jmckay

Went up the N glacier of Ipsoot Mt. (20Km north of Whistler) today. Got dropped off at a lake at 6000' and took a middle line up the glacier to the summit. Found sun cups and generally easy travel to about 7200' - here the snow gradually changed sloppy with a soft non sun cupped top layer that made for 20cm foot penetration. This soft snow lasted to the summit at 8200'. The snow depth at 7000' (in a flat bowl, low wind effect) was 2 meters. The crevasses were quite saggy and lots are opening up. Lots of ice showing in winded areas. A light southerly breeze was a great airconditioner during this beautiful day with no clouds. Dave Sarkany SKi Guide _______________________________________________ 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.

With the spell of good weather continuing , we again visited Rogers Pass and climbed the ‘Jones Route’ (western most buttress) on the south face of Mnt Tupper. Parked at the Hermit parking area, then scrambled to the base of the buttress in two hours. Unlike Mt. McDonald a few days earlier, the snow in the gullies on the south aspects is disappearing quickly and what remains was too firm to allow for good step kicking. The route itself consisted of 16ish pitches of up to 5.9 climbing, blessed with a healthier coating of lichen than most routes could ever dream of! A standard rack up to a #3 Camelot and rock shoes were definitely appreciated. Although it had a few redeeming pitches, in hindsight, overall not a route I could recommend. Beautiful to look at, but hard to establish any sense of climbing ‘flow’. Put it on your ‘B’ list when you’re looking for something different and expect a full day with an early start. Descent down the normal West Ridge, then over to Hermit Meadows and down the trail. Snowline is now just above the campground, with the tent platforms pretty much melted out. Cheers, Paul Norrie ACMG Mountain Guide _______________________________________________ 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. 2 of 36 in INBOX

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.

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

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 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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.

June 18th 2006: We have taken 8 days worth of food and fuel so we are not in a real hurry to get anywhere. This is in theory of course. There is the thing that Marlon describes as the "Joe squirrel factor". I am content to take it easy and pace things out as long as I have something to read. I figured this trip two books would be plenty however I devoured the two I brought and the one that I borrowed from the hut I had just finished this morning. Moraine camp is 4900 meters which is fairly high but not outraougoues by cordillera Blanca standards. However Hauscran is well over 6000 meters which is high by any standard. We decide that we make a carry to glacier camp at 5300 meters drop off extra food and technical equipment. This climb high sleep low is a proven system that really helps one become accustomed two altitude. Mind you we have been in country for over a month climbing so if we wanted I suppose we could just have carried on . Like I said we were in no hurry. the morning was spent flaked out on the granite slabs enjoying the sun and excellent weather that has long been over due. Around one we put together a couple 10 to 15 kilo packs and start the stroll up the glacier. The moment that we step out on the glacier is when things change. At these altitudes the air is very dry and does little to reflect the UV rays from the sun. Add to that the reflective quality of the snowfield and you have light coming at you from every direction. The head is sweltering and breathing becomes an effort because of this. It takes about an hour and a half to reach the 5300 meter point which is the last logical location before getting into any technical climbing. There is a Peruvian guiding party on the mountain and there camp is located at this elevation. The assistant or one of the assistants is at camp brewing up water and getting lunch ready for their team which we can see descending the cantalena section of the Gargantuan icefall. The climbers are just flyspeck in the distance and it is for the first time that we an idea of the real scale of the mountain. The thin clear air makes the distance deceiving. Huascran Norte we are told is in good shape and very climbable. We sit and watch the party descend eventually they stroll into camp. We are told that the normal route on hauscran is impassible and impossible. Huge crevasses the last couple years have spanned the entire north ice-fall and are impossible to get across under the present conditions. I am sure that I have heard or over heard that later in the season the guides have Kumbued the place and placed ladders to span the crevasses. Business is business I suppose. We knew that there was a fair chance that snow conditions are less then ideal but what we are hearing is a bit discouraging. The party that we are talking to had climbed the SHIELD route which is a technical ice line that is fairly direct and quite steep climbing for 20,000 feet plus elevations. the guide points out a couple objective hazards and plays up the danger to a point that he is getting me a bit nervous. I've known quite a few guides in my day and I can tell a good one from bad one. This is a good one. Sun Tzu states that you have to use guys like these in order to get your troops across unknown terrain safely. I log the information, thank the boys, picket our packs and head down to moraine camp. We eat well that night and go to bed early. I decide to open bivi outside and enjoy the good weather. The Peruvian night sky has more stars then anywhere else in the world that I have been. I am sure it enhanced by our elevation and the thin atmosphere. The southern cross holds my attention till I eventually drift off. The thing about climbing in this range is not that the days are so short it's that the nights are so fragging long. Hence all the reading that I have been doing. June 19th 2006; We are up with first light at 6 a.m. and kick back a couple cups of the swill they call coffee around here. We pick up our packs around 9 a.m. and head up to glacier camp which had been abandoned by the Peruvians the evening before. By 12 we have established camp. Now to decide what we want to do. In order to climb Norte we pretty much have to go through the gargantuan ice-fall and establish camp at 6000 meters. (It should be noted that the Gargantuan is one of the most dangerous places in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. Towering seracs thirty stories high, every foot threatened by avalanches and to add the cherry to the sundae, massive snow bridges spanning bottomless crevasses that have to be crossed. Kind of like playing Russian roulette with 3 shells in the cylinder.) However Norte is the second highest peak in Peru. Isn't that kind of like winning a silver medal. What is second place? Second is just the first loser. Fortunately we have two technical tools and for the first time I have steel crampons. I had been using aluminum for the last 4 less technical peaks. However I only had 2 pickets and 4 ice screws. looking up at the route I kind of felt like I was taking a knife to a gun fight. I guess I could always turn back if things got out of hand. The plan was to take off a bit earlier then the Peruvians and leave camp around 10 p.m. With no book to read the "squirrel factor" took hold. My over active imagination started to conjure up demons and dragons. The ice towers started to lean more, the weather was going to change, we were sure to have an earthquake. Enough! If your going to shoot me just get it over with. "Marlon, lets climb the lowers shrunds and ice pitches so that I can get a look into the cantalena and at those seracs with my name on them" I guess Marlon knew that things were going to get worse "sure" is all he said. June 19th 2006 4:15 p.m. THE CLIMB (or when Hell freezes over)......to be continued......

