Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sun, Jul 24 2011 - Clements Mtn. & Mt. Cannon (RESCHEDULED FROM JULY 20) (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Jim Foster
Participants:		Jim Heckel, Laurel R. Vielle, Jim Foster, Ronnie Laudati

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Write Up:
The rescheduled date, Sunday, July 24th, turned out to be blue bird perfect. Four went on the climb including Ronnie Laudati, Laurel Vielle, Jim Heckel and Jim Foster. We started from Logan Pass at 0845 and traversed snow on virtually all of the approach to the saddle between Oberlin and Clements. At this time of year to have Logan Pass completely blanketed in snow is telltale of the monumental 2010/2011 winter. On the ridge climb part way up Clements we encountered the most snow in the hidden couloir that I have ever seen. This obstacle required a rock climbing detour all the way to the main ridge since this snow went to the top. A patch of snow worried us along the goat trail but when we got to the mouth of the trail this snow patch was below us thankfully. Once in the main Clements couloir the climb went well. The crux move, which is low in the couloir, was completely wet and dripping so we detoured around this to the right. Everyone made it fine and we started the ascent up the east face. Near the top we encountered a little more snow causing another detour to get to the top. We made the summit at 1330 and enjoyed the perfect views in all directions. The descent off Clements turned out to be very difficult with the amount of snow still clinging to the ridge and south face. We found snow in places that I have never seen including a large chunk on the first castle block traverse. Thankfully the moat was wide enough for us to go behind it. In the long north facing goat trail we found at least five remnants of snow that we were able to safely negotiate around. In all we had to detour five times on the descent in various places on our way to the Hidden Lake Trail including down one significant cliff band. At the Hidden Lake switch backs we entered snow again that took us all the way to Logan Pass. This was truly a monumental year in terms of snow this late in July. Because of the snow obstacles and having to route find around these we did not attempt Cannon. The climb took just under 8 hours but everyone made it safe.

Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Tim Anderson at twamontana@gmail.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.