jmckay

Climbed CSM on Tuesday via Hidden Dragon. Some wet ice on the first pitch but dry, featured and a bit brittle the rest of the way. Short 10m pillar was the crux, solid 4+. The Hooker looks good. Nasty windcrusts in most gullies - kept us on our toes whenever the angle eased. Road to the big hill is in great shape with most of it being snow covered and sanded on the hills. Driving the rest of the way to the route was easy. I really hope that we can always go and climb in the Ghost..... Mike Mike Stuart ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide #1-730 3ST Canmore, AB T1W 2J6 T: 403 609 8454 E: m_stuart@telus.net

Climbed Bourgeau Left-Hand yesterday Nov 16. Great Conditions..Lots of ice! Last Pitch was a solid grade 5. The lower section of the last pitch was all mushrooms which provided some entertaining overhanging climbing. Most of the ice was dry with the odd wet sections. All four pitches was excellent ice and good protection through out. Cheers, Marco - Marco Delesalle phone: 403-609-5580 cell: 403-609-7940 email: mdelesalle@telus.net

First pitch not climbable, second and third pitch climbable but a Spa, fourth pitch not there etc. Not ready yet. Marc Ledwidge _______________________________________________ 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.

Was up to the Stanley Valley for my first day of ice of the year. Climbed Nemesis, generally Grade 5 shape except for about 25m of Grade 6 up from the big ledge. Had to make a quick traversse under a bit of spray on the mid way ledge, but only got a little wet. Generally great ice, good pro and all-round fun. Trail all the way to the back end is in fine waliking shape. Not much for snow pack issues, there is the odd thick isolated slab in the form of drifts here and there. Roger's Pass today. Generally the same observations as Scott reported. Definetley some moderate winds and snow transportation at treeline and above and more so on the ridges. Thicker snow with moderate concern immediatley in the Lee tapering out quickly. Not much tension in the snow pack overall. Saw no new avalanches, but would expect slabs to start popping out with extra loading. Some old sun crust at and just above treeline on steeper south aspects getting buried with recent new snow. Bloody alders are huge this year and standing at attention. Cheerio. Rich Marshall _______________________________________________ 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.

Joined the ever growing number of skiers in Rogers Pass today. Toured up the ridge to Bruins most of the way then skied into Ursus Minor Bowl followed by a few laps down lower in the bowl. Definite change in conditions since Monday – lots of wind effect and stiff windslabs on the ridgecrest and onto the lee side of the ridge at and above treeline – so far the wind effect hasn’t reached too far downslope but continued moderate/gusting strong SW winds will only continue the process. No new avalanches observed. The snowpack in general appears well consolidated but I have seen some places (like the steeper central roll off Balu Pass) where the deeper October crust was weaker than it appears most other places – so some caution in shallower areas where this may be predominant would be prudent – remember that these deep crusts sometimes take more load than most weak layers before they become reactive. Keep them slippery side down, Scott Davis 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.

ent ski touring to Rae Glacier yesterday Nov 14. Trail to Elbow Lake and on to the morraine of Rae Glacier is well packed by snow shoers with only the odd rock or root sticking out. In the morraines, the snow coverage is more skimpy due to heavy wind effect and we ended up carrying the skis once or twice for shorter sections. Snow in the Rae Glacier Bowl was wind-affected, however we found good quality skiing on 20 - 40 cm of soft slab. Temps around -15C with moderate to strong northerly winds caused some wind loading in the upper bowl while we were there. Test pit at 2700 meters showed HS of 160 cm (total depth of snow). Soft surface slab of 25 cm over graupel on top of a thin temperature crust. The temperature crust is much more pronounced in lower elevations. The base and mid-pack appeared surprisingly well consolidated with no significant shears in a compression test. A concern would be the increasing depth of the windslab as you climb higher in the bowl and towards the saddle. We turned around just before reaching the first band of rock on the left side. We also had a look at some ice climbs but only from the road. Amadeus is looking relatively good higher up but doesn't reach the bottom (which I believe is pretty standard), Sinatra doesn't appear to be in, Kidd Falls is looking pretty good and as far as I could see, Saddam's Insane is pretty phat at least in the upper part that is visible from the road. Happy trails! Jorg Wilz Mountain Guide (IFMGA / UIAGM)

