| Out today on Professor Falls we enjoyed the best conditions I have seen there in some time. -10C in the morning and -4C by mid-day. Calm down low but lots of wind transport up at ridgeline with some significant sloughing pouring off the rock bands on either side of the Trophy Wall. Cloudy all day.
The approach was so dry we easily biked on townies all the way to the base. (Pretty sure I saw some fat bike tracks on the first pitch, actually.) All pitches are still super wide and blue but have healed up since I was there a few weeks back. Despite the heat wave lately, the last 36hrs of cooler conditions had shut off the taps and there was barely a drop of surface water running or any chandelier ice to contend with. We had no issues staying dry all day.
Thanks to the recent rain event(s) up to the penultimate pitch (~2050m) there is barely any snow cover, and certainly not enough to be of concern for avalanches; however that changed dramatically above that elevation. All of the upper feeder gullies have avalanched during the recent warm spell. An impressive wet Sz 2 has left a wall 2-3m high wall of debris perched at the top of the second last pitch and the first 1/3 of the crux pitch is just walking on styrofoam blocks. The crux is dry and hooked out, easy shape. Except for the final rock anchor, which I wasn’t able to excavate from behind a wall of white cement, all the anchors are currently accessible/reachable.
Enjoy!
Carl Johnston Alpine & Rock Guide |