[MCR] Bass Buttress, Castle Mountain, Banff area

Climbed Bass Buttress yesterday. The route is slightly more involved than Brewer's as all of the belays must be built, or at least require reinforcement. The route is generally dry, with the exception of the last pitch, which is wet and slippery with snow melt. There are some "aider" slings in place at the top of the route. The top of castle has snow patches up to 30cm deep and is quite muddy in places-- a pair of gaiters would be useful for the descent. Lots of water in the gullies at the moment and we heard periodic rockfall throughout the day.

Note that the proper descent for the castle routes has several cairns at the top and initially involves walking down scree on faint trails for a fair way. Rappel stations are in place, lower down, on the west (skiers right) wall and are generally marked by cairns. It is one gully to the west of the (much steeper) gully directly above the hut approach.
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Josh Briggs
ACMG Ski & Asst. Alpine Guide

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