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jmckay

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Hi All,

Snowed down to about 2500m in the Bugs on the 30th and stayed cold

yesterday. Only about 5-10cm fell on the east side of the range and there

are reports of up to 20cm in the East Creek Basin. It is a nicer day out

this morning but still quite cool...

 

Cheers,

Marc Piché

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Climbed Huber today after a blustery high bivy on the Huber Ledges.

Freeze overnight, excellent snow conditions on the route and on the

glacier, not too many crevasses yet. Only a few cm of fresh snow from

the recent weather and it was not an issue on this route but lots of

snow on all the rock routes, they are out of condition for the time

being. The gully from Huber Glacier to Victoria is partially melted out

but probably still passable. Several parties apparently were turned

back from Victoria yesterday due to poor weather and snowy conditions.

 

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

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Assiniboine beta

 

Around Mt. Assiniboine today. Last night's precip event had little effect

there. The normal route appears to be in good shape up to the red band but

temperatures there were cold. The route appeared verglassed above the red

band. Temperatures at the summit were -5 at 09:30 this morning. 3

pictures included showing the normal route, the red band and the summit. It

looks like more precip is on the way for Friday but unless a lot of snow

falls, it should only take a few warm days for it to be in good shape again.

 

Marc Ledwidge

Mountain guide

 

Assiniboinemark.JPG

 

This is a photo From the 2nd of aug 2006

 

summitridge.JPG

 

Summit ridge climbing is over at this point

assiniboineSW.jpg

The seldom seen or climbed SW aspect

 

 

belowred.JPG

The low end 5th class climbing below the red band. Shots taken from a heli

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Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountain

 

issued August 3rd, 2006.

 

Winter came to visit in the alpine this week. Reports vary from different

regions but, generally 5 to 20 cms. of snow seems to have fallen above

3000m. The snow is sticking well to ice, neve and, unfortunately, to some

rock faces. Nil avalanches reported but there is definitely enough snow and

wind around to create slabs in some features.

 

Alpine ice faces have mostly benefited from the snow and there could be some

good climbing conditions this weekend on faces such as Fay and Lefroy.

Again, watch for loaded pockets of fresh snow.

 

Alpine rock routes and ridges are in really variable condition for now. Some

routes are plastered and other have dried off already.

 

Glacier travel conditions have taken a slight turn for the worse. The new

snow has not settled at all as of Thursday pm. Therefore, crevasses are in

some places covered with new snow that has not yet sagged but has no

strength to carry a person. Expect to stick a leg in a crevasse and maybe

more.

 

It is raining and hailing here at Lake OHara at 7pm on Thursday and there is

more precipitation forecast for Friday. Expect conditions to change again

before the weekend. There is talk of a sunny weekend so at least get out and

enjoy the view of these snowy hills.

 

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.

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Spent August 1st-3rd in the Bugaboos. Temperature were gradually getting warmer over the last couple days and the recent snowfall was slowly melting off.

 

Routes on Bugaboo, Snowpatch and the Crescent area are all dry and good climbing though there was still a little snow in the chimneys on the NE ridge of Bugaboo yesterday. Bring your long johns if you are not in the sun! Some snow still remains on the N aspects of Pigeon Spire but the W ridge is in good shape. N side of the Howsers was still snowy

 

Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col is still mostly snow travel with just a few short sections getting icy. The bergshrund is still easy to pass with careful travel. Good freezes overnight made crampons a necessity on any steep snow.

 

We watched a lot of people travel across the glaciers to Pigeon Spire unroped over the last few days and then yesterday we saw one person fall into a crevasse. The crevasse had no indications of having a weak snow bridge from the our vantage point and was not far from the main trail. Fortunately they were roped up and the climber was back on the surface in a few moments. I think the take home message was to rope up for any of the glacier travel in the Bugaboos whether a trail exists or not.

 

Have a great trip!

Conrad Janzen

ACMG Ski & Asst. Alpine Guide

 

 

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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

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Mountain conditions report for the coast mountains as

of August 3/06.

Conditions on the coast right now are very good.

Cooler temperatures have made for better overnight

freezes and generally better travel on the glaciers. A

good amount of the winter snow still remains on

glaciers above 7500ft. Above this elevation most

crevasses still have a fair bit of snow bridging them,

but sags are starting to show. Below this point ice

and crevasses have begun to show up more. The toes of

many glacier are showing the rapid recession from the

past few years and there are many places with very

loose rocks and new icefalls. Cation should be taken

in these newly exposed areas.