Summary of conditions to date – Rockies and Interior Ranges June 22, 2006 This past week saw unstable weather throughout the region, resulting in thunderstorms with slightly cooler and wetter weather – trace amounts of new snow were reported in alpine areas above 3000 m, but this quickly melted off on sun exposed aspects. South facing rock climbing is generally good and dry, except at the highest elevations. The mountains are ahead of themselves for what is typical of late June – conditions seem typical of mid July. Most trails are dry and the summer melt is well into moraine areas now. Some crevasses and bergshrunds are starting to open up, but in general the glaciers remain well covered. As the snow continues to melt, it’s the thinner snowpack areas near the firn line where crevasse bridges may be at their weakest. Sky cover and air temperature determine snow conditions each day – clear nights will produce a solid crust, where cloudy nights or warm days will not. The thickness of the crust will determine how long it lasts each day – so dig down and check. If its 20 cm thick then you’re probably good for a while; if its 4 cm thick then you might think about hurrying up or going somewhere else. This past week the solid crusts began to deteriorate between 10 and 11am. Along with melting snow comes rockfall, which was observed this week on Mt. Aberdeen as the day warmed up. Choose sheltered routes and try to cross any areas prone to rockfall early in the day. The forecast for this weekend looks good (after Friday’s thunderstorms). Clear skies should provide a good freeze, but valley bottom temps into the mid 20’s will melt things early. Get an early start and be down by mid afternoon before the crusts melt, rocks fall and thunderstorms move in. Looks like a great weekend to be in the hills! Grant Statham Mountain Guide

West Coast Mountain Conditions – June 22, 2006 Summer is finally arriving on the south coast. Time to dust off the crampons and ice axes. But first here are a few things to consider… Weather over the past few weeks has seen a series of brief intense showers and broken sky’s with the odd very intense rain event. The freezing level has been sitting around 7000’, with about 10cm of new snow in the upper alpine. Sunday night (June 18th) stands as the first good coastal freeze of the season. Presently, with these overnight freezes the snowpack carries well in the AM but breaks down rapidly midday and more resembles the previous weeks travel conditions, with boot top or more foot penetration in a wet grained unconsolidated upper snowpack. Wet loose-snow avalanches have been frequent on steep terrain, all aspects, over the past couple of weeks. These sluffs can easily and rapidly entrain enough mass to knock a climber off there feet and into or over very hazardous terrain. Be cautioned that this early in the season even a good overnight freeze will breakdown rapidly on steep solar affected terrain, a condition further exacerbated by the new snow from last week storms. This effect is especially true on snow slopes where there is an abundant amount of exposed rock to further heat the snowpack. There have been a few reports of recent deep slab releases (some to ground), triggered by cornice failures. These are mostly 1-2 weeks old now, but there is still some lingering cornice hazard. Keep your heads up. Snow coverage on glaciated terrain is reported to be better in all regions then has been seen over the past few years (for this time of year), especially as you move North through the Coast Range. Presently, crevasses are well bridged and travel less complex Expect to find plenty of moisture in seams and cracks on most alpine rock, the product of the wet weather of recent. A more enduring affect, this season in particular, will be the melting affect on routes with features that tend to hold snow on ledges and gullies. In terms of access, Snow line remains just below 5000’. A meter plus of snow was recently reported at the Keith Flavelle Hut at 5500’. Safe to say that river and creek crossings will be challenging with the available snow and rising temps. Clear sky’s are forecast to dominate the mountains by Friday AM and continue through the weekend and into next week. Freezing levels are expected to climb to 4000m by Sunday. A few things to keep in mind with this forecasted midday heating are, first, all aspects especially steep solar exposed aspects will continue to be prone to wet slides. Snow travel quality will rapidly diminish mid day. Expect more sagging and collapsed snow bridges on glaciers in the coming days. Be cautious of the threat posed by the many large cornices which linger from the past winter. Happy Climbing! Keith Reid, Mountain Guide _______________________________________________ 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.

