jmckay

This is most likely in response to the two yanks that had a piece of Iraq right here in Canada. Joe Hello Everyone, On the Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay Public Avalanche Bulletin you will now see information on any planned avalanche control work for the following day in the Travel Conditions section. We hope this information will better help you make alternate plans for the following day and further encourage ice climbers, ski tourers, and boarders to check the bulletin the night before. If you do not have access to a computer, you can hear a recording of the forecast by calling 403-762-1460. The controlled paths that affect the highways those that are marked by the "no stopping avalanche area signs). These are: Sunshine Paths: the control is sometimes done at night, but not all targets can be done at night. Under normal circumstances, daytime control is done at 1300 hours, as per the agreement with the Sunshine Ski area. The slopes above Bourgeau Left are not controlled, but could be affected during highly unstable conditions. Kootenay National Park: Vermillion/Assiniboine Paths (local names), Mt. Whymper (becoming a more common ski destination), Mt Wardle Paths Yoho National Park: Mt. Dennis: controlled paths affect the Field backroad and many of the "beer" climbs: Pilsner Pillar, Carlsberg Column, Cascade Kronenbourg, Heineken Hall, Labatt's Lane, Wild Cougar, Guinness Gully, Guiness Stout, and High Test. Mt. Field: path affects the ice climb Silk Tassle, Coalminer's Daughter Mt. Stephen: path affects Super Bock, Extra Light, Cool Spring, Massey's, 4. Highway 93 N: paths are marked by the "no-stopping avalanche area" highway signs and are not a common destination for ski tourers or ice climbers. Lisa Paulson, ACMG guide Specialist, Mountain Safety Programs Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

For the most part I think that Barry is doing OK. Lot of soft tissue damage I believe but no broken bones. However at 48 you don't come around as quickly as you used to. Back to Batoche Wanted dead or Alive Sir John A macDonald for the murder of Louis Reil

Went up skiing on the Parkway today (Jan 3) on an east aspect in the trees, just getting to treeline. AVALANCHES: we didn't see much in the way of activity today although some stuff has run in the storm, mostly out of steep gullies in cliffs. The Warden service has reported numerous avalanches to size 3 though, so we definitely kept out of runout areas and stayed in the trees. SNOWPACK: About 130cm on the ground, with 30cm of that being storm snow from yesterday. There was a shear at the interface between the storm snow and the old surface (sudden planar - it popped off), but there was no slab in the storm snow where we were skiing below treeline. The rest of the snowpack felt well-settled with no major weak layers noted with probing. Lots of wind effect from the storm at treeline and in the alpine. Large cornices. WEATHER: -5 at our high point (treeline) in the afternoon. Pretty much calm where we were although there was a bit of wind transport off the highest ridges. No new snow. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide

Skiing is the way to get in now, too much snow for biking. We put our packs onto sleds which was a good way to go. Thought that we'd climb Whiteman Falls first but with the temps increasing 10 C by early morning it made two spooky big crack-cum-settling noises so we opted for Redman Soars, which is in good standard shape with evidence of only one previous ascent, awhile ago, this year. Crux was good with ice for tools and a couple of airy moves of feet on small rock edges. I led past the retro-fit 2 bolt anchor (not placed on the first ascent), placed a 16 cm screw in the pillar above climbed a bodylength higher and started to pull the bulge. Tried to highstep right over it, blew that crampon and pulled outwards too much from the higher grip (bump-up position) of my new X Monster tools (and I am not blaming the tool, rather my unfamiliarity with it, first day on them) and POP, and to prove Larry Stanier right, "Even grade 1 ice is going to seem really steep if you fall on it". Because of the circuitous nature of the route, and my belayer out a bit to take pictures, I plummeted 20 feet and accordianed into the tightish rock gully below (where I suffered most of my battering). Didn't break anything but I am plenty stiff today and hobbling around on crutches with a sprained ankle. Anyway, it was and amateur day (I was out with a buddy and not guiding) so I shook off the shakes and rallied, hauled up two tools (my leashless ones went to the bottom of the climb, found late on descent) and finished the climb. The hike and ski out was accomplished with the aid of 2000mg of Ibuprofen (some medical types have told me that you can get away with one big dose to reduce swelling, just as long as you aren't on it, or take more in the next 24 hrs) and my partner taking all the weight and both sleds. I'll identify a couple of factors: -Complacency, I tend to climb with the minimum amount of effort -for me- my tools should have been in better than hooking. Most years I've climbed at least 40 days by now and I'm more onto my game. This year I guided in Antarctica for the last month and yesterday was my 6th day out, my guard isn't were it should have been. -New tools, they are different, especially the "bump" position, doubly especially when pulling a bulge. I should have played with them more at an easier venue. They climb well, but it is hard/desperate to drive a piton with them. I think that I'll carry a third tool for piton placement in the future on trad mixed. Humbling to fall on a lead that you did the first ascent of, and have climbed a half dozen times sinse ... Redman Plummets Barry Blanchard _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