Alpine rock routes are in excellent condition. The

forecast is for continued sun and slightly cooler

temperatures than the past few weeks, so get out

there.

Craig McGee

Mountain guide

 

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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.

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Aug 1-3 in the Little Yoho (Stanley Mitchell) area. A total of about 5

cm of recent snow has made travel on the ice pleasant. Cloudy conditions

with frequent brief thundershowers persisted during our visit. Overnight

freezes and excellent travel & bridging on the glaciers. We climbed Mt

McArthur from the north, which (briefly) requires crampons on ice to 50

degrees if you wish to avoid the heinous rock. If you get it quick we

chopped 40 deep steps for the climbing pleasure of the army cadets! smile.gif

 

The glacier below the Presidents appears to be in good condition with

good steps in the new snow.

 

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.

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Tom H and I climbed the South Face of Bryce on Thursday Aug 3,

summitting the Main and Central peaks.

 

Conditions were good, with 5-10 cm of recent storm snow frozen atop the

old surfaces making for good cramponing in the early morning. These old

surfaces varied from good firn snow to rock embedded ice in the lower

couloir. On the south face of the Main Summit block it was the storm

snow atop firn the entire way. On the Central Peak the west ridge was

slow going with several cm of recent snow on the rocks making travel

slippery. It took over 2 hours to climb this ridge, more than twice the

length of time it normally does. Wherever it was snow travel though the

going was quite fast.

 

We were lucky with the weather, a clear night gave a good freeze and

cloud moving in later in the day kept things cool for the descent

(although the footing was not nearly as secure for our descent due to

some warming having occurred). There is a lot of fresh snow in the

couloir and the cliffs above it, when it warms up it will be a war zone

in there with rockfall and avalanches likely. If you go, have a plan

for staying out of the couloir in the afternoon. You could either put

in a high camp on the glacial plateau and descend early in the morning

after your summit climbs, or wait until evening and descend after it

cools in the couloir. Also, the s face of the summit block is prone to

rapid heating. The east ridge of the main peak is another option but it

is more problematic to climb with the knife edge snow arete near the

top.

 

Overnight Aug 3 and the morning of Aug 4 the weather turned very bad

again, with major rain and snow events in this area. The mountains were

white down to 2500m. I would say the NE Ridge is out for the time

being, the S Face could still be good if temperatures are cold. This

snow seemed very spotty on the drive home, with varying amounts noticed

in different areas, even on adjacent mountains.

 

Mark Klassen

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.

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Hi Everyone

I just spent a week in the O’hara area with an ACC crew July 29- Aug 5th. Snowed above 2400 meters every day except today.

-3 at the Abbott this morning.

 

MT Victoria has 5-10 cm’s of new snow but still travels well with crampons on all day.

MT Lefroy is in good shape for the moment with abalokov’s at 60meter intervals for the upper 6 pitches of the main right line.

The route up MT Odaray has changed in the past few years and it is possible to skirt under the glacier until you can easily climb a short (15m) ice pitch and then head to the col between the main summit and “little Odaray” to the west.

Jim G

 

_______________________________________________

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 VICTORIA BETA PAGE

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Climbed Aberdeen today Saturday Aug 5. Temperatures were cold with 2 degrees in the Lake Louise campground @ 3am, -1 at the toe of the glacier @ 630am and 6 degrees @ the summit @ 1130am. The lower glacier was in good shape but the upper slope above the bergshrund was rock hard ice with a 4 cm ice sheild over top that smashed away to get good screws underneath in the old black ice. There was 4 cm of new snow above 2700 meters that was bonded well to the old surface but quick to ball up crampons when exposed to the sun. We decided to descend down into Paradise valley as the rock fall was quite active with any sun exposure on the glacier.

 

take care

 

Andrew Langsford

 

Asst Alpine/ski guide

 

 

aberdeen.jpg

 

brdnglcr.jpg

 

brdnglcr2.jpg

 

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I felt it worth mentioning two BIG rockfall events I saw in the Rockies this week.

