Lilla Molnar and I climbed the first pitch of a new(ish) mixed route near Cascade Kronenbourg called Trepanation Triple and Carlsberg Column today.

Quite a large avalanche came down when the Parks Canada crew did their control last week. There is debris a couple of hundred metres below the route and evidence of the powder blast almost to the road.

For those who are interested, Trepanation Triple is a fun, bolted M7 WI5+/6 directly under the broken curtain of Kronenbourg. We started up but didn't finish the second pitch (pure ice) as quite a bit of new ice had formed over the roof making it delicate and slightly overhanging. Very doable but not with my screaming forearms from seconding the first pitch!

Carlberg was very wet except for one dry line up the middle. The ice on both the approach pitch and Carlberg itself had not seen much traffic lately and a thin veneer of ice had formed over a layer of snow. This made for fairly insecure climbing but it should clean up quickly with more traffic. We were able to find good screws with a bit of searching and cleaning. It wasn't in classic Carlsberg mid-January 'picked-out' condition.

Have a good weekend.

Marc Piché
ACMG Mountain Guide