(Hope all made it out of the storm ok. Sure that some did not. here in banff it snowed all night and we are having the best ski year that anybody can remember. Joe) Just came out from Cayoosh area today. Around 40 cm's of very moist snow at valley bottom elevation (5500ft), I imagine up to 60+ cm's at higher elevations. Tried to get some skiing in still, however as you can imagine there were not to many good turns to be had. Travel was quite difficult and the tree bombs in the Forest made tree skiing out of the question. We managed a few turns in the pillow Field at the end of the road but even this seemed to be pushing it with all the new snow and warm temps. In the few clear moments of the day we could see extensive evidence of a natural cycle going on at all elevations and aspects. I would say stability is Poor in most places. It might be best to stick to another sport for the next few days until the temps cool off. Oh, Ya. The road was very bad too! Craig McGee, Mountain Guide. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

(This is one of the better climbs and a must do. The fixe rap ancchors that are Sean mentions are mine and I did put then in late in the season. I will have to do a topo at some point as there are a loy of raps if that is the way you choose to descend. there is a walk off from thr top with one short rap through the cliff band on the 4th pitch but this option does not get used that much. Joe) I had a fun day on Professor Falls (Dec 30). We got there first then had 3 other parties follow up behind Approach: Mountain bikes made the tedious closed-road go quickly but we had to ditch them at the intersection (3.3 km on the bike odometer) where the old parking used to be due to unpacked snow on the road. From there easy walking on a packed trail to the base of the route. Ice Conditions: The first pitch was a bit wet making the ropes stiff for the rest of the climb. The only other wetness was when my ice tool released a gusher near the top of the third pitch. Other than that the climb was pretty dry.. a little too dry in fact. While leading the fourth pitch, I encountered some weird stress fracturing and settling in the ice. It was kind of spooky. Incidentally, when rapping this pitch on the way down, it had transformed from brittle to wet plastic. Moral of the story, ice conditions are constantly changing day to day and even hour to hour. All the ice to the last pitch had seen lots of overnight reforming with almost no signs of traffic (ie- no hooks or steps). Conversely, the last pillar has not had any reforming so it was very beat out. Despite its funky appearance, it offered bomber tight hooks and good ball-of-your-feet steps. There is no bolted anchor at the top of this pitch nor good ice for a V-thread so we used the rock thread on climber's right. It is a big, solid feature with new rappel cord and a quick link. Descent: The descent trail appeared to be blown in so we opted for rappelling the route. The numerous bolted anchors (some easy to miss so look around) make this straight forward as long as you do not throw your ropes on other parties while they are climbing. Some of the newer Fixe rap stations must have been placed later in the season when the ice is more filled out becasue they are high on the rock and difficult to reach. Snow Conditions: The wind event last night scoured the bowl above the last pitch down to bare scree; yesterday it was white with snow. Also, the cornices on the summit ridge of Mt Rundle have definitely grown. The trail up the gully to the last pitch had disappeared under the newly transported wind blown snow. By the end of the day, once 4 parties had there way with it, the trail was back in. Weather: Clear, sunny skies all day with the temperature at sunrise being -10 C. No wind on the route due to its sheltered position but light to moderate wind once we topped out on the last pitch. A snow plume was observed rocketing off the summit of Rundle during the hike out. Happy New Year. Sean Isaac AAG _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

