From mcr at informalex.org Mon Sep 7 17:28:08 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 14:28:08 -0700 Subject: [MCR] Valhalla's Message-ID: Hi All, We just got back from a few fantastic days of alpine rock climbing in the Mulvey basin of Valhalla Provincial Park. Here are a few observations for those interested: Crampons and Ice Axe: The upper slope on the North side of the Gimli col, which leads into Mulvey basin, is presently black ice. Steel crampons and ice axe are recommended for this short section (60m) of 35-40 degree ice. Rock and Icefall hazard: The relatively low snowpack from last winter combined with a warm and dry summer have had an affect on this in the area. We observed continuous rock fall out of steep north facing terrain at higher elevation where summer snow and ice (mainly ice) still remain. The pocket glacier on the North side of Gimli was also very active. It was periodically producing icefall avalanches running the entire length of the rock slabs below. It is best to avoid this area by descending into Mulvey basin from the skiers left side (West) once below the Gimli col. Drinking Water: There is presently no drinking water available at the campsite below the South ridge of Gimli. This may change on short-term basis with present precipitation but it will dry out again soon. There is sometimes a trickle of water a few hundred meters down the East slope below this campsite. It is recommended that you treat your water here. If you camp in Mulvey basin, there is plenty of good drinking water there. Access: The Bannock creek forest service road is in reasonable low clearance 2 wheel drive condition. Fall is in the air! We are now experiencing some cooler weather along with light snow at higher elevation. Warm and sunny weather being in the forcast for the next few days, I suspect most of the South facing route will be climbable again before the weekend. The alpine rock-climbing season here sometime extends well into October. It is a good option when the higher peaks of the Purcell's, Selkirk's and Rockies further north and East start to get snowed-in. Enjoy and have a great fall, David Lussier Mountain Guide _________________________________________________________________ New! Faster Messenger access on the new MSN homepage http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9677406 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Mon Sep 7 18:37:44 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 16:37:44 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Snow from the Lake Louise/O'Hara divide to Canmore. Message-ID: <75F9B35ADB7F4753A8CA55699A72886D@larry2e4f7cdf6> Climbed Mt. Victoria to the sickle today. COLD!!! -7c and steady winds around 25-40kmh. Hard to estimate snowfall but average is probably around 5cms by 2pm today above 2800m. This snow could disappear in most places if the sun comes out before the storms ramp up. Small, scattered windslabs but they are still sticking to the rough ground. Might be a bit spooky if you walked into a drift on an alpine ice face in the next couple of days. Driving between O'Hara and Canmore this afternoon(monday)snowfall was varied but visible in most places above treeline. Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Tue Sep 8 10:20:25 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 08:20:25 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Bugaboo Spire Message-ID: Up the NE Ridge on Saturday, September 5th. Quite a bit of ice/snow in the cracks, starting after the third pitch (where you go to the North side of ridge) and continuing past the chimneys. Summit traverse and Kain route were dry. We descended the Snowpatch-Pigeon raps as the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col was not suitable for travel due to rockfall hazard. We left Sunday morning under threatening skies and fresh snow on Snowpatch Spire.....not sure what the Park looks like now but it felt like winter was coming...!! Have fun! Mike Stuart ACMG Alpine/Assistant Ski Guide -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mcr at informalex.org Wed Sep 9 19:08:23 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 17:08:23 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Takakkaw Falls Rockfall Message-ID: Just wanted to let everyone know about another large rockfall event that recently occurred around the Takakkaw falls climb in Yoho Park. A slab of rock about 2m wide 1m deep and about 2-3m tall fell from very near or not if at the start of the 5.5 crack at the start of the 5th pitch on Tak falls. Rapping down to this location on Wednesday it looked different and finally we were able to figure out what had happened looking at all the disturbed rock beneath and around this location. The red circle in the attached photo indicates the chunk of rock that fractured off. Yet another spooky eye opening rockfall event this year. Mike Koppang SG This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Tak Falls Rock Fall.JPG Type: image/jpeg Size: 53503 bytes Desc: Tak Falls Rock Fall.JPG Url : From mcr at informalex.org Thu Sep 10 12:47:14 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:47:14 +0100 Subject: [MCR] Wapta Message-ID: Hi, Very wintry conditions in the Wapta for the last few days with temperatures at the hut hovering around zero, snow showers and moderate to strong westerly winds causing drifting. New snow accumulation varied from 10cm to 40cm in sheltered areas. Almost overnight, glacial travel conditions went from being fairly benign to some of the most 'exciting' I have ever experienced in the Bow hut area. Thinly bridged crevasses required great team work on the rope, lots of concentration and significant probing with a ski pole. The forecast return to summer this weekend may melt some of the new snow but great care should be taken as many crevasses will still be camouflaged. The speed with which conditions changed up there was a great lesson for the group and a good reminder for all of us as winter approaches. The photo of St Nic was taken near the lake above the Bow hut and shows the number and size of crevasses