June 20th 1;15 p.m. I stagger into glacier camp at 5300 meters. I haven't consumed more then 200 ml of water in thelast 20 hours. In the last several I have developed a deep lung busting high altitude cough from the dry air. In the last 40 minutes the heat has engulfed us like a tsunami. The descent over the last two bergshrunds left us in these dishes of snow with no cover and were just huge convective ovens. 30 minutes prior I had just stripped off a layer of down, gor-tex, mec puffball. This provided temporary relief but that was only momentary. The Andean sun is a unforgiving beast and the reflective quality of the icefield gives the radiation an almost physical presence. With the last rap done and no major problems between me and camp I struggle ahead. Marlon drags the rope behind him, not bothering to try coiling it. I shed my dryclimb in an attempt to relieve the heat once again . Dropping my day-pack I lay out my tentsack turn my back upside down and spill out it's contents. I dig threw the pile of untouched lunch, slings, biners and damp clothing looking for one of the four 500 ml water bottles. I find one that is mostly unfrozen. Despite the heat I am not sweating diagnose myself with a semi-advanced stage of heat exhaustion. Despite not feeling thirsty I force down the water and struggle with keeping it down long enough to get absorbed into the system. Marlon lays spread eagle in the snow in an attempt to cool his body temp. My only chance for escape from the sun is in te tent. Despite it being sweltering is a great deal better then being exposed to the cloudless sky. I peeled off my boots and must have passed out for 15 or 20 minutes. I was awoken by a pain in my feet or my toes to be more exact. My feet had been cold the evening before for quite a long time and despite all attempts at increasing circulation by loosing off my laces and swinging them then soccer style a every belay they were a constant reminder of how cold it was. I have to admit forgetting at what point that they stopped hurting and something close to panic had suddenly engulfed me. Sometime while I was out Marlon had dragged his 200 pound, way honed, chicken eating carcass into the tent. I bet I looked at my soaking wet wool socks for 10 minutes to afraid to pull them off in case of what I suspected was for real. Marlon picks up from the vibe and asks "what's up". "I think I froze my feet" I reply. At some point I had to find out for sure so after a couple minutes I peel off my socks. My big toe on my left is purplish black, the bottom is chalk white and as hard as a rock. I touch it and it is cold to the touch I have no physical sensation. The left big toe is much the same with out the chalk white. Marlon looks at my feet then asks "what do we do now". "Well if they are frost bitten which I am sure they are then conventional wilderness first aid dictates that I keep then frozen till I can get to a place where I can thaw them out and seek medical attention. Barring medical attention have the ability to sterilize them and have clean loose dressings available. After thawing they are going to blister and I am about to find out that there are worse things then dying" (temporarily at least). A few quick calculations and I realize that I may possibly be able to reach Huaraz yet today. What would be required is that we pack up camp this exact second and descend to the refugio at 4750 meters. There I could drop my pack and race down to the valley to Musho take a cab from there direct back to the Hostel in Huaraz. Marlon can hire a porter the following morning to carry my gear out the next morning. Almost sick with dread at the coming few days I layed out the idea before Marlon. Neither of has slept in the last 20 hours. The thought of picking up out packs and descending wasn't attractive but I didn't have a whole lot of option cards in my hand. I force back some water Marlon boils up some Rommon noodles while we pack. The entire process takes about 25 minutes and we are descending with 40 Kilo packs each. The 400 meters off the glacier goes quick with travel on forgiving snow. The 200 meters of polished granite slabs below the glacier are hell. Morlon arrives at the hut a few minutes before me. A bunch of kids have gathered, future porters and mountain guides. I arrived, dropped my pack grab my daypack stuffed in my dryclime and puffball and in a state of controlled terror said to Marlon "I will see you tomorrow" He assures me that he will take care of things. I check my watch it is 4:37 pm my altimeter corresponds with the hut elevation at 4750 meters. Musho is at 3000 meters. I make like a baby and header out. The trail is rough and the travel is not easy. The moraines are easily the size of tunnel mountain. On the descent I have plenty of time to think about how stupid I have been over the last 36 hours. despite knowing better I refused to consume liquids and had not taken in any calories despite burning off 20,000 plus. I had put the objective ahead of my and marlons personal safety. I am such a idiot! Now I am going to pay the ultimate price and have a pickled toe back on the mantel in Banff. I reach into the side of my climbing pants and pull out a bag of coca. I have four good chews left. The coca staves off the fatigue and recycles the saliva. It's not much but it helps. Despite carrying just a daypack the descent is not going near as quick as I had anticipated. Musho is still a tiny spot in the valley. After a good hour of descending I am less then a third of the way down. Now you don't have to be a rocket surgeon to do the math and figure that I am not going to make Musho before dark. In my rush to get out I had neglected to grab a headlamp. I am also starting to feel fatigued from the lack of water. I hate to admitt i but I