G-spotter Posted April 23, 2012 Posted April 23, 2012 Warm weather woke this thing up from winter hibernation. We took a hike up into the forest below the Illusion Pks on Saturday and were treated to this view The hanging chunk fell off after about 30 minutes. In about an hour there were two audible icefalls (the other one happened while we were in the trees hiking up, so no pics) Didn't get a good view of the N Couloir, sorry. Quote
dberdinka Posted April 23, 2012 Posted April 23, 2012 Cool photo. Did it slide out last year or are we looking at two (or more) years accumulation? How thick do you estimate that serac edge to be? Quote
JasonG Posted April 23, 2012 Posted April 23, 2012 Just what I was wondering...And, how is the road this year? Quote
G-spotter Posted April 23, 2012 Author Posted April 23, 2012 Road is waterbarred from 1.5km. More than a foot of snow on the road at 2.5km (snowshoeing). Can't remember if it fully slid last year. Probably did. That's just this year's snow. Serac is maybe 15-20m thick? Whole wall deposits in this bowl. Quote
Ponzini Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 Flew over Slesse en route to Toronto yesterday. A bit more has peeled off, but the rest of it is still in place. Quote
Colin Posted July 13, 2012 Posted July 13, 2012 I'm pretty sure that the Pocket Glacier never slid off last year (it was still completely there, but with tons of crevasses, in mid September last year), and that in this photo we are seeing two year's worth of accumulation. I wonder actually if sometimes having more ice accumulation (for example, two year's worth) makes the Pocket Glacier more likely to slide off completely. In any event, I wonder what this heat wave will do to it. Dru, keep us informed if you catch a glimpse again! Quote
G-spotter Posted July 13, 2012 Author Posted July 13, 2012 I heard that as of Wednesday the Nesakwatch road is blocked at 10km by *fresh* snow avalanche debris. Quote
G-spotter Posted July 13, 2012 Author Posted July 13, 2012 Tuesday. "Getting to the NE buttress looks sketchy right now to say the least." Quote
Off_White Posted July 13, 2012 Posted July 13, 2012 Wow, that is such a great picture. Incredible amount of stuff on what is essentially an annual glacier. The change between Saturday and Tuesday is stunning. Quote
G-spotter Posted July 13, 2012 Author Posted July 13, 2012 The change between Saturday and Tuesday is stunning. You mean the change between April and July? Quote
Colin Posted July 15, 2012 Posted July 15, 2012 Awesome photo, Dru - thanks. Actually, I think this MIGHT even be 3 years of accumulation in these photos. In mid Sept last year the Pocket Glacier was very much still there, and at the start of Sept 2010 it was also still very big. In any event, it seems to be going fast now. I think the ice in these photos is thick enough to actually have plastic flow at the bottom (I think that from one year of accumulation the Pocket Glacier only experiences "snow creep"), which might make the glacier more likely to slide off than when it is thinner. Quote
G-spotter Posted July 15, 2012 Author Posted July 15, 2012 Sounds like we need a glacial geophysicist to answer that one... Fern? Quote
G-spotter Posted July 18, 2012 Author Posted July 18, 2012 Latest conditions pic, Dr Krumm and Al were up Crossover yesterday Looks nasty over by Slesse but they only reported hearing one big icefall over the day Quote
bdwbdn Posted July 21, 2012 Posted July 21, 2012 Has anyone ever crossed the glacier in conditions like these? Would it be too sketchy? Was hoping to do the NE Buttress at the end of the month.... Quote
G-spotter Posted July 22, 2012 Author Posted July 22, 2012 Has anyone ever crossed the glacier in conditions like these? Would it be too sketchy? It's been done but it is dodgy. Sertac Olgun was killed there under similar conditions in 2009 when a serac fell over and landed on him. I would recommend caution or waiting until later in the year. Quote
Buckaroo Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 looks like there's still plenty of snow for melt water on the big bivy ledge Quote
ivan Posted July 23, 2012 Posted July 23, 2012 Has anyone ever crossed the glacier in conditions like these? Would it be too sketchy? It's been done but it is dodgy. Sertac Olgun was killed there under similar conditions in 2009 when a serac fell over and landed on him. I would recommend caution or waiting until later in the year. or maybe just bring the nitro!?! Quote
bdwbdn Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 Thanks for the reply. I'll provide an update if we end up heading there. Quote
AlpineK Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 If you do the full buttress route you stay away from the hanging glacier. Quote
bush-in-sky Posted July 25, 2012 Posted July 25, 2012 Does anyone have a good photo showing where the full buttress route starts? I've read a lot of trip reports and descriptions but haven't yet found a picture that would help locate the start quickly (and avoid what sounds like difficult to protect slab if you get off route). Thanks in advance. Quote
rig Posted July 25, 2012 Posted July 25, 2012 Anyone know how the Nesakwatch road is that leads to the memorial trail for the northeast buttress of mt. Slesse is, e. g can a 2wd Honda civic make it to the trail head? Quote
G-spotter Posted July 25, 2012 Author Posted July 25, 2012 A 2wd won't do it but just about any 4wd with decent clearance will. A Subaru Legacy would have problems but a Forester could make it with some grinding. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.