[MCR] Mt Athabasca etc

Subject: [MCR] Mt Athabasca etc
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:12:14 -0600
Climbed Mt Athabasca via the North Glacier route on Sept 21st. Good travel until we turned onto the 'Ramp' where we started to run into hard lens like windslabs sitting on the surface of the snow. Several of the slabs were hard enough to walk on for a number of steps and up to 25 cm thick. Hand shear tests revealed a resistant planar shear in the recent snows down 20-30 cm. It all felt too funky so we escaped the Ramp halfway across by climbing straight uphill to gain the bare ice above the bergshrund. We descended the AA Col which was in good shape. I think that the AA Col is the route of choice at present.

Sept 22 we headed up to a camp at the head of the Athabasca Glacier for an attempt on Mt Snowdome. Passed the second step on climber's right by running the gauntlet of the Snowdome seracs because climber's left side looked heavily crevassed and open. Getting off of the ramp leading up the third step involved some serious crevasse negotiation with eggshell bridges over some scary crevasses. Can't recommend this passage until winter snows provide some supportive bridges.

Happy trails

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
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