I guided an ascent of Mt. Robson’s Kain Face via the Patterson Spur approach Aug 4-5. We had a good overnight freeze on the night of the 4th and travel was excellent on the approach to the Kain Face. We encountered challenging icy conditions on the Kain face and ridge to the summit, pitching almost all of it with screws and pickets for protection. It’s a good thing we teamed up with Jeff Bullock and his guest for the descent, utilizing 2x60m ropes to save some time and increase our safety margin. It was still a long day - 15hrs - from a bivy at the Robson-Resplendent col. The Patterson Spur approach seems to be getting popular, we counted 5 parties camped at the col. It was well marked, easy to find and dry throughout. There are several variations through the lower cliff bands and the number of cairns in different locations can be confusing but they all seem to lead to the Spur.
The Robson Glacier approach to the col looks very threatened from serac activity coming from the Mousetrap. There is debris covering the entire width of that narrow section below the Mousetrap and the travel through there looks very uninviting.