[MCR] Polar Circus

Up on Polar Circus on Thursday and found the lower part of the route to be thin in spots (top outs on the steps) but overall pretty good for end of November.  The Pencil is in, albeit barely.  I could put my arms around it at the bottom (didn't climb it).  The snow slope was blown free in some spots and had up to 45cms in others.  Awkward walking over the frozen scree/rock that is usually snow covered.  The pitch after the slope was very wet and hard to get good gear (ice lenses).  The Ribbon pitch was plastic.  

 

We turned around at the base of the last pitch after 2 fairly good sized rocks fell out of a roof above the pitch on the right hand side.  The sun was quite warm and there weren't any clouds all day. 

 

Cheers

 

Mike Stuart

Alpine Guide

 

 

                   

[MCR] Rundle ice

Climbed Proffessor's yesterday. Climbable but definetly not the midseason fat grade 3 pegboard. On friday pitch 1, 2 and 4 were straws with chandeliers hanging off them. It will get easier with some traffic but there was some steep insecure pulling with bad feet, bad tools and awkward gear. Sporty!

 

Christmas Present looked fairly fat and Shampoo Planet and Ten Years After were all in but thin. Sea of Vapours looked climbable but the traverse from Postscriptum was dry. Cascade needs a bunch more cold days.  

 

On Tuesday Parallel Falls was good on the left to a cracking pillar and the right hand had snowed-up rock slabs on pitch 2.. Still very thin. Terrible travelling in that area of K-Country. Not enough snow for skiis but enough weak snow to make for poor walking.

 

Larry Stanier

Mountain Guide

[MCR] Bourgeau Left/Field Climbs

Nov 22 - Climbed Bourgeau Left and experienced surprisingly good
conditions. Though the last few nights had dipped close to -20, the
ice was damp and plastic the whole way up. First pitch is a bit thin
at the bottom, but did not sound dangerously hollow and took 13cm
screws. The final pitch was steep, but featured with some good rests.
The flow is not very wide right now, this made it impossible to get
to the fixed rock station out right before the final 40m, don't plan
on belaying there until if fills out. Of note, the sun was warm and
screws melting out was a concern. The difference between a screw
placed in a shady corner and one placed in the sun was like night and
day. Bring long screws and look for the shaded grooves. There was
around 15cm of low density snow on the approach and immediately above
the route.

Nov 21 - Drove to Field to have a look at the climbs there. Twisted
is in as a pure ice line, Super Bok is in (though it's hard to see
the 'rock arch' pitch), Homebrew is also in. Pilsner is touching on
the right via a thin pillar, but the mixed routes would be in good
shape, Carlsberg is formed but looks like it needs to fatten up just
a little to be inviting. Guinness Gully is all there, but while
climbing the first (thin) pitch the ice was very brittle, fracturing
off in large plates so I came down after a few meters. Best to let it
fatten up, or for it to warm up a bit as not to destroy the pitch for
future parties. Around 10cm of low density snow below Guinness Gully.

Cheers,
Jason Billing
ARG
_______________________________________________
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 ice

On Wed. we climbed the Hooker and the Candle Stick Maker.  The roads were pleasantly snow free, not even drifts in the valley bottom.  We were even able to drive several hundreds metres up the hill on the west side before the road got too icy.  At least 1 or 2 other parties had been in before judging by the footprints and the ice.

Ice on these 2 routes was cold and hard, making for difficult screw placements.  The first pitch on CSM was mostly vertical with a small overlap to overcome.  Perhaps WI5+. The 2nd pitch was brittle enough to warrant a good sheltered belay which we found by way of a small ice cave up a few metres on the right.

Hidden Dragon was well formed with some wetter looking ice, and the Joker was fat.

The Big Drip was in full form.

Cheers,
Shaun King
Alpine Guide

[MCR] Blackcomb backcountry.

Out for a tour yesterday (Nov 21st) off the back of
Blackcomb.
Excellent ski conditions with little wind effect and
great coverage above 6500ft. I have never seen
Spearman Glacier with such good coverage at this time
of year. Almost all of the Crevasses are covered and
there are no large gaping Bershrunds at the bottom of
"Don't swill".
The rest of the surrounding peaks and glaciers look to
be in fine early shape as well.
Below 6500ft the coverage is quite a bit less than
normal and great care should be taken so that you
don't spent the the rest of the month in the hospital
getting stitched up. Also of note below 7000ft and
especially below 6000ft there is a-lot of Surface hoar
that is building (up to 1cm!) This will be a layer to
remember when the new snow starts to come this
weekend.

Have Fun. Craig McGee, MG

Craig McGee, ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
102-4369 Main St. Suite #337
Whistler BC
Canada
V0N 1B4
cell 604 902 0296
Home 604 935 0077

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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] Blackcomb backcountry.

Out for a tour yesterday (Nov 21st) off the back of
Blackcomb.
Excellent ski conditions with little wind effect and
great coverage above 6500ft. I have never seen
Spearman Glacier with such good coverage at this time
of year. Almost all of the Crevasses are covered and
there are no large gaping Bershrunds at the bottom of
"Don't swill".
The rest of the surrounding peaks and glaciers look to
be in fine early shape as well.
Below 6500ft the coverage is quite a bit less than
normal and great care should be taken so that you
don't spent the the rest of the month in the hospital
getting stitched up. Also of note below 7000ft and
especially below 6000ft there is a-lot of Surface hoar
that is building (up to 1cm!) This will be a layer to
remember when the new snow starts to come this
weekend.

Have Fun. Craig McGee, MG

Craig McGee, ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
102-4369 Main St. Suite #337
Whistler BC
Canada
V0N 1B4
cell 604 902 0296
Home 604 935 0077

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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] Blackcomb backcountry.

Out for a tour yesterday (Nov 21st) off the back of
Blackcomb.
Excellent ski conditions with little wind effect and
great coverage above 6500ft. I have never seen
Spearman Glacier with such good coverage at this time
of year. Almost all of the Crevasses are covered and
there are no large gaping Bershrunds at the bottom of
"Don't swill".
The rest of the surrounding peaks and glaciers look to
be in fine early shape as well.
Below 6500ft the coverage is quite a bit less than
normal and great care should be taken so that you
don't spent the the rest of the month in the hospital
getting stitched up. Also of note below 7000ft and
especially below 6000ft there is a-lot of Surface hoar
that is building (up to 1cm!) This will be a layer to
remember when the new snow starts to come this
weekend.

Have Fun. Craig McGee, MG

Craig McGee, ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
102-4369 Main St. Suite #337
Whistler BC
Canada
V0N 1B4
cell 604 902 0296
Home 604 935 0077

____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you
with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/sports;_ylt=At9_qDKvtAbMuh1G1SQtBI7ntAcJ
_______________________________________________
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.