From mcr at informalex.org Mon Aug 17 12:06:01 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:06:01 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Mt. Chephren Message-ID: Climbed Mt. Chephren yesterday (Aug 16) via the south face and west ridge from the normal bivy site below Howse Peak. Conditions on the lower mountain are reasonably good with only a couple of centimeters of new snow over ice and well settled summer snow on the glacier. However, above 2800m there is as much as 20cm of snow from last week's precipitation events. Travel conditions are not bad in this snow and we were lucky that cool temperatures and cloudy/foggy skiies allowed us to make the summit and back down. If it were not for these favourable weather conditions we were would have made an early retreat. As soon as the sun comes out the hazard from rockfall and loose snow avalanches on both the normal ascent and the standard descent will likely be high to extreme. This should improve in a couple of days of warm and sunny conditions. Howse Peak looks to be in similar condition. Play safe. Jeremy Mackenzie ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide _________________________________________________________________ More storage. Better anti-spam and antivirus protection. Hotmail makes it simple. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9671357 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Mon Aug 17 20:02:47 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:02:47 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Lefroy Message-ID: <003201ca1f97$38650df0$a92f29d0$@ca> Climbed the regular route on Lefroy today from Lake O'Hara. Some storm snow in the gully made travel to Abbott pass a little easier this morning. Lefroy was in pretty decent shape, good step kicking in the snow and some icy patches were avalanches had run. Up high on the mountain up to 35cm of HST over rocks with a 2-4 cm crust on the top. Good traveling today not a lot of solar heating, route will likely be in shape until it starts baking again. Victoria looks snowy still but doable. Cheers Todd Craig, MG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Wed Aug 19 00:35:10 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:35:10 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Hourglass route Mt Athabasca Message-ID: <66175400-3989-47E6-90DA-CDC611DC6097@telus.net> Climbed the Hourglass on the North Face of Mt Athabasca yesterday, August 17th. An ok freeze overnight with a crust all the way into the bowl below the face. Dry snow up to the bergshrund and onto the face, the snow went to snowball snow with the warmth of the day after about noon. Two fist sized rocks melted out of the rockband while we were on the face. The route has changed dramatically since I first climbed it in 1978. Back then there was one rock protruding from the iceface below the Hourglass, now there are ribs of rock exposed and it is a bit tricky figuring out how to get into the Hourglass without being exposed to the Silverhorn serac on climbers right. We traversed in from our right rising line. Ice screw anchors and protection the whole way. Last weeks storm snow is bonded well to the face in places and makes for easier climbing when you can get into it. We descended via the North Glacier ramp, which has a track in it at present, late in the day. Some pinwheeling there during the warmth of the day. Happy trails, Barry Blanchard UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide Yamnuska Mountain Adventures barryb3 at telus.net 1 403 609 4615 cell 1 403 609 1321 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Wed Aug 19 00:56:39 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:56:39 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Cavell Message-ID: <20090819045647.0B2A012B127@sparta.incentre.net> Driving home from the icefields today and took this shot of Cavell. Like many of the big peaks, it is certainly looking much drier than a few days ago. Probably 2-3 more days of the promised nice weather should bring it back into "prime shape". Peter Amann Peter Amann ACMG Mountain Guide -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: cavell aug 18.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 21197 bytes Desc: not available Url : From mcr at informalex.org Wed Aug 19 03:11:05 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:11:05 -0700 Subject: [MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Mt. Tupper/Sir Donald - Aug.18/09 Message-ID: <19740415002200.2AF2B2D2E3E34E25@edtnaa03.telusplanet.net> Today was a cool blustery overcast day on Tupper, with fog forming on the ridge for most of the day from the upslope winds. I was wearing a winter weight fleece shirt, my Dry Clime jacket under a Patagonia Puffball (new and fluffy still) - plus my toque and gloves - with all that I was comfortable (barely). So needless to say the forecasted sunshine and warm temps have yet to arrive. Tonight it has cleared off in Revelstoke and the satellite images show the ridge has finally arrived - so tomorrow looks good and they are now making it look like Thursday should also be nice (a change over recent forecasts) - and Friday is back to 60%POP. I didn't get a chance to talk to them personally, but there was a group of locals that headed to Sir D today - from my vantage it was in the cloud all day and I heard mention of wet