Went to the fire cut line just off Hwy 93 past the continental divide for a couple of afternoon turns. The clear cut line is well visible and quickly approachable from the road and gets skied regularly since it was about 2 summers ago. Cold temperatures in the morning (-20C) and warming up a bit with overcast that developed around noon. We could see occasional wind transport at ridgeline with southerly winds in the pm. No avalanche activity observed, except some sluffing in some of the steeper start zones of the big avalanche paths on the other side of HWY 93 (Mt. Wymper). Surprising to me were two things: The snow pack was only 50 - 70cm thick and very weak. Basal depth hoar and lots of faceting throughout the snow pack topped by 5 mm surface hoar crystals. The strongest part of the snow pack is a 1 finger, 20cm thick "mid-pack", which collapsed at times, making the skiing pretty hazardous given the chances to get your skis caught on rocks and roots along the ski line. No November crust to be found anywhere? Upon return, we found the rear window of our car shattered - probably by a rock from a passing truck. There is not much space on the sideline for parking to begin with. Maybe we should have listened to the Wardens that we talked to earlier, who warned us of this very hazard! You were right, Percy! Probably best to park at the trailhead for Stanley Valley or Continental Divide and do the longer approach? Cheers, Jorg Wilz Mountain Guide (ACMG / IFMGA / UIAGM) 1-800 506-7177 or (001) 403 678 2717 www.ontopmountaineering.com _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

The bombs were going off at Norquay yesterday morning and that generally means an "upslope" storm so it was off to K-Country and 3 laps at Black Prince (Thursday, Dec 28). AVALANCHES: Unlimited visibility on the drive there, no fresh avalanches noted except for some sluffing out of steep terrain. Evidence of some slabs that ran during the storm in alpine gully features, starting in steep cliffy terrain, up to size 1.5 (as per Jorg's post yesterday). Doesn't sound like there was much activity at Mt Norquay with the control work. SNOWPACK: About 120cm of snow on the regular Black Prince lines, about a quarter of that was storm snow from Dec 27 (30cm). Overall a very consistent snowpack in the trees, just a thin weak layer on the ground around the November crust, noted with probing. At treeline the storm snow lies on top of what felt like an old 20cm thick windcrust, with some weak snow below the windcrust. Just above treeline we could see notable wind effect in the storm snow. TESTS: Lots of ski traffic here both during the storm (old tracks) and while we were there. "Ski testing" was occurring on many steep slopes in the trees with no avalanches triggered, but nobody ventured into the higher elevations where it was wind effected. WEATHER: Cold, clear and calm all day although there was some wind transport on the highest ridges in the afternoon. Surface hoar growing rapidly. HAZARDS: Lots of snow available for wind transport and all steep features are plastered in snow with cornices hanging above - watch out for overhead hazard. SKI QUALITY: Great skiing in the trees! SEASON'S GREETINGS: Happy New Year. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide

I was working out of Callaghan Country's Lodge (at 4500' in the Callaghan drainage N of Powder Mountain) for the past 3 days. The height of snow at the study plot (5200') was 350cm. Most of the creeks and other early season features are well covered over. The ski quality of the snow was generally good. At tree line the snow in the valley was unaffected by wind and presented 50-100cm foot penetration. In the Alpine the conditions where a bit more variable, but other than on the most wind hammered features (and below 6500') there was still good snow to be found. For both treeline and in the alpine: the Avalanche Hazard was Moderate and Stability Good Dave Sarkany Ski Guide

I was up Little Sifton via Grizzly shoulder/bowl today under glorious Sunshine and cool temps. Another 5-10 cm.s overnight added to the previous storm snow making for some deep (40-60cm. ski penetration) tracksetting whenever you got tired of the usual straight up track on Grizzly shoulder. There was some heating of steeper sunny aspects – seen as moist snow on a steep SW facing traverse we did climbing out of Grizzly bowl. Up higher you could feel old wind affect below the more recent low density snow but it wasn’t too thick where we traveled nor would it shear cleanly when tested. No wind to speak of today but you could see streaming snow off the higher peaks(over 10,000 ft.) in the am. I was surprised by the lack of recent wind effect in the area – but it did make for some great deep skiing. No recent avalanches observed short of some point releases (loose snow sloughs) in real steep terrain and no results from ski cuts or tests. Lots of people in the pass and something to consider if there is any overhead hazard and people are above you – hard to say where people will ski these days. Cheers, Scott Davis Mountain Guide

