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I had a fun day on Professor Falls (Dec 30). We got
there first then had 3 other parties follow up behind
Approach: Mountain
bikes made the tedious closed-road go quickly but we had to ditch them at the
intersection (3.3 km on the bike odometer) where the old parking used to be due
to unpacked snow on the road. From there easy walking on a packed trail to the
base of the route.
Ice Conditions: The first pitch was a bit wet
making the ropes stiff for the rest of the climb. The only other wetness was
when my ice tool released a gusher near the top of the third pitch. Other than
that the climb was pretty dry.. a little too dry in fact. While leading the
fourth pitch, I encountered some weird stress fracturing and settling in
the ice. It was kind of spooky. Incidentally, when rapping this pitch on
the way down, it had transformed from brittle to wet plastic. Moral of the
story, ice conditions are constantly changing day to day and even hour to hour.
All the ice to the last pitch had seen lots of overnight reforming with almost
no signs of traffic (ie- no hooks or steps). Conversely, the last pillar has not
had any reforming so it was very beat out. Despite its funky appearance, it
offered bomber tight hooks and good ball-of-your-feet steps. There is no bolted
anchor at the top of this pitch nor good ice for a V-thread so we used the rock
thread on climber's right. It is a big, solid feature with new rappel cord
and a quick link.
Descent: The descent trail appeared to be blown in
so we opted for rappelling the route. The numerous bolted anchors (some easy to
miss so look around) make this straight forward as long as you do not throw your
ropes on other parties while they are climbing. Some of the newer Fixe rap
stations must have been placed later in the season when the ice is more filled
out becasue they are high on the rock and difficult to reach.
Snow Conditions: The wind event last night scoured
the bowl above the last pitch down to bare scree; yesterday it was white with
snow. Also, the cornices on the summit ridge of Mt Rundle have definitely
grown. The trail up the gully to the last pitch had disappeared under the newly
transported wind blown snow. By the end of the day, once 4 parties had there way
with it, the trail was back in.
Weather: Clear, sunny skies all day with the
temperature at sunrise being -10 C. No wind on the route due to its sheltered
position but light to moderate wind once we topped out on the last pitch. A snow
plume was observed rocketing off the summit of Rundle during the hike
out.
Happy New Year.
Sean Isaac
AAG
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