slippery rock, and judging from the time they were back in town, I highly suspect that they did not summit today (but perhaps?). I could still see snow on the slope below the summit block through the mist as we drove home in the PM. Most other peaks are low enough and have escaped the snow and with tomorrows sunshine should be great climbing, there was still snow on the Swiss peaks traverse and it looked like it would be pretty tricky right now (as well the snow gully descent is looking a bit icy and thin). Cheers, Scott Davis ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Thu Aug 20 19:15:37 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:15:37 -0600 Subject: [MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued August 13th, 2009. Message-ID: <001b01ca21ec$20fb2990$62f17cb0$@net> ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued August 20th, 2009. During the poor weather last weekend up to 40 cm of snow fell on the high peaks in the Rockies and the Columbias. Most of this snow has settled or melted off of rock routes excepting on north aspects above 3000 metres. With the high pressure finally here, the drying trend will continue. The recent snow had brought some of the ice routes back into shape while temperatures remained cool but now that seasonal warm temperatures are back, rockfall issues in these types of places are likely to be significant again. On the plus side, now that nights are getting longer, and that the sun is starting to get lower in the sky during the day, overnight freezing with clear skies will help snow conditions. At Rogers Pass, the Tupper and Swiss Peaks groups should be in good shape again. There will likely still be some snow or wetness to negotiate on Sir Donald near the summit ridge but again given the weather forecast, this should improve day by day. This is time of the year when negotiating crevasses on glaciers can be problematic as some can be gaping and /or bridges are thin. Bergshrunds are also becoming difficult to cross with upper lips in places overhanging the lower one. In the case of the Bugaboo/Snowpatch col, it is in dangerous conditions and is not recommended. This clearly increases the complexity of access to the west side of the Spires. Most of the recent reports indicate that the classic alpine objectives have come back into condition. This may be the time to enjoy them. Marc Ledwidge Mountain Guide -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Thu Aug 20 20:33:00 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:33:00 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Niblock/Whyte/Boundary Message-ID: Aug 19 - Climbed Mt. Niblock and Mt. Whyte via their normal routes. Both peaks are completely dry and no ice axe is required. Some of the bigger peaks around Lake Louise (Lefroy, Victoria, etc.) still appear to have a dusting of snow above 3000m, but I'm sure this is melting given the recent temperatures (especially on southerly aspects). Aug 20 - Climbed Boundary Peak via the north glacier. This route is virtually snow free with only a couple of hundred metres of snow travel on the upper glacier. Mt. Atahabsca still has some lingering snowpatchs on the North Face and there looks to be a fair amount of snow on the Silverhorn and the Ramp Route. Otherwise the glaciers are very dirty and have a late-summer look to them. Have fun! Jeremy Mackenzie ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide _________________________________________________________________ Stay in the loop and chat with friends, right from your inbox! http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9671354 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Fri Aug 21 08:37:00 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:37:00 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Mt Stanley Message-ID: <66E0C033-797D-4D2B-BB69-372084F6AB43@telus.net> Turned around on the glacier below the North Face of Mt Stanley yesterday morning (Aug 20). Poor to no freeze overnight, the mountain was a lively place with rockfalls and running water. We thought that we'd attempt the 'Waterman' Coulior (sits between the Y Coulior and the North Face in "Selected Alpine Climbs") and used the glacier tongue approach described in that book (I hadn't been there since 1993). We bivied beside the ice tongue on the night of Aug 19th, a descending party told us that the Waterman didn't look good and that the North Face was the only practical route at present. True to their words the Y Coulior looks horrible, untenable right now, may be a route of the 'past'. We didn't go far enough to see into the Waterman, but the bergshrund looks undoable right now -a gaping maw capped by a 7 meter snow overhang. For the North Face, I have had success there on my last 4 climbs of it by approaching on the trail that cuts back over the top of the "Nemesis" ice climb, had I known we would end up going for the North Face I would have approached, and bivied, via that route. Happy trails, Barry Blanchard UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide Yamnuska Mountain Adventures barryb3 at telus.net 1 403 609 4615 cell 1 403 609 1321 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Fri Aug 21 15:00:32 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:00:32 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Rogers Pass: Hermit Message-ID: Spent August 17-20 at Hermit