 

The first was July 30th around 2500m on an east aspect out of a limestone face between Mts. Schaeffer and Biddle and was easily the biggest I have ever seen. It really looked like a big serac fall. I will take a wild guess and say it started as a 150 cubic meter chunk. Lots of refrigerator sized pieces flying far out of the dust cloud. Ouch!

 

The second was a huge volley off the NW face of Ringrose on August 5th- I would guess over 50 big blocks hit the glacier HARD. It looked like a quartzite event but we couldn't see where it started.

 

With the heat still on, there will be more to come from all over the ranges before things cool down and get frozen in place again. Yipes!

 

Larry Stanier

Mountain Guide

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http://web.mac.com/mountainguide.com/iWeb/Selkirks/Sir%20Donald%20Photos.html Sir Donald Beta

 

 

Enjoyed a beautiful day on the NW ridge of Sir Donald yesterday. The route is in good condition, with only a little bit of last week’s snow and verglass lingering on the summit block. Contrary to local ‘word on the street’, the ‘west face bypass’ descent option is in great shape and currently does not require either and ice axe or crampons. Definitely a time saver on descent when conditions are dry.

 

The bolted descent route is set up well, but definitely requires a 50m rope. Several people have recently chosen to climb with a shorter rope, hoping to scramble the difference between stations. Not a good option! Better to carry the extra 10-15m of rope on the way up than to come up short on the way down. Be careful in the dihedral portion of the rap line if there are parties above you, as the potential for climber triggered rock fall could definitely be an issue.

 

Cheers,

Paul Norrie

ACMG Mountain Guide

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Victoria Beta

 

 

Hello,

 

Climbed the Se ridge of Victoria from the Abbot hut on August 7th. It was a beautiful day with warm temperatures, a light west wind and good company. The route is in great shape right now with alot of dry rock. We were able to put the crampons on at the first snow crossing, and kept them on for the rest of the route, to safely deal with icy patches.

 

On the West Face descent, there is a great rappel/lower station about 60meters down from the ridge, it is highlighted by a red cordlette on a cairn. Right now 60 meters from the station gets you onto the snow/ice, this may change with drying conditions.

 

The bergshrund crossing seems best at the far descender's right where it can be avoided, it is quite deep and serious in places. Huber ledges trail is quite well marked, and if followed properly leads to a station with a 25meter rappel. Don't forget to check the integrity of the slings on these mountain stations and they are regulary chewed through!

 

Enjoy the Rockies classics!

 

Andrew Langsford

 

ACMG Assistant Alpine/Ski Guide

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August 6 Climbed SE face of Mt. Bryce via south couloir from the reg. Bivi in the moraines. With a midnight start had excellent conditions (excellent freeze) right to the summit of Bryce. The temperature at 0530 a.m (on the summit) was about –5 with a light wind from the west. A beautiful sun rise!

 

When we arrived at the Bivi site on the 5 of August, there was two groups who have left for the summit at 0800 A.m, they got back at 1600 hrs with there tail between there legs because of the warm temperatures. Judging by the amount of debris and extremely deep runnels in the south Couloir, I would say that they got away LUCKY!

 

Be safe out there!

 

Marco Delesalle

ACMG Mountain Guide

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Assiniboine B eta

 

 

 

Grant C and I climbed Lunette and Assiniboine via their SW faces yesterday, Aug 7. The peaks are pretty much bone dry with the exception of a large snowpatch on Assiniboine which may be used to bypass some rubbly climbing (watch for rockfall in the afternoon), and on the summit ridge of Assiniboine.

 

The access and approach information in Corbett's 11'ers book is good. I found it hard to follow the description for the climbing but to be fair, it is difficult to describe a route through choss like there is to be found on this side of Assiniboine. There are lots of cairns and flagging tape to help out with the routefinding though.

 

I can't say that I can recommend these routes. There is a lot of gravel up there.

 

Mark Klassen

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.

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Ski touring on the wapta

 

Wapta icefields aug 6-10.

No freezes throughout period. Up to 20cm recent storm snow (before 6th) above 9300’ (2800m) isothermal and settling/ melting fast. North Rhonda, boot top penetration on upper glacier but good condition on upper ridge. Mt Olive good condition with crampons necessary on ridge. Glacier travel less than ideal with much more bare ice travel than normal, and isothermal snow where snow exists, causing poor crevasse bridging. Intense system moving into region on morning of 10, possible new snow at higher elevations.

