From mcr at informalex.org Mon Aug 24 13:03:10 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:03:10 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Athabasca Silverhorn (and found a camera on the Ramp...) Message-ID: <3e9f2e410908241003q71cc5d04ka21415aa7cbd0c4f@mail.gmail.com> Climbed the Silverhorn route yesterday via Boundary Glacier and descended the Ramp Route to the climber's parking lot. Bounday Glacier is easily passable on far climber's right just below one of the ugly gullies. The glacier below Athabasca's N Face is passable but quite broken in places. Silverhorn was mainly ice with about 100m of snow (used T-slots in this section) in the middle below the last crevasse, and a thin covering of snow for the last couple of pitches, which was easy on the calves. The snow was hard and crusted with minimal foot penetration. The seracs on the climber's right side of the Silverhorn (about half way up) are a little menacing. Cold (around zero first thing in the morning and didn't really warm up the rest of the day) with thunderstorms, complete with buzzing ice tools, and 1 cm of graupel early in the morning; cloudy with sunny breaks the rest of the day. Another group climbed the N Ridge yesterday and reported excellent conditions. The N Face is all ice except for the exit gully at the top. The crux rock band appeared to be crusted in ice but I can't say for certain. The ramp descent was in good shape with good cramponing on the supportive snow crust. We descended by swinging far skiier's right (not over the bridged crevasse where the track currently is) and while doing this I discovered a very nice, small digital camera in a black case which I suspect fell from higher up on the mountain. It's still in perfect condition. If it's yours contact me at twolfe at sawback dot com to claim it. Regards, Tom Wolfe AAG/ASG From mcr at informalex.org Tue Aug 25 09:14:18 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:14:18 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Jasper Eastern Slopes Update - August 2, 23, 2009 Message-ID: A weird weather weekend indeed! Saturday had super high winds in the Eastern slopes and a cold clear night followed. Sunday saw NW winds bringing in cold weather, rain, some hail and lightning on Sunday. Not much snow left behind in the front ranges but along the divide the storm left some snow at upper elevations. The past few warm days will likely dry things off soon but north facing slopes may retain some snow / hail higher up. Fire and Celestine Road Closure: The eastern slopes of Jasper Park were in typical dry August conditions. Pretty much everything was bone dry and the winds on Saturday were whipping the Cumnock fire into a frenzy. For those not watching the Parks bulletins, this fire north of Roche de Smet is easily visible when climbing in Hidden Valley. This fire is being contained but allowed to burn. Sunday's rain slowed the fire but it continues to burn. The Celestine Road past Snaring gate will be closed until further notice. Ogre Canyon Road Conditions: The rain on Sunday has now deteriorated the Ogre Canyon Road yet again. A four wheel drive is mandatory once again. With both Celestine and Ogre roads out of commission the access to Bedson Ridge is essentially cut off unless you use a boat or 4X4. Before heading into Bedson you likely also want to chat with Parks regarding the fire first. Hidden Valley Update: Some folks asked about the dead sheep reported earlier this summer and whether or not there were still any potential problems with carnivores. Various creatures made short work of the dead sheep and within days the carcass was literally stripped completely clean. The bare skeleton has been scattered around the valley and some bones and fur is about all that is left. No problems anymore. Two new routes were put up in Hidden Valley by Dave Devin and I during the Saturday wind event. These new routes are are the slabs past Schoolhouse and Spiderman Slab: Earth, Wind & Fire 30m 5.6 - 9 bolts to Super Shuts on a good ledge / Steppin' Wolf 35m 5.7 - 9 bolts to good ledge. This ledge has three sets of dual bolt anchors placed in the 1990s for top-roping. The new routes allow this ledge to be easily reached for groups wanting to do something different in this area. The rock is solid and very featured and the routes are predominantly straightforward. Cavell Conditions and Cavell Road Closure: Cavell was back in good conditions by Saturday but the rain and hail on Sunday may have dropped some more snow up high. Perhaps Peter or others can update us on what it looks like now. Remember that the Cavell Road will be closed for much needed repair work beginning on September 7 so if you plan to head up that way you need to do it soon... Cyril Shokoples MG Rescue Dynamics http://www.rescuedynamics.ca http://www.rescuedynamics.com xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx From mcr at informalex.org Wed Aug 26 02:24:05 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:24:05 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Rockies: Deltaform Message-ID: A long, windy and cold day on Deltaform's NW Ridge today. We stayed at the high bivy and there is no running water there now. Quite exciting gathering snow from the tiny patches left on the north face. The entire route is dry, no crampons or ice axe required. 3 ascents so far this year. We had a reminder to check fixed pitons today. One popped out on us when we weighted a rappel. Good thing it was backed up... The middle third of the Supercouloir is dirt right now. Not dirty ice but just plain dirt. