Spent the last four days camped below Mt. Selwin near the Bishop Glacier.
Selwin was dry. Did not get over to Hasler, but looked in good shape. The
schrund on Hasler is large, but crossable. Climbed Wheeler on Aug. 21. The
Deville Glacier was largely bare, with snowline around 9000ft. Snow/firn on
Wheeler was firm, perfect styrofoam conditions, softening in the afternoon. No
overnight freezes for all three nights, but got a dusting of snow last night
above 10,000ft. System intensified this afternoon, with limited visibility,
S1, moderate NE winds.
Checked out the Deville rap stations - all in good order. Look skiers left of
main gully - cairns and bits of colored tat help find the start of the raps.
Report from climbers on Sir Donald: very good conditions with snow lingering
on the north side of the ridge, but main ridgeline and south side all dry. A
system moved in last night however, and climbers were reporting (by radio)
snowing S3 as of 14:00 hrs this afternoon, depositing lots of fresh snow on the
ridge. Sounds particularly ugly up there right now.
SF.
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