Saturday, March 17, 2007

Ice Conditions: Weeping Wall Right-hand (Mar 17)

Richard Hunter and I climbed Weeping Wall Right-hand today. Highway 93 North is snowy and icy to Bow Summit (poor driving conditions). North of Bow Summit it was just wet and not slippery. Mixture of rain and wet snow all day. Total accumulations at Weeping Wall was about 10cm of moist snow (could easily make a snowball). There was some sloughing from lower angled ice shelves as the heavy snow built up.

The climb is still in great condition with good plastic ice and solid screws. The new snow plastered to the ice (even the vertical ice) made finding placements awkward but this should melt off quickly. There was also two groups on the left side. Snivelling Gully looks to have lots of open water now. I wouldn't even use it as a rappel route.

Beware of raven's. We left a pack at the base which they managed to un-zip and pull all the contents out. My wallet was lying beside my pack with everything pulled out of it. Luckily I had no cash for them to steal. I have even heard of raven's relieving their bowels on packs just to add insult to injury. Needless to say, it's better to fully rack up at the car and not leave anything at the base.

There was a car parked at Polar Circus but today did not seem like the day to be up there. With "considerable hazard" in the alpine posted then the heavy wet snow combined with warm temperatures, I would avoid big terrain trap routes like Polar Circus and similar.

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