I had a fun day on Professor Falls (Dec 30). We got there first then had 3 other parties follow up behind
Approach: Mountain bikes made the tedious closed-road go quickly but we had to ditch them at the intersection (3.3 km on the bike odometer) where the old parking used to be due to unpacked snow on the road. From there easy walking on a packed trail to the base of the route.
Ice Conditions: The first pitch was a bit wet making the ropes stiff for the rest of the climb. The only other wetness was when my ice tool released a gusher near the top of the third pitch. Other than that the climb was pretty dry.. a little too dry in fact. While leading the fourth pitch, I encountered some weird stress fracturing and settling in the ice. It was kind of spooky. Incidentally, when rapping this pitch on the way down, it had transformed from brittle to wet plastic. Moral of the story, ice conditions are constantly changing day to day and even hour to hour. All the ice to the last pitch had seen lots of overnight reforming with almost no signs of traffic (ie- no hooks or steps). Conversely, the last pillar has not had any reforming so it was very beat out. Despite its funky appearance, it offered bomber tight hooks and good ball-of-your-feet steps. There is no bolted anchor at the top of this pitch nor good ice for a V-thread so we used the rock thread on climber's right. It is a big, solid feature with new rappel cord and a quick link.
Descent: The descent trail appeared to be blown in so we opted for rappelling the route. The numerous bolted anchors (some easy to miss so look around) make this straight forward as long as you do not throw your ropes on other parties while they are climbing. Some of the newer Fixe rap stations must have been placed later in the season when the ice is more filled out becasue they are high on the rock and difficult to reach.
Snow Conditions: The wind event last night scoured the bowl above the last pitch down to bare scree; yesterday it was white with snow. Also, the cornices on the summit ridge of Mt Rundle have definitely grown. The trail up the gully to the last pitch had disappeared under the newly transported wind blown snow. By the end of the day, once 4 parties had there way with it, the trail was back in.
Weather: Clear, sunny skies all day with the temperature at sunrise being -10 C. No wind on the route due to its sheltered position but light to moderate wind once we topped out on the last pitch. A snow plume was observed rocketing off the summit of Rundle during the hike out.
Happy New Year.
Sean Isaac
AAG