence of avalanches on that interface. Once on the NE ridge the snow was wet and deep and we had to clear our crampons on every step. We got to the traverse to the Scottish Gully and found it overflowing with wet snow and the gully itself quite choked up with snow. Considering the consequences of a wet slide on the traverse and potential for wind slabs in the gully we turned back from this point. There are a few small slabs out on the exit slope to the north face direct route and that same interface we found on the by-pass route likely exists here. The routes in the basin need a bit more time to come into shape and a few nights with a solid freeze would be needed to make travel more reasonable. The seracs are shedding ice and a large chunk released into the basin while we were on the face. +4 degrees at 10:30 am at 3200m when we turned back.

Deryl Kelly
Visitor Safety Specialist ACMG
Jasper National Park of Canada | Parc national du Canada Jasper 
www.pc.gc.ca/jasper