A significant high pressure system arrived this week and it looks like the
good weather will prevail until at least the middle of next week. All of
the snow from the mid August storm has melted off, and the mountains from
the front ranges through to the west slopes of the Columbias are in bare
and dry conditions.
Ridge climbs and alpine rock routes are good objectives right now. Pure
rock routes in Roger's Pass, the Bugaboos, Jasper, the Louise Group, and
ridge climbs like the SE Ridge of Victoria and the North Ridge of
Assiniboine are all in great conditions. The Bugaboo/Snowpatch Col is still
in poor shape with lots of reports of rockfall. Rather then ascending this
col many climbers are accessing Pigeon Spire and the Howsers via the
Bugaboo glacier, however this route is becoming more difficult with opening
crevasses and hard route finding on the glacier.
Most of the snow and ice routes are currently in poor conditions. Routes
like the West Face of Lefroy, the Aemmer Couloir on Temple, and Stanley
North Face have lots of gravel and embedded rocks barely frozen into the
ice. These rocks are just waiting to come screaming down on the unwary
climber. The Silverhorn route on Athabasca is one exception that was
reported still in good condition.
Strong overnight freezes have made for easy travel on snow covered glaciers
in the morning, but watch for deteriorating conditions during the heat of
the day. Glacier travel is becoming increasingly complex due to opening
crevasses and thin snow bridges. Be particularly careful just above the
snowline where the snowpack is shallowest. Another big concern is teetering
boulders on the margins of glaciers. These rocks have just recently been
exposed due to glacier recession and are still very unstable.
The theme right now is to be very aware of what is above your head, and
what can potentially come crashing down.
Brian Webster
Mountain Guide
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
He reports totally snow free conditions all the way up the east ridge with
no crampons or ice axe required.
Brad White
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Fire and Celestine Road Closure: The eastern slopes of Jasper Park were in
typical dry August conditions. Pretty much everything was bone dry and the
winds on Saturday were whipping the Cumnock fire into a frenzy. For those
not watching the Parks bulletins, this fire north of Roche de Smet is easily
visible when climbing in Hidden Valley. This fire is being contained but
allowed to burn. Sunday's rain slowed the fire but it continues to burn. The
Celestine Road past Snaring gate will be closed until further notice.
Ogre Canyon Road Conditions: The rain on Sunday has now deteriorated the
Ogre Canyon Road yet again. A four wheel drive is mandatory once again. With
both Celestine and Ogre roads out of commission the access to Bedson Ridge
is essentially cut off unless you use a boat or 4X4. Before heading into
Bedson you likely also want to chat with Parks regarding the fire first.
Hidden Valley Update: Some folks asked about the dead sheep reported earlier
this summer and whether or not there were still any potential problems with
carnivores. Various creatures made short work of the dead sheep and within
days the carcass was literally stripped completely clean. The bare skeleton
has been scattered around the valley and some bones and fur is about all
that is left. No problems anymore.
Two new routes were put up in Hidden Valley by Dave Devin and I during the
Saturday wind event. These new routes are are the slabs past Schoolhouse and
Spiderman Slab: Earth, Wind & Fire 30m 5.6 - 9 bolts to Super Shuts on a
good ledge / Steppin' Wolf 35m 5.7 - 9 bolts to good ledge. This ledge has
three sets of dual bolt anchors placed in the 1990s for top-roping. The new
routes allow this ledge to be easily reached for groups wanting to do
something different in this area. The rock is solid and very featured and
the routes are predominantly straightforward.
Cavell Conditions and Cavell Road Closure: Cavell was back in good
conditions by Saturday but the rain and hail on Sunday may have dropped some
more snow up high. Perhaps Peter or others can update us on what it looks
like now. Remember that the Cavell Road will be closed for much needed
repair work beginning on September 7 so if you plan to head up that way you
need to do it soon...
Cyril Shokoples MG
Rescue Dynamics
http://www.rescuedynamics.ca
http://www.rescuedynamics.com
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_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Silverhorn was mainly ice with about 100m of snow (used T-slots in
this section) in the middle below the last crevasse, and a thin
covering of snow for the last couple of pitches, which was easy on the
calves. The snow was hard and crusted with minimal foot penetration.
