[MCR] Melville Group, Selkirks, July 18-24

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Hello,
This is a bit delayed but may still be of interest to some.  I guided a trip to the Melville Group in the South Selkirks between July 18 and 24.  We camped at Houston Lake on the south side of the Moby Dick massif in a spot where previous camps have been based.  We climbed the South Glacier/Ridge of Moby Dick, the Direct South Ridge of Harpoon and the NW Ridge of Billy Budd.
The South Glacier of the Moby Dick massif has several access points, the easiest being directly below the summit of Moby Dick.  A lot of bare ice and open crevasses required at least two hours to navigate through.  Once on the South Ridge the ascent is much more straightforward with good scrambling on generally solid rock and firm footing on the upper snowpatch.  Ice screws, crampons and a snow picket all came in useful.  The South Glacier gives access to other fine looking lines along the massif but expect to spend a good deal of time getting through to the rock.
The Direct South Ridge of Harpoon is a three star route that has easy access from Houston Pass and great rock.  We bypassed Harpoon Peak itself and crossed over from the top of the South Ridge to the higher summit of Mount Proteus.  We encountered many soft snow bridges on the upper glacier leading to both Harpoon and Proteus and crampons were used on the steeper upper section of the glacier.
The NW Ridge of Billy Budd is less appealing due to rock quality.  We traversed across the very scrappy NW slopes to a transverse ridge that leads up to Vere Peak on the NW Ridge.  An old fixed line is set up on this traverse and is still useful as a handline.
As we were leaving, the snow from the first low pressure system was accumulating above 2800m.  This is a very worthwhile area to visit with high quality alpine climbing from a beautiful and well situated base camp.
Cheers,Pierre
Pierre HungrACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guidehttp://www.rogerspassadventures.com


 		 	   		  
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