I spent the last 3 days climbing in the Tantalus Range (Friday-Sunday). We climbed the North Face of Serratus, the SE Spur on Mt Tantalus, and the SW Buttress (NOT the SW Spur) on Mt Dione. Snow travel was excellent with good freezes in the mornings and never more than 10cm deep in the afternoons. Snow coverage is much more extensive than the past few years, with easier access to many of the cols, less rockfall hazard, and easier to navigate crevasses with better bridging.

The moat at the base of Dehydrated on Dalwhinnie is quite big at the moment, probably requiring a rappel off a snow anchor and then what looked like challenging moves through overhanging twin cracks to get to where you would normally start (see photo).

The Bergschrund on the South Couloir of Dione looked very difficult to cross (see photo).

There are still a couple of small snow patches near the summit of Dione hanging above the easiest scramble route up the SE Face/Gully on the summit tower. They didn’t look like they were dropping rocks, but it’s something to be aware of. Note that I’m not referring to the East Face on the summit tower as the guidebook shows, which is now quite difficult due to glacier recession and the moat.

The moat to access the SE Spur route on Mt Tantalus is still easy to cross, but it’s a bit further north than it has been the past few years, making the rock climbing more difficult to get back on route (probably the hardest climbing on the route). If you’re coming from the north on the Tantalus Traverse (as most people seem to be doing lately), this is not an issue as you rappel right over it.

Enjoy the stellar conditions out there while they last!