[MCR] Wapta Bow hut area July 2-5, 2015

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

A group of eager mountaineers spent 4 days climbing out of Bow hut 
during the continued hot summer weather of early July.
There was no overnight freeze during this time, July 4th was the 
coolest morning.

Having spent many of the July long weekends in this area over the 
last 12 years, it is beyond any doubt that the 2015 season has the 
least amount of snow on the glaciers that I have seen.
It would also seem that though the water levels are somewhat high, 
they are much lower than would be expected for this time of year, 
considering the recent.hot weather.

The toe of the glacier above Bow hut is mostly ice with a few patches 
of snow on the right side that still allow snow travel to the "Onion 
skin height of land".
You can still gain the left side of St Nicholas on snow, however this 
area is getting shallow and will probably melt out in the next week 
or so requiring a bit more zig zagging.

A party that climbed Mt. Olive on July 2nd reported the col on the 
west side of Olive-St Nicholas is showing signs of open crevasses in 
the flats along with shallow areas of snowpack.
There is an old large slab on the S face of Mt Collie, and the ramp 
leading to the high col  looks very broken up. (This is probably good 
to note with the expected increased travel to this area with the hut going in)

Our group climbed Mt Olive and St Nicholas on July 3rd.
Of note was there is no cornice left on the summit of Mt Olive.

We climbed Mt Gordon on July 4th. We used a ramp that leads from the 
high point of snow near the Onion skin, and follows a ramp that leads 
towards Mt Gordon. Though this route is a bit longer than going 
straight up and over to Mt Gordon, it has less crevasses and seems to 
hold the snow well. A few sags on Mt Gordon were probed, but 
solid,  and cooler conditions gave good travel up and down.

The small tarn near the summit of Mt Gordon was very impressive. With 
the warm temperatures (and whatever else is at work here)  it has 
formed in an almost perfect ellipse.

Peter Amann
Mountain Guide



Peter Amann
Mountain Guide
www.incentre.net/pamann/
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