| I just completed a mountaineering trip in South Rice Brook, flying in June 25, climbing June 26-29 and flying out today, the 30th.
We climbed Mt Alexandra, Mt Fresnoy and Rose Petal Peak. Another party did the Whiterose Traverse. Conditions overall were very good. Even with no overnight freezes (temperatures ranging from +2 to +6 at 3 AM) travel on snow at all elevations had about ankle deep foot penetration on crusts in the morning. Later in the day steeper slopes were softer and wet (up to knee deep foot penetration in places) but still seemed stable and we descended some steep slopes. On sun exposed aspects the snow was moist to mountain top by midday but I saw and heard only one large snow avalanche all week, a loose wet one out of steep cliffy terrain one afternoon. We did not get on any shaded high elevation slopes, but I doubt if there was any dry snow there either.
We had a few afternoons and evenings of heavy rain showers, with rain up to mountain top several times. This still did not affect travel conditions the next day.
Snow coverage at all elevations is excellent. There are still a lot of snow patches in the moraines that make up and down travel much more pleasant than it would be normally. Crevasse bridges are starting to sag but still seem to be strong and we were travelling through areas that in dry times would need to be bypassed.
In this area conditions seemed to be prime for classic mountaineering objectives. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide
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