Spent the last 3 days trying to avoid avalanche terrain and the crowds.

Climbed "Nothing but the Breast" on the David Thompson hwy on Saturday. Ice is all there and in reasonable "Old school" shape(not many pick holes and a fair bit of whacking required). There was a lot of soft windslabs on the last steep part of the approach. We put the rope on and used the trees as gear to keep the consequences reasonable. Some cracking but nothing moved. When we left at 1pm the wind was blowing hard and it was warming quite a bit. It could still be manageable but even if another track has been put in I would move cautiously through that approach for awhile.

Sunday we climbed Louise Falls. It is gigantic and with some good communication we manged to have 3 groups moving on around on it without scaring or pounding each other.

Today, Monday the 13th, we climbed Circus Circus. It is in great shape. When we left at noon it was getting fairly warm. Nothing was moving yet but with more heat it seemed likely that small wet sloughs that could carry rocks with them could be coming soon. Maybe you couldn't get buried but even a single shovel full of gravel and slush in the face is not normal in my sheltered life.

The hazard will decrease eventually(june?:) but for now, sticking to the avalanche free classics seems like a pretty good idea.

Larry Stanier
ACMG Mountain Guide
laristan@telus.net