jmckay Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 (edited) to this area to make the skiing reasonable--about 10 cm overall, but thinner where the wind had got to it. You can ski this thing in its entirety now without doing much damage at all to your skis. The recent storm snow is deposited on top of an amazingly sturdy temperature crust -- I couldn't pound my handle of my ski pole through it, so I left it at that. This is on all aspects and elevations we visited. The slope up to the Haig-Roberson col is covered with snow and made for reasonable step-kicking. En route, we checked out the little bowl that contains a few ice climbs halfway up French creek on the east side of the drainage (I believe at least one has been done by Owens & Walsh). The ice is in fine form -- there are several lines up there right now, including some mixed potential. The ski back down to the valley needs more snow to be really worthwhile, and probably wouldn't be all that great even then. Amazing wildlife viewing -- we say a family of three moose and a family of three goats (mamas, papas, babies)! Regards, Tom Wolfe _______________________________________________ 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. Edited December 13, 2005 by jmckay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted November 28, 2005 Author Share Posted November 28, 2005 Well since Glacier Park isn't updating their info I figured I better let people what is going on in Rogers Pass I was up Aslkan valley toady and there is between 20-25cm. of recent storm snow (from Friday aan Saturday night) - temps are cool and look like they will be that way for a while. In the am it was snowing lightly but the clouds lifted and left some very softly lit skies. There was little wind affect observed in the Alpine and the only avalanche I saw was a size 1 loose snow sluff that ran down the far climbers right side of the steep slopes just below Sapphire Col (where everyone climbs up. Other than that I observed many smiling faces out there. Cheers, 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted November 28, 2005 Author Share Posted November 28, 2005 (edited) Well as you all know lots more snow over the weekend. did some climbing in Field on Saturday. conditions looked good and a lot more like winter. But as you all know lots more snow maybe up to 15 cm over friday night. We had aimed for twister but a party had got there before us. Instead we headed up to the right on 3 pitches of mixed terrain starting at the top of the first pitch of that route. The protection was good when found and a small selection of cams was enough with a small rack of screws. The second pitch a bit thin finished at the top of the thick ice on twisted. The last pitch short but serious traverses in on a narrow ledge to a steep step of not rock getting on to a short curtain. Above the climbing is nice hopping from blob to blob and calming down as you hit the plastic sheet at the end. 4 double raps to the ground. Some sign previous travel was notice on the third pitch in the form of an old angle, and a cam is now fixed on the first pitch. Over all the grade....not sure maybe M6 M7- with a bit of an R rating in places and just a little more head spacey at the top getting on to the final ice but never really hard. Would appreciate beta if any have beta on this lines history. An awesome outing for sure. No significant avalanche activity was noticed during the day except a big sluff on the descent but i'm sure that is changing in Field in general as you are reading this. Today brought some friends to evan-Thomas Creek. Chantilly falls has yet to really form needs more cold temps and like the stream it is running. Moonlight, Snowline and2 low are in fine climbing shape as well a mixed line has appeared 200m north of 2 low and the line left of moonlight might form almost to the ground. Patrick Delaney _________________________________________________________________ Scan and help eliminate destructive viruses from your inbound and outbound e-mail and attachments. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&..._MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN® Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. _______________________________________________ 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. Edited November 28, 2005 by jmckay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted November 28, 2005 Author Share Posted November 28, 2005 Up Whistler Creek yesterday with RAC course. (Maligne Road closed) Still generally shallow 20-30 at 5700ft in the trees. No signs of wind since before storm which gave about 20cm. Creek bed shallow and rocky but skiable (good trail now!) Watch for open water, rocky and quite a bit of new deadfall in the creek. No signs of any recent activity on N aspects of marmot or S/E on Indian ridge. Did a test profile at 2050m, NE aspect, 65cm, first open roll near treeline. Found Pencil to knife windslab down 20cm (yellow stained from wind) It is about 5 cm thick. We were getting CT8 just below this in facets, and a CT20 at 53cm, just above the old MF layer close to ground, which is quickly deteriorating We had a RB score of 3 on the same interface down 20cm. Travel not great, very willowy to tree line. expect better travel in alpine but suspect instabilities on old wind loaded features. Caution certainly advised. Still marginal skiing below 2000m, barely threshold except where wind loaded. The alders and willows continue to grow.... Peter Alpine: suspect fair to poor treeline: fair Below treeline: threshold/fair 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 Got back from a great little day trip that I've never done. Skied to the back of Sherbrook lake, then headed west towards Mt Ogden (crossed at the south end close to the shore - not comfortable enough to ski across the middle). At the NW end of the lake we skied up the major slide path with a little bit of bashing to get to just above treeline which opened up into a great selection of terrain with various aspects. Something for everyone. Up to 10cm fresh with little to no wind affect of overlying a supportive crust of various nature. Great turns! Information for the Day Sky : Overcast Temps : high -12 / low -17 (no inversion here) Wind : light southerly AM / calm PM Precip : S -1 High point around 8000' HS varying from 70 to 125cm Profile Time 1330 7200' on an East asp. of 32 degrees HS 120cm Rain crust is down 63cm Compression Test Hard (24 and 29) down 65 just below the rain crust in a slighly faceted layer.The shear failed cleanly but with resistance. Of note was the lack of depth hoar at the ground. Impressive. Stability alpine - fair to good treeline - good Below treeline - good Early season hazards still exist in the trees with some facetting which is allowing you to contact stumps and rocks. Darcy Chilton ACMG Ski guide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 1, 2005 Author Share Posted December 1, 2005 Up to K country yesterday Did the Commonweath loop, and was surprised once again with the strength of the Rockies snow pack. Up to 10 cm of mainly low densisity sits atop of a variety of crusts depending on aspect.The minor exception to this was along ridge top where winds had distributed small isolated soft slabs into the lee features. The crusts below the storm snow are variable in depth but consistly support skiing. They support so well that we found it often quicker in the alpine to boot hike than to try and fight to put a skin track in on the hard crust.Ski quality up high was great with dust on crust. Down in the trees it was survival. Weather observations Sky : broken Wind : calm in AM / light with mod gusts in PM from the S Temps : low -17 / high -15 HS : Varied greatly with treeline being on average 60cm , but in the