On Aug 7 we travelled from the Asulkan Hut over Youngs Peak to Glacier Circle via the Illecillewaet Neve.
The snow had a rock solid freeze overnight despite an air temp of +8C at 5:30am at the Asulkan hut. The NW face of Youngs was all ice for 3 pitches and then 2 pitches of hard snow with the odd ice lens. We were able to work some crevasses on the right side which provided nice stances at the belays, but we kept our distance from the far right which showed signs of previous rockfall activity.
The north ridge of Youngs was easily descended on rock up high, and then just enough snow on ice above the "cornice climbing pitch" (on Murray Toft's map) to squeak by without crampons. We did a high arching traverse on the Illecillewaet through mushy suncups to reach the Witch Tower and easy snow slopes down to the rock. We followed steep moraines of hard dirt down to the mosquito infested valley bottom and took off our boots to cross the river before picking up the illusive trail to the Glacier Circle hut.
The Hut has about 7L of surplus white gas right now and no shortage of mice. It has had extensive renovations though and sports a new floor and roof. A small morainal lake to the south was warm enough to swim in.
On Aug 9 we exited via the climber's left of the two options on the Mt. Macoun side without having to take off boots or use the rope. The exit off the Illecillewaet to Perly Rock was surprisingly crevassed in the last half kilometre (for how flat the terrain is) with rather large suncups.
Enjoy,
Shaun King - Alpine Guide
www.mountainsense.ca 250-505-5139
www.mountainsense.ca 250-505-5139