[MCR] Tonquin Valley conditions August 7 - 11th.

I was in the Tonquin Valley from August 7-11th.

Many of the classic rock faces and steep ribs in the Tonquin still have snow and wet sections, the routes only just coming into condition. Ridges are dry and snow gullies are in excellent condition making for quick up and down approaches and descents. Schrund crossings and crevasse bridges also looked good overall. The greatest concern at the moment is with sun exposed snow slopes at higher elevation. Besides rock fall from snow melt, the slopes themselves were quite touchy, needing only the slightest trigger to slough the upper 10 - 15 cm of isothermal snow. These sloughs quickly gather enough velocity and volume to dislodge a climber.

We climbed two peaks. The first, on August 8th was the Northern most peak on the rampart wall besides Redoubt from a long snow gully between Redoubt and Drawbridge which leads to a ridge climb to the top of a distinct pointed summit. Our intention was the NW ridge of Redoubt but we found the final snow couloir was wet and not in condition and the ridge appeared to have still much snow on it. So we made for the summit of our backup option.

As well we climbed Paragon peaks East ridge via a new variation at the base of the South face on August 10th. These routes were in excellent condition apart from the upper snow slopes on Paragon which required careful navigation to stay on the lowest angled slopes or high on ridge tops to avoid avalanche slopes.

We had one feeble a.m. freeze at 2000 meters on August 8th and apart from that temperatures were always above zero.

I included two pictures from this trip of the front and backside of the ramparts.

Eric Dumerac - Professional Mountain Guide - IFMGA/ACMG
Mountain Skills Academy
✆Canada: Canmore 011- 403-609-1564 

Tonquin Valley conditions August 7 - 11th

VIEW SLIDE SHOW	DOWNLOAD ALL
ADD MORE PHOTOS

This online album has 2 photos and will be available on SkyDrive until 11/11/2011.

Share your own slide shows with Hotmail

_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The 
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.