travel until we turned onto the 'Ramp' where we started to run into
hard lens like windslabs sitting on the surface of the snow. Several
of the slabs were hard enough to walk on for a number of steps and up
to 25 cm thick. Hand shear tests revealed a resistant planar shear in
the recent snows down 20-30 cm. It all felt too funky so we escaped
the Ramp halfway across by climbing straight uphill to gain the bare
ice above the bergshrund. We descended the AA Col which was in good
shape. I think that the AA Col is the route of choice at present.
Sept 22 we headed up to a camp at the head of the Athabasca Glacier
for an attempt on Mt Snowdome. Passed the second step on climber's
right by running the gauntlet of the Snowdome seracs because
climber's left side looked heavily crevassed and open. Getting off of
the ramp leading up the third step involved some serious crevasse
negotiation with eggshell bridges over some scary crevasses. Can't
recommend this passage until winter snows provide some supportive
bridges.
Happy trails
Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
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