Just finished a few spectacular days of climbing
in the Hermit Meadows, at Rogers Pass. We climbed the Hermit Traverse,
Swiss Peaks Traverse via the south ridge of Swiss Peak, and the Hermit Traverse
via the SW/ SE Ridges. Conditions were nearly perfect with good overnight
recoveries in the snow gullies with softening during the day, good snow coverage
on the glaciers, and dry rock on the ridges. Made for fast and enjoyable
travel! Crampons were necessary on two of the mornings.
The 10-15cm of high elevation snow from a couple of weeks
ago has essentially all sloughed off and the snowpack is beginning to feel
quite a bit more settled on the solar aspects. Lower down the snow is
melting quickly and coverage is changing rapidly. Several of the main
snow gullies are beginning to melt out and will soon no longer connect with
snow. Cornices and point release avalanches are still a concern during
the heat of the day. We witnessed a significant chunk of cornice release from
above the standard south gully decent on Mnt. Sifton. The cornice chunks and
rocks traveled all the way to the glacier below, wiping out the footprints from
a party that had descended the gully the day before!
Aside from the forest fire smoke that crept it’s way
in to the Revelstoke area yesterday, conditions should be similar for several
more days.
Cheers,
Paul Norrie
ACMG Mountain Guide
Revelstoke