jmckay

Aug.24 Fidelity 1950m 1400 hrs Temp:12 deg. No Precip all day Rogers Pass 1330m 1400hrs Temp:15 deg. No Precip all day Wind S 15 Snow still sprinkled on SirDonald, Rogers and Bonney Aug.25 Crystal Clear blue day. Snow on south faces mostly gone, glaciers are pretty bare of new snow, some (2-5cm) sticking still above 2200m. Anna Brown

Climbed the standard N. ridge of Mt. Begbie yesterday with Barb and the kids. The glacier approach is about 70% bare but pretty grippy (crampons are not necessary if you are careful) and there are crevasses that require avoidance. People typically consider this a benign glacier and travel it with no rope. There are definitely slots here that could gobble you up so tell your friends to be prepared. The access to the 'ledge' is good at the moment but could change as the schrund grows. This ledge access gets longer as the glacier shrinks, there are now two narrow bits where protection of novice climbers is a good idea, one at the start and the usual one midway (which is now equipped with two bolt anchors at either end). Straight up from the ledge is some of the best climbing quartzite you will find anywhere, beautifully featured and solid, you can make it as spicy as you want. The ridge is in great dry shape until the last step where about 2cm of the white stuff fell on the 23rd. A classic climb in a beautiful setting. Cheers, Jim Jim Bay Mountain Light Tours Ltd. P.O. Box 1789 Revelstoke, B.C. V0E 2S0 mtnlight@telus.net Ph. 250-837-6655 ?_______________________________________________ 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 - Rockies and Interior Ranges Issued August 25, 2005 A bit of a change to mountain conditions this past week – especially on the eastern side of the Rockies. A typical “third week of August” snowstorm crossed all regions mid week, leaving various amounts of new snow behind. This upslope storm was focused mainly on the Bow Valley and Lake Louise areas. Regions to the west and north were spared the full brunt. Roger’s Pass, the Columbia Icefields and the Bugaboos received about 5-10 cm, which was melting away rapidly on Thursday. Expect good conditions in these areas over the coming days, with fresh snow lingering on the north facing terrain. In the Lake Louise area, observations the day after the storm put the snowline at about 2200m, just down into the treeline. Depth increased rapidly with elevation to about 30 cm of snow observed at 2500 m. Add to this the drifting effects of wind, and pockets of new snow up to 70 cm can be expected at higher elevations. With the good weather forecast, it’s likely to be a great weekend and hopefully some of this recent snow will settle and/or melt away. Alpine climbing in the Lake Louise group will require some serious thought - with drifted snow in excess of 75 cm in the alpine, and a return to warm temperatures . . . put your avalanche thinking cap on! Stick to ridge crests and watch out on the big faces. No doubt the mountains will be shedding the new snow over the next few days. Be wary of steep, sun-exposed terrain where both avalanches and rockfall may be a concern. On the glaciers, watch for crevasses bridged with a thin skin of recent snow – it’s probably difficult to see crevasses that may have been visible just days ago. In summary – it looks like an awesome weekend to be out, things have changed but lots of good options for alpine and rock climbing still exist. Conditions are better in Roger’s Pass, the Columbia Icefields and the Bugs. In the Lake Louise area the big serious north face routes will be out of shape, but moderate routes and low elevation (or front range) south/west facing rock should clean off nicely. Lets hope this sets us up nicely for good mixed climbing in September! Grant Statham _______________________________________________ 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 Mount Huber Glacier this is a possible descent from Victoria Neal Coligan hut area Picture taken fro the air 26th Aug.

Snow yesterday23rd to the campsite. Sticking up higher. Wind from the east , deposit on the west . Warm temps over the next couple days sure to melt most of it. Be wet for awhile . Moisture expected over the weekend.

