E Ridge Matier. The firn on the lower section of the ridge is hard enough
and exposed enough to make crampons worthwhile. The rap from the 2nd to
last tower before Matier proper is nicely set up with mallions, but can be
nicely scrambled on 4th class. Dont be intimidated by the fresh goat
carcass at the top of the rap, Im guessing he died of natural causes?
The schrund to get onto the final NE ridge from the E ridge can be avoided
by staying on the E Ridge (rock). This spits you out about (vertical) 75m
from the summit. Still surprisingly good coverage on the NE ridge Matier.
Easy step kicking with crampons, but, still firm enough to go for a good
slide if you were to blow it& Access/descent from the NE ridge can be
done free of crevasse and schrund via the snow on the immediate East side
of the rock ridge between the NE ridge and N face.
S ridge Joffre, Aug 20:
Followed this up with the S ridge of Joffre. Nothing new hear, all rock,
all dry. Quite a nice route with difficulties up to 5.6/7. The standard
descent for this and most routes on Joffre is the SE face. Be aware that
with recent extensive snow melt the route is very prone to natural and
especially man-made rock fall. Rock fall will travel top to bottom of the
route. This is a route to be avoided as an ascent if you have a late
start, as anyone descending at the same time would slaughter you with
rockfall.
N. Ridge Tricoune Aug 21:
Approach with a 4x4 will get you to 4500ft Chance Cr Rd., and a 10 min
walk will get you into the alpine. The early season approach to the col
on snow is now 1.75km of loose blocks& Glacier on the N side of the col
is in excellent condition. The moat to get onto the N ridge is getting
problematic but doable. The easiest descent option is to descend west from
the summit to 6200ft then contour south to the col 600m directly South of
the summit. From here, return north along the ridge for 75m to a NE facing
ramp which leads easily back to the lake. Ran into 10 other people on the
summit in the period of 30min., which had hiked in from High Fall Cr.
Apparently, and as suspected, the recently released West Coast Scrambles
book is having an influence.
Keith Reid
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