Up practicing how to put on skins at Bow Summit today. Flurries all day and quite comfortable, except in the windy areas (forgot the thermometer). Excellent skiing to be found on the more skier right hand lines just before the bug chutes (left hand lines all chunked up with old tracks). The brief warming last week really helped strengthen the mid pack up there, easy trail breaking and poles didn’t plunge to the ground too often at all, even close to trees. Watched some skiers ski from the very, very top of the shoulder, ended up in the cliffs and rocks way right looking into the big bowl... They finally got themselves sorted out, but were in big terrain for sure, hope they were wearing their helmets. It felt more like early season at the pass than early season in the Rockies, but the area needs a good dump now to erase the old tracks, not much left up there. Rumor has it that Robertson Glacier was again very good on Friday... Ian Tomm _______________________________________________ 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.

[MCR] Bow Summit and the Bourgeau's Bow Summit area on Nov 9th. Generally very good skiing up and downhill. Lots of wind and warming that day and it is still going on. Stability was generally good in non wind affected areas. Lee slopes with big fetch(windward) areas could have recent windslabs. These windslabs could overload the crust approx. 40cms from the ground and make skier triggered avalanches possible in some areas. Opeing day at Sunshine Village today. Warm and windy but not much loose snow left to move around in the mountains. Excellent skiing for November, but, more importantly, Bourgeau left and right are formed. Right hand looks pretty reasonable, especially when things cool down a bit. Basically no snow in the avalanche starting zones above the Right Hand. Bourgeau left hand is formed but looks wet and probably a bit serious. There is snow in the start zones above the left hand and the next snowfall could produce avalanches that reach the route. Larry Stanier _______________________________________________ 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.

ICE Ice is finally in. Climbers have reported decent early season conditions on Twisted Sister, Bourgeau Right & Left (thin), Kidd Falls (thin), R&D. Hazards: keep in mind that this is early season ice, easy to access, but probably thin, weak and more serious than later in the season. As well, while avalanche hazard has been minimal up until the recent heat wave, snow levels in start zones are approaching or exceeding threshold levels. The last snowfall, and the fact that the temperatures have skyrocketed over the past 36 hours, means that avalanche hazard has increased in some areas. (see below). SNOW Rockies It's been a fantastic early season for skiing, with great reports coming out of the Wapta, Highwood Pass area, Bow Summit area, Surprise/Saddleback, and Sunshine/Lake Louise. There are some imminent concerns, however. To begin with, we have had close to a week with lots of new snow and intense wind. To make matters worse, the last 24 hours of chinooking have raised freezing levels to treeline or higher. On Thursday, isothermal conditions were reported in Highwood Pass where the temperature was +10 C in the afternoon. The winds and warm temperatures have been forming stiff slabs on North and East aspects and easy shears have been reported at the October rain crust (the major layer of concern right now). A size 2.5 natural avalanche, North aspect, was reported yesterday above Bow Hut. Of note, the side slopes above the Bow canyons were covered in low density snow on Tuesday, but on Wednesday isolated slabs were reacting to ski cutting. Things are changing rapidly. Fortunately, the temperatures are forecasted to drop again throughout Friday and by the weekend should be back to normal. Snow stability may begin to improve later in the weekend but there is continued precipiatation in the forecast. At the present time, Parks Canada is rating the Danger as Considerable at treeline and in the alpine. Hopefully this year's infamous November Rain Crust won't develop into the monster it's been in past years. Interior Decent early season skiing has been reported from Rogers Pass area, and approach trails, while a little bony, can be skied in their entirety with a good pair of rock skis. On Wednesday (Oct 9) the slide path from Cheops North Face above the turn up into Ursus Bowl had run around 1pm down to the half fan level in two narrow lobes. Other than that not much activity reported. HS at 2100 m in Balu Pass area was reported at about 140 cm, and moderate compression test results about a metre down above the early season melt/freeze crust. Coast Again, some tantalizing reports of skiing have been coming from the coast, especially the Blackcomb "nearcountry" glaciers, e.g. Blackcomb, Husumi, Horseman... but limited reports on avalanche hazard. For detailed avalanche reports, see http://avalanche.ca. Parks Canada has been issuing reports already for over a week, and CAA bulletins will begin in just a few days. Regards, Tom Wolfe Larry Stanier > _______________________________________________ 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.

"any tool will work for you as long as you believe in it" Guy Lasalle

Fresh snow down to the highway in the Icefields this morning. Snowing 1-2 cm/hr from about 09:00 until we left at 11:00. Settling fast, but I did get some of the surface to start sloughing while rapping down. Could be some great skiing up there when the storm ends. Take Care 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. http://mckay.informalex.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=116

Went up the North Peak of Victoria yesterday with the famous Dan Ronsky. Dan saved my life several times during the course of the day but is such a humble guy would deny having done anything out of the ordinary. The type of guy who would shrug his heroic action off with a simple ?you would have done the same for me? sort of thing. Like when pigs fly by your window I would, climb with me you?ll be ?touching the void? first chance I get. The last time I went up there was with Mark Klassen 16 years ago and Niki Code 4 years prior to that. I had forgotten what an awesome moderate mountaineering trip this can be. Winter is starting to set in with some snow lasting from the prior storms. The North face aspect below the main summit is picking and keeping more snow then other areas. 10cm pen on the top with 80+ in the more sheltered catch basin. No evidence of slab build up with all tests showing good bonding to the old snow. Interface producing hard irregular shears. Evidence of wet slide activity a week prior during the brief warm spell but not much chance of activity yesterday as temps were moderately cool and cloud cover prevented strong direct solar heating. Definite softing of snow surface on decent and mild balling of crampons but no big deal. Temps ?1 @ 11,000 @ 11am / +5 @9,000 12:30pm<p>That was yesterday. As we descended light rain began at lower elevations. It rained fairly steady all night here in Banff with hard cold rain most of the morning. I would suspect that yesterday?s conditions no longer exist and that one could expect much more of a winter environment (or not) The other guys decription of the day Brief note on a successful ascent of Mount Victoria North Thursday, Sept. 8. under mixed sky and a low ceiling but the rain held off until we were back at the tea house on descent. I was really lucky to hook up with Joe McKay who now resides in Banff. I left Cowgary at 2:30 am, picked up Joe in Banff and arrived LL at about 5:00 AM. We started off with a pretty healthy pace and made the Tea house by around 6:15 and had a bite to eat, some water and waited for more day light so we could see the trailhead. Left the Tea house around 6:30. Good thing as the trail is VERY faint. Go across the bridge, and just before the end of the avalanche path, a faint trail on the right heads off into the bush... after that the trail is well worn. Glacier had new snow however, there were numerous old tracks visible. From the toe, we did not follow the old tracks and instead, took a line right, bringing us under Collier, traversing the slope and staying high above the big cracks. Minimal penetration with good bite on the crampons. On our line we only had one instance where we had to take extra caution with a crevasse to cross. Schrund was a bit tricky, however Joe found a place to cross it and in hindsight, it was no real issue. Most of the head wall was dry with a few snow patches. The up climbing on the small ledges / steps was loose however no problem. The col has some pretty big cornices on it, we stayed climbers right of centre to get onto the col and the summit ridge. The snow on the ridge was hard and as you approached the 5.3 buttress there was a bit more loose snow, mid boot penetration. We traversed under the buttress and stayed on the snow. The angle is quite steep and if I had to go again, I might instead stay lower, on the snow bench and then tackle the slope on the climbers right of the buttress head-on, I found the steepness similar to Lefroy. We were on the summit just before noon. Heading down, we needed to down climb the slopes skiers left of the buttress for about 3/4 of the slope, then could plunge step face out. We went all the way to the bench this time. Good snow coverage, no ice. (boot top going out, due to leeward snow deposits on the bench it was knee deep for about 100 M going back to the ridge) There are numerous anchors about 20 M below the col (skiers left of centre) for rapping the headwall to or past the schrund, though we just down climbed it. Back at the toe of the glacier by 2:00 PM, snow was balling on the crampons on the way out. Started to drizzle and we were back at the car by ~4:30... so less than 12 hours round trip, and we were not running though we did keep a steady pace. Nice day in the mountains, temperature was prefect with some wind from the ridge to the summit. Starting to look wintery above the col. Joe's the best...... he lead the entire way.. If you would like some photos of the route please let me know. dan

Just out yesterday from Bugs. Great weather. Climbed kain route on Sept7, generally dry except a few spots on upper ridge. Dry on the pitches, Snowpatch-Bug col still works. Used right side, crossed schrund near rocks. Still OK. Definitely need crampons. 2 60m lowers from anchors at top get you to shrund. Pigeon looked snowy! Weather was changing on Sept 8. Peter. 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.

Guided two guests up the NF of Assinaboine yesterday (Sept 6), fantastic winter climbing conditions, identical to a Febuary day I had on the route once. That said, it was a long day -19 hrs (5am-midnight) hut to hut. Gmoser Highway is dry, NF was locked up in frost all day. Belayed all but 100m of short roping at the shoulder. 4 double snow picket anchors, 1/2 dozen screw anchors (the snowy summer has created a lot of water-ice bordering the gulleys and snow bands), numerous rock and in-situ anchors. A fellow guide with single guest started on the lower N Ridge then came into the NF at the Red Band. Everyone (5) summitted at 4pm then rapped the NF. Got about a half dozen abalakovs in the twentyish rappels, left four pins and nuts and all the prussik and long webbing. Feet started to get cold a couple of times in my leather boots, but never went numb. It was a stunning day up high. Happy trails 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.

The wild rain storm that everyone experienced a couple of days ago left a sprinkling of snow down to about 9000 feet. The Sir Donald group has some fresh snow lingering above that elevation, as do the Swiss Peaks and Hermit. Yesterday was hot and sunny, and the rock appears to be drying out. Tupper looks dry. Sf. _______________________________________________ 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.

Just returned from a trip to the South glacier route on Mt. Bryce. We parked at the end of the road into Rice Brook.The turn off for Rice Brook is at 94km on the Bush River Road and is a right turn immediately after you cross the Bush River. At this point the road will take you to about 1300m and about 5- 6 hours walk to a high camp at the toe of the SW glacier. Rice Brook easy to ford about 100 m upstream of the missing bridge.We then continued to walk the road for about 45 minutes to the base of a large path with an easy to follow stream bed in the center of the path.About five minutes of thick bush off the road will lead into this stream bed or go up to the top right corner of the last cutblock before the path and then into the bush to find the drainage. About 500m up the path then contour left and up to the basin below the SW glacier.A couple of bivi sites just below the glacier.Total elevation gain to the high camp of 1000 m. On Friday morning after an excellent freeze we climbed the 600m 35 to 45 degree snow and ice couloir to gain the large glacial bench below the middle and main peaks of Bryce. By staying well to the right of the main runnel we were able to avoid potential rock fall. From the bench we climbed 150 m of 40 degree snow to reach the ridge on the main peak near the "butterfly cornice".This slope had previously sluffed the 10cm of snow from last week.. As we were climbing this slope a thin layer of mid level overcast blew in and radiation effect was intense with zero visiblity.Upon reaching the ridge we found 30 to 40 cm of recent snow blown in and forming small soft new cornices. This recent snow and rapidly rising temps caused such poor footing that we turned around about 150m from the summit. We waited till early evening to descend the couloir to our camp and encountered minimal rock fall. In summary and with hindsight I would say that this approach to the bench below the main peak is likely out of condition for the season,mainly due to bare ice and rockfall. With better conditions this route provides a relatively simple route to the middle and main peaks of Bryce . Easily done in a 3 day round trip. During the climb we found isolated areas of spooky feeling snow ,typically a 15 cm pencil crust overlying weak wet grains and ice and saw previous and current wet sluffs to size 1.5. David Scott Canadian Alpine Guides/Eagle Pass Heliskiing

It is getting early winter here but th eLouise group and icefields still have some good objectives. Rogers pass is perhaps a few weeks behind us so you may be able to sneak in Sir Donald but the days are getting short. You would have to be efficient to get that in now. Can't give you much more advice than that. The cool temps are holding the choss in place so perhaps Shooting Gallery. Pinnicle in Loiuse/moraine. things can change a lot. We had moisture in town snow at 7000 but it melted for the most part over the day. Come on up you can buy me a beer. We can keep this online how else is everybody in Seattle going to know that I know it all. Hope this helps a bit. Leave Assiniboine for next year it will still be there I think. joe

But we are talking self arrest are we not. Say your not wearing your crampons crossing a steep neve slope. your footing goes, try using the pick to arrest. You will find it fairly awkward I think to bring the pick into play. It is definitly another step. With the amount of friction between your nylon clothing and the hard snow you can reach 80-90 percent of your terminal velocity with the key word being TERMINAL. The point of self arrest is to catch things before they get out of hand. much in the same way that short roping is intended to stop a slip from becoming a fall. Not saying that one couldn't/shouldn't carry your axe like that but be well aware of your enviroment. have you ever slipped on a slope when you were expecting to? Ever been caught with your pants down?

Several storms would about sum it it up. The mountain never really did clean off to it's prime summer shape. http://mckay.informalex.org/forum/viewforum.php?id=24 that site will give you a few extra photos and a bit of beta. My guess is that you would be facing early winter conditions. With the reduction of light and unseasonably cool moist temps it may be more then what your looking for. Climbable, yes but certianly a few more objective hazards. I think that we are starting to get to the stage where snow will be a consideration both in avalanche hazard(though not great yet i am guessing) and travel with postholing. Haven't been there lately so I am gibving you my best guess. Try mid Aug next year would be my advice. all teh best Joe

Been up in the western side of the Spearhead Range for the last few days. The glaciers where drying up nicely - all ice on N aspects to just below the ridge line. Remnant patches of last winters snow are usually less than .5m deep. Today got up to 4cm HN (on the ice) and the average temp at 7500' was 0 degrees. Bit wintery but was too warm to be sticking to the rock much. Dave Sarkany _______________________________________________ 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.

Asst. Alpine Guide Exam, Lake Louise Sept 2 Mt Little Huber Ledges, Victoria Thunder and lightning mid-morning, rain, sleet and snow. Clearing mid-day, then rolling in again mid-afternoon. Sloppy snow conditions, thin snow bridges. Several cm's of new snow. No summits due to the stormy weather, both groups got to 3000 m. Talked to the Full Guide Exam in the Bugaboos on the radio, sounded as if the weather was a bit more stable there than in the Rockies. Sept 3 Aberdeen Unnamed A worse forecast gave us better weather today although rain and lightning overnight. 10-20 cm old moist snow below 3000 m. Good travel, very secure steps. New snow starting at 3000 m, above 3300 m things are plastered. Winter is starting. Mark _______________________________________________ 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.

Approach trail contours above the bear closure from Saddle pass (were the closure starts). Glacier tongue snow free til about 8700', bailed from there in rain, sleet, and thunder at about 10:00 today. New waterice formed on the high cliffs of Haddo Peak. Nice morning until the storm. Happy trails 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.

Summary of conditions to date - Rockies and Interior Ranges September 2, 2005 Generally pretty good conditions over the last week, although high alpine regions near the Continental Divide are getting progressively snowier. Monday and Tuesday saw a brief system pass through the area, depositing up to 10 cm of snow at the higher elevations. Add this to the remains of the August 23 storm and there are still some significant snow accumulations to be found above 3300 meters. North facing routes are most certainly covered in snow now. Strong winds through the week have been blowing the loose snow around and creating pockets of windslab - the kind of isolated slabs that can catch a climber by surprise. This was reported at both the Columbia Icefields and Lake Louise areas. Glacier travel conditions are generally quite good (foot penetration is low), but crevasses recently covered by new snow remain thinly bridged. New snow accumulation on the glaciers currently begins at about 2800 meters. Crevasse and bergshrund problems are normally at their worst during the late summer, and lots of poking and probing is required to locate the holes right now. No recent reports in from the Bugaboos, but conditions can be expected to relatively good and dry, with only the highest elevations and north facing routes covered in snow. For example, the final pitches on the summit block of Pigeon are full of snow and ice. Routes in the Bow Valley such as Mt. Louis and Castle Mountain were dry and ready to go as of Friday. The mountain forecast for this weekend is mixed, with precipitation forecast each day. The upper flow appears to be westerly, which generally gives drier conditions in eastern regions. The temperature will drop on Sunday, which will no doubt result in a few more centimetres of fresh snow falling on the Continental Divide. This will only add to those isolated windslabs that seem to be lurking about. There is of course lots of good climbing to be had - expect frozen and snowy conditions on the high north aspects. Anticipate rockfall each day on sun-exposed mixed terrain, as "Ze ice chunks melt, and ze rubble is loozened from ze mountain" (Eiger Sanction). The trail up Bryant Creek into Mt. Assiniboine has been closed until further notice due to a grizzly bear encounter. If you're planning to hike into Assiniboine this weekend - don't go this way (and bring your gaiters, the mountain looks like winter!). Grant Statham _______________________________________________ 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 Assistant Alpine Guide Exam was at the Columbia Icefields Aug 30 Boundary Glacier - North Glacier circuit (and vice-versa), up to 2900 m elevation at A2 col and below N Face of Athabasca Up to 10 cm new snow from Aug 29 precipitation event. Variable conditions in the old snow beneath, occasionally punchy just above firn line, firm at higher elevations. Lots of thinly bridged crevasses. More new snow evident at higher elevations, windloading with mod-strong northerlies turning to westerlies at ridgetop over the day. Significant wind pillows noted on the Silverhorn. Suspect slabs on the Silverhorn and the ramp on the regular route. On Aug 31 we were on Eisenhower Tower and Mount Louis. Both were dry. 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.

The Assistant Alpine Guide Exam is based in the Lake Louise area this week Photos from the air Lake Louise Group and area. [ http://www.live-the-vision.com/wwwboard/messages/16148.html Aug 27 Grassi Ridge - dry Bass Buttress, Castle Mtn - a few wet bits on the last 2 pitches Aug 28 Mt Whyte traverse, Lake Agnes to Plain of Six - generally dry with some remnants of snow left over from the recent storm Mt Carnarvon - dry The Alpine Guide exam is also active in Lake Louise and Rogers Pass Aug 27/28 - Traverse from Collier/Vic col to Mt Whyte, with a bivy at Unnamed/ Popes col. Good alpine travel conditions, some remnants of snow from the recent storm, isolated drifts of 20 cm with some up to 40 cm. No avalanche activity noted. Talked to the other AGE group on the radio who were on Tupper in Rogers Pass, from Carnarvon. Sounded like good conditions but a front was approaching from the NW. Wireless internet at the Alpine Center. Cool 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. Having trouble with the size of the Rockies this site might help. http://mckay.informalex.org/forum/