Meadows. We climbed Tupper, Rogers-Swiss- Truda traverse and Sifton. Things are in prime shape right now, the rock ridges have mostly dried off and the south face snow route on Rogers is kick-stepping snow. The schrunds on that route are there and large but easily bypassed. There was still a little bit of snow on the descent to the Swiss-Truda col and that slowed things down a bit but it's workable. There was a large rockfall down the south face snow slopes of Rogers, initiating on the looker's right side of the upper couloir, probably about 1 pm on Aug 18 (we heard a rumble but couldn't see it through the fog but there were three deep-freeze sized blocks at the bottom of the slope the next day that had obviously come off in the previous 24 hours). Also a couple of large blocks tumbled down the Swiss-Truda couloir when we were traversing above it on the 19th. Not surprising that these rockfalls occurred with the recent snowfalls melting away. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide www.alpinism.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Fri Aug 21 16:41:51 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:41:51 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Jasper East - Ogre Canyon Update Message-ID: Visited Ogre Canyon again in late July where the road had gone from great conditions to terrible condition due to the wet weather. As previously reported the route "It's Great to be Young and Insane" has now been upgraded with all of the older bolt hangers now replaced with stainless hardware and rappel bolts. You cannot rappel directly down the route but need to rappel two short raps down the Layback then traverse back onto "Insane" to follow the route the rest of the way back down. Also replaced most of the older hangers on the Layback route as well. Later in July I also climbed the classic obvious treed corner "Stuffed Peppers" on the right side of the canyon. I had done the route numerous times in the past but hadn't been there in years so had forgotten a few details. The route has great climbing but is wickedly run-out. In four pitches you only get a half dozen pieces of protection total! That includes the three pitons I left behind this time on pitch 3. Normal gear was totally useless on the compact limestone. That leaves the crux moves on three of the four pitches unprotected. The route description mentions a piton at the crux start of pitch four. This no longer exists, so no point looking for it. Overall the 5.7 grade feels a lot more like 5.8 when you are doing thin moves with your last pro being two rappel pitons 30 meters below. I have added this to my list of routes on which to add rappel and protection bolts. In the meantime you should be really solid at 5.7 / 5.8 if you plan to climb Stuffed Peppers. The route is NOT currently set up to rappel so you have to walk into where the Canyon becomes shallow to a point where it can be crossed. Follow goat paths and do not commit to going down unless it looks really easy to cross. I will post to the MCR when I get back to Ogre to upgrade this route. The road is currently in poor shape yet again. 4X4 truck with good clearance required. Later Cyril Shokoples MG Rescue Dynamics http://www.rescuedynamics.com xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx From mcr at informalex.org Fri Aug 21 16:16:53 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:16:53 -0600 Subject: [MCR] {MCR} Jasper - Meisner's Ridge Update Message-ID: Having been away in the hills for a month without internet I have been unable to post numerous updates but I will retro post a few changes to routes over the next day or two: Climbed Meisner's ridge in late July (shortly after Mark's post on the MCR) and took a small sack of pitons to leave behind. I tried to update most of the belay anchors that didn't readily accept gear. A very large percentage of the belay anchors at the start of most technical pitches now sport two pitons. This begins just after the first knife edge traverse section which does not have a fixed belay but just past the traverse you will quickly find two bugaboo blades pasted into the floor to belay your second. From that point on look for pins at the start of most pitches. The start of one pitch farther along the ridge which does not appear to have any pitons now sports two pins about ten feet up where a decent ledge with cracks was better than the base of the ridge. Not all of the pitons now in place are bombproof but the ones I left behind were welding into place with two hands. Best if you back up anything you don't trust as always. Also, instead of climbing the tower and rappelling down as per normal you can also rappel from a large block just before the tower and then easily climb up on the back side of the tower. From here you easily bypass the tower. This is less awkward than the tower. I left a rap sling and quick-link at this alternate location. The descent down the backside sports a rap station which makes the loose downclimbing here less mentally taxing after a long day. I left a new larger quick-link here. Be sure to bring enough long tat to leave behind on the rappel off the tower during the ascent and the rappel on the large block on the descent. The hoodoo canyon does not currently require any rappels as described in "Selected Alpine". Cyril Shokoples MG Rescue Dynamics http://www.rescuedynamics.com xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx From mcr at informalex.org Fri Aug 21 17:06:55 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:06:55 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Jasper - Peveril Peak Update Message-ID: Climbed Peveril Peak twice in late July and wanted to report a few anomalies in the route description that is commonly available in Jasper. The lower ascent gulley shown in the photo / topo was not the one I used on either occasion. I used the first large right facing gulley you encounter after scrambling up from the forest. I found this to be rather straightforward 3rd and 4th class scrambling with the odd 5th class move. It could be short-roped by an experienced leader if necessary. It joins the route shown in the topo in short order. The first technical pitch is actually 35 meters (>100 feet) rather than the reported 75 feet. This was critical as I only had a 30m rope! A couple of other pitch lengths were also a bit inaccurate but far less critical. The belay at the end of pitch one now sports three pitons, two of which are good with the third being obviously manky. The rest of the ascent route is fairly obvious with some variation possible as noted in the description. The first part of the descent is well marked with cairns and involves one or two sections of exposed down-climbing / scrambling. Don't add any more cairns unless you really know you are on route as most of the old incorrect cairns have now been removed. Once you get to the large scree bowl in the description you may be confused as you may perceive that there are actually two scree bowls side by side. (One recent set of tracks obviously headed down the wrong bowl!) Go to the far skier's left of the leftmost bowl to find the key cairn mentioned in the description well down at the end of the scree. I was lucky to spot it from afar on both occasions as it is not entirely obvious. As the description says, "If you need to rappel, you are in the wrong place." In the very lowest part of the descent the description has you descending a very chossy gulley to get back to the Portal Creek trail. On both occasions I found it easier to follow the sparsely treed rib on skiers right from where you can regain the gulley mid-way where you cliff out. Once in the gulley descend a very short distance then get back on the treed rib almost immediately until you cliff out a second time. At this point look for a place to once again easily regain the gulley where you cross it to easier scree on the right. The gulley is a real rockfall nightmare these days and seems to have deteriorated in recent times. We added cairns to this option to help steer folks onto the easier safer terrain. Very esthetic quartzite climb with awesome views of Cavell and the Tonquin peaks. Enjoy Cyril Shokoples MG Rescue Dynamics http://www.rescuedynamics.com xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx From mcr at informalex.org Sun Aug 23 11:23:07 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:23:07 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Edith Cavell E Ridge Aug 21 Message-ID: Up the East Ridge down the West Ridge. This route was in great shape yesterday, dry rock, no ice or snow. Enjoy. M Stewart CIRRUS ALPINE GUIDES IFMGA/ACMG Guides www.cirrusalpineguides.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Sun Aug 23 20:50:06 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:50:06 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Ernest Ross/Tangle Ridge Message-ID: Spent the weekend in David Thompson Country and the Columbia Icefield area for a scrambles course with a group from the U of A. Aug 22 - Climbed two sub peaks of Mt. Ernest Ross (aka "The Twins"). Totally dry conditions. From the second peak we descended scree and steep grassy slopes all the way to the creek. The creek exit worked, but would not be a good plan in high water. Aug 23 - Retreated from Tangle Ridge late this morning in a hail/rain/thunder storm. The storm dried out fairly quickly and the rest of the day saw sporadic hail/rain showers. Above 2900m there was minor accumulation of hail/snow, which seemed to be melting during the afternoon sunny breaks (except perhaps really high altitude, north facing slopes). On the drive home all the peaks south of Saskatchewan Crossing appeared dry. Play safe. Jeremy Mackenzie ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide www.rescuedynamics.ca _________________________________________________________________ Stay on top of things, check email from other accounts! http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9671355 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Sun Aug 23 22:01:03 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:01:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [MCR] East Ridge of Mt Temple, Aug 23, 2009 Message-ID: <538264.35302.qm@web112505.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> We had a great day out on the East Ridge of Mt Temple today!? The route is?dry and in excellent?condition.? There was 10-20cm of firm snow over the ice on the?glacier making travel at the top very pleasant. ? Aluminum crampons worked fine on the glacier today.? If it melts much more they might feel a bit insecure in a couple of places. Cheers, Conrad Janzen IFMGA Mountain Guide www.conradjanzenguiding.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: