Ice fields update for those wondering..

[Dane]

http://climbingconditions.com/mcr-rockies-mt-kitchener-grand-central-coulior/

[trainwreck]

I've been out there a fair bit the last little while. Travel conditions are excellent, but there isn't much ice. Waterfalls are only now starting to freeze and consolidate, and only if they're in the alpine.

 

Lean start to the year so far.

[John Frieh]

How is the avy for alpine routes? Things settling out or still sketchy?

[Dane]

Blanchard's report posted above from Nov 3/4 was pretty sketchy so they bailed. You did Shooting Gallery on the 4th? Any better out there now Grant? Any new snow since the 4th? Wind?

[trainwreck]

We saw Barry's car at the GCC parking lot, so yeah, it was the 4th I guess. Super strong winds that day, we found the travel and avy conditions to be very reasonable, but we weren't really on a spot that'll load very much.

 

It snowed again last weekend, probably about 20cms in the alpine and most of it has been transported. I was talking to a Public Safety guy last Friday and he said that there's a raincrust already.

 

We climbed Cerca Del Mar in the Stutfield valley yesterday and there was surprising little avalanche activity, LOTS of serac fall though. The forecast looks really good for things to firm up.

 

@John -- I think it really depends on the route. I wouldn't be super concerned about it on something like the A Strain, but certainly the GCC will need a few days to shed some layers. The bigger concern atm is the lack of ice up high. Apparently Marko Prezlej tried guiding the A Strain a little while back, didn't find much ice and ended up rapping off.

[Dane]

Rain crust?

 

from Barry's comments

"Nov 4th we left the tent at 5am. The initial bergshrund had been scoured down to summer snow by avalanches. One hundred meters higher we entered the first pillow of storm snow, got out the shovel and dug a test pit. We found a moderate shovel compression test and two easy to moderate shovel shear tests. The failures were clean pops with the recent storm snow failing on the October surface that had been rained on, and then frozen (this surface had granted us fine climbing conditions on our ascent of the Robinson/Arbic route on Mt Cromwell on Oct 19th). It appears that the snows and, mostly, the winds of the last week have overloaded that interface."

 

8" of snow last weekend and wind since then. From 600 miles away looks like it might be a decent weekend.

[John Frieh]

@trainwreck -- thanks dude! Did you hear if the BD strip on GCC is in?

 

Also did you hear if anyone hiked to the base of the drip at the centre of the universe yet?

[trainwreck]

I haven't heard anything since those guys bailed about a month ago, I think some Americans I talked to tried heading up there as well but I don't think they made it as far as the narrows. I have a feeling that it's passable, otherwise why would Barry have agreed to give it a go...

 

The Drip definitely wasn't in a few weeks ago when we were down in K-country on R&D, but I haven't heard anything else.

 

It's a really strange year, but I think there's a tremendous amount of potential and opportunity to climb some cool shit given the weather window we're having.

[trainwreck]

We were going to try Sidestreet today, but it was -16oC at 6:45am and we weren't prepared for that kind of cold. Winter is a comin'.

[Dane]

We were at the Icefields on Friday morning. Astroid Alley got done on Thursday the 11th in a good wind storm. Wind and new snow made the snow conditions unreliable by Friday morning. Likely the best sources for up to date reliable condition reports.

 

Felt like springtime in the Ghost yesterday with the ice building fast there amd a few things in decent conditon.

 

http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/psb/index_e.asp?oqava_park_id=2

 

http://www.gravsports-ice.com/icethreads/

 

http://climbingconditions.com/author/mcr/

[trainwreck]

I went walking up towards the AA Glacier on Saturday afternoon and the wind was INSANE. Almost blowing me off the moraines and crazy shit like that. Lots of weird pockets and drifted sections.

[spionin]

cold temperatures...

 

pros: A LOT of stuff is in. the ice looks beautiful. the weeping wall looks like a page out of the guidebook.

 

cons: the fresh snow makes approach more tedious (hike wallow up to r&d took a while). climbing in -38 deg C is not feasible.