Hi,
The Valhalla and Kokanee ranges of the southern Selkirk got a pretty good dusting above 2400m early in the week. It is hard to know exactly how much new snow fell but it looked to be upwards of 15cm. Wednesday was clear and warm with temperatures reaching close to 20 Celsius in the valleys, most of the south facing terrain was shedding its snow quickly again. If it doesn't snow too much at higher elevations as this system moves through, chances are that some of the south facing rock routes in this area may come back into shape.
In an effort to climb dry alpine rock, Cam Shute and I decided to head down to Chimney rock and take advantage of the beautiful weather this last Wednesday. This amazing alpine cragging area, just a few hours south Nelson in the Idaho panhandle, has a high concentration of first class splitter cracks on perfect granite. Due to its lower elevation and latitude, the area has not seen any significant snowfall this year yet. This is a very good venue if you are looking at extending your alpine rock climbing season into early fall. For access and route info, follow this link:
http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151709/chimney-rock.html
Have a great Fall!
David Lussier
Mountain Guide
www.summitmountainguides.com