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July 2: Lake O'Hara to Abbot to Abbot Pass. Still
some snow on the trail, but going fast. Generally good step kicking. Warm
temperatures at the hut into the evening. Some wet, dirty slides rumbling off
the E face near the hut in the evening (see July 2 picture).
July 3: S ridge to main summit, descent via Huber
Glacier and ledges.
Poor freeze overnight with high overcast. No
crampons needed until snow ridge halfway to S summit, where wet snow over ice in
spots. The snow is melting back fast and the rock shelf on the Lake O'Hara side
can be used in many sections all along the ridge already. We chose the snow
ridge where possible though, to avoid the steep gully tops, which were still
soft from the day before. The feeble crust only carried in a few sections, one
of them being the Sickle, which is formed broad and easy this year (see picture
"A"). Below the crust the snow was wet. We broke through the tracks from the
previous day about half the time.
The ridge to the main summit had surprisingly few
cornices and they do not pose a problem, easy to get around. However, we
got to play in some vertical slush on the sections just before the summit (see
picture "B").
The descent gully to Huber Gl. is still well
connected, with a shin scraping crust just holding things together. The debris
cone made it easy to get over the schrund (see picture "C"). Postholing on the
glaciers below. Crevasses are starting to sag on the upper glacier, but they are
easy to avoid so far.
Kobi Wyss
Mountain Guide
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