I started at 3:15 AM. Even that early in the morning it was warm down low and I had some post-holing below treeline. Above tree-line in the willows the snow became more abundant with more post-holing. The gully was filled with solid snow so sticking to that I made better time and less post-holing. Looking at the Northwest Ridge from the basin I saw a lot of snow and the ridge looked to be corniced. I ascended the Main Couloir without much difficulty. However, the snow was not totally consolidated so I tried to stick to the rock ridge on the climbers left thinking the snow might be more stable near the rocks. I descended the C Couloir which had similar non-consolidated snow much like the Main Couloir. Return trip back down was uneventful except for more post-holing with the warmer conditions...
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