Had a great day on Garibaldi on Saturday July 12. As a follow-up to Ross's report last week, the north side glaciers have great snow coverage, very good shape for mid-July, though the current hot weather is melting everything out quite quickly. Picture below is looking out from the summit over the Warren Glacier and usual approach route. The standard line is in perfect shape now, up the face to exit the bergschrund on climbers left with a 10 meter section of steeper snow to gain the upper ridge. There should be a couple of weeks left on this route, but the left side exit on the schrund is breaking down and will become its usual unsupported jumble of ice blocks sooner or later, sooner if the weather stays hot. Snow conditions on steep slopes are "ok" in the early morning, but overnight temperatures did not get below the mid-teens, so by mid/early morning the snow lost a lot of strength, especially on steeper slopes - be aware of any slopes with open crevasses or cliffs below you at this time of year as there is still enough unconsolidated snow to form wet surface avalanches, not to mention weak snow bridges.
Brian Jones, ACMG Mountain Guide
Canada West Mountain School
E-mail: brian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web: www.themountainschool.com
View over the Warren Glacier, July 12, 2014
View up the Northeast Face of Garibaldi, July 12, 2014