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide www.alpinism.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Wed Aug 26 17:49:52 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:49:52 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Assiniboine Message-ID: <0F59C9F6C2DC480BAA05DFA32EDC7969@larry2e4f7cdf6> Climbed Assiniboine on monday. Dry conditions with almost no verglas except below the red band. No crampons or axe used. Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Thu Aug 27 12:52:25 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:52:25 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Mt Edith Cavell Message-ID: Aaron Beardmore phoned from the summit of Cavell today. He reports totally snow free conditions all the way up the east ridge with no crampons or ice axe required. Brad White From mcr at informalex.org Thu Aug 27 19:57:18 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:57:18 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Mountain Conditions Summary, August 27, 2009 Message-ID: ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains August 27, 2009 A significant high pressure system arrived this week and it looks like the good weather will prevail until at least the middle of next week. All of the snow from the mid August storm has melted off, and the mountains from the front ranges through to the west slopes of the Columbias are in bare and dry conditions. Ridge climbs and alpine rock routes are good objectives right now. Pure rock routes in Roger's Pass, the Bugaboos, Jasper, the Louise Group, and ridge climbs like the SE Ridge of Victoria and the North Ridge of Assiniboine are all in great conditions. The Bugaboo/Snowpatch Col is still in poor shape with lots of reports of rockfall. Rather then ascending this col many climbers are accessing Pigeon Spire and the Howsers via the Bugaboo glacier, however this route is becoming more difficult with opening crevasses and hard route finding on the glacier. Most of the snow and ice routes are currently in poor conditions. Routes like the West Face of Lefroy, the Aemmer Couloir on Temple, and Stanley North Face have lots of gravel and embedded rocks barely frozen into the ice. These rocks are just waiting to come screaming down on the unwary climber. The Silverhorn route on Athabasca is one exception that was reported still in good condition. Strong overnight freezes have made for easy travel on snow covered glaciers in the morning, but watch for deteriorating conditions during the heat of the day. Glacier travel is becoming increasingly complex due to opening crevasses and thin snow bridges. Be particularly careful just above the snowline where the snowpack is shallowest. Another big concern is teetering boulders on the margins of glaciers. These rocks have just recently been exposed due to glacier recession and are still very unstable. The theme right now is to be very aware of what is above your head, and what can potentially come crashing down. Brian Webster Mountain Guide From mcr at informalex.org Sat Aug 29 17:57:03 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:57:03 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Mt. Hungabee Message-ID: I Spent August 23 to 28 in the lake O'Hara area. August 24th I climbed the West Ridge of Hungabee. The Mountain is all dry..no surprise with the warm temps. Bivied two nights at Opabin Pass . At the Col there is some snow to melt for water. The glacier going to Obabin is changing fast. The schrun is quite wide but still passable, with frozen conditions. On the way up I went on the climbers left side staying off the glacier. On the way down we went on the glacier in the early morning when it was frozen. Reading in the summit registrar Hungabee does not get climbed that often. Marco Delesalle IFMGA Mountain Guide -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Sat Aug 29 21:55:52 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:55:52 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Purcells: Commander Group Message-ID: <5755F9F7-D6EE-4DEF-A4CF-566EEDBAB602@alpinism.com> Spent the last 3 days in the Commander Group of the Purcells, climbing Karnak and Commander on Aug 28 and The Cleaver on Aug 29. Lots of big crevasses up there but bridges seemed to be quite strong even in the afternoon. All the same, we were glad to have two rope teams and we clipped everyone together for some sections. The crevasses force you close to The Guardsmen and Jumbo where there is rockfall hazard off the ice faces, which have melted down to dirty brown and black ice. Jumbo E Ridge is icy now. It's climbable but we didn't do it as it looked difficult for our group to deal with. We made some nice tent platforms in shale on the ridge right beside the glacier and close to water. They are at 2540 m, about 10 minutes beyond the grassy camp site, which doesn't have water now. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide www.alpinism.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Sun Aug 30 09:35:53 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2009 07:35:53 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Wapta Message-ID: <577ACB8F-3C1E-4D9C-8DD1-C161E420825C@telus.net> Spent the last 6 days at Bow Hut mountaineering on the Wapta Icefield. Lots of glacier ice exposed, I'd bet that it is possible to go from the Bow Hut to the Peyto Hut on bare ice right now. We made detours to stay in the glacier troughs and avoid the bulges that are showing many crevasses. Great travel overall and the best week of weather this summer. 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: