A Visitor Safety team was up on the regular NW Ridge of Sir Donald
yesterday. The route up is dry and there is no snow to cross. We descended
the W-face Bypass and crossed 1 snow patch for roughly 50m. An ice axe was
handy for this section, but good footsteps could be had in firm snow at
11am. I would suspect the snow would be mush on top of ice in the afternoon
sun. It appeared possible to avoid the snow by going below it, but this
would involve a few delicate moves on pea-gravel sitting over slabs. Not a
great recipe for traction.
All the rappels were inspected and are in good shape. No water sources are
available until you return to the bivy/campsite in the meadows below the
Sir D-Uto col.
Have a great long weekend.
Chris Gooliaff
Visitor Safety Specialist
Mount Revelstoke / Glacier National Parks
_______________________________________________
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