Went into the Upper Falls at Johnson Canyon today. The main area, on the right side, was fat as per usual with lines form WI2 to 3. The pillars to the left were either not touching or just barely touching down. They looked scary with a lot of large hanging icicles all around. I wouldn’t top rope any of them right now. This area is very hazardous for the unwary and uninformed. Many climbers and especially the ‘canyon walkers’ do not realize the hazard under these daggers. Stay very clear of them and warn those that don’t. Regards, Rob Owens Alpine Guide Lifted from Live the vision Unsafe climbing in Johnston Canyon - 2006/12/23 11:13 My friend and I were top roping on the left side of Johnston Canyon, on the steep ice above the water. A party of three showed up later, and were climbing the easier ice on the right, leading to the first tree anchor. This is what we have observed: 1) Leader placing screws at eye level 2) Leader dropping his tool 3) Leader getting pumped, taking his left hand off the tool, and grabbing the half driven in screw with both hands 4) Massive confusion between leader and belayer, upon reaching the tree anchor the leader was taken OFF BELAY, the leader then wanted to LOWER, only the yells of my partner made the leader stay put, and not move, until he was put back on belay 5) Leader climbing the corner of ice and rock boundary with the rope set up in such a way that it would result in significant pendelum swing Cerainly there must be a better way to do this! As for the 3 fellows who made us watch their nigthmare in Johnston Canyon, I hope you read this and get some proper instructions, before the natural selection takes place. Part Two User Posts: 2 graphgraph Re:Unsafe climbing in Johnston Canyon - 2006/12/26 11:22 was it these guys? http://hydrogenplusstupidity.blogspot.com/ nice anchor....

I have spent the last couple of days close to home skiing on Mt. Macpherson on the Monashee side of the Columbia valley. Dec.26 - @30cm. storm snow from just before Xmas – no real slab and limited wind affect as far as treeline (7,000 ft. - I didn’t get any higher – a bit of a late start). Dec.27 - @15-20cm. of snow overnight means rebreaking the trail from yesterday – a lot more wind today as the ridge built in behind the system – so lots of wind affect at and above treeline – lots of touchy soft slabs forming where I turned around – which was about 1,000ft. lower than yesterday – still good skiing (okay amazing) skiing where it is below treeline and protected from the winds. Tomorrow will be the first blue sky day in a while so tread gently if you are foraying above treeline over the next few days. Cheers, Scott Davis Mountain Guide

Went ski touring today at Black Prince. About 25 - 30 cm of recent low density storm snow at the end of the day with practically no wind (where we were = treeline and below!) made for excellent skiing. At the turn around knob for the regular Black Prince slope, we could see a smallish (sz. 1.5) natural soft slab release in the alpine bowl up and climbers left of us. No skier triggering of slab avalanches obeserved, but the lack of cohesiveness within the new snow makes for pretty wild sluffing in steep terrain, which can well get you into trouble if trees are in your way! As we left around 4PM it continued to snow at about 2cm / hour. Driving on the Spray Lakjes road was pretty adventurous too! Cheers - enjoy the turns with all the new snow! Jorg Wilz Mountain Guide (ACMG / IFMGA / UIAGM) 1-800 506-7177 or (001) 403 678 2717 www.ontopmountaineering.com

I spent Dec.22-23 skiing the Gorge road area in the Monashees west of Revelstoke. On Dec.22 there was @15cm of new snow that had fallen overnight and covered a very thin (2mm.) freezing rain crust that must have formed at the beginning of the storm. The crust itself was not even noticeable when skiing (other than the noisy pole plants). There had been a little wind transport right at the ridgecrest that produced thin windslabs over the crust, but once down the slope a few turns it disappeared leaving low density skiing and 30cm. ski penetration. Snowpack depth at 6500ft. was 2-2.5 meters the Nov. raincrust has 1.8-2.0 meters over it in this location – there were no significant shears other than the thin raincrust. Reports from the Mt. Machperson area just above Revelstoke said that there is no raincrust there – so the location is variable and appears to be limited to the western section of the range. On Dec. 23 there was a further 15-20 cm. of very low density snow – similar wind affect limited to the ridgecrest. The main concern was loose snow sluffs triggered by the skiers as they skied down. Last night in Revelstoke we received another 15cm. of snow from Santa – so it was a truly White Christmas. Best of the Season to you all, Scott Davis Mountain Guide

