Back from a wonderful week of alpine climbing at Fairy Meadow/Putnam Hut
with a bunch of ACCers.
Weather throughout the most of the week was sunny and warm. Overnight
temps at the start of the week (Aug 3-5) were cool (lows of 8-10 C at
the hut) with decent radiation freezes on the ice. Midweek (Aug 6-8)
temps were warmer (lows of 10-13 C) with no overnight freezes to
mountain tops.
In the afternoons on the warmest days wet snow avalanches to size 2 were
observed on solar aspects (e.g. Adamant S face), along with a few
cornice failures and much rockfall.
On Friday the weather became unsettled and temps began to cool a little
with afternoon thundershowers. Friday night was clear with a good
radiation freeze giving a 3 cm crust above 9,500 ft Saturday morning. By
10 am on Saturday another storm came through with rain that turned the
crusted surface to slush up to the top of Austerity (~11,000 ft).
This morning we awoke to significantly colder temps (low of 4 C
overnight at the hut) and snow above 10,000 ft.
Routes climbed by those staying at the hut this week included rock
climbs and ridge scrambles on Quadrant, the Adamant-Austerity Traverse
via Adamant's E ridge, Ironman Bypass with N Ridge Ironman descent,
Ironman's Gibson/Rohn, Fria traverse (E-W), Gothics East Peak N Ridge,
Pioneer, Toadstool, Pioneer Pass ice face, and Shoofly Arete (loose, not
recommended).
Conditions were mostly excellent with good travel in the mornings. Very
early starts were a must this week for the high alpine routes, and by
midweek we were avoiding exposure to bigger solar alpine features.
Bridging on the ice is still good although bergschrunds are starting to
gape. Many open crevasses are still thinly hidden by July's storm snow,
but throughout the week these have been opening up as the storm snow
melts down to the old winter surface with the warm temps and rain.
Thanks again to John, Shelley and Tim for organising this amateur trip,
and of course the ACC.
Regards,
Tom Wolfe
AAG/ASG
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The
ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in
continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information
provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions
Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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