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Saturday, August 29, 2009

[MCR] Purcells: Commander Group

Spent the last 3 days in the Commander Group of the Purcells, climbing Karnak and Commander on Aug 28 and The Cleaver on Aug 29.

Lots of big crevasses up there but bridges seemed to be quite strong even in the afternoon. All the same, we were glad to have two rope teams and we clipped everyone together for some sections.

The crevasses force you close to The Guardsmen and Jumbo where there is rockfall hazard off the ice faces, which have melted down to dirty brown and black ice.

Jumbo E Ridge is icy now. It's climbable but we didn't do it as it looked difficult for our group to deal with.

We made some nice tent platforms in shale on the ridge right beside the glacier and close to water. They are at 2540 m, about 10 minutes beyond the grassy camp site, which doesn't have water now.

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
www.alpinism.com