[MCR] North Face Stanley Peak, Banff

Ideal conditions on the north face of Stanley peak today: 5 - 40+cm of partially refrozen snow made for fast & secure travel.  We avoided all of the ice (climbing only on snow) and crossed the bergshrund easily by climbing from the lower right to upper left of the face.

No rockfall was observed today.  The sun hit the upper margins of the face around 8am, but the angle remained oblique and temperatures on the north side stayed cool and mostly shaded.

Josh Briggs

Ski & Asst. Alpine Guide 

P1040592

 

P1040661

 

P1040664

 

[MCR] Des Poilus and Waputik

Des Poilus and Waputik(See attached file: Waputik.JPG)(See attached file:
Des Poilus Oct 5 2010 67_resize.JPG)
Brad White
Mountain Safety Programs Specialist
Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks
PO Box 900 220 Hawk Ave.
Banff, AB T1L 1K2
403-760-0556 (cell)

[MCR] Monashees - Revelstoke - Mt Begbie - Oct 5th

I scrambled up the North Ridge of Mt Begbie yesterday Oct. 5th under sunny skies.

Foot penetration on the glacier was 2-4cm (fast travel) once I got off the ice and onto the snow (c. 2300m), and still had a crust on the way down at 1pm. The rock was dry.

Alex Geary
Assistant Ski Guide, Assistant Rock Guide

[MCR] Wapta Sept 26 - Oct 3

Spent the past week on the Wapta at Bow and Peyto Huts with Thompson Rivers University students.

 

The past week on the Wapta began with a huge rain event to peak top on September 28^th, causing flooding and mud slides.  A piece of the moraine above the last flat section on the approach to Bow Hut collapsed and caused a mud flow across the trail.  In several places the trail to Bow Hut has been washed out, but the washed out areas are easily passable.   

 

One of our groups reported seeing two logs flowing down Peyto Creek on the approach to Peyto Hut.  They turned around, and it is suspected that the bridge across the creek on the approach to Peyto Hut has been washed downstream.  Sounds like several parts of the approach trail to Peyto Hut are washed out, and it is unknown how this affects the access to Peyto Hut from Peyto Lake.

 

After the rain event, air temperatures did not drop below freezing through October 3^rd, but there was a good surface freeze every night on the rain soaked snow surface.  This made for very easy travel on bare ice near the toe of the glaciers, and on firm crusty snow everywhere else.  We enjoyed 5 days with hardly a cloud in the sky and perfect travel conditions.  On the glaciers, caution is advised as many snow bridges across crevasses are getting soft in the afternoon and it was common to put a foot through.  Wear the rope!  Snow depth ranges from no snow on the ice below 2400 metres, to areas with 140 cm to 190 cm up on the Wapta Icefield. 

 

Collectively we climbed Olive, St. Nicholas, Gordon, Rhondda, Habel, and Thompson with numerous parties.

 

Alpine conditions are still very good.  Start early, and watch for deteriorating snow bridges and rising avalanche / cornice fall / rockfall danger in the afternoon.

 

Jordy Shepherd – Mountain Guide

Jeremy Mackenzie – Mountain Guide

Abby Watkins – Alpine Guide / Asst. Ski Guide

Chris Miller – Mountain Guide

Shaun King – Mountain Guide

 

[MCR] Rockies, Middle Snow/Ice Gully Mt Andromeda

I guided the middle Snow and Ice Gully on Mt Andromeda yesterday, October 3rd. Despite above zero temperatures throughout the day (plus 1 to plus 7) we had very good conditions on the approach, and on the route. Lots of activity in the Icefields during the rain event earlier in the week, a number of size 1 to 2 avalanches off of most steep ice slopes were the rain made the snowpack wet and cut the bond with the ice. Even a size 3 off of the Silverhorn and North Ramp route. Given freezing temps the alpine climbing is very good as the moist snowpack sets up well. Lots of ice smears remain from the rain at present.

We ran into sloppy wet snow on the southeastern exposure leading down to the AA Col. I wouldn't have felt good about being on any big open slopes on that aspect late in the day.

