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Just back from a week of work on the
Parkway, here's what we saw...
Nov 18 - Balfour Wall - Able to set up
5 ropes. Minimal snow on approach.
Nov 19 - 5/7/0 - No snow on
approach. First pitch climbed on right hand side with half of the pillar
being open, running water. This pitch was unclimbable when we got back to
the base. Rest of route in good shape with exception of large chunks of
ice and some rocks coming down the climbers right hand side (10 to 15
metres from climbing line) from melting ice/running water.
Nov 20 - "Bullshit Canyon" - No ice,
pure drytooling. Minimal snow with the creek being just barely frozen in
places.
Nov 21 - Bow Falls - Minimal snow
around lake (lots of ice on trail though). Route is small right now with
it being a solid WI4. Very dry and brittle. No cornice.
Gorby Falls was also climbed and
reported as wet and soft ice for the crux with some brittle dinnerplates
on the approach ice. Cornice on left hand side of route looked quite
stable at the time. Another group went back to Balfour and did not climb
the right hand pillars after lunch as it was heating up too
much.
Nov 22 - Two O'clock Falls - Again no
snow on approach and wet and soft. Melt out was also climbed and reported
as in good shape with some running water in spots, easy to avoid. Route
was rapped from a tree about 150m lookers left of top of route to avoid streams
of water on the route.
Nov 23 - Haffner - Coming along
nicely. Temperature inversion taking place as all trees were rime coated
and -9 temperature was recorded.
Other observations - Curtain Call has
fallen down, as has the routes above La Tabernac. Couldn't see the bottom
but looked like parts of Tabernac had crashed too!. Minimum temperature
all week were -6 with maximums being +7. Polar Circus looked good with the
second last pitch looking like the crux. Weeping Wall was falling
apart. Basically anything that was south facing was getting
torched. Shades of Beauty looked good. Observed numerous point
releases on south aspects (Mt. Wilson) as well as NE aspects (Mt.
Jimmy Simpson). Murchison looked like solid WI5.
On behalf of Stevie B, Grant M and Mike
S
Cheers
Mike Stuart
ACMG Assistant Alpine
Guide
#1-730 3ST Canmore, AB T1W 2J6
T: 403 609 8454
E: m_stuart@xxxxxxxxx
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