The seracs on the climber's right side of the Silverhorn (about half
way up) are a little menacing.
Cold (around zero first thing in the morning and didn't really warm up
the rest of the day) with thunderstorms, complete with buzzing ice
tools, and 1 cm of graupel early in the morning; cloudy with sunny
breaks the rest of the day.
Another group climbed the N Ridge yesterday and reported excellent
conditions. The N Face is all ice except for the exit gully at the
top. The crux rock band appeared to be crusted in ice but I can't say
for certain.
The ramp descent was in good shape with good cramponing on the
supportive snow crust. We descended by swinging far skiier's right
(not over the bridged crevasse where the track currently is) and while
doing this I discovered a very nice, small digital camera in a black
case which I suspect fell from higher up on the mountain. It's still
in perfect condition. If it's yours contact me at twolfe at sawback
dot com to claim it.
Regards,
Tom Wolfe
AAG/ASG
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
We had a great day out on the East Ridge of Mt Temple today! The route is dry and in excellent condition. There was 10-20cm of firm snow over the ice on the glacier making travel at the top very pleasant. Aluminum crampons worked fine on the glacier today. If it melts much more they might feel a bit insecure in a couple of places. Cheers, Conrad Janzen IFMGA Mountain Guide www.conradjanzenguiding.com |
The lower ascent gulley shown in the photo / topo was not the one I used on
either occasion. I used the first large right facing gulley you encounter
after scrambling up from the forest. I found this to be rather
straightforward 3rd and 4th class scrambling with the odd 5th class move. It
could be short-roped by an experienced leader if necessary. It joins the
route shown in the topo in short order.
The first technical pitch is actually 35 meters (>100 feet) rather than the
reported 75 feet. This was critical as I only had a 30m rope! A couple of
other pitch lengths were also a bit inaccurate but far less critical. The
belay at the end of pitch one now sports three pitons, two of which are good
with the third being obviously manky.
The rest of the ascent route is fairly obvious with some variation possible
as noted in the description.
The first part of the descent is well marked with cairns and involves one or
two sections of exposed down-climbing / scrambling. Don't add any more
cairns unless you really know you are on route as most of the old incorrect
cairns have now been removed.
Once you get to the large scree bowl in the description you may be confused
as you may perceive that there are actually two scree bowls side by side.
(One recent set of tracks obviously headed down the wrong bowl!) Go to the
far skier's left of the leftmost bowl to find the key cairn mentioned in the
description well down at the end of the scree. I was lucky to spot it from
afar on both occasions as it is not entirely obvious.
As the description says, "If you need to rappel, you are in the wrong
place."
In the very lowest part of the descent the description has you descending a
very chossy gulley to get back to the Portal Creek trail. On both occasions
I found it easier to follow the sparsely treed rib on skiers right from
where you can regain the gulley mid-way where you cliff out. Once in the
gulley descend a very short distance then get back on the treed rib almost
immediately until you cliff out a second time. At this point look for a
place to once again easily regain the gulley where you cross it to easier
scree on the right. The gulley is a real rockfall nightmare these days and
seems to have deteriorated in recent times. We added cairns to this option
to help steer folks onto the easier safer terrain.
Very esthetic quartzite climb with awesome views of Cavell and the Tonquin
peaks.
Enjoy
Cyril Shokoples MG
Rescue Dynamics
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These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Later in July I also climbed the classic obvious treed corner "Stuffed
Peppers" on the right side of the canyon. I had done the route numerous
times in the past but hadn't been there in years so had forgotten a few
details. The route has great climbing but is wickedly run-out. In four
pitches you only get a half dozen pieces of protection total! That includes
the three pitons I left behind this time on pitch 3. Normal gear was totally
useless on the compact limestone. That leaves the crux moves on three of the
four pitches unprotected. The route description mentions a piton at the crux
start of pitch four. This no longer exists, so no point looking for it.
Overall the 5.7 grade feels a lot more like 5.8 when you are doing thin
moves with your last pro being two rappel pitons 30 meters below.
I have added this to my list of routes on which to add rappel and protection
bolts. In the meantime you should be really solid at 5.7 / 5.8 if you plan
to climb Stuffed Peppers. The route is NOT currently set up to rappel so you
have to walk into where the Canyon becomes shallow to a point where it can
be crossed. Follow goat paths and do not commit to going down unless it
looks really easy to cross. I will post to the MCR when I get back to Ogre
to upgrade this route.
The road is currently in poor shape yet again. 4X4 truck with good clearance
required.
Later
Cyril Shokoples MG
Rescue Dynamics
http://www.rescuedynamics.com
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_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Climbed Meisner's ridge in late July (shortly after Mark's post on the MCR)
and took a small sack of pitons to leave behind. I tried to update most of
the belay anchors that didn't readily accept gear. A very large percentage
of the belay anchors at the start of most technical pitches now sport two
pitons.
This begins just after the first knife edge traverse section which does not
have a fixed belay but just past the traverse you will quickly find two
bugaboo blades pasted into the floor to belay your second. From that point
on look for pins at the start of most pitches. The start of one pitch
farther along the ridge which does not appear to have any pitons now sports
two pins about ten feet up where a decent ledge with cracks was better than
the base of the ridge.
Not all of the pitons now in place are bombproof but the ones I left behind
were welding into place with two hands. Best if you back up anything you
don't trust as always.
Also, instead of climbing the tower and rappelling down as per normal you
can also rappel from a large block just before the tower and then easily
climb up on the back side of the tower. From here you easily bypass the
tower. This is less awkward than the tower. I left a rap sling and
quick-link at this alternate location.
The descent down the backside sports a rap station which makes the loose
downclimbing here less mentally taxing after a long day. I left a new larger
quick-link here. Be sure to bring enough long tat to leave behind on the
rappel off the tower during the ascent and the rappel on the large block on
the descent.
The hoodoo canyon does not currently require any rappels as described in
"Selected Alpine".
Cyril Shokoples MG
Rescue Dynamics
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_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued August 20th, 2009.
During the poor weather last weekend up to 40 cm of snow fell on the high peaks in the Rockies and the Columbias. Most of this snow has settled or melted off of rock routes excepting on north aspects above 3000 metres. With the high pressure finally here, the drying trend will continue. The recent snow had brought some of the ice routes back into shape while temperatures remained cool but now that seasonal warm temperatures are back, rockfall issues in these types of places are likely to be significant again. On the plus side, now that nights are getting longer, and that the sun is starting to get lower in the sky during the day, overnight freezing with clear skies will help snow conditions.
At Rogers Pass, the Tupper and Swiss Peaks groups should be in good shape again. There will likely still be some snow or wetness to negotiate on Sir Donald near the summit ridge but again given the weather forecast, this should improve day by day.
This is time of the year when negotiating crevasses on glaciers can be problematic as some can be gaping and /or bridges are thin. Bergshrunds are also becoming difficult to cross with upper lips in places overhanging the lower one. In the case of the Bugaboo/Snowpatch col, it is in dangerous conditions and is not recommended. This clearly increases the complexity of access to the west side of the Spires.
Most of the recent reports indicate that the classic alpine objectives have come back into condition. This may be the time to enjoy them.
Marc Ledwidge
Mountain Guide
Today was a cool blustery overcast day on Tupper, with fog forming on the ridge for most of the day from the upslope winds. I was wearing a winter weight fleece shirt, my Dry Clime jacket under a Patagonia Puffball (new and fluffy still) - plus my toque and gloves – with all that I was comfortable (barely). So needless to say the forecasted sunshine and warm temps have yet to arrive.
Tonight it has cleared off in Revelstoke and the satellite images show the ridge has finally arrived – so tomorrow looks good and they are now making it look like Thursday should also be nice (a change over recent forecasts) – and Friday is back to 60%POP.
I didn’t get a chance to talk to them personally, but there was a group of locals that headed to Sir D today – from my vantage it was in the cloud all day and I heard mention of wet slippery rock, and judging from the time they were back in town, I highly suspect that they did not summit today (but perhaps?). I could still see snow on the slope below the summit block through the mist as we drove home in the PM.
Most other peaks are low enough and have escaped the snow and with tomorrows sunshine should be great climbing, there was still snow on the Swiss peaks traverse and it looked like it would be pretty tricky right now (as well the snow gully descent is looking a bit icy and thin).
Cheers,
Scott Davis
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Peter Amann
ACMG Mountain Guide
Climbed the regular route on Lefroy today from Lake O’Hara. Some storm snow in the gully made travel to Abbott pass a little easier this morning. Lefroy was in pretty decent shape, good step kicking in the snow and some icy patches were avalanches had run. Up high on the mountain up to 35cm of HST over rocks with a 2-4 cm crust on the top. Good traveling today not a lot of solar heating, route will likely be in shape until it starts baking again.
Victoria looks snowy still but doable.
Cheers
Todd Craig, MG
Just back from a foray to the Sir Donald Uto
On our descent the clouds cleared somewhat and weather was improving, though the occasional shower was still rolling through. We could see that Sir Donald was quite snowy above the elevation of the rappels and major scree ledge – so the summit tower looks totally out of shape for now – perhaps by the end of the week if the forecasted sunshine and warm temps materialize it would be doable. Uto will just need some sunshine to dry out the rock and it should be good to go.
Overall much less snow then fell in the rockies but still enough to put higher rock objectives out of condition – sorry I didn’t get a look at the
Cheers,
Scott Davis
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Up to Abbots pass for a
James Blench
UIAGM
Sharon Wood
AG ASG
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
All of the intense, saturating rainfall the Rockies have received
lately seems to have undermined a lot of slopes below and above local
crags and dramatically loosened things up in general. From my
observations, rock conditions seem more typical of early season
cragging (e.g. loose holds, perched rocks, ledge debris and seeping
rock) than late summer, and are overall worse than I can recall seeing.
We have observed numerous rockfall events, and even at heavily used
areas there seems to be an exceptional amount of loose material lying
in wait for the right impetus to bring it down. In some cases, there
have been very substantial hazards encountered on usually immaculate
routes. As winds pick up and warmer temperatures dry out whatever
remaining material is presently gluing things in place, we expect
this to get worse before it gets better. The forecast for another
storm cycle into the weekend probably won't help things in the near
term either.
Play safe!
Carl Johnston
ACMG Rock Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Climbed the E ridge today and similiar to Barry's posting a week or so ago, minus the traffic. Route is in great shape and maybe 95% dry. Only crossed snow for maybe 2 steps low down on the brown slabs below the exit gully. Easy travel on summit glacier and final crevasse was easy to jump over (3 feet). Temps were generally cool (approx 15C) due to forest fire haze and scattered cloud. Winds were calm until mid-day and light from the NW thereafter. Also, was on Yam on Friday and while desending around the west end noticed a good size rockfall (after the fact). Looks like Windy Slab/Pony Express area got nailed taking out a number of trees and part of the trail. Maybe a large class 2.0 rockslide......? Cheers, Scott Grady SG |
Sarah Hueniken
ACMG Alpine Guide
Kirsten Knechtel
ACMG Mountain Guide
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
A couple friends and I put up what we think is a very fun new route up the true SE corner of Mt Farnham yesterday, starting from the valley of MacDonald Creek (4x4 no longer required as the road has been upgraded and bridges replaced a couple of years ago), up the east ridge to the tower, then traverse the red shale band to the south facing portion of the true SE corner. Follow excellent and surprisingly solid and clean quartzite cracks for 5 – 60 m pitches, mostly alpine 5.8 with hints of 5.9 to the false east summit, rappel down into the icy abyss splitting the summits and climb out west up a steep chimney to reach the true summit. Descend the south side of the tower. Round trip took us 19 hours.
The entire
Enjoy,
Kirk Mauthner; ACMG/UIAGM Mountain Guide
ph/fax (250) 342-6042
Climbed Mt. Victoria via Huber Ledges and down to Abbot Pass today. Route is in good shape. Temps at O’hara at 5:30 this morning was +11. No freeze on the snow of the Huber Glacier. Travel on the initial part of the glacier was good. After the rock step, foot penetration was knee to hip deep. Crevasse bridges there are weak. On the plateau, snow was firm. The schrund is easy to get across with snow up to the first rock band. Above that, the usual gully is dirty ice and gravel. We avoided it with the rock ribs to the right. After gaining the ridge we did not use crampons to the summit.
Marc Ledwidge
ACMG/UIAGM