failed to grab a water bottle in my hurry. If I were a movie title at this moment it would be "Dumb and Dumber" and I get to play both parts. I know whats coming so I quicken my pace down the moraines. Travel like hell while you still have daylight. I start short cutting the switchbacks. I still have 900 meters to descend as the sun touches the peaks Cordillera Nerga on the west side of the valley. This close to the equator night comes like somebody flicking a switch. You have about 20 minutes of twilight then absolute darkness. I have entered treeline at almost the same time that I am engulfed by the night. I am tired, frustrated and almost at the point of having to sit down and wait till morning. Adding insult to injury is the fact that there is a creek a few meters away but I can't drink the water! There are far to many cattle above me and I might as well shoot myself in the guts and take a couple days to die as to take a drink. I keep losing the trail at this point and have to back track a number of times. Stumbling over boulders has become the norm and I am worried about making things even worse then they already are, if that is possible. Seconds before I am ready to call it quiet's for the night I break out on to the remenets of an old road. It isn't much of a road a trail basically but it is wide enough that I can follow it in the starlight. It descends in a direction that I don' really want to go but if I had few option cards before I don't have any now. I check my altimeter. Still 400 meters to descend. I get glimpses of the village lights through the trees occasionally. It just doesn't seem possible that it can be that far away. In my state for once I decide to do the right thing and trust my instruments. The road is not easy to follow and after a couple klicks it disappears. How could I lose a road? I backtrack find it walk 20 meters ahead and lose it. Loggers had dropped or brushed trees and the dry dark leaves had covered up the lighter covered gravel. After a hour of walking by braille the road improves and I begin a steady switchback. Another hour passes and I see lights in the distance maybe 500 meters ahead and I come out in a village to small to be called a hamlet but they ahve power. I find somebody and get directions. I am 2 klicks north of Musho and I only need to follow the only road that there is to get there. If there is a upside to all this it is that a few hours earlier as I was stumbling over the boulders and brush I realized that my feet had plenty of time to thaw out. If I had frostbitten them as bad as I thought they should hurt a hell of a lot more then they do right now. No guarantees mind you but there is a little hope ahead (perhaps) There are three cabs in front of the 20 foot by 40 foot Musho bar. Two guys are sitting in one and I ask how much to Huaraz. 70 soles ($25 US). In Lima you would never jump into a cab with two guys in the middle of no where alone, in the middle of the night. Here in the Cordillera Blanca the people are as honest as the day is long (in Banff in June). "Hang on " I stumble into the bar , purchase two big bottles of beer walk back to the cab hop in "vamous amigo" If I was going to get mugged this would be a great time to do it cause I wouldn't even notice. Me, me, me but enough about me. What do you think about me? I guess I have gotten things a little out of order. June 16th 2006 9:30 a.m. we have taken a cab up to Musho the staging point to climb Huascran. Musho is like walking onto the set of "Fist full of Dollars". Complete with a village center , old church and 200 year old bell tower. The only thing missing is 3 gringo mercenaries and one bad ass wearing a poncho, cigar in his mouth and a tyed down 45. By 11 a.m. we have engaged the services of a donkey driver and his beasts of burden. Because of the amount of equipment and food we require two animals. ($10 us a day for the driver and $5 for each animal. This is a pretty standard rate across the range for these services). Base camp is at 4150 meters and about 4 hours walk up a steady grade from Musho. Base camp is a basic slit level terrace affair about 3 tiers high and 100 feet long by 30 feetwide. A small glacial stream is only several meters away. Boil your water despite the proximity to the glacier. High altitude cattle seem to get above you no matter how high you get. I wouldn't be surprised to look into a crevasse one day and see old bessie grazing down there. June 17th. Instead of doing one carry to moraine camp at 4900 meters we break things up and first take a load of equipment and extra food. The trail to moraine is not near as straight forward as I would have expected. A solid 6 meters of 5.6 climbing gets you up onto the acres of polished granite slabs. The slabs don't lend themselves to forming a trail so a series of cairns mark the route. If we had been carrying full loads there would have been some dam serious moves with a not so great run out. Moraine camp at 4900 is right at the toe of the glacier. It's a nice enough spot with good water for a change. The upper part of huscran sticks above the toe. It is a dam pretty mountain. The twin summits and completely covered in glacial ice. The south summit is slightly higher at 6766 meters it is the highest point in Peru and only 100 meters higher then the North peak. From the summit to the valley floor it is over 2 miles of vertical ascent. From Huaraz it's scale is off the charts of imagination. The only way that you conceive of climbing this peak is in stages. From camp to camp. If you tried to take it all in you'd blow a circuit in your wee little brain. By the time that we do our second carry and bring up the camp we are exhausted from the days efforts. Despite the altitude sleep comes easy. June 18th 2006 ........TO BE CONTINUED

