Back from 3 days of "summer" at the Columbia icefields.
Climbed Athabasca today via AA col route. (+3 parking lot 0330)
Conditions held together in the gullies but only a 5cm crust is
holding the gullies from being isothermal. Along the edges step
kicking was reasonable, not to deep and a good crust.
Above the gullies the mountain was excellent travel, good and hard
both up and down.
Still pretty solid in the gullies at 1030 when we were back at the
bottom, but there is certainly a need for moving quickly.
Looks like a new serac under the ramp on the normal route is forming
and separating. A very large feature.
Important to give this area a wide birth from as soon as you get on
the glacier. Forget about the red line in the guide book.
The normal route up the ramp looked fat and loaded. Doesn't look like
there has been any traffic on the ramp in a while, or at all this
season. There is an old slab on the left side that has been there for a while.
Maybe this heat will clean things out.
Tracks visible both on Skyladder and the descent route looked
deep... post holing. I am sure the descent on south side to the AA
col is sporty right now in the heat! One party we talked to spent
the night out.
No significant avalanche activity recently observed, but lots of wet
small sluffs on the east face of Andromeda near the Strain.
The cornices on Andromeda are really drooping, and they are big!
A cooling trend would greatly decrease the hazards on some of these
fine alpine routes.
Peter Amann
Peter Amann
Mountain Guiding
Box 1495, Jasper AB, T0E 1E0
780 852 3237
www.incentre.net/pamann
pamann@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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