on August 18 via the left-hand side of the North Glacier on Athabasca. Found
the ice to be a bit too steep to risk short roping with a group of five so
pitched out three 50m pitches of relatively straightforward ice. This proved
to be a good thing as one of my guys slipped and would have pulled the whole
train off if we were short-roping. This lower apron is getting steeper and
sketchier these days.
While we were pitching it out an icefall collapse to the far left of us made
some wild rumbling but we didn't get to see the debris as we were too far
around the corner.
Once on the bench above the steeper ice we short roped until we ran into
snow a few hundred meters below the scree. Snow was still in good shape even
with our dismal start. In glacier mode for for the last few hundred meters
to the scree below the AthaB / Boundary col. Easily bypassed the crevasses
on the far left without incident.
>From the col to the summit was easy dry scrambling. Descended the scree on
the N side and then meadows to the car.
Weather went to crap on Tuesday and Wednesday. Huge thunderstorm made for
good light show! The road to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier was closed on
Tuesday and Wednesday due to flooding from the warm temperatures on Monday
followed by deluge on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hard to tell how much snow fell
up high and to what elevation on these two days. When I left the summits
were still socked in but it looked like perhaps snow down to just below
2900m but hard to tell.
Third party report from Thursday is that the AA col route is now ice.
Scrambles in area: Tangle, Wilcox, Sunwapta and Nigel all look bare and dry.
I have no beta on what the last slope on the upper part of Nigel is like so
check before you go.
Cyril Shokoples
Mountain Guide
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