Hi, Things are slowly shaping up in the Bugs. There has been a bit of recent new snow above 9500ft that is still sticking to the very high north sides of the peaks. The winter snowpack is slowly melting away and is getting patchy in the moraines above the hut. Travel is variable but is generally good if you can avoid the shallow areas near rocks. There is still snow on much of the kain route and on most shady ledges above 9000ft. Routes on the sunny aspects of the smaller peaks like Crescent Spire and the Crescent Towers might be getting pretty dry but I would guess that most of the bigger stuff (Bugaboo N.E Ridge, Snowpatch Route, Kain route) could still be a little sporty. The last few kilometres of road into the park are still closed due to the recent construction of last fall and a very rainy spring. Temporary parking is on the edge of the airstrip near the CMH Bugaboo lodge and access to the trail is gained by walking past the gate, up the driveway then across the lawn to join the park road. There is active logging in a few places up to the 14 kilometre with lots of trucks using the road. The frequency for the road is 158.46 for those with radios. Also, the trail to the hut was washed out last fall in the open slide path below the ladders. I have not heard anything about the shape of the trail yet this spring but a few parties have been up it already. Cheers, Marc Piché Mountain Guide

Just spent the weekend up on Baker. The mountain is in great condition. Snow level is at 4700 ft ( about tree line on the Colman Deming route) Camped at the top of the moraine (6000ft) were there is running water. We left our camp at 4:00 am with a great over night freeze (0c). Crampons right from the tent. Someone has put the up track right from tent city ( The regular camp at about 7000ft) up through crevasses and steep slopes then right under icefall on Colfax peak. I highly recommend taking the bench 100-200m lower. It's much more efficient and less threatened from crevasses and the ice fall. The Roman Headwall was in very firm conditions. A slip here would mean a long ride down the Headwall. Proper care shold be taken hear with either belayed climbing It was quite cold on the summit with a temp of about -5 or -10 with the wind chill. We got back to camp at around 1:00pm with minor post holing for the last 1500ft. Take Care, Craig McGee IFMGA __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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] Moraine Lake and Lake OHara areas, June 19th, 2006 North faces of Fay and Quadra are snowy from glacier to ridge and cornices don't look too huge from a distance. Perren approach looks damp but climbable. Temple looks pretty snowy above 3000m's on the tourist route. Great conditions today with a good freeze overnight on Wenkchemna pass and Opabin pass. Regular routes on Odaray, Lefroy, Cathedral, Ringrose and Glacier peak look good with a good freeze. Grassi Ridge and Watchtower are dry. Odaray Tarrant Buttress, Hungabee and Biddle are still way too snowy to be reasonable.

Climbed Mt. Stanley with Jeremy Mackenzie today. Cooler temperatures over the last two days helped make a generally supportive crust on the glacier in the early morning which began to deteriorate by about 1000hrs. Below this crust the snow is still very moist and in some locations not well consolidated making us a bit leary of steep slopes as the day warmed up. The toe of the glacier is still mostly snow covered (though not for long) making for good travel up to the base of the routes on the North side of Mt. Stanley. The Y and Waterman Couloir's had open bergschrunds and are topped by very large cornices so we gave them a miss. The North Face (Kahl) Route was in good shape with a well covered bergschrund followed by several pitches of ice. The upper section was covered in snow and we avoided it due to warming temperatures. Instead we followed the NW Ridge (descent route) to the top. A nice descent back down the NW Ridge with a couple 25m rappels and then down a snow gully to the climbers right of the lower North Face, brought us back to the main glacier. With cooler temperatures and clear skies this route should be in shape again for early morning travelers. If things heat up there is still quite a bit of snow up high which could become a concern. Cheers, Conrad Janzen ACMG Ski & Asst. Alpine Guide -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta._______________________________________________ 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.

Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains, issued june 15th, 2006. There has been relatively little change in the mountain conditions in the past week. Some warm days and some large rain events have continued the trend towards summer conditions below 3000m. At 7pm on June 15th in the Lake Louise area it appeared to be raining to at least 3350m(11,000ft.) No recent new snow at all on the N face of Mt Temple. Approximately 10mm of rain fell in the Lake OHara area today and snow is almost non-existent in the OHara area to treeline. There was a report of two large slab avalanches(size 2.5) releasing with daytime heating the afternoon of June 12th on 40-50 degree east facing terrain around 3000m on the Wapta. Travel conditions are generally not great at the present, wet rock and wet weak snow being the main characteristics. Conditions in the Rockies and Selkirks will remain poor until we get back into a period of colder overnight temperatures. Again, all that wet snow SHOULD freeze nicely with a cold, clear night. If it the skies do clear, pay attention to the strength of the snow and try and be off any avalanche terrain and glaciers before the snow gets sloppy with the daytime heating. Alpine rock routes on the east slope of the Rockies and on south and west facing terrain in the Columbia are thoroughly soaked right now but could dry off fairly quickly when(and if) the rain stops. Larry Stanier Mountain Guide _______________________________________________ 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.

Spent Monday out guiding in the Blackcomb backcountry. Wanted to go up the route "29 forever" on Huesume buttress, however the two small snowpatches were still there and letting a fair bit of water seep down the rest of the route. All other rock routes look to be in very good (dry) conditions. Because of the technical nature of the other routes we went up the "high feeder chute" at the right side of the buttress then continued straight up mid 5th steps to the top. This worked out fairly well however there is a bit of loose rock in places, its best to stay on the ridges and out of the gullies. From the top we continued along the NW ridge of Spearhead peak. The Ridge is free of snow. If you wish to keep on the aesthetic ridge crest and not drop down on the North ledges a few finger to 1.5 inch pieces are useful. There are no open holes on the Blackcomb glacier however there are a few holes and sags on the Spearhead glacier. The Spearhead traverse still has tones of snow an I'm sure the traverse is very doable on skis. Travel condition on Monday were not the best with shin to knee deep penetrating even at 8:30 am. Take care, Craig McGee, IFMGA __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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.

John I pulled this off live-the-vision.com I am in Peru at the moment. Best to check that site out till I get back in the middle of july. My guess is that it is a bit early just yet but sounds like we are having a early alpine season. Joe Athabasca - 2006/06/12 15:23 Well, we had a fun weekend, even if we did goof up a bit on predicting the weather. We arrived at the CI area Friday afternoon to socked in weather and pouring rain. As the evening progressed, the weather stayed pretty terrible, so we decided to sleep in a bit Saturday morning (since some of our party arrived later Friday night) and go up Boundary on Saturday saving our strength for Sunday morning. Ooops. Saturday's weather turned great and Sunday was for crap. We did get up Boundary in the sun and had a pretty good day on the glacier. Snow was pretty isothermic once off the beaten track. Observations: The North Glacier route is not being traveled often right now. Snow is deep and it looks pretty wind loaded. The usual seracs are completely buried where they typically threaten clibers headed up the ramp. The AA Col route is being used and thanks to the tracks, travel is reasonable even with the amount of snow. A guide and his client headed out early Sunday morning (we went back to bed as it was POURING) and they didn't make it off the glacier thanks to heavy rain and poor visibiliy. The approach trails are snow free and the very bottom of the North Glacier is ice.

Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains, issued June 10th, 2006. Mountain travel conditions are generally more like we would expect for early july than mid june. Widespread snowcover begins around 2700m(9000ft) and the whole snowpack up to at least 3350m(11,000ft) has undergone numerous melt freeze cycles and is in late spring/early summer condition. We have no recent reports from above 3350m(11,000ft) but I would suspect it is still feels like winter high on all but the south sides of Mt. Robson, Clemenceau, Columbia etc. Access and approach trails for the Bugaboos, Rogers Pass, Lake Louise group, Columbia Icefields etc are generally in good condition. Rivers and creeks are still high and there may be lots of unrepaired trail damage from the winter but snow should not be a big issue, outside of old avalanche deposits, below 2500m's. Alpine rock routes on all except North faces and especially east of the divide in the Rockies are in good early season conditions. Some examples would be from Castle Mtn east to Yamnuska in the Bow Valley, the Colin range in Jasper, Mt Tupper and Macdonald west face in Rogers Pass and Snowpatch and Marmolata in the Bugaboos. These should all dry out quickly if and when the rain stops. Examples of routes still buried in snow would be the East Ridge of Edith Cavell, North face of Mt. Temple, NW arete on Sir Donald, and the NE ridge of Bugaboo spire. Glacier travel and snow and ice climbing conditions are generally poor for this weekend due to the present warm and wet pacific storm. Condition will remain poor until we get back into a period of colder temperatures. As long as we don't get any signifigant new snow out of this storm, snow conditions could quickly become excellent with one good cold, clear night. However, we can still expect another cycle of falling cornices, failing snow bridges, wet snow avalanches and rockfall when the alpine snowpack next meets the afternoon heat under a hot june sun. Larry Stanier Mountain Guide _______________________________________________ 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.

Can't promise to break the record but most definitly will make the loop. can still see your the trail in the shattered cement sidewalks.

Two things to note around Squamish. Papoose: Hair Pin - There is a hanger missing on the first pitch just before the anchors. The bolt is still intact. It would be useful if someone brought a hanger and nut up there. Apron: Sparrow - There is a microwave size block / flake that is perched on the last pitch of Sparrow. Situated 3 meters above the last gear / small tree belay, 55m from the top of Broadway Ledge. The loose flake / block has some very sharp edges. Roger Sarrasin ACMG Rock Guide -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.3/359 - Release Date: 08/06/2006 _______________________________________________ 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.

