jimmyleg66

You can try 250-814-5202, Rogers Pass Duty Warden. As to current conditions: Subject: [MCR] Selkirks- Sir Donald, August 1st Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:23:19 -0600 On the weekend, Sarah Hueniken and I guided Sir Donald as a party of four. Saturday on the hike to the bivi site the sky was completely obscured by smoke which by Sunday afternoon had mostly dissipated. The route itself has a couple of patches of snow which can be bypassed or easily climbed without ice axe or crampons. We took the West Face Bypass route on the descent and crossed 100m of snow where we used ice axes but did not need crampons. The final rappel station along the ridge (before you start descending the West Face) has been moved slightly north, which now eliminates the potential for rapping into space above the West Face. The bivi site is free of snow and Wardens are checking for Wilderness Permits. Apparently a grizzly has been spotted around the bivi site. Lilla Molnar Mountain Guide

1.5m of snow at Applebee as of June 19th.

Generally, AT boots are significantly lighter and more flexible than alpine. Most have a walk function that allows for more flex at the ankle. They also come with rubber boot soles, usually Vibram. Also the liners are warmers and many lace up. However they are always evolving and now there is a wider range to choose from then ever. You can climb in them but there is much less flexibility and they are heavier than a pair of plastic climbing boots. They have a big duckbill on the front but most will take a crampon. However all this flexibility and light weight comes at the obvious price of downhill performance. The lighter and easier the boot is to tour in the less forgiving it will be on the down hill. If you find yourself leaning back alot in your alpine boots, then you better work on your stance before you switch. The Garmont Adrenaline would be a good choice if you want a do it all boot. It is a 4 buckle boot (most AT boots are 3) and very stiff. Still not as stiff as an alpine racing boot, but way stiffer than most AT. Once again though, you have a heavier and stiffer boot, so not ideal if you take it on a 5 day ski tour. Whatever you do, get out and rent a couple different pairs. Boots like the Scarpa Denali's and the Garmont Adrenaline's ski more like alpine boots, but still are not as stiff. The Scarpa Lasers (I think they're called Matrxi now) are a nice compromise between weight and performance. I have an old pair of Nordica TR12's. They are great for touring and most skiing, but when I get on anything steeper than 40 degress, or in some crud, I really with I had a stiffer boot.

Thanks Dave and Buck. Now maybe I'll bring that change of underwear and extra chocolate!

I got a second hand report that the Kain route still has some snow and ice on it. They also mentioned they used a #3.5 and two #4' Friends, they didn't say where exactly on the route. Is that much gear over 2" needed? Or could it possibly be the smaller cracks were iced up? I was hoping to leave the boat anchors at home.

I was up at Rogers two weeks ago, pretty wet down low and new snow up high. There were lots of griz warnings and I've heard that the approach to Sir Donny is closed now due to a sow and cubs frequently near/on the trail. Google "Live the Vision" and go to the BB, there's a pic of Sir Donald posted recently with lots of snow. A friend of mine was on Athabasca on the weekend and saw a team of three trigger a 2.5 size avalanche. Apparently the slide stoped just short of a crevasse field. Guides and rangers nearby helped expedite a helicopter rescue. They also heard reports of slides as big as 3.5. Whoever is at the dials in the old weather control booth has been boozin it.

So, when I'm bringing up someone on a pitch, if there isn't much space I like to flake the rope over whatever I've used to tie in to the anchor with. This is usually made easier by running the rope through a directional, most often above me, depending on my stance. However, its not always possible or convenient to have the directional go through an equalized point on the anchor, so I'll just attatch it to a single piece. For bringing up the second, is this a grevious error or common practice?

Hey Dru, You don't just have to look out for those sunny days on Yak just in the Winter. Last June we were rappping off Yak-Check and just as I finished the second to last rappel, a Greyhound bus sized chunk of snow/ice at the base ripped out and slid down into the forrest. If we were five minutes faster, one of us would have gone for a ride. Saw the same thing on a smaller scale happen on Vicuna the year before.

Tracy by Mogwai

I put together a slideshow from the Wapta Traverse. We did it over Easter Weekend 2004. If you'd like to check it out its at http://www.telemarktips.com/Moviepage.html If anyone has done the Bow-Yoho, I'd be interested in talking with you. PM me or email me at timmckee@shaw.ca

Hey Shawn, didn't I see you in a movie once? Your blather sounds familiar. Hmmmmmm. Wait a minute! "The Princess Bride"! INCONCEIVABLE!

The Edmonton Fringe Festival is on until Aug 22. Whyte Ave. will have more freeks, geeks, clowns and performers per square meter than just about any event other than maybe Burning Man. Shows are either free (street performers) or like $10 or less. Edmonton is known as the Festival city and this is the topper for the summer.

Never mind, went up the first 6 pitches of Yak Crack yesterday. Few wet patches but nothing bad. There was a 2m+ thick snow slab the size of school bus that avalanched about 10 minutes before we rapped down to it.

Has anyone been driven by or been on Yak recently? Is it dry? How was the descent? Timmay!

Hey Fern, Wow, my first cc.com'er chance meeting... almost. So was that you my partner stopped beside to take some pictures? Yeah I was suprised at the snow depth and definitely appreciated the easy descent it provided. I knew the area was popular but was pretty suprised to see all those people! Do you know if they were all together?