Climbed Nemesis yesterday, April 15, in the fine company of fellow Mountain Guides, Tim Auger and James Blench (I was the youngest member of the team ... that doesn't happen much anymore!). We skied up to bellow the climb and then cramponed on a hard slide surface. A size 3 avalanche ran over the climb during last week's storm. The slab started on the steep glacial terrain below the North Face of Mt Stanley and cleaned out many, or all, of the ledges that it ran over. Some of the slope below the climb ran to ground. We felt little avalanche threat on the way up as there was a supportive sun crust holding the valley bottom, and the skier's left side of it (the sunny side) together.
The climb was in great shape. There was some water weeping from the edges of the lower pitches when we rappeled at 3 pm.
Didn't see any snow moving on the sunny side of the valley as we skied out, but there was a big chunk of an ice pillar that broke off and exploded into the snow slope in the Suffer Machine area. None of the snow moved where the pillar hit it.
Sloppy slow skiing all the way to the car, which was a god sent for three middle aged mountain guides on old skinny skis and leather climbing boots.
Happy trails,
Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca