Climbed the North Glacier Ramp on Athabasca today (Oct 12). Beautiful sunny day accompanied by a constant cold NW wind. Left the car at 5:00am (-3 Celsius) and reached the summit at 11:00am (-1 Celsius). Many spots of the track are blown over with drifting snow making for tough trail-breaking. 40 - 50cm of snow on the actual ramp traverse (layered crusts and facets) but no real slab development, yet. More snow and wind would make it spooky. We descended the AA Col which is in good shape with 20-30cm of crusty snow over the scree making for nice downhill walking to the AA Glacier.
Silverhorn is snowy but the North Face and North Face Bypass both looked in good shape and have been climbed recently according to the climber's sign-in book at the parking lot. The A-Strain looked pretty scrapy with the lower gully showing lots of rock and the exit ice pitch not fully there.
Note: The Icefields Campground is closed for the season.
Sean Isaac
Assistant Alpine Guide