Up and down the East Ridge of Unnamed yesterday. Temps at Lake
Louise at 0415 were 7C, and ~12C on top (3150m) at 11 under a broken
sky.
We quick stepped over some meltwater on the initial 3rd class step
that gains the toe of the glacier, skirted just below the ice to gain
the ridge and then crossed 10m of snow just below the summit.
Otherwise the route was totally dry. Recent parties have descended
via the pocket glacier and looked to have had decent step kicking in
snow for the upper half. However, the lower half looked to be mostly
ice and open slots now. The snow was melting fast yesterday with a
regular bombardment of the right (i.e. North) edge of the glacier
from the rotten bluffs above. We kept the rope dry to the very end
thanks to the big slung boulder on skier's left of the glacier toe,
which got us down the final 15m step to the scree via an overhanging
rappel onto the last lingering snow pocket.
Across the valley, the snow on Victoria and Lefroy looked to have
melted back significantly in the last week, and the S ridge on Vic
has quite a bit more rock and ice showing through now.
Mozzies were bountiful in the pm, starting at 2500m (top of the
scree) until a fair way below the tea house.
Carl Johnston
RG
_______________________________________________
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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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