This House of Sky

Grant Watson , Monday 25th March, 2024 10:20AM

-14C at trailhead at 10:00, increasing to about -4C at 16:00. The recent snowfall left ≈15cm of light, fluffy snow over a well-consolidated base. The new snow remained loose and light, even with a bit of warming later in the day. Numerous small snowball sluffs were visible throughout the route, mostly started by tree bombs above. There was debris from a very small slide coming down from the East side above one of the the steeper snow ramps (which probably has ice underneath, but it was well covered by snow). Narrower parts of the canyon certainly call for careful risk assessment, efficient movement, and spacing out of the party. There was one random snow block the size of a large ottoman sitting by itself in the middle of the gully (odd). We chose to forego the final pitch above treeline due to concerns about snow above. All rap anchors are accessible, mostly at knee height. While the ice pitches are short due to snow accumulation, the ice quality was good and can be expected to stay that way for the coming week at least, and potentially much longer with little to no sun hitting it.