Hi all,

First off, my heart goes out to the people and community of Jasper in these unprecedented times.

This is a trip report from a recent 5-day guiding trip to the bugaboos July 19th to 23rd, 2024. We had hot summer temperatures, no overnight freezes, clear but smoky skies, and varied afternoon buildups.

We started our trip with a flight into East Creek with Whitetooth helicopters from the old Bugaboo Lodge airstrip. We based out of the East Creek camp for a few nights from where we climbed "Ride the Snafflehound" on the Snafflepuss Pillar and the "Beckey-Chouinard" on the South Howser Spire. From there we moved on to Applebee camp for a few nights and climbed Snowpatch Spire via the "Krause-McCarthy" route. We exited via the regular access trail on July 23rd. Overall, the alpine rock and glacier travel conditions were excellent. Most routes were dry and there was still a lot of remaining winter snow on the glaciers. Crevasse bridges on most trade approaches were holding well and manageable.

Snow coverage around the East Creek camp was plentiful. That said many bare camping spots could be found. Lots of water was available for camping or refilling on the the way. While there were a few bare glacier sections showing, it was easy to travel on snow on the glaciers below the Pigeon-Howser col and West side of the Pigeon Feathers.

The rappel descent from South Howser Spire was in great shape and totally workable with a single 60m rope as described in the guidebook. The last rappel clears the burgshrund perfectly. Similarly, the Pigeon-Snowpatch Col rappels were in great shape however, while the last rappel takes you over the burgshrund, a short 35-40 deg snow slope must be negotiated to gain the flatter Bugaboo Glacier.

There were no open crevasses on the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col which is still holding snow from the top to bottom. That being said, it is really hard to recommend that route given the erratic rockfall hazard on the above side slopes and gullies.

Overall, we had a great trip with excellent summer conditions. Our main concerns were the rock fall hazard on the BS Col and the uncertainty generated by the smoke obscuring afternoon build up potential.

Now, if that jet stream could steer that rain over to Southern BC, that would be a miracle.

Stay safe,

David Lussier
ACMG Mountain Guide
www.summitmountainguides.com