MCR] illecilliwaet/asulkan Just spent 5 days at Wheeler Hut/Asulkan Cabin with an ACC group, Aug 17-21. I climbed: Terminal North, SW Face: good snow coverage on the face, no major schrund issues Uto SW Ridge: dry (with Gerta, 68 years old) Uto, again Abbot Traverse to Asulkan Cabin (again with Gerta!): normal summer conditions, not recommended to go to Asulkan Cabin as it is a very long day, Sapphire Col is better Jupiter Traverse: normal summer conditions Asulkan Glacier: Firn line at about 2150 m (mid Cleaver). I descended from Sapphire Col twice. I tried the centre line beneath Jupiter but late day soft snow conditions, two tired people on board and a digital photo taken from Uto the day before that didn't show the saggy bridge over the one crevasse that spanned the entire small bowl you go through foiled that attempt. It might work in cold temps and a fresh crew. So we went down on bare ice and boulders close to the Cleaver. Awkward here, as usual. The next day I went down the normal ski line to the descender's right of the Cleaver. Lots of weaving on ice around exposed crevasses, some balancing across narrow ice bridges, one spooky snow bridge that I belayed across with an ice screw anchor. Lower down crevasses force you underneath the serac (which has been active) for a little while. Overall I found the route close to the Cleaver to be a safer option although rockfall could be an issue. The ford across the stream to regain the Asulkan trail at the bottom of the moraine was as bad as I've seen it, worse than when I crossed it during the heatwave of 2003. We had to go down almost to the junction with the stream coming from the Pterodactyl. I got my feet wet but worse could happen in this place. Couch time! Mark Mark Klassen Mountain Guide mark@alpinism.com www.alpinism.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.

If you can't wait for the full 60 meg movie that server is a bit slow this will get you a quick fix. http://homepage.mac.com/mountainguide.com/movies/iMovieTheater24.html 60 Meg quicktime download but worth the wait. http://mckay.informalex.org/video/video/Morley.mov

No fuckin kiddin, no wonder your old lady dumped you. Can you fuckin believe this guy! You know what poor is Billy, poor is when you have to jerk off the dog to feed the cat. you been doing that Billy. Suck it up or turn to the guy beside you (your in the states right) and borrow his piece. better yet borrow his back-up piece (probebly isn't traceable) stick it to your head, no wait, stick it your mouth that way your sure not to miss and pull the trigger.

http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html

http://mckay.informalex.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=78

Dynamocrack and I traversed from the S ridge of the mighty Uto to the North ridge of the majestic Eagle on the 18th--This is a great moderate outing, with a just a little trickiness in between the two and a low choss factor. It gets a rating of 48.6 on the Wolfe Training Day Quality Scale. Yesterday (19th) we messed around on the Illysilly/N Terminal/Vaux, etc. Great travel conditions, excellent crevasse bridges overall. Minimal softening/boot pen but enough, at about 12:00 pm, to make for secure footing on the steeper (30+ deg) due-South-facing snow slopes up N terminal, 2700-3000 m. Bridges on this slope and the Vaux (2 pm) were softening but still passable with care. This got a 71.2 on the WTDQS. Great overnight freezes, great weather, great climbing. Regards, Tom Wolfe _______________________________________________ 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.

Tupper, Swiss peaks, Eagle, Uto, Terminal, and Sir Donald now dry following the precip from early in the week. Sir Donald was climbed over the past two days. Sir Donald might be short lived with precip expected by Monday. Marc Ledwidge _______________________________________________ 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://mckay.informalex.org/video/video/Gone_south.mov

At www.mountainguide.com we rape you at the till. Females leave 100% fulfilled. All male clients are put in thier place and emotionaly raped. Don't bother tipping us we tip ourselves. All guide get paid what their worth. Tip them, thats your choice, they certianly don't expect it. You already paying $500 CND a day thats enough.

http://mckay.informalex.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=58 May be a few pis of the NF taken from the SE shoulder 1999

Can't add much to alex poat http://mckay.informalex.org/forum/ This site has a few photos of the area that you are interested in. Shooting Gallery. Remeber that you have a bit less light to work with .Its not getting light enough to see til 6:30 /7 instead of 4am. Winter snow conditiona are a possibilitie. Meaning slabs , faccetting, wind loading, trail breaking. However with the right weather it can easily be the best time of the year to climb. <ess crowds, rock froze into place, great neve. My guess is that some steep hard routes are going to be easy this year because of all the moisture we have been getting early. Joe

You might want to consider a course designed for building top rope anchors and placing gear if thats where your going. You may not want to put all your trust in someone who is just figuring it out like yourself. If your future partners are anything like me they will pretend to know more than they really do. Usually it's not so much what they know that is the problem, it's what they don't know that will get you/them in trouble. A guide has a certian responsability to get you started on the right track and teach exceptable systems and technigues. Having done that climbing gyms seem to be a breeding ground for potential new partners. Local alpine club usually has club trips with somewhat responsible trip leaders. ( beware of those who use the title of leader with a little to much zest) Isn't there a seattle mountaineers club around there somewhere with 20 zillion members, there must be at least one that will go out with you. If worse comes to worse there is a cyber sex fiend named CRAMPON lurking around this site. Get a dress, tuck it and I am sure you could get a day or so out of him before he caught on.

