Taking advantage of the clear skies, snow
in the gully’s and long days, we ventured on to the S.E. ridge of Mnt.
Cheops and the N.W. of MacDonald.
On the 25th we scrambled up
from the Roger’s Pass summit directly towards the Napolean Spur, then
followed the S.E. ridge to the summit of Cheops. The route provides great
views of the surrounding peaks, and even better bush whacking! Only
technical climbing was up and over the Spur. (5.2, 100m) 5 hours
up. Descent towards Balu
Pass, then enjoyed a
quick snow descent down to the Balu hiking trail. 3 hours down.
On the 26th we crossed over to
the other side of the highway and explored the N.W. ridge of MacDonald. We
started at the base of the buttress and then simply followed the crest to the
top, essentially a slightly longer and slightly harder variation of the Davis/Bay
route. 20 pitches of roped travel 5.8 and several sections of exposed scrambling.
Descent via S.W. ridge which involved mostly scrambling and then two rappels
(or exposed down climbing) to the top of the Herman Couloir –climber’s
left variation. Step kicking down the snow couloir led us in to the main basin,
followed by 1300m of perfect boot skiing! An excellent route! 15
hours.
As a side note, Sir Donald is dry to mid
elevation, but is still very snowy above. Looks like it will be another
week or two before it’s in condition, assuming the hot weather continues.
Enjoy the early summer alpine,
Paul Norrie
ACMG
Mountain
Guide.