Climbed the route yesterday with two guests. Good shape throughout with only a few sections of thin, brittle ice on the first pitch, full length screws everywhere else. Everything after that was wet and plastic. There is a fair amount of snow on the trees and we had the occasional "tree bomb" come down on us. Well packed trail into base of route and it looked like quite a few people were using the climbers right hand gully to descend - we rapped the route. Stout and Hi Test looked good but I could not see a trail going up to them from the top pitch of Guinness. Looked like a lot of work to get there. Cheers Mike Stuart ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide E: m_stuart@telus.net

Climbed the route today (Dec 21), and is in great shape, (as previously reported by Mike and Rob) up until the last pitch. Pitch 7: No change in the difficulty of climbing, but sounded hollow through the thinner bottom end of the pitch. It is also detached from the rock in places. We hooked gently and found good rock pro on either side. A couple of days of solar radiation wont do this pitch any good. Upper level winds were strong from the west.. Localized winds were sporadic and variable! But gusting strong at times. Broken skies and snowing very lightly on and off all day. Aaron Beardmore Mountain Guide Aaron www.transworldmountaineering.com _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

Joe here! Looking for a new area or lodge to ski at I recommend this guys area. He is a good guide and the place is not over crowded like most of the coastal areas. While it has been very warm in the valley, winter is firmly entrenched above 1000 m. The temperature has not risen above freezing, all the precipitation fell as snow, and the winds continue strong from the south. The 6 December raincrust is now 60 cm down at this site at 1500 m, but other parties have found this crust absent or much thinner in other areas of the Bulkley Valley. There are several shears in the storm snow, but the moderate temperatures will settle those out quickly. Of more concern is the continuing loading. There is a lot of wind transport in the alpine and at timberline, and more snow and wind are forecast. Expect widespread windslabs that could be more than 60 cm thick in places. A stiff layer in the storm snow could propagate far if the load increases enough. -- Christoph Dietzfelbinger Mountain Guide IFMGA Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. Canada V0J 2N0 tel. 250-847-3351 fax 250-847-2854 info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information. Bay Mountain // Strikes again/ Get out there you west coast newfies

Climbed Shooting Star today (Dec 20) on Mt Wilson. We were psyched to have a cloudy day preventing solar radiation from cooking the 1500m of snowy terrain above our heads. Clouds and cool temperatures are desirable conditions for all of Mt Wilson's routes to keep both the snow (for avalanches) and the ice (for climbing) in reasonable shape. The first pitch is hanging in there but is getting pretty white and thin in spots. It is sporting lots of in situ V-threads most of which are sun-leached and melted out so check them carefully. The 3rd pitch has broken and reformed as a skinny pillar but the ice is wet and plastic making it friendly. I would recommend Gore-tex for this pitch because it is pouring with water. We drove up the road a few km to see what else is in. Ice Nine is "formed" but the first pitch pillar appears the diameter of a tree trunk so I would give it a week or so to fill out a bit. Happy Days / Nine is almost touching down. Cheers, Sean Isaac Assistant Alpine Guide _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

A natural avalanche cycle occurred on the east flank of Hudson Bay Mountain with yesterday's rain. Numerous size 2 soft slabs ran in the steep terrain, starting at 1800 to 2000 m. On a helicopter check flight this morning, no recent fracture lines were visible in the flat light. The temperature was -9 C at 2000 m with moderate wind transport caused by strong southerly wind. Avalanches terminated well back from the road. Soft slabs ran over both the main falls in Glacier Gulch as well as over the 'Left of Left' falls. I suspect that there are numerous windslabs that can be triggered by skiers or snowmobilers. The resulting avalanches will probably not be overly large, but certainly in the size 2 range. Settlement will be slow with the current lower temperatures. -- Christoph Dietzfelbinger Mountain Guide IFMGA Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. Canada V0J 2N0 tel. 250-847-3351 fax 250-847-2854 info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

Climbed the right side of the Weeping Wall today. Good, sometimes slightly wet conditions on all routes but not bad for early season. The upper wall (Weeping Pillar) also looked quite good from the distance but likely harder than WI5 right now. Only one other party around today, who did Sniffelin Gully - first pitch sounded pretty hollow still with lots of water running underneath. -14C at the parking lot at 9.30 AM, light to moderate snowfall started around noon with warming temps and strong winds with spindrifts kicked in later in the afternoon. Icefield Parkway is all snow covered and around the Saskatchewan River Crossing quite icey. All in all a very wintery ambiance out there..... Cheers, Jorg Wilz Mountain Guide (ACMG / IFMGA) www.ontopmountaineering.com 1-800 506-7177 or (001) 403 678 2717