Of course your right the math doesn’t make sense. I must have been thinking about a 60-meter rope. I have thought that I could fold over a 60 in a pinch but it has never really been required. I doubt that you stress a rope out too much by tumbling into a crevasse. The limited experience that I have had in going into a crevasse resulted in a 12 or foot ceiling. That was keeping the rope tight and anticipating just such a thing to happen. I can imagine it being quite a bit farther in one was just strolling along not really expecting much to happen. Crampon is sort of right in the sense that 30 m is certainly the min. amount of rope that one would try and get away with. You would want to be going into terrain that you knew would not have much if any technical terrain. I’ve never been there but I am guessing Rainer is a place one could get away with a short chunk of rope. Not sure how one would manage a 30 meter in that kind of terrain. I would most likely just tie into the end take in a few coils and get the pard to do the same. Tie off the coils and travel changing the rope as terrain dictates. If I were to be textbook I would most likely place a prussic so that I would have one less step should I require doing a load transfer. I never actually do that cause I figure I can always do it later if something happens, which never does so in reality I am saving two steps. Not putting the Prussik on and not taking it off. You know when you first learn to drive and you hold your hands at ten and two. Then twenty years latter after endless miles of black ice winter driving your crack'in a beer, rolling a joint, and driving with your knee. Doing just fine. It’s sort of like that. If you were to divide the rope into three chunks would leave you only tenmeters from your partner. oOk on some terrain but pretty close on other pieces of turf. That may not be very practical at times. So I guess the next thing would be to take in a few meters off of each end then tie or clip in. This would give to just enough to do a load transfer and initiate a 3/1. Certainly not going to get that 6/1 with that little bit of rope. What would a 6/1 take 3 prussic 6 biners, 1 maybe 2 lockers. Guess you sort of need to know what your doing no matter the length of the rope but a shorter rope certainly limits a couple options.

At least my brother didn't get his leg blown off defending some frat boys idea of global unification. I don't go around apoligizing for being from some place. While your at it quit putting Canadian flags on your luggage. I've never heard the term "ugly Canadian"

"Thinker" hit the nail on the head. You don't need a specialised 76.4 meter X 8.34768 mm rope for Ice Porn. All you need is the fatest cheapest piece of cord you can get your hands on. When you wear that out you will have a pretty good idea what rope you will need the next time you buy one. Don't get sucked into the first pair of rock shoe scenario where you go out and buy a shoe 3.5 times to small for your first pair. Rather then something comfortable that you can stand around in all day. The first rope is sort of the same thing. Joe

Calling An Alberta born and raised redneck like myself french is like calling you a mountaineer.

TomTom Not sure if that comment was directed at me. I have little respect for Ottawa's mercenaries as it is.

crampon your response shows that you have very limited experience in mountaineering terrain. I suggest for the sake of those who are trying to get something out of this that you sit back for awhile and/or find a forum your more suited to. picking up chicks perhaps.

Just an observation. I would say 8 out of 10 thought it might be a non-metric thing.

It is late in the season and it has been a busy year. Two guides meet up at a local pub and chat over a beer. "the other day I took this guy up the East Ridge of Temple. He was so stoked by the climb all that evening I found myself up to my knees in beer" say's the young guide. The old guide takes a big swallow of beer and witha sly smile say's "I know what you mean I took this 43 year old housewife up the Cardiac Arret on the Grand Sentinal. She was so thrilled that evening I found myself up to my balls in cider"

visualisation. It seems that it is a very americain habit of placing the pick forward while carrying the ice axe. I can only guess that this is a comfort thing with the adze resting on the palm. Bring the axe into play for self arrest becomes a bit more complex. The actual times that you need to be worried about self arrest are few and far between. Be aware of the terrain below 9and above0 you and prep in advance. Min. the time if you rehearse in your mind what needs to be done. Placin the pick back whenthe hazard is higher may reduce the time that the axe comes into play.