June 8th 2006 Pisco (5752 Meters) The weather continues to be unsettled and we are hard pressed for a 6000 meter peak under the present conditions. It will take two weeks of decent weather to bring Hauscran and Alpamayo into shape Pisco is a great acclimation mountain hidden away in Huascran National Park. In the area are some striking looking peaks "The Houndoy peaks" which consist of three distinct summits but are very technical in nature and require much better conditions then we are presently experiencing. What I am about to tell you is what I think is the best way to climb Pisco. We took a private taxi (125 s//l $45 us) to Pisco on the way you reach the Huascran Park gate. There you will have to purchase a pass which is good for a month and costs 65 s/l ($21 US). It is about a 2 hour ride by private car over some of the roughest roads this side of Rio Grande. The road is hemmed in by towering granite walls stretching thousands of feet into condor country. If you were navigating this trail during the rainy season I would say your chances are about the same as a "snowflakes in hell" of surviving. I am sure they must but the evidence of rock slides are every few kilometers. The reason that we took a private vehicle is that we wanted to make Moraine Camp in one day (4900 meters). My suggestion to the budget minded traveler is to take commercial transport (Colectivos) and don't be in a big hurry. Camp at the Pisco trail head which is a pleasant meadow (3900 meters) 50 meters down from when the colectivo drops you off. I never drink alcohol above 4000 meters so this site is ideal. The burrow drivers will sell you a great big bottle of slightly chilled Pilsen for 5 s/l ($1.75 US). Now kick back and chillax. You can catch the first burro train in the morning. By going to Moraine Camp in a day you bypass Swamp Camp (4600 meters) just below the refugio. There is nothing good that can be said about swamp camp except perhaps that it is to high for mosquitos. Soggy campsites, bad water, slightly crowded, so called public toilets that would gag a maggot. The kind of place that you would suggest to your worst enemy for a honeymoon. From here shoulder your load and get set for 3 to 4 hours of boulder hopping hell. A well defined trail leads up and over a huge moraine. Drop down the other side (50-60 meters) on a 1 foot wide trail hacked out of vertical sand. I would suggest not falling here or at least have you affairs in order. Sun Tzu in the Art of War suggest that when traveling on difficult ground that one is best to push straight through, force march your troops if necessary. This next section of ice core moraine field falls under this sort of terrain. Put your head down and just get going. The other side is not coming to you. Moraine Camp (4900 meters) is a pleasant spot with great views and is about 100 meters below the Pisco glacier. There are several good campsites and good water for the first time since I arrived 2.5 weeks ago. The Houndoy towers are real climbs but not death routes, well I suppose they could be if you were not a seasoned veteran to the climbing world. All are ice and rock mixed routes and require a good foundation of climbing skills. Grabbing a heel hook and pulling yourself up with a single digit monotwat is a lot easier in the climbing gym then it is at 6000 meters while a condor circles above waiting for lunch to fall off. There were two guided parties while we were there. One got up at 12am and left at 1am. They had two french girls and a french guy in tow. It is roughly 800 meters to the summit from Moraine Camp. ( My altimeter showed the actual hight to be 760 meters but you know how they can fluctuate) The second group was a single guide and a young Irish lad who had never done anything like this before. He was a bit nervous and worried about the altitude. I of course took advantage of the situation and told him that his chances were 60/40 and not to the good. As the evening wore on I kept lowering the odds. Marlon kept bring his hopes back by actually telling him the truth about the situation. Anyhow they left at 2am. Marlon and I slept in till a comfortable 5am had coffee and the usual garlic potatoes with hot sauce. 6:07am and we were off like a herd of turtles. The guides had punched a track up through the fresh snow like I knew they would. It is a interesting glacier to travel on with one notable exposed location that is unavoidable. a 70 meter wide wall of ice that is 150 - 200 meters high topped with ice seracs, the slope angle was 40 degrees consistently. Under the present conditions it was swept clean and the seracs were not that threating. Being a glacier that would be a ever changing thing. This location is pretty much unavoidable and I am guessing at the 5400 meter height( I could be wrong about the exact hight as I did not make a conscious note of it and the altitude can play tricks with your memory) It took 3:35 to reach the summit and a 1 hour to return to moraine camp. The last 300 meterswe climbed up into the clouds. Lunch was a brick of cream cheese and I experimented with altitude by drinking a bottle of carbonated orange crush soda. Guess I was trying to see if i could blow myself up. Once back at camp we refueled on chicken soup and romman noodles. Funny thing the appetite. Back in Banff I work in a place where the food is practically free. The french fries fall from the sky in huge mountains of saturated fats. The Gravy flows like the Bow River in spring flood. The salad bar takes up an entire wall. Everybody's ass is so fat that they should have wide load signs on them. But here in this oxygen starved environment dry bread and plain soup is better then anything I ever pulled out of staff Caff. The idea was to spend another night at 4900 meters to better acclimate. Well I lasted about 10 minutes as I am sure that Marlon saw that I was having a love affair with my watch. It was 12:02 45 minutes later it was 12:03. I went and found a rock to sulk on that over looked the valley. It took about 20 minutes of pouting before I heard "maybe we should head down". Bang , I had camp packed quicker then you could say "Jack Robinson". On the way down we ran across Mark Cosleys group looking a little war weary but on their way up to give Pisco a go. They would be trying the summit today and looking north and west from Huaraz I would say they are stuck in some pretty bad weather. Also on the descent at 4100 meters just above the valley floorwe ran into Japanese climbers who were going in with two Burros loaded with gear to climb the Houndoys. They were suffering bad from altitude add the fact that the mountains are in no shape to climb right now I don't like their chances. Had I given the one my katana (japanese long sword) I am sure he would have taken the honorable way out and fallen on it. Big bottle of beer on the valley floor Then we headed up to catch a ride. I swear that we were not standing there 2 minutes and what shows up is not a chicken bus as expected but a full blown Turistco Motor Coach complete with double leg room , cushy seats and movies. Course 20 minutes later it gets two flats on one side so they take a tire from the other side and put it on the bad side (the bus had rear duals of course). Winding down the narrow unguarded road it was not a pleasant thought about what would happen if any of the rear tires blew. I managed to put it out of my mind and considered it a good life to this point and should count myself lucky as is. Well I have three Cordillera Blanca scalps tied to my ice axe now. Pisco went down like a crack ho on a Saturday night. To be continued JJ McKay From the Clan MacKay Born on the banks of the Bow River in the year of the Dog Montana Killer

The Big step on the East Ridge is climbable but some wet areas. Snowy above this. Picture shows the Black Towers and exit gully. The correct exit gully does not have a cornice but obviously full of snow. Other (incorrect) gullies are heavily corniced. If the upper route was climbed early in the morning before the sun is on it and after a good freeze, it would be pretty good. This would mean making the route a two day affair with a bivy. Temp. there @ 10,000' this morning at 10:30 was +6 C. Descent gully on Castle looks quite good with some snow still in the middle. As Barry said, still lots of snow on top which would mean some wallowing to get across from Brewers. Marc Ledwidge Mountain Guide ____________________East Ridge Accident that Mark failed to mention. More of the same. east ridgeclimber saved by mindless rope. ___________________________ 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.

Out on a Snow and Ice Long Weekend Course with Yamnuska and climbed the AA col route on Mt. Athabasca today. +6 in the parking lot at 0400 but good travel both on the glacier and the steep slopes up to the col/plateau on Mt. Athabasca. Bergschrund not a big issue yet, and the slopes above had slide previously and refrozen into a supportive crust. Below this crust the snow was quite wet and soft. Very strong winds and a few cm's of new snow were forming some soft slabs and exfoliating any exposed skin. Lots of spindrift coming down steep gullies above 2800m. Might find some new slabs on high N aspects to watch for... Descended the way we came. The crust on the lower glacier was just starting to break down by noon but still provided good travel. Other stuff: Snow bridges lower down (2500m) on the N. Glacier below Mt. Athabasca yesterday were quite wet/soft and weak. Cheers, Conrad Janzen A person should have wings to carry them where their dreams go, but sometimes a pair of skis makes a good substitute. -Hans Gmoser- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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.

Up to Castle Hut June 4th. If you haven't been there in awhile be aware that you need one green Coleman type propane tank (465 g) for the stove and lantern. Lots of water running in the approach gully. June 5, Castle Tower, 1926 route. Several snow gullies to cross on Goat Plateau, could be a problem with a freeze overnight and no ice ax. 60 m of snow in the scree bowl half way up the route avoided on ascent by climbing the rock rib -climbers left (rappelled down the snow on the way down). Overall the route is dry and good to go, lots of snow seen on the back side, still some ice on rockbound lake. Happy trails Barry Blanchard Mountain Guide Yamnuska Mountain Adventures _______________________________________________ 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.

http://informalex.org/weather.htm Don´t know about the best but if you can read weather maps try the COLA site. SKEWTs are limited in canada. This is a pretty extensive list that the pros scratch their head over.

COCA good for what ails you and if nothing ails you its good for that too. Don't take my word for it, 9 million Inka slaves can't be wrong. Just returned from the Ishinca Valley. Base camp 4400 meters. The Ishinka valley is a circe that is accessed from the tiny village of Collen. This little village pretty much ignores the outside world with the exception of providing burros for climbers to get their gear up into the high hills. From Collen it is a 1000 meters of elevation gain along narrow trails eventually leaving anything that looks feels, sounds or resembles civilization in any sense of the word. It is a common place for climbers to acclimate . There are a three major peaks that are climbed in the area. We managed to climb two Urus (5434 meters) and Ishinka (5582 meters). These glacieted peaks are technically straight forward. We had been planning to take a rest day the first day in but got suckered by Urus and climbed it in 6 hours from camp to camp. The extra days in Huaraz seemed to help as the usual Nausa, lack of appetite and altitude headaches were not present. We drank copious amounts of water which is required for altitude. Day two we started at 6am for Ishinka following a pleasantly angled trail up through the lower grasslands. This eventually led to a area of large moraines and eventually the lower Ishinka glacier. Once again the altitude was having minimal effect. Saw a the remenence o a curious we slide. Two strips of snow pulled out ten meters wide and perhaps 100 meters long leaving quite a pile of set up debris. Curious thing is that the slope angle was only about 20 degrees and it was not the new winter snow that slid as one would expect but perhaps snow from two or three seasons earlier. Evidence of extreme warming and perhaps warm rain that percolated down through the snowpack to lubricate the harder ice of a few previous seasons. Had never seen that before but this place is full of surprises. Tocullraju (6005 meters) is the real gem of the valley that rises like Assiniboine at the headwall except plastered with snow and covered with ice. Now this is what I was here for. A postcard of this mountain has been on my fridge for 5 years now so when it came to climbing it I was like a rabid dog. Day three we decided to carry our technical equipment up to the base of the glacier (4990 meters) and return to base camp (4400 meters). I find tat I can not sleep well at altitude and the two hour approach the next morning would be better then a sleepless night. As we decende a storm came in starting as rain and finishing off as grapple snow even in the valley. This persisted for about a hour after our return to BC. 2:30 the next morning we awaken to a light drizzle with thin fog. The guessing game began. Should we go or wait and hope the next day is better. By 3am it is decided to give it a go. A hour after our start the rain quits and the stars appear. The huge boulder field slows us down and it takes about 2.5 hours to reach our equipment stashed up high. Should mention that the snow had descended half way down to the valley. We had stashed our mountain boots and had to stomp up in our running shoes. Feet were cold wet and uncomfortable by the time we reached our cache. Dry socks and proper boots put everything into perspective and we were off to kill another mountain. Two steps onto the glacier and I had a pretty good settlement! This is Peru and the snow is suppose to stick "like a flea to a hound dog" so what was up with this. Continuing on and avoiding terrain traps located on steep rolls at the base of the glacier did nothing to increase my confidence in the snow. Despite gaining the icefield I pulled the pin on the route at 5100 meters. Hand tests produced easy shears 15-20cm thick on a grappel layer. The route had a lot of slopes and steeper sections of climbing and was not really interested in playing the "what if" game for the rest of the day. It would take two days of warm sunny weather to get a bond out of this new snow. The weather was not stable enough to ensure this so the decision was made to return to Huaraz. Because we were leaving two days early we did not have mules to haul our gear out for us. Strange looks were had by the other climbers as we shouldered loads that would have killed a fur trader. "Gonna do this the old fashion way" says I and away we went returning to the tiny village of Coleen. As luck would have it 5 minutes after arriving at Collen a taxi pulled up dropping off a British soloist and we had a ride back to Huaraz. We could easily have spent days there waiting for the next public transport which only comes twice a week. The day had taken its toll. climbing to 5100 meters returning and playing Burro for the afternoon we kicked back watched a movie in the lounge. Marlon ate a whole chicken! These chickens are not like the North American variety. They are about the size of a turkey he was still sucking the narrow from the bones as the waitress looked on in disbelief. Tomorrow we are buying food for a 4 day trip in to climb Pisco (5765 meters)and leave on tuesday. The season is a little behind and any technical climbing will have to wait at least two weeks. If we have good weather things should consolidate. Satisfied with two Cordillera Blanca scalps tyed to my ice axe. Those first two puppies went down like Custer at the Little Big Horn! To be continued.... JJ McKay From the clan MacKay Born o the banks of the Bow river In the year of the dog Montana Killer