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#1143 - 03/11/08 10:07 PM Johnston Canyon March 11
iceadmin Administrator Offline
WI5


Registered: 11/01/07
Posts: 62
We went in about 10:00 and found some pretty sun-baked ice to play with. The right-most free-standing pillar has an unhealthy crack across the top of it, so we didn't do that. The middle steep chunk is OK but pretty sun-smashed, climbing up the groove is OK. The left side wasn't inspirational. The lower-angle slabs on the right were OK, as is a big fat chunk of ice to their left. Overall a lot of icicles falling off when the sun came out and a very spring-like feel to the situation. It definitely seems more like early April than March to me at least down low. Up high it's still fully winter, a friend set off a nice slab up on the Wapta on Sunday. So a lot of variation between the lower elevations ("spring") and up high, where it's still buried surface hoar/"winter."
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#1339 - 04/27/08 07:16 PM Re: Johnston Canyon March 11 [Re: iceadmin]
Grant P Offline
WI5


Registered: 11/10/07
Posts: 57
Loc: Calgary
Went into Johnston Saturday 26th April. I think we can say spring had arrived in the canyon for sure. The cracked righthand pillar is still there although we neither liked the crack nor realized it had been cracked for so long. There must have been a pillar/dagger fall to the left of this judging by the debris but no idea when it fell. I don't think it was the middle and groove as described by WG above, because that was still there.
The sun is hammering the steep stuff by mid morning now and I wouldn't go there again. Too much ice when it falls to risk it, and not in the greatest shape. Getting squished is poor form.

The slabs had a lot of running water showing and exposed rock across the top making topping out way sketchy in all except one spot. All in all, the slabs are cooked and done, not even last weeks double digit overnight lows saved them.

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