On the weekend, Sarah Hueniken and I guided Sir Donald as a party of four. Saturday on the hike to the bivi site the sky was completely obscured by smoke which by Sunday afternoon had mostly dissipated. The route itself has a couple of patches of snow which can be bypassed or easily climbed without ice axe or crampons. We took the West Face Bypass route on the descent and crossed 100m of snow where we used ice axes but did not need crampons. The final rappel station along the ridge (before you start descending the West Face) has been moved slightly north, which now eliminates the potential for rapping into space above the West Face.
The bivi site is free of snow and Wardens are checking for Wilderness Permits. Apparently a grizzly has been spotted around the bivi site.
Lilla Molnar
Mountain Guide