Week 5 of the Tsar - Somervell GMC (July 30 to Aug 6) brought generally stable weather after a showery day on July 31. Some afternoon build up occurred on a couple of days with a significant lightning and thunder storm on the night of Aug 5. Temperatures at camp (1970m) never dipped below +4, but a couple of very good freezes occurred midweek providing good climbing conditions.
As seems common throughout the ranges this summer there is still significant snow above 2600m in this area with over two metres of settled snow on some of the upper glaciers. Glacier coverage is good with minimal problems related to crevasses or berschrunds. However, cornices are still large and concerning. Travel was excellent on the days with good freezes, but considerable amounts of unconsolidated and/or isothermal snow was evident at higher elevations buried beneath the surface crust. As the days warmed up knee deep and occassionally waist deep trailbreaking resulted with the breakdown of the surface crust. It was critical to be off of steep, snowy terrain early in the day. An excellent freeze on Aug 11 allowed a party to climb Mt. Tsar via the N ridge to NW ridge route (normal route). However, a party turned around the next day due to an insufficient freeze. Timing is everything. Mt. Somervell saw no attempts due to extensive cornices on the ridge and the Shackleton area remained untouched. Numerous ascents were made of Mt. Ellis and several unnamed peaks.
Of special note, on Aug 10 Matt Mueller and Paul Geddes climbed a probable first ascent of Mt. Odell via the narrow and exposed N ridge. No evidence of a previous ascent was noted on the route or at the summit.
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Jeremy Mackenzie
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
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Mt. Tsar.jpg
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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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