Spent 7 days at Fairy meadows with an Alpine Club group from Aug 18-25th. Dry conditions were evident with significant recession of snow and ice on some important access points. We went to look at the friendship col and were surprised at how much things have changed over recent years. The toe of the glacier near Gog-Magog is now ice core morrain with large boulders.(Did it once, didn't go back)
Friendship col has a large shrund at the bottom, a section of steepish ice that leads to a loose gully. Fresh rock fall from above turned us around before committing even to a closer look.
Collosal peak was all ice and had active ongoing rock fall. We did access the Ironman col through a maze of crevasses where good bridges were still in place. We also tried to gain the lower granite glacier to access the Nobility group but again found it to be unappropriate due to loose rock near the edges of the morraine close to the ice. Adamant and Austerity glaciers looked active and icy. A few clear days gave us great views, however smokey skies dominated most of the week. It is certainly worth thinking abut the present conditions for parties considering traversing to the Ben Ferris hut as both Thor pass and Azimuth notch would likely be dry and dirty.

Peter Amann MG
Sylvia Forest MG