I guided an ascent of Coire Dubh Integral yesterday, April 8th. A clear and
cold night made for better ice on the first pitch than one week ago when it
climbed like "detached stiff slush". There was even some new ice formed
overnight. Having said that, I doubt that the curtain will survive the heat
forecast for mid week.
The rest of the traditional route was in good shape and there has been a 10
centimetre thick blanket of snow added to the route in the last week. No
rockfall. The exit gully gets a ton of sun now and we punched steps through a
small pile of avalanche debris from a solar slough in the last 48 hours just
below the 5.2 pockets pitch. It was good to be off the face at noon. Lots of
fresh wind deposited snow along the ridge line over Loder peak that tapered to
no snow by the time we were 150 metres above the 1A Highway.
Happy trails,
Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com
_______________________________________________
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