[MCR] Mnt Cheops and Mnt. MacDonald

Taking advantage of the clear skies, snow in the gully’s and long days, we ventured on to the S.E. ridge of Mnt. Cheops and the N.W. of MacDonald. 

 

On the 25^th we scrambled up from the Roger’s Pass summit directly towards the Napolean Spur, then followed the S.E. ridge to the summit of Cheops.  The route provides great views of the surrounding peaks, and even better bush whacking!  Only technical climbing was up and over the Spur.  (5.2, 100m)  5 hours up.  Descent towards Balu Pass, then enjoyed a quick snow descent down to the Balu hiking trail. 3 hours down.

 

On the 26^th we crossed over to the other side of the highway and explored the N.W. ridge of MacDonald.  We started at the base of the buttress and then simply followed the crest to the top, essentially a slightly longer and slightly harder variation of the Davis/Bay route.  20 pitches of roped travel 5.8 and several sections of exposed scrambling.  Descent via S.W. ridge which involved mostly scrambling and then two rappels (or exposed down climbing) to the top of the Herman Couloir –climber’s left variation.  Step kicking down the snow couloir led us in to the main basin, followed by 1300m of perfect boot skiing!  An excellent route!  15 hours.

 

As a side note, Sir Donald is dry to mid elevation, but is still very snowy above.  Looks like it will be another week or two before it’s in condition, assuming the hot weather continues.

 

Enjoy the early summer alpine,

Paul Norrie

ACMG Mountain Guide.

[MCR] (no subject)

At 07:00 am at 2300 meters on Vaux Glacier (Yoho Park) this morning air temp
was +11.00. Snow surface temp was 0 and temp down 10 cm was -0.5. Air temp
at 13:30 was up to +25, a bit cooler where glacial downflow is present.
With the hot spell and very short nights, overnight crust formation is
minimal and NOT lasting till morning. Some slab activity is also being
observed with this hot spell. This translates to generally poor snow
conditions.

Warden Service
Banff/Yoho/Kootenay

_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

[MCR] Columbia Icefields area

Back from 3 days of "summer" at the Columbia icefields.
Climbed Athabasca today via AA col route. (+3 parking lot 0330)
Conditions held together in the gullies but only a 5cm crust is
holding the gullies from being isothermal. Along the edges step
kicking was reasonable, not to deep and a good crust.
Above the gullies the mountain was excellent travel, good and hard
both up and down.
Still pretty solid in the gullies at 1030 when we were back at the
bottom, but there is certainly a need for moving quickly.

Looks like a new serac under the ramp on the normal route is forming
and separating. A very large feature.
Important to give this area a wide birth from as soon as you get on
the glacier. Forget about the red line in the guide book.
The normal route up the ramp looked fat and loaded. Doesn't look like
there has been any traffic on the ramp in a while, or at all this
season. There is an old slab on the left side that has been there for a while.
Maybe this heat will clean things out.

Tracks visible both on Skyladder and the descent route looked
deep... post holing. I am sure the descent on south side to the AA
col is sporty right now in the heat! One party we talked to spent
the night out.
No significant avalanche activity recently observed, but lots of wet
small sluffs on the east face of Andromeda near the Strain.
The cornices on Andromeda are really drooping, and they are big!
A cooling trend would greatly decrease the hazards on some of these
fine alpine routes.
Peter Amann

Peter Amann
Mountain Guiding
Box 1495, Jasper AB, T0E 1E0
780 852 3237
www.incentre.net/pamann
pamann@incentre.net

_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

[MCR] Message from Marc Ledwidge

This is my last message sent by webmail awaiting moderator approval. Can you
please add my government email to the list of approved submitters. The address
is:

marc.ledwidge@pc.gc.ca

_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

[MCR] Ghost Climbs: Consolation/Bonanza

Climbed both these area classics over the weekend.

 

Consolation: On pitch 6, it seems more reasonable to stay high and traverse left to the anchor as opposed to dropping down and then climbing back up as the guidebook suggests. It is easier to protect the second this way.

 

Bonanza: Some very loose and precarious blocks are situated in the lower chimney. Beware. Also, this pitch has been bolted which is not mentioned in the latest guide book.

 

 

Rob Owens

Ass Alpine Guide

 

 

[MCR] Anderson river conditions

Went climbing in the Anderson river group over the
past few days.
The road has two gates on right now so you need to get
the key from Cattermole timber in Chilliwack (9-5 mon
through friday, 604 823 6525)
The Road is in 2wd shape up to the parking area. The
approach road is getting in fairly bad shape, with
tough travel through alder for the first hour. Don't
follow the road all the way as the Alpine select book
says. Instead take the left fork when you pass over
the creek in the valley, Head south (left) for about 1
Km in tight alder till you get to the first band of
old growth. From here head easily straight up towards
les Cornes. There is much less snow in this area than
out closer to the coast, with snow only up high under
the rock faces. We had hoped to climb up on Steinbok
however there is alot of running water on all aspect
due to large cornices on the summit. It looks like
they will be around for a while. We instead climbed
on the south buttress of Les Cornes. Conditions were
good on this aspect. The rap anchors are all in good
condition. Two 55m raps into the gully, then some
downclimbing and one 60 m over a waterfall to the
snow. One may want to make an additional rap just
above the last rappel (pins needed). Its still easy to
get water up under the routes. Craig McGee, MG/IFMGA

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_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

[MCR] Wiwaxy

Climbed grassi ridge on wiwaxy today june 23rd. Route in good condition. Decent had 2 patches of snow to cross, but I could get good steps in.

Still look wintery up high on Victoria, Hungabee etc.

Cheers

Todd Craig, Mtn guide