I climbed the Tower
of Babel two days ago, from where one
enjoys a great view of the Temple
East Ridge (see
attached). While the technical crux pitches appeared snow free there is lots of
snow in the Black
Towers and on the ledges
used to traverse below them. These ledges are exposed to loose snow avalanches,
which could be heard rumbling down the south face from around 11 AM on. The
route climbing to the top of the black towers appears to be threatened by HUGE
cornices which can even be seen on the image. With the nice weather that is
hopefully coming our way, I would imagine this to be a very uncomfortable place
to be until these cornices have dropped, which could take quite a while!
On the positive side and new to me, some good soul equipped
the Tower of Babel Route
with the Fuhrmann start with well placed bolts at the belays.
Cheers,
Jorg Wilz
Mountain Guide (IFMGA / ACMG / VDBS)
OnTop ltd.
www.ontopmountaineering.com