See attached photos

Photo 1- Rhonda North aug 7

Photo 2- view south across wapta from Rhonda north towards st nick/ olive aug 7

Photo 3- view north from mt olive aug 9

Have fun!!

Jeff

 

Jeff Honig

Mountain Guide

Alpine Addictions

Box 1106

Revelstoke BC

V0E2S0

(250)837-2215 (home)

(240)837-1333 (cell)

jeff@alpineaddictions.com

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West Coast Mountain Conditions Summary for Aug 10, 2006

 

The hot dry summer has been recently interrupted by marginally cooler temps and wet weather. All the precip has been falling as rain below 3000m. Most guides are now finding seasonal snow has pretty much disappeared, which means that you will most likely encounter ice and harder firn snow on snow faces and glaciers - more like September conditions than August. Exactly how hard? - depends on the overnight temps and cloud cover. It seems that most snow slopes of any steepness now require crampons in the AM. Afternoon descents on softer snow require good judgement, however hidden ice runnels and ice patches just underneath the snow can surprise descenders without crampons, and test your self arrest skills in a hurry.

 

Due to glacial melting, rockfall hazard is becoming a problem. Rocks that have been carefully held in place by glaciers for centuries are now being exposed to the effects of gravity. And the effects can be surprising. Although we may not be in the same league as the Alps in Europe (where large sections of mountain are calving off on the Eiger - see msn.com), refrigerators and TV sets have been seen tumbling down regularly in some areas - couliors, gullys, and some snow faces. Keep a eye out for fresh evidence, which usually indicates the hazard areas, and avoid travel in these areas while the heat of summer is here.

 

Glacier snowbridges are sagging and collapsing everywhere with afternoon warming. Keep in mind...The uptrack you were following from the party 2 or 3 days ago might not be the best one for today. This is especially true in high traffic areas such as Mt. Baker where plodding parties with their heads down mindlessly follow an old track over a sagging snowbridge, rather than use their own good mountain sense, and forge a new trail which avoids the sag.

 

Pretty much all alpine rock routes are long since free of snow on the South Coast, however getting on to some routes is becoming very challenging due to glacier melt back and impassable schrunds. This is especially true in the Tantalus Range - N side of Alpha, and routes on Tantalus. Be prepared for some intricate schrund crossings followed by challenging rock climbing on slippery glacier polished granite (with loose rock), just to access the start of a route!

 

Squamish Chief Dihedral rock routes are now all entirely open, with young Peregrine Falcons having mostly fled their nests (thus facilitating BC Parks to open the corners).

 

Looks like a hot and dry weekend coming up.

 

Keep your head up, and the sharp points down.

 

Brian Gould

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

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Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains, August 10th, 2006.

 

Conditions are still generally good for midsummer in the mountains.

 

Rain last night has made things slick but freezing levels appeared to be above 3000m in the Lake O'Hara area at least. Last week's snow has melted and frozen at most elevations and aspects. However, there has been reports of significant avalanches at the icefields so it still needs watching on high north faces.

 

Glacier travel is generally good as last weeks snow has settled but wet weak snow bridges could be a problem with a cloudy weekend forecast in some places.

 

North facing ice routes seem to vary from bare ice to good hard old snow. Alpine rock routes will be good as soon as the recent rain dries off.

 

Given the present conditions and the weather forecast, rockfall, lightning and wet snow will be the main things to fret about this weekend.

 

Keep your eyes wide open and your feet on the ground.

 

Larry Stanier

Mountain Guide

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I was chased out of the Bugaboos by rain on Thursday, Aug 10. Climbed Pigeon on the 9th and all was good except the Bugaboo/Snowpatch col which is getting a bit ugly.

 

Good snow walking to the bergshrund, good bridge to cross on right (for now), then icy with gravel and 10 cm of slush on top. Not bad if frozen but certainly ugly later in the day with parties underneath. Lots of rockfall with the gravel, and it was unpleasant worrying about all the other people around. Crampons essential. Rapelling neccessary if you are uncomfortable downclimbing 40 degree ice.

 

Bugs is very busy right now, the hut is full to capacity and there are 25+ tents at Applebee campground. Maybe less today since it was raining and possibly snowing up high?