we ski across in the winter....yikes!!! Cheers for now, Steve Blagbrough. Yamnuska Mountain Adventures. ACMG & BMG _________________________________________________________________ Access your other email accounts and manage all your email from one place. http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/167688463/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: P9090028.JPG Type: image/jpeg Size: 611743 bytes Desc: not available Url : From mcr at informalex.org Thu Sep 10 22:26:33 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:26:33 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Mountain Conditions Summary issued September 10, 2009 Message-ID: ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains September 10, 2009 The last seven days can be characterized by rain, snow above treeline, and generally cool temperatures. Most of the snow has now melted off in the front ranges (east of Banff) which will make for good rock climbing conditions in this area. In Lake Louise and the Wapta, 10-15 cm of snow accumulated, but the snowline has now retreated to 8500 feet on shady aspects, and to around 10,000 feet on sunny aspects.The Bugaboos and Rogers Pass reported 10 to 30 cm of snow above 7000 feet, but again the sunny aspects are drying off quickly. Watch out for isolated wind slabs at upper elevations where the snow has drifted in. The forecast through to the middle of next week is sunny with warm days and cool nights. With this type of forecast the alpine conditions should be ideal. Expect good freezes at night and stable warm weather during the day. The snowline should continue to retreat up the mountain, but north faces likely will hold the snow at higher elevations. Be aware that melting snow during the heat of the day will make the rock wet and increase the rock fall hazard. The other hazard to be extra aware of is weak snow bridges on the glaciers. Many of the crevasses will be covered over by the recent storm snow, but the bridging strength of this new snow will be minimal. Lots of probing and conservative route finding is in order on the glaciers for this time of year. Remember that the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. Pack a headlamp, an extra coat and have a great week. Brian Webster Mountain Guide From mcr at informalex.org Fri Sep 11 15:06:58 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:06:58 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Sir Donald South Ridge Descent In-Reply-To: <3e9f2e410909101645p61f4e11anf72e64b478c7fffc@mail.gmail.com> References: <4C6D5247-6B71-4D95-9EAB-D0AA40146106@mac.com> <3e9f2e410909101645p61f4e11anf72e64b478c7fffc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <3e9f2e410909111206x79cf7271n88599cedb79ec722@mail.gmail.com> The ACMG guide courses have been using the south ridge of Sir Donald as an optional descent over the last decade or so.?This description complements the description in the Selkirks South guidebook (D.P. Jones 2001). The descent of the S. ridge of Sir Donald is described on page 106/107 can be confusing depending on how one matches the description to the terrain. This description and the photos may help: "The upper south ridge is a straight forward down climb on easy terrain with loose rock on ledges. Any initial difficulties can be down climbed on the right (west) side of the ridge. Aim for an obvious large flat promontory level with the N. summit of Terminal--from which the ridge drops suddenly. R1: Rappel or down climb 15m just east of the ridge to the next anchor (slings, one stopper). R2: Rap 25m down and east to a hanging belay (thread belay; bring slings or avoid with double ropes). R3: 25m to a sloping scree ledge. Scramble up on 3rd class ledges back to the ridge to a sling rappel station. R4: 26m descend down the west side to a large scree ledge north of the col. Easy traversing and exposed downclimbing takes on to the Sir Donald-N. Terminal Peak col. >From the col traverse under the west side of N. Terminal peak staying below the obvious scree bowl (snow early season) on good quartzite ledges. Look for an easy rising ledge?(ramp)?system to gulley exiting at to the low point in the west ridge of N. Terminal Peak. ?Boots, crampons, ice axe likely needed to descend the Illecillewaet Glacier to Perley Rock. Otherwise the longer West ridge of N. Terminal pk can be used to avoid the snow/ice". Colin Zacharias Mountain Guide -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Promontory Rappels.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 305777 bytes Desc: not available Url : -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: SirD_southridge descent.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 304459 bytes Desc: not available Url : -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Terminal Exit Ramp.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 220330 bytes Desc: not available Url : From mcr at informalex.org Sun Sep 13 21:06:19 2009 From: mcr at informalex.org (Public Mountain Conditions Report) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:06:19 -0600 Subject: [MCR] Rockies: Hector Message-ID: Up Hector today. Felt like midsummer with hot temps and not a cloud on the sky. The peak is in typical late season condition, lots of large open crevasses and the smaller slots are masked by the snow from earlier in the week. The upper slopes are hard grey, brittle ice. Bring screws, good crampons and a real ice axe. Above 3000 m the recent snow is still dry and powdery on north aspects, I could see that there may be a few little lenses of windslab poking around. The piton that worked well as an anchor at the top of the rocks and below the summit talus slope has been removed for some reason. You're left with a uncomfortable and marginal stance to belay the second up the hard, rock-embedded ice and awkward moves to gain the rock. It may be worthwhile bringing a baby angle or a leeper to fix there, or a couple of micro cams would work too. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide www.alpinism.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: