jmckay

A week of guiding in the central Selkirks yielded the following observations.... The week began with cold temps and generally stable conditions - a few recent large cornice drops onto nearby steep slopes produced only bomb holes and gouging tracks. Reassuring indeed! After a day of travel, and a few test profiles, we rated stability as Good at all elevations. During the mid-week, we received about 20-40 cm of storm snow on the March 5 surface (suncrust, surface hoar, and facets). This snowfall came with moderate to strong winds, predominantly from the SW, and temps rose to about -5C at treeline.. Numerous size 2 natural avalanches (windslabs) occurred on Wednesday and Thursday at Treeline and alpine elevations. Lower elevations below 2100 m remained stable with the exception of minor sluffing.. Also 2 size 3's were observed running in steeper terrain on the suncrust on a southerly aspect in the alpine. Tree skiing was indicated, not only for stability reasons, but ski quality. By Friday (March 10), cooler temps (-19C in the AM) and sunny, calm conditions had us poking our heads up high again. Stability tests indicated a rapidly strengthening snowpack, with one exception.....a south facing glacial toe at 2600m. As I started to cross, I felt the ol Feb 20 facet layer, weak as can be, down 60-80 cm with my pole. A quick dig yielded sugary facets almost falling out of the pit wall - 4 finger resistance! This was quite a surprise as every other look into the snow had indicated those facets were much stronger. At this elevation, the buried suncrusts were barely noticeable, and there was a consistant slab on top of those facets. Needless to say we avoided terrain features which could have resulted in a nasty skier triggered event. Ski quality was incredible all week. Nothing like cool temps and light to moderate snowfalls. Beware for the next warm weather event in the Selkirks! Lingering buried weakneses buried in the past month will likely reawaken, and surprise those who have long since forgotten about them. Brian Gould Mountain Guide

Ice Been out to a variety of areas over the past week………… “Louise Falls”- in great shape with various options for the pillar(s). There are two daggers hanging over the cave at the base of the route (on the right side ). The daggers are big and pose a hazard to those on the approach and while gearing up. On another note the mixed routes “Captain Hook” and “Lowe Impact” are now doable because of these features. “Whiteman Falls and Red Man Soars”- Whiteman’s has a WI 4+ pitch on the left to start and ends at a nice ledge. The second pitch traverses out to the center of the upper column and is solid WI5 with great gear and lots of solid hooks. Redman’s is in typical condition and is dwell protected with a few small-med. sized nuts and small –med sized cams. “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”- “Damocles” is still in but the short pillars above and below the main pillar are delaminating and X-rated in character. The first pillar can be walked around to the left with ease but the second may be more of an issue to avoid. The lower pitch of the last tier on “7 pillars..” has fallen off ….not easily visible form the road. “Lower Weeping Wall Right and Teardrop”- “Right hand weeping wall” is in great late season condition with limited sun effect. “Teardrop”- 70 meters of WI5 to a couple pitches of semi rotted WI6. Good gear was to be had but took some work to find. Been cold in the morning up on the ice fields parkway the last few mornings -20 to -25 at 0600. Pillar features are under a lot of tension until the sun softens them up. Cheers, Rob Owens Ass. Alpine Guide

Just completed a 5 day Peyto Lake to Sherbrook Lake trip on the Wapta Icefields. On the Peyto approach we used the morraines which required some careful skinning and boot packing but was easy travelling. Coverage on the glaciers in general is quite good, more than 250cm where ever I probed. We used the rope in a number of known crevasse areas but did not observe any weak or thin bridges. Going up to the Balfour high col we started up the morraines from Balfour Pass to avoid the steep slopes of the lower glacier, and then at about 8300 ft contoured into the lower left hand route to avoid more of the serac hazard. This seemed to work very well and I will use it again in the future. The crevasses on the way up the ramp were well covered making for good travel on the far left, but as Murray mentioned, the serac chuncks make their way all the way to ski line!!! Ski penetration between 15-45cm depending on wind effect. Good skiing on the way out to Sherbrooke Lake with 20-30cm of new snow at treeline. Very strong SW winds and approx 30-40 cm of new snow in the past three days forming ssl in the alpine. Several Na avalanches up to size 2 out of steep N aspects. Limited obs due to poor visibility. Stability P-F/F/G, caution for wind slabs! Cheers, Conrad Janzen (P.S. Scott Duncan Hut is workable but has some major condensation issues, also barrel storage area on toilet is missing its doors, not good with strong SW winds. The toilet paper doesn't go down!)

On a recreational day today, skiing several drainages to the north of Bow Summit, on the west side of the highway. We observed strong winds and intense snow transport in the alpine. Numerous sluffs out of cliffs to size 2, some I'm sure had cornice chunks in them. No slabs were triggered when the avalanches hit the fans at the base of the cliffs. Plenty of wind effect in the fans, moraines and upper elevation westerly aspects all along the highway although no fresh slab avalanches were seen. That doesn't mean I trusted those types of features today. Minimal wind effect at our high point on a ridgecrest at 2250m (7400 ft.), about a treeline elevation. 20-30 cm storm snow lay atop a suncrust on the gladed south aspect that we skied. There was no slabbing in the storm snow where we were, and it seemed to bond fairly well to the crust. Good skiing, with the crust carrying a skier and only noticeable on the belly of your turn. Any sort of wind or solar effect on the storm snow however and this will be a different story, this suncrust is something to watch out for in the future. There will be avalanches on it. Deeper in the snowpack nothing jumped out at me as problematic with repeated probing with my ski pole; it seemed a generally homogenous snowpack but I didn't investigate too intensively. Cheers, Mark Mark Klassen Mountain Guide mark@alpinism.com www.alpinism.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.

I have been cruising around Kcountry and Banff the last few days and it is a very snowy world along the divide. Lots of snow and wind and warm temperatures(over 35cms of recent storm snow in 24hrs at Tryste Lake)(strong SW winds all day in Sunshine area) and lee slopes in the treeline and alpine are fat. My biggest concern is the big start zones above ice climbs like the Bourgeau's, Mt Dennis and Parallel Falls. The skiing is great but the usual caveats about shallow rocky areas, steep slopes etc apply in a big way right now and steep terrain anywhere but in the ski areas is a really bad idea. Even the sloughing in steep terrain will probably be huge for a few days. The big avalanche cycle will probably be on thursday but conditions may only improve slightly if at all for the weekend. Keep an eye on the CAC and Parks bulletins. Be Good Larry Stanier Mountain Guide Canmore

Just back from guiding a week out of Sol Mtn Lodge. Nice place, some great tree skiing. Flew in on the 26th, with ~40cm over the last part of that week, about another 40cm over the week till March 2. Early in the week south aspects were reactive with some older natural avalanches visible from during the storm (Feb 23-24?) The Feb 20 sun crust was easily remotely triggered, lots of whomphs and 2 remote avalanches size 1-2. We had a small size 1 partially bury a skier on a small short slope. That Monday (Feb 27) was warm and things were delicate. Lots of sluffing on steep south aspects till mid week. It cooled and cleared by March 3 (-15C) and the south aspects formed a new crust. Stable but not good skiing. On north aspects numerous tests showed only moderate compression tests in the new snow down ~ 20cm.( some preserved light fluffy snow covered with heavier warmer snow) Hard compressions tests were found on the old facet layer ( CT 20-27,) which was the surface a few weeks ago.) They were not clean results. We ski cut some steep N facing pockets with only minimal sluffing. Alpine was wind affected and variable slabs on all aspects. We saw no significant avalanches on North aspects all week, either natural or cornice triggered. Didn't see anything of significance either on the flight back to Revelstoke, March 5. Early in the week we rated stability F-P/F/G by the end it was F-G/G/G. We thought a lot about the Feb 20th layer and though not reactive, still is a significant factor and can easily change from pieces of terrain. Peter Amann Peter Amann Mountain Guiding Box 1495, Jasper AB, T0E 1E0 www.incentre.net/pamann pamann@incentre.net _______________________________________________ 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.

Greetings, Just returned from a wonderful week of ski touring at Battle Abbey, in the heart of the Selkirks. One of the best weeks of skiing I’ve had the pleasure to experience in a couple of seasons! Having arrived to clear skies and good stability, the first night saw the start of 50-70cm of storm snow over the course of the next three days, accompanied by strong winds from the S.W. Needless to say we found ourselves tip-toeing around with the Feb 20th interface becoming very reactive naturally and to skier control. Numerous natural avalanches to size 3.0 and ‘endless’ skier controlled soft slabs to size 1.5. We rated stability poor/very poor in the alpine, poor at tree-line and fair/poor below tree-line. The Feb 20th interface varied in crystal type from suncrust/facets on steep solar, just good old facets and scattered surface hoar on shaded aspects below t-line, and old wind slab in other areas… Several other ‘stellar’ shears existed within the storm snow as well. Most skier controlled slabs would start within the storm snow and then quickly step down to the Feb 20th layer. Fortunately, the results were entirely predictable and very easy to control with ski cutting. We restricted ourselves to terrain appropriate to such touchy conditions and we ‘ski cut’ each and every roll, each and every day! The result was excellent, safe powder skiing!! On Wednesday the skies began to clear and we cautiously began to venture further abroad. Downhill travel was excellent, but uphill travel was extremely deep and slow! We progressed uphill much like a wannabe Olympic relay team. Ski pen to 80cm. By the end of the day we had upgraded our snow stability rating to 3 x fair, as we were no longer expecting natural activity other than in specific terrain features. Sun exposed slopes, wind slabs and possible cornice triggers remained a concern. The ski quality was excellent on all aspects and at all elevations that we observed. Thursday, Friday and Saturday saw a rapid and consistent improvement in travel and snow stability. By yesterday the storm snow had settled and tightened in to a ski penetration of 20cm and were rating stability 3x good. Though caution remained primarily on steep solar aspects where the now buried suncrust/facet layer persisted and threatened to become grumpy, as well as areas where concern for buried wind-slab remained. We witnessed a large cornice release on Friday, 8500 feet, east aspect. Large cornice hole, no avalanche. Regardless, we were skiing on the “fair side of good”, as they say. And I’d expect it to remain the same for a while yet… Cheers, Paul Norrie ACMG Mountain Guide

I spent last week (and this week too) up in the northern Esplanades at Sentry Mountain Lodge, north of Golden. As of March 5 the snowpack is well settled on all aspects and elevations with persistent shears down 30cm on a density change in last weeks storm snow and down 70cm on a thin facet layer, leftovers from the cold snap 10 days ago. If you are venturing out to this part of the Esplanades the skiing is great and the stability friendly, although that may be changing because its snowing outside right now, albeit lightly. Use normal caution in wind effected alpine and treeline features, these are the places you might be able to wake the facet layer. Until we get some significant snow and/or wind you can ski many places right now, but still avoid those big ugly thin, shallow and wind effected places as usual. I mimic Larry’s post about buried sun crusts with facetted grains on top of them in south facing terrain too, that is definitely something to watch out for, especially if this storm brings some significant load with it. Hope this information helps some folks. Ian Tomm Assistant Ski Guide ian@avalanche.ca

Just returned from a CAA level 2 out of Golden so we had LOTS of observations from the N and NE corner of the Purcells and 1 day in Rogers Pass and 1 in Lake Louise Backcountry. The big concern we observed in all these areas that is likely to persist for awhile is a suncrust down between 40-70cms on steep South and Southwest slopes at all elevations. This has a weak layer of facets on top of it in some places we tested. It is tricky to test for as You will not find it in safe test sites(low angles or in shady forest cover). It also doesn't tend to produce noticeable whumphs as it fails fairly quitely as a thin layer sometimes will. The downhill skiing is terrible with a new suncrust on top of the south facing terrain but be aware of it when thinking of ascending these slopes. We were starting to feel pretty comfortable on simple planar N and NE facing features but rocky and shallow snowpack areas are still a concern in all the areas we visited for a variety of reasons. Larry Stanier Mountain Guide

Conditions in the Northern Cariboos and Northern Rockies - areas near and north of McBride, BC. Average snowdepth at treeline 250-300 cm with more on the glaciers. Best glacier coverage in several years. Low elevations have lots of alder showing as it froze upright early season, and stayed that way. The large volume of storm snow that fell in the southern part of the province did not fall here. 10-20 cm over the past week. Instabilities in the upper 75 cm are improving, shears are tightening and no avalanche activity has been observed in the past 3 days. Interface buried Feb 20 still produces shears anywhere from 40-60 cm down, and this is the layer of interest. The current surface is facets, surface hoar and crusts and when this gets buried it will produce avalanches. Confidence has been building - but we continue to avoid or seriously consider any large alpine features. Most of them are crusty anyways. Best snow to be found is NW aspect treeline and below. Alpine: Moderate Treeline: Moderate Below Treeline: Low Grant Statham Mountain Guide _________________

We are back in a southerly flow with the temperatures starting to moderate. Strong winds in the alpine at -10 degrees (1600 m). There is wind transport, but not much available because it did not snow much here (6 cm in one week at the portal). We saw no new avalanches. Ski cutting of recent wind deposits failed easily and ran fast, but the slab was only 3 to 5 cm thick and did not propagate far. A profile on a SE aspect shows a facetted snowpack with no significant shears. -- Christoph Dietzfelbinger, Mountain Guide Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet Box 4222 Smithers B.C. Canada V0J 2N0 info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca tel. 250-847-3351 fax 250-847-2854 _______________________________________________ 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.

Pilsner: Although not noticeable from the highway, Pilsner has slid full path [almost to the road], and, as of Feb 24, had 5 cm of storm snow on the debris. The climb itself is fat, one gigantic curtain, with an interesting line through large mushrooms in the centre. K-Country: Moonlight, Snowline and 2 Low 4 Zero are fat, with 2 Low climbable as a pure ice route, although it is thin at the bottom. Kidd Falls first pitch is fat, second pitch is thin and funky. I would give Kidd Falls a miss as temperatures and winds increase, due to avalanche concerns. Bridge Too Far is fat and in good shape, with similar avalanche concerns as Kidd. Ghost: Valley of the Birds climbs: Albatross, Seagull and Yellow Bird are in great shape, The Eagle has fallen off, Dead Bird is getting very thin, probably not worth leading. GBU is in good shape, although the central pillar fell off during the cold snap. Candle Stick Maker is in good shape - the crux pillar is cracked, but seems solid. Weeping Wall: Left and Right Hand are in good shape. In the centre, there is a funky free standing pillar that has a crack running through it close to the top, but seems solid. Curtain Call: Reliable second-hand beta says that Curtain Call has a crack in the pillar pitch. Cheers, Grant Meekins Alpine Guide gmeekins@telus.net

THE FEBRUARY 20 LAYER The cold snap in early- to mid-February created a variety of surfaces which will be problematic in the coming storm cycle. This layer consists of: • Suncrusts on sunny aspects (more so on steeper slopes) of all elevations except perhaps the highest alpine regions. In many areas, these suncrusts have a thin layer of weak, sugary facets lying on them. There’s also patches of surface hoar on the suncrusts, especially at lower elevations and areas sheltered from wind. • Wind crusts and slabs in exposed treeline regions and alpine regions where the sun didn’t create crusts. In most places these crusts have the facets mentioned above on top with some areas of surface hoar also. • A thicker layer of weak, sugary facetted snow below treeline with surface hoar mixed in, especially lower elevation sheltered areas. On or about Feb 20, this layer was buried and it is now anywhere from 30 to nearly 100cm deep below relatively low density snow that has not yet settled very much. The first round of avalanches on this layer started Thursday, February 23 in the southern Selkirks, where the new snow is deeper and where the wind had created soft slabs. With ongoing new snow over the next couple of days and forecast high winds, this layer is almost certain to be a good avalanche producing machine; certainly in the short term—and it has the potential to be another layer that persists for a long while. Only time will tell if this layer become persistent, but in the interim, it’s not something to take lightly: it will produce avalanches big enough to be a problem in and of themselves and could provide large triggers which might activate the deeper layers mentioned earlier. RISK MANAGEMENT FOR THE FEB 20TH LAYER Managing risk associated with the Feb 20th layer will be very much like what I discussed in the Below Treeline, Treeline, and Alpine discussion earlier. The thing that’s going to be tricky with this layer, and the reason I discuss it separately from the rest of the issues, is that it may catch people by surprise because it’s been buried for a few days now but has been largely dormant. I think it has not become active because there’s not yet (or we’re just approaching) critical loads. Even though there’s been quite a bit of snow, it’s been cold, light stuff so far so it hasn’t the weight that warmer denser snow contains. In addition, the snow so far hasn’t yet become very cohesive and will not carry propagation very far. That is, it’s not yet a real slab in many areas. This is all going to change; in fact, the change has probably already started. With the new load, increasing winds, and a rapid warming trend just around the corner, the new snow on top of the Feb 20th layer will quickly become a cohesive slab through a variety of influences: • New snow adds weight and promotes settlement which may produce slab-like properties. • Wind will create slabs as it moves snow from windward locations to lees. • Warming temperatures will promote settling and will increase cohesion (and slabbing) in the upper part of the snowpack. • It’s getting to the time of year where solar radiation can add a lot of heat to the snow very quickly and that weakens any bonds that might be holding things together. Starting Tuesday, the weather will break, perhaps for a couple of days and it will be tempting to head into the mountains. I think regardless of where you are or what the local weather condition, it will be prudent to be very careful when you go back out there over the next few days and perhaps even into next weekend or longer. Karl Klassen Mountain Guide 1735 Westerburg Road Revelstoke, BC V0E 2S1 Canada kklassen@rctvonline.net 250-837-3733

February 26, 2006 Seeing as it’s about half way through the season, I thought I might provide my take on how things look at the moment and some ideas for where we might go from here. The following is based on spending two weeks a month guiding clients on the west slope of the central Monashees (just south of Three Valley Gap) during which time I look at and distil daily data from all over BC and Alberta to help me decide where and how to ski with my guests. In my two weeks off I change gears completely and spend 8-10 days in an office with a crew of other professional avalanche forecasters producing public forecasts for vast regions of BC. The following is largely representative (in my opinion) of the Columbia Mountains from the Cariboos in the north, through the Selkirks and Monashees to the US border. The heavy snow areas on the west slope of the Rockies are probably somewhat similar to the Selkirks, while the dryer areas on the divide and east have a shallower snowpack to which the following probably does not apply. Perhaps someone who has been working in and watching the east side of the Rockies closer than I might want to put together a bit of a summary for that region. The west side of the Purcells is probably similar to what I discuss here, while the east is somewhat shallower and maybe a bit more like the Rockies. Ditto the Kootenays? What follows is my personal opinion and is somewhat long and involved—sorry. I’ve been working on it on and off for the last week or so and don’t feel I want to oversimplify, nor do I think I can be more concise when discussing such big-picture issues over such a large time frame. This is broad brushstroke stuff—not intended for specific slope by slope decisions, but something to keep in mind in the general planning phase of a trip and when watching big-picture trends. BELOW TREELINE CONDITIONS In areas sheltered from wind, the danger of avalanches remains relatively low. Short periods of increased danger will accompany major dumps of new snow but these will generally settle out relatively quickly and no major weaknesses exist deeper in the snowpack. Watch for “upside down” snow, that is warmer/higher density snow on top of colder, lower density snow. You can tell when this happens because it becomes difficult to travel as your skis go deep and get stuck every step or two as they plunge under the snow. This condition generally settles out quite quickly (24-36 hours) and what was incredibly twitchy today may be just fine by tomorrow. My biggest concern below treeline in recent weeks has been big treewells, especially on steeper slopes where skiing produces loose sluffs. BELOW TREELINE RISK MANAGEMENT Ski with a partner at all times, plan your turns ahead (looking at the openings between the trees!), and never, never make a turn above the tree: always initiate your turn beside and finish your turn below a tree. The big thing to be aware of below the treeline is that, due to deeply buried weak layers on alpine slopes, the runout zones of large avalanche paths are a place to be very cautious this winter. Read the discussion below regarding alpine regions. In short, unless you are aware of a given path’s avalanche history for the winter, I advise not hanging out in avalanche path runout zones with alpine start zones above. Avoid runout zones as much as possible. If you must cross, do so quickly, go one at a time, and consider turning back if conditions are favourable for cornice fall or avalanches in the alpine. There’s lots of great and safe skiing below treeline with some common sense and basic precautions. TREELINE CONDITIONS Few significant weaknesses deep in the snowpack—the exception being shallow snowpack areas (less than 1.5 to 2 metres or so on average). Slabs do exist in areas exposed to wind. Some of these formed prior to the most recent snowfall and are buried. Others formed during the last storm and are on the surface. These slabs will likely settle down in a few days but care will be required over the coming stormy period, especially when the sun comes out between snowfalls and feels strong and if air temperatures (which have been mostly cold for a few weeks now) warm up. There’s been a bunch of new snow (there was 60cms on my driveway in Revelstoke this morning) and, if the wind has not yet been moving that snow around, it probably will soon. When winds blow do arrive at treeline, the slabs there will increase in size and number and you can expect any problems that do exist or which are created anew, will last a little longer rather than go away sooner. BELOW TREELINE RISK MANAGEMENT Lots of good skiing in sheltered areas and on smaller planar slopes where steep convex rolls or sharp transition are absent, away from windloaded (especially crossloaded) areas, and out from under large alpine slopes or big cornices above. Of note here: one of the biggest cornice failures I saw in the last round of such events in the Monashees, was a treeline feature. ALPINE CONDITIONS The big slides we’ve been seeing on and off for much of the winter are often failing on weak layers from November and December now buried deep in the snowpack. It’s difficult to initiate failure at these layers because they are so deeply buried, thus the need (generally) for a fairly major trigger. During the recent cold snap there have been fewer reports about failures deep in the snowpack on the December and November weak layers. Those weak layers may be sleeping now, but they will almost certainly wake up again before the winter is over, I suspect reactivity will cycle with the weather. Cornices, which grew rapidly during January’s storms, remain a concern. Cornices have been falling off with regularity when temperatures change (from cold to warm and warm to cold), during warm spells (late in the day), after snowfall and wind events, and sometimes just from solar radiation on a sunny day. Cornice triggered avalanches earlier in the winter have been two to three and more metres deep, hundreds of metres wide, and running more than a kilometer downhill. In addition to cornices, large avalanches on deeply buried weak layers could be set off by other large triggers like rockfall, icefall, and smaller avalanches smacking a slope from above. The exception to the big trigger requirement mentioned above is in places where the snowpack is shallower or variable in depth. Smaller triggers like skiers, boarders, and sledders have been able to initiate significant slides in places where there are alternately scoured and loaded areas (windward and crosswinded slopes, for example), where there are major terrain transitions (such as pronounced convexities), where rocks poke through, or where you see underlying terrain features reflected by the overlying snowpack (because the snow is not deep enough to even out the terrain features beneath). The large natural and human triggered slides I mention above have been isolated and intermittent, but when they go, they’ve been going very big; in some cases overrunning historical avalanche boundaries (for example, taking out mature timber at the bottom and sides of runout zones). ALPINE RISK MANAGEMENT No one that I know of or have spoken to recently is digging pits that go down to the deeply buried alpine weak layers. They are simply too deep to get to and even if you went there, carrying out meaningful tests would be difficult or impossible. An experienced colleague recently commented on this, saying something like (I’m paraphrasing here) “with these persistent and deeply buried weak layers, we’ll probably not be forecasting stability and hazard by making snow observations or stability tests; rather we will assess them based on avalanche activity”. What he means is professionals will be watching carefully for signs that large triggers are likely or avalanche activity involving these deep layers is starting up again and as soon as that happens, they’ll retreat to safer terrain until the potential drops off again. Big trigger potential and large avalanche events have been cyclical and largely related to the weather. During the recent cold weather, the number and size of avalanches reduced. After a few days passed with little or no activity, I carefully ventured onto larger alpine features, always mindful of what lay above me and remaining very aware of places with variable depth snow and terrain traps. For the rest of the winter I’ll be pulling back every time it warms up, whenever significant new snowfalls occur, if winds load snow onto larger, steeper slopes, and when solar radiation feels strong. I’ll wait to see what happens and if it appears that no cycle is starting up or if a cycle starts up then dies off again, I’ll once again venture back into the bigger terrain, after a period of little or no activity—slowly and with caution at first. There have been a series of very close calls (several partial and full burials) and one fatal avalanche in recent weeks. Many of you will not have heard about the close calls as they don’t make it into the media. Having looked at photos of the events and reading first person accounts about some of them, it is clear to me there are some common threads. Keep the following in mind when you are out in the mountains over the coming weeks: • All these incidents have involved relatively large slides, failing quite deep, triggered by skiers or sledders. • Almost without exception, recent avalanches involving close calls or fatalities have occurred in shallow snowpack areas (east slopes of the Coast Range, Purcells, and Rockies). • They all involve the kind of snowpack and/or terrain that gives me the willies: shallow snow with lots of rocks sticking out, big drifts running up and down the fall line behind terrain features and lines of trees, and lots of variation from deep to shallow snow on the same slope. • They all involved recreational parties who probably were not knowledgeable about the avalanche history of the slope they were on. • With only one exception (a flat light, overcast day) that I can think of, these events occurred on fine weather days. Good weather often encourages a positive attitude and gives people a false sense of confidence. Stormy weather tends to keep people on the couch or on mellower terrain in the trees. But this year, the underlying condition causing these accidents persists, regardless of whether it’s a bluebird day or you’re in the clag with zero visibility. While the chances of being involved in one of the large avalanches I mention above are probably relatively low (especially if you use some basic precautions), if you get mixed up with one you will not outrun or escape it—it will be a fatal event. We are on the cusp of a period of stormy weather interspersed with calmer, clearer spells. Skiing will be great and there will be days when the weather is excellent. But remember, things are changing and it’s in times of transition when many of these bigger events have historically occurred this year—don’t get caught with your guard down. Karl Klassen Mountain Guide 1735 Westerburg Road Revelstoke, BC V0E 2S1 Canada kklassen@rctvonline.net 250-837-3733_______________________________________________ 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.

Skied yesterday Friday in the Commonwealth Creek area. Temps between -22 and -8, mix of sun and cloud. About 15 - 20 cm new snow over the previous 24 hrs made for good skiing, even in old tracks and on southern aspects. I dug a pit in the open trees below the Tryst Lake chutes and found a snowpack that is facetted throuhgout, but pretty well settled with a snow depth of 205 cm. No shears noted in top 150 cm on compression test but keep in mind that this was a "fat spot". Different story on the southern aspect in the first avalanche path east of the huge slope that produced the deadly class three avalanche two weeks ago.Very thin and weak snow pack in the rocky terrain at the top with multiple suncrust and facet layers made us descend in the trees to the left and not go out into the avalanche path until much further down, where the snowpack was thicker and felt better. Also, the new snow was starting to crack on the suncrust 20cm down. The fracture line of the above mentioned avalanche is still well visible and most impressive is how far the fracture propagated! More snow in the forecast for next week! Stay safe! Jorg Wilz Mountain Guide 1-800 506 7177 or 1-403 678 2717 www.ontopmountaineering.com

The past week was spent in Rogers Pass, working on a CAA Level 1 course. Travel was limited due to the nature of the course, but we had groups in the Loop, Illecillewaet and Connaught drainages over a period of 3 days mid-week. 20-40 cm of snow fell over the week, with accompanying moderate winds from the NW and W. The storm snow fell on a variety of old surfaces but mostly on weak decomposing crystals that showed signs of faceting on sheltered aspects and thin suncrusts on solar aspects. The bond between the storm snow and old snow was not good and instabilities were observed there, with easy to moderate sudden planar shears. The good news is that below treeline the storm snow was generally too soft to act as a slab. The bad news is that in wind effected areas this interface was more reactive (even in large open features below treeline). We had limited observations in the treeline and alpine but there seemed to be wind affected snow and suspected windslabs up there. A moderate natural avalanche cycle was observed Wednesday, with several slabs size 2-3 noted, at treeline and in the alpine. On Thursday avalanche control for the hiway triggered more size 2 avalanches. Driving out of the Pass today I couldn't see anything fresh, but the alpine definitely looked wind affected. No avalanches were observed on the Xmas/Nov facet layer, but our intructor team and local avalanche forecasters were still conscious of the potential there. Hope that helps William. Mark Klassen Mountain Guide Corax Alpine Guides mark@alpinism.com www.alpinism.com 403/760-3337

Ice from 20th to 24th Gibraltar Wall: This puppy is in real good shape this year. A lot fewer hanging daggers then most years. 3+ on the right, grade 4 on the left and pushing 5 up the center. You may want to start early as usual the upper section of the climb is sun exposed slab with a thin cover of ice. Started to send small chunks around 2:30. Pretty Nuts (A.K.A. Good Look’in Balls): The ice was colder than a mother-in laws kiss. Been climbed a fair bit. Rap anchors are in as usual. Short grade 4 pitch a touch sporty with the cold conditions but no big deal. Plenty of room on the side of the road to pull over and park. Johnston Canyon: This is one of the best top roping venues in the valley. Big supported pillars that are in good shape. You can easily climb around on the right on easy ice. It will take two ropes to rig these things. Not to much hanging ice but enough that you may want to watch where you’re standing. Selenium (On Sulpher): This climb is in great shape and a solid grade 5 at the moment. The ice is bitter cold. You work for the placements but when you get them you can belay a truck off a single tool. Pro is excellent. Louise Falls: The tourist line on Louise looks easy but the ice is hollow and scary. Pro is marginal and hardly worth putting in. Still have morning, afternoon, and evening shifts at the place. Was hard not to knock ice down. Got my butt kicked by a girl! Avalanche Hazard: I wouldn’t be two worried on most climbs of something coming down on it’s own. That applies to most places but I certainly would be careful about traversing slopes that have any exposure. This cold spell may have tightened things up and maintained the considerable rating but it is also is not helping the mid-pack any. This may change, new snow and possible warming may spark a new avalanche cycle. Blew off Polar Circus Wednesday because of strong winds and 15 cm new on the hi-way.

Hudson Bay Mountain Western Interior BC On a field trip today, it was snowing at -13 degrees and light northerly winds. We observed no recent avalanches. A profile at 1620 m showed a dense snowpack with hard shears and resistant planar failures. Travel conditions were poor on irregular hard slab. -- Christoph Dietzfelbinger, Mountain Guide Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet Box 4222 Smithers B.C. Canada V0J 2N0 info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca tel. 250-847-3351 fax 250-847-2854 _______________________________________________ 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.

Nisqually Icecliff

Went to the Devil’s Gap area yesterday and here’s how things are looking: Weathering Heights: Great shape, loads of V-threads set up, good stepping and bridging in the steeper part of the first pitch Anorexia Nervosa: Fist pitch is not in but it looks like one can easily walk around it on the right and reconnect for the upper pitches. Rest looks climbable Wicked Wanda, Aquarius, Sunshine: All looks good and parties who climbed it reported phat conditions Malignant Mushroom: Looks phat too! Frozen Fungi: Not in Driving: Only little, compacted snow on the road, relatively good conditions. Avalanche Hazard: Not much snow in most areas. Whatever little snow there is has been scoured and blown around. Caution in snow filled gullies, should you be able to find one! Cheers, Jorg Wilz Mountain Guide www.ontopmountaineering.com 1-800 506 7177 or (001) 403 678 2717

The last few days have been spent working on a CAA Level 2 course based in Golden, with field trips to Kicking Horse, Bow Summit area, and Rogers Pass. Kicking Horse, Feb 11-13 The main story is a weak facet layer (no Xmas crust in this area) taking up the bottom third or so of a snowpack that varies quite a bit in it's depth, from 120 to 220 cm. In deep areas there were no results from our testing on this weak layer, while in shallow areas easy shears were recorded. This to me means we should stick to fairly simple terrain features, not too steep and with few convexities or starting points such as rocks. Stay in areas where the snow depth is at least 150 cm, preferably deeper. Surface windslabs are also a concern at Kicking Horse. Bow Summit, Feb 14 Similar to Kicking Horse although for the most part the weak facet layer at the bottom is actually stronger and shows harder test results. All the same, variability is great in the Rockies and the cautions we had for Kicking Horse held here too. Rogers Pass, Feb 15 (Fidelity area) The only significant weaknesses observed in the upper snowpack was a weak layer 10 -20 cm from the surface, which at ridgecrests was reactive where there was a soft windlsab on it. We saw an Rutshblock 2 sudden planar shear on this layer. Where there was little wind effect this layer was not a problem at the moment. The deep facet layers persist in the Pass but we did not dig down to test them. They are buried 2 m or more deep. The occassional deep release still is occurring on these layers in high elevation thin rocky areas. If it goes it goes big, with the most recent natural avalanche being a size 3 on February 14. Cornices The one consistent thing in all these areas are the numerous recent cornice falls. These often are triggering deep weak layers and large avalanches. Keep looking at what's above you! Mark Klassen Mountain Guide Corax Alpine Guides mark@alpinism.com www.alpinism.com 403/760-3337 _______________________________________________ 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.

It doesn't look that hard nor a smart thing to solo.

Average snowdepth ranges from 120-180 cm. The snowpack is generally well settled with a strong mid pack, however weak facets near the base of the snowpack continue to cause uncertainty. Banff Park avalanche danger is rated as MODERATE, meaning human triggering is possible in specific locations. These locations are likely to be shallow snowpack areas, or areas with great variation in snowpack depth. Shallow snow is weak snow. South and west aspects exposed to wind scouring should be considered suspect. Avalanches may be hard to trigger, but if you hit the sweet spot it might be huge. Numerous, unusually large avalanches have been observed in the past three weeks. Low angled terrain, and N aspects had soft snow. Suncrust on south and west aspects. Observed a south aspect, 30 degree slope at treeline fracture 100 cm deep x 50 m wide and then move 40 cm before stopping. Fracture initiated from shallow snow beside the slope. The pending deep freeze may reduce avalanche activity, but as I observed today - triggering is still very possible. Grant Statham Mountain 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.

oday we skied up the E flank to get a different view. Strong gradients are breaking the snow down in protected areas. In wind exposed areas (which is everywhere on this flank once out of the big timber) there is a knife hard windslab about 10 cm thick that is interrupted, but very widespread.We experienced no whumpfing at all and there was no propagation when we broke the slab at its edges. We advise caution in exposed areas (which is again all of this flank) as this windslab sits over softer layers and fails easily and cleanly in shear tests. We do not expect this slab to break down even with the current strong gradients. We saw no recent avalanches and it appears that last weekend's snowfall yielded only 6 cm here. Skiing quality was poor. Travel conditions are poor on large hard debris lumps in the lower gully and fair on variable crusts higher up. -- Christoph Dietzfelbinger, Mountain Guide Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet Box 4222 Smithers B.C. Canada V0J 2N0 info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca tel. 250-847-3351 fax 250-847-2854 _______________________________________________ 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.

Info a little dated but Todd’s post reminded me that I forgot to post. Feb 5-12 in the southern Purcell's at Ptarmigan Hut. Temps generally mild - lows around –12, highs mainly around –5, with the 10th & 11th around zero. Only 5cm new snow throughout the week, on I believe the night of the 9th. Extensive wind effect in the alpine with lots of hard slab on exposed features. Snowpack: generally well settled mid-pack with CTH resistant planar trending non-planar break, down around 45cm on the previous storm snow interface. This interface was consistently scoring RB7’s at all aspects and elevations. The pack, as elsewhere, overlies the Dec 24 crust/facet layer and 3-4mm facets to ground (about 20cm of them under the 051224 crust). They definitely don’t have the load down that way that the Selkirk's do (max snow depth observed was 230cm) , which is probably why there is a lack of natural activity from cornice drops and warming that the Selkirk's have witnessed as of late. While we didn’t push the terrain at all (it was a CAA Level 1 course so we spent most of the time digging profiles) I felt that the potential for a rather large skier triggered avalanche was certainly there, although low. Lots of thick-thin snowpack issues that is ripe for someone stepping in the wrong place to trigger an entire feature. Calling snow stability G/G/VG at the end of the trip, Hazard would have been Moderate/Low/Low... But that Moderate definitely has the potential to be big if you tickle the facets and December crust just right. Best terrain I have seen for an avalanche course to date... I’d highly recommend it as a venue for an ARAC too... Ian Tomm Assistant Ski Guide ian@avalanche.ca