 

Grant Statham

Mountain Guide

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temple page

 

 

An awesome day on Temple normal route today, clouds dodging around the peaks, warm, no wind. Snow in the past 24 hrs, a skiff in the meadows but boot top on the summit ridge with drifts up to shin deep. Settling and melting today but the next few cold mornings expect verglas on the cliffs and slick snow on the packed trail from the crowds, crampons might be an option.

 

Fay is snowy again after looking grey and icy a few days ago when I was on the Grand Sentinel. Don't expect it to look inviting for too long with a return to clear skies and warm temps.

 

Mark Klassen

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.

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Photos left out because of their size

 

 

Just drying out my gear after a 3 days trip into Bison ck to try to climb a couple of the Murchison towers with a friend and client who shares a sense of exploration.

 

 

http://www.mountainguide.com/mcr/towers.jpg

 

 

i did a short recon earlier this summer to try and figure out how the routes go, and really came to the realization Feuz and his gang were determined! Most of the rock in the area is poor quality limestone, lots of choss!

 

plagued and mostly tent bound we did climb an unnamed 9600" peak west of the SE tower on Aug 11.( Turned out quite a snow storm) Fairly straightforward scramble via the S ridge. From the col on the SE side of the upper drainage we dropped a bit and traversed a scree slope to gain the south ridge. (The attached picture was taken on a solo recon day in Mid july)

Morning of Aug 12 we tried to climb the south gully on Feuz tower. This gully climbs 3000' to a col with a steeper section in the upper part.

We got to about 9300ft and turned around due to new snow and weather. In the route description it says Feuz descended easily down this from the summit to the road in 2 hours! Wow!...

 

 

http://www.mountainguide.com/mcr/unnamed

 

Mostly east scrambling up the creek. Much of this is avoided on the descent by adjacent scree slope. You can access the gully from a camp high in the valley by traversing in from around 7400'. Contour around the grassy meadow look for goat tracks.

The SE tower can be done in a long day from the road.

The routes marked on the photo are a "guestimate" at best. Not much beta on any of these climbs around....

Bison Creek is the best access for Guest, Feuz, SE, Bison and Unnamed towers.

Totem Creek is best for Cromwell, Englehard, Hall and Totem Towers.

I'll be back.

Peter Amann

 

 

 

Peter Amann

Mountain Guiding

Box 1495, Jasper AB, T0E 1E0

780 852 3237

www.incentre.net/pamann

pamann@incentre.net http://www.mountainguide.com/mcr/sridge.jpg

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I spent the last week in the head waters of the Slim Creek area. The road to the TLH's fuel cache is now barely drivable for a loaded 7p van - it would be no problem for higher clearance vehicles. Lots of melt this summer has left glaciers looking more like early September - lots of exposed ice. The snow line came down to 2300m during the 3 storms that crossed the region while I was there. The bugs low down where nicely tamed by the colder Wx!

It seems that no other operators are in the area this summer and this has resulted in a renewed abundance of animal life and sign.

If you are planning to cross Slim Creek on the cable (by Baldwin's cabin) take a pulley or extra carabiner to ride the line as the present system is wearing through and getting untrustable.

 

Dave Sarkany

Ski Guide

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Temple Assiniboine

 

Assiniboine%20002.jpg

 

 

Climbed Assiniboine on Thursday Aug 10 under poor visability that never saw the ceiling rise above the top of the 3rd class section below the Black Band.

The N Ridge was completely snow & ice free and although the rock was wet this did not detract from the friction on the mostly horizontal edges.

 

Overnight the snowline dropped down to about 8800 ft. (just below the Hind hut). The whole Assiniboine area was hit quite hard with significant snowfall amounts. On Friday the temp at 1:30pm was only 7C at the Lodge with on and off rain throughout the day which may have meant more snow up high.

 

Sunday Aug 13 on the SW ridge of Temple it seemed the boot top snow Mark had spoken of from Sat. had settled out to 10-15cm in drifted areas only. These drifts were quite critical on the descent as the ascent trail (last 600 ft. to summit) was getting hard and slick with traffic and even icy in sections. Icy verglass had formed on the rock slabs below snowline but this was avoidable with proper route finding.

Cheers,

Shaun King

Asst. Alpine/Ski Guide Temple.jpg

Edited by jmckay
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