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Thursday, July 17, 2008

[MCR] Lyell Traverse

On Tuesday Mark Klassen, three guests, and I flew into a high camp on
the west side of the Lyell Icefield. Tuesday night was cold and stormy,
depositing up to 10 cm of snow. Wednesday (yesterday) we did the "Lyell
Traverse" as described in the 11-thousander book.

Snow travel was generally good in the morning and crevasses are well
covered. The new snow kept the underlying west snow from getting a good
freeze. Lyell 4 was full value and resembled the historical description
given in the guidebook. The weather throughout the day was generally
cold and cloudy, with no new precipitation.

Wed night/this morning was cold and clear and we had a good freeze with
excellent travel in the morning, deteriorating by noon. I exited to our
car at the head of Icefall Brook/top of Valenciennes Road with one guest
via ledges below Mons Pk. This is not a bad way to access the Lyell
Icefield but it is still quite rugged.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
AAG/ASG
_______________________________________________
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