Apologies for not posting this sooner. I had an initial issue w the size of the
photo.
Fellow guide Darek Glowacki and I climbed sections of the W Face and W Face
Direct routes on Mt Macdonald yesterday 5 June. We descended via the east
descent of the Herdman Couloir.
The Herdman Couloir offered firm walking and a quick approach to the W Face.
Recent precipitation from earlier in the week is drying quickly on this face
although corners and gullies are still holding a bit of snow. The east descent
couloir has adequate snow consolidated by the spring avalanche cycle for good
downclimbing. Point releases in the top 10-15cm. Below the confluence with the
Herdman Couloir bum sliding and boot skiing made for a quick descent. The snow
descends to within 150m of valley bottom. While climbing the route, we observed
regular cornice and point releases from the ridgelines west of MacDonald.
The rest of Rogers Pass still looks wintery, although S aspects on Tupper
should be coming into condition fairly soon. See panorama below.
There is currently an additional Conaught Creek crossing option which Darek
discovered during a weekend ascent. At the picnic area before the most westerly
snow shed there is a toilet. Continue 75m east or downstream from that toilet
to the Tractor Shed gun position from there descend to the creek and find the
downed spruce which spans the creek. This option will save about 45 minutes of
bush thrashing compared to the alternate approach which starts 300m west of the
picnic area.
Brent Peters
Apprentice Alpine Guide
CAA Level 2
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
Sent from my iPhone
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