The West Ridge of Mt Tupper is in excellent shape right now, with very good early morning travel on snow from the campground to the ridge proper. We encountered a few avoidable patches of snow along the ridge and one small section of verglas near the crux corner pitch. By noon, while walking back down the snow towards Hermit Meadows, there were notable spots of punchy snow, with one swallowing me to my armpits (thankfully I had my pack to stop me from going further into the snowy boulderfield).

We did not use axes nor crampons, but some parties may find an axe reassuring while on steeper, firm snow first thing in the morning. A 40m rope is plenty long enough for the rappels.

Sir Donald's North aspect looks very wintery, while Mt Macdonald's NW ridge and W face routes have shed their snow and are being climbed. See pictures.

Enjoy the weekend heat.

Chris Gooliaff / Danyelle Magnan
Glacier NP Visitor Safety,