Toured up evening ridge yesterday. Beautiful day. Cold temps ( -13 at 8am on the whitewater road, and -9 at 1pm on the whale's back ridge 2100m ). The sunshine had little effect on the snow surface, even on south facing terrain. Average snow depth 200 cm. So it's been a few days since the big snow and wind ended, but there are still suspect looking pillows of windslab in many start zones and in cross loaded gully features in open areas, from the wind at the end of last week which blew strong from the SW then swung to West and NW at the end of the storm. The cool calm weather we're enjoying now will help settle out these surface instabilities with time. However this weather also favors the development of surface hoar, which we observed, up to 10mm at ridgetop, and smaller ( 2 - 3 mm below treeline ). If these continue to grow and are not knocked down by wind, they will be a concern when they are covered up with the next snowfall. The mid and lower snowpack is well settled and bonded, coverage is great for this time of year, temperatures are forecast to remain cool, so get out there and play safe ! Joel McBurney, ACMG Ski Guide

Climbed the route yesterday with one guest. As usual the lower pitches are quite wet, especially the fourth. We both had three sets of extra gloves and we used them all. The first pitch is as big as I've ever seen it and the last is quite thin in spots with running water visible underneath - good feet and hooks throughout though. Cheers Mike Stuart ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide E: m_stuart@telus.net

We are in a cooler weather trend with clear skies in Jasper and along the Icefields Parkway. Aside from some wind affected surfaces in the alpine the skiing is excellent, with the deepest snowpack in years (maybe decades). With the excellent travel conditions below treeline, this would be a good year to do some exploring, and ski some of the routes that normally have horrendous trail breaking to ground. No recent natural avalanche activity has been observed in the Jasper area, and explosive testing has resulted in bomb holes in the snow, and maximum size 1 sluffing. The ice climbing is also excellent, with numerous climbs along the icefield forming, and many rarely formed climbs are 'in'. Keep in mind this is not a 'normal' December, relative to the past several seasons. There is more snow, and therefore more severe consequences if you are involved in a skier/climber triggered or natural avalanche. There is a lot of snow and ice to play on, so focus on the areas/routes that are not threatened by avalanche and cornice hazard. This is shaping up to be one of the best seasons on record. Jordy Shepherd Mountain Guide Revelstoke/Jasper _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

Big dump overnight Thursday (30-40cm. in Revelstoke) made driving anywhere to ski Friday out of the question – so I spent the day on Mt. Macpherson just outside of Revelstoke on the Monashee side of the valley. 80cm.ski penetration off the trail made for exceptionally deep skiing with no sign of slabbing in the new snow. There had been a few loose snow sluffs (small avalanches) that had run into the top of the gullies but they didn’t go far or amount to much. Today is bluebird so I am sure that people are going to venture up high for the first time since this series of storms hit us – hopefully the cooler temps will have tightened up the snowpack a bit but watch out for those windslabs from earlier this week. Play safe, Scott Davis Mountain Guide

Climbed Unicorn up in the David Thompson today. The route is extremely fat and is actually touching down. It will need a bit more time till you would want to jump on it as a pure ice route as the bottom of the two pillars are only attached by a few icicles. We found good ice on the first pitch with only a few steps onto the rock needed. As well we only placed a .25-.5 inch piece of gear for a small step over the roof. All other gear was ice screws. The upper pitch was much easier than the given M7 rating as you could stem off the ice and rock throughout the difficulties. The last bolt (the ones marked off route in the mixed guidebook) protects the 10 feet of steeper ice. Kitty Hawk is also in very good condition. Although there wasn't much new snow in David Thompson country, there was up to 20 cm's of new snow at the Bow summit. This tapered off as you headed north. With the new snow and high winds throughout the day we noticed alot of snow moving around up high on Mount Wilson and adjacent peaks. You will want to think about the terrain above the ice climbs you choose this weekend as I imagine there will be some natural activity and soft slabs on some of the approaches. .Craig McGee, IFMGA __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field. Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.