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Eastpost Spire doesn't require glacier travel, but it's also not worth the trip.

The glacier encircled by Snowpatch, Bugaboo, and the Crescent Spires is fairly benign. You would be fine walking around on it unroped (of course keep an eye out...). You could access the routes on the Crescent Spires without leaving this glacier (Ears Between, McTech Arete).

If you wanted to climb routes under 5.11 on Snowpatch or Bugaboo Spire it would require navigating the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col. This can be trivial (tourists hiking in sneakers) to extremely dangerous (people have been seriously injured sliding into open crevasses) depending on conditions. I don't know what current conditions are like.

Paddle Flake and McTech Arete are two outstanding short 5.10 routes on Crescent Spire that do not involve any glacier travel, approach is maybe 20 minutes from camp. Use approach shoes and a hiking pole. You can do Bugaboo Spire NW Ridge (one of the 50 N Amer classics) with a pole each and approach shoes but it would help if you bought some cheap running or approach shoe "tracks" to cross the bare ice in places. There is a lot of rock in this ice, allowing you to gain friction. When you come down the Kane route to the Snowpatch-Bugaboo col, just continue on across level snow and ice to the Pigeon-Snowpatch col raps. Another 6 raps and a fun moat crossing land you on the glacier below where you can get by without crampons if you access the rubble to the left below Son of Snowpatch and down climb right of the trail towards the end or follow the trail to one final fixed rap. The "Snowpatch" Route does not require any crampons either, just approach from the Kain Hut, same Pigeon-Snowpatch col raps for descent.

I never wear anything but regular approach shoes at the bugs in summer but do opt for lightweight aluminium strap on's which allow you to access the Bugaboo/Snowpatch col, run up and down the Pigeon Fork glacier and just generally move a lot faster no matter where you are.

Good Luck with your trip.

Bugaboo Climbs

The Bugaboos are a great place to learn glacier travel in combination with alpine climbing. As stated above, the bugaboo glacier cirque has very easy glacier travel with minimal crevasses. Even the bugaboo-snowpatch col is very easy in the scheme of alpine climbing and travel. It can be scary for novices, and for everyone when its actively shedding. There is now an equipped rappel route for descending the col that avoids much of the hazards.

The original Snowpatch route and Surf's Up on Snowpatch Spire are both 5.8 and do not require traversing the col to access.

The West Ridge of Pigeon Spire is one of the best intro alpine climbs anywhere in the world, not to be missed! The standard approach and descent goes through the col, but you could also bypass that by using the approach to the South face of Snowpatch.

There are always lots of folks at both the Kain Hut and Applebee Dome camp to talk to about current conditions and access routes. I would recommend going for it and getting your feet wet.
Have fun!

Keep an eye on acmg.ca/mcr/archives.asp for condition reports. This was posted earlier today:

"The Bugaboo-Snowpatch col has seen a significant amount of rockfall, we saw a car-sized boulder tumble down it in the mid-afternoon. There were reports of natural and climber-generated rockfall even before sunrise. We elected to descend the Snowpatch rappels after our climb - but if you go there be prepared to climb out of the moat to get onto the glacier.

The glacier travel up the Pigeon Fork of the Bugaboo Glacier and across the head of the Vowell still looked reasonable.

All the rock routes are dry with no sign of last week’s snowfall.

Mark Klassen
ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide"

What Flex is talking about as an alternative is actually a glacier named Pigeon Fork. Even though I have soloed this glacier numerous times, most would prefer to be trained in crevasse rescue/extraction. You will experience some crevasses on this glacier to be sure. It is the most technical approach to Pigeon's west ridge (which many of us solo=not that much of a technical climb, just incredibly scenic) in comparison to the straight forward, but nasty at times, Bugaboo-Snowpatch col. It is a pick your poison type of thing, one bergschrund and rock fall (the col) vs crevassed glacier terrain.

Most of Pigeon Fork's crevasses are exposed lower down (just ice, easy to jump over), but when it gets steep higher up, they will be covered in snow. The only way to get to Surfs Up is in fact using the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col, there is no skirting the east/south side. If you are fast climbers, obviuosly you can do Snowpatch route without touching a glacier, rap, then climb Surfs Up, rap, then rap the ice fall below with about 6 raps to exposed benign glacier that can be skirted for the most part. You will get a lot of misc info on MP, some accurate, some not so much. I hope we have given you a better pic of the options. Yes, it is worth your stop over I imagine. Those two 5.10's I mentioned before are classic enough to be worth the trip on their own sans crampons.

Thanks for the clarification on the Pigeon Fork Dow. I have never gone that way myself, only spoke to others about it. I thought I remembered talking with a fellow climber there once who described approaching Surf's Up from that direction, but it was a long time ago and my memory can be a bit hazy.

Are conditions up there right now worse than in a typical snow year?

Dow, are you referring to the Bugaboo Glacier as the Pigeon Fork Glacier? Your post seems confusing and perhaps misleading.

As for travelling without a rope on either the Bugaboo Glacier or Vowell Glacier, I suggest this be a thing of the past. Climbers have already fallen into crevasses and likely will happen more frequently in the future. There was a rescue every 3-4 days in the Bugaboos this summer. The Bugaboos are an alpine environment that should not be taken lightly- despite the internet.

Tim McAllister wrote:Dow, are you referring to the Bugaboo Glacier as the Pigeon Fork Glacier? Your post seems confusing and perhaps misleading. As for travelling without a rope on either the Bugaboo Glacier or Vowell Glacier, I suggest this be a thing of the past. Climbers have already fallen into crevasses and likely will happen more frequently in the future. There was a rescue every 3-4 days in the Bugaboos this summer. The Bugaboos are an alpine environment that should not be taken lightly- despite the internet.

i was there last summer at the end of june. we went up to pigeon from both approaches (B-S col and Bugaboo Glacier). A guided party also did the Bugaboo glacier approach while we were there.

this is a safe approach early in the year if you know what you are doing and how to rescue yourself. its also fairly mellow.

if you dont know what youre doing id recommend against this approach.