I'm on a campaign to change the name of these climbs away from the "Practice Gullies" as the route that we climbed yesterday is as long, and of better quality, than the routes on the N Face of Mt Fay (see photo below).

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

www.yamnuska.com

I've taken to calling the left hand climb "Far Earth", the middle "Middle Earth", and the right "Near Earth". The slope leading to the AA Col (not pictured) is "Little Earth". Join the campaign, lobby any guide book authors that you know.

[MCR] Fay Conditions

Climbed the West ridge on Fay via the Perren Route on the 29 & 30^th. There were significant patches of verglas on the lower Perren where the sun doesn’t reach. Ice smears were forming and falling off above and to the right of the chains on the Perren. Travel on the Fay glacier was excellent with a very supportive rime crust from the 9/27 precipitation event. Crevasses seemed well bridged. The west ridge had significant covering of Styrofoam snow on it which really did not hamper travel much and glued the rubble in nicely; we used crampons all the way. The Fay ice routes all looked good as did the gulleys on the E face of Mt Little. There was significant old avalanche debris up to size 2.5 from almost every major gulley feature on Fay and Little and I saw no evidence of snow instabilities in the immediate area. Viewed from afar the long ice gulley on Ringrose (Condgon/McNab) looked to be “in”.

 

James Blench

 

James Blench

www.jamesblench.ca

(403)678-2576 home

(403) 678-7822 cell

 

[MCR] Rockies, Mt Assiniboine

Hell and heaven on Mt Assiniboine Northeast Ridge this week. We flew
into Assiniboine lodge on Sunday, Sept 26th, and approached the Hind
Hut. Moderate west winds greeted us at the end of the Gmoser highway
and badgered us up to the hut. We noted a size 1 slab avalanche of
newer than 48 hours? out from just above the bergshrund to the
climber's left side of the ridge.

Sept 27th we made a hellish attempt in constant mod-strong west
winds. Amazing clouds forming and turbining in the lee of the east
face, so cool to actually see how the wind works given the dramatic
painting out of the clouds. We had boot top penetration in firm mash
potato snow that went to dryish winter snow with altitude. We put on
crampons after a couple of hundred meters of ascent. Verglas had been
rimed onto the holds of the Red Band, as well as the next band higher
up -the Gold Band. The climbing was difficult given the slickness of
the holds, and the gale force gusts that threatened to slap us off of
them. It took me an hour to lead a pitch that usually only takes
10minutes! We bailed and made it back to the hut after being gone
from it for 12 hours.

That night the winds continued and in the wee hours rain began
hammering. The morning of the 28th revealed a size 2 avalanche that
ran to the ice surface from a steep couloir climber's right of the
North Face Couloir. A second wet snow avalanche ran as we watched. We
suspected water saturating the snow and cutting the bond with the
ice. We descended to the Naisett Cabins in the rain. It appeared to
rain right to the summit of Assiniboine.

My fellow Mountain Guide, Sepp Renner, treated us royally at
Assiniboine Lodge and suggested that we extend our trip as the
weather was clearing and cooling off and, given the saturated
snowpack, the conditions could be really good once it froze.

Sept 29th saw us back at the Hind Hut in the fine company of my
fellow Mountain Guide, Jen Olson, and her quest.

Sept 30th we walked away at 05:30 on top of cement like frozen snow,
right beside our boot deep postholes of a couple days before. We put
on crampons at the final steeping of the approach morraine and
enjoyed pretty much perfect cramponing up to the Red Band. The
verglas had been washed off of the Gold Band and I was up it in 10
minutes. The snow became more crusty and winter like on the upper
mountain with 30-50 cms sitting on the ridgecrest. We crunched onto
the summit at 12:30 ... perfectly calm, not a cloud in the sky. The
visibility was incredibly clear with no dust or smoke for hundreds of
miles, not a breath of wind and warm sunshine.

Our descent was made via a series of North Face rappels starting at
the low end of the 'walkable' summit ridge. At the top of the Red
Band we traversed, on rappel, 20 meters east to the normal NE ridge
rappel line. We got back to the hut at 18:00 and descended the Gmoser
Highway this morning, Oct 1. Some overnight verglas on the edges of
the waterfalls.

Thanks so much to the Renners and their warm hospitality.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com