Up the route yesterday and found classic early season conditions. Most of the route is quite fat for this time of the year however some of the pitches are harder than normal due to insecure climbing and tricky gear placements, particularly the Ribbon pitch and the last pitch.
It is also a bit of an extra challenge to reach some of the bolted stations currently due to the lack of snow. Expect a few moves of M2/3 to clip the chains, again especially on the last pitch.
The snow slope above the Pencil ranges from about 10 to maybe 40cms deep and the November 6 rain crust IS in there, although it is not a unified layer. Careful assessment is needed (as always) on this piece of terrain.
Have fun!
Mike Stuart
IFMGA/UIAGM Mountain Guide
CanadianAlpineGuides.com
via
Peter Tucker
Executive Director
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