Ice season is upon us! I'll start with a little ice conditions update.
Its WARM! Jason and I attempted to climb Monument Falls in Glacier NP today. We geared up by headlamp and were climbing the approach pitch at first light. With the warm temps and recent snow the climbing was sub par. What is usually an easy solo was snowy, crusty, wet and insecure so we roped up. At the top of that pitch we decided that was a preview of what the climbing would be like the rest of the day. It was a unanimous decisions to bail and head back to town.
Most of the routes in Avalanche are climbable, they are just in early season conditions and now have 4-8 inches of snow on them.
Mt. Cannon and its fine routes seemed to be falling apart. The lower parts of most routes were all but melted out.
In addition, the avalanche conditions have been considerable(orange) since Saturday's(12/7) storm and what slopes haven't slid yet are loaded and ready to go.
Note the LARGE debris field below.
