A poor overnight freeze on July 8 and afternoon rain made for deep
penetrations (up to 40cm in the final 300 ft. of elevation) that allowed
us to summit without crampons.
A good overnight freeze on July 15 (ice in the puddles on the moraines)
made for a 5cm boot pen up to about 10,000 ft. above this we used
crampons and were just able to kick thin steps with a bit of work. The
crust was 25cm thick on the snow slope leading to the summit col. Our
steps from last week through the rock gullies near the summit were
frozen solid.
The glacier still has snow right down to where you step on to it below
Little Hector. A 50m long crevasse cuts the middle of the glacier
perpendicular to the fall line. Last week we passed it on the left,
this week on the right, with the latter having fewer sags and weak bridges.
The glacier flats at about 9500 ft. that lead up towards the initial
steep snow slope had a breakable crust that stopped supporting in the
afternoon so travel was easier on the scree shoulder to the west
although the lower elevations were reasonable with boot penetrations of
mainly10-20cm on descent.
Shaun King
Full Asst. Guide
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