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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

[MCR] Nemesis, Stanley Valley, Kootenay Park.

Climbed Nemesis today. Nasty skiing up there these days. Weak snow under a sometimes breakable crust off the trail. The trail up to the valley is a good slideslipping descent, but a tiresome skin up.
 
Snow pack on the approach slope is good right now. Could get scary with more snow or warm temps, but the terrain directly below and slightly left of the route is pretty benign. Absolutely no way I would go on the route on a warm day or right after any temperature change as there are some MASSIVE ice roofs hanging left of the route.
 
Good climbing conditions for most of the route. Lots of features and good feet mostly. We found brittle, glassy ice for the last 20m and that was tedious and a bit insecure.  
 
Larry Stanier
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide