Spent 3 days in the Columbia Icefields area.
Parkers Ridge is still holding enough snow for snow school, self arrests and a nice snow lip for crevasse rescue.
Climbed A2 on Friday up the Boundary "ice" tongue. It was completely snow and perfect crampon travel after an evening of cold temps. The ice below was anywhere from 6 inches to over 12 inches under the snow. Travel to A2 on the glacier from this side can often be complicated but with the high snow pack right now it was very straightforward both to A2 and over to the Boundary/Athabasca col. The path that can be taken now will obviously change as the summer progresses. The final stretch of glacier on the North Glacier off Boundary, is ice.
Climbed Silverhorn on Athabasca on Saturday in what felt like winter conditions. Again travel on the glacier was very
straightforward right now with cooler temps keeping you on top of the snow. The Silverhorn was decent steps as mentioned before by Paddy, with some windslab and breakable ice crust sections down lower, and minimal front pointing. Ice anchors could be made up the entire route with a bit of digging. The descent down the AA col was in good shape with plenty of snow coverage but could be hazardous in sunny warm conditions.
A great deal of ascents on Athabasca, A2 and Andomeda this weekend!
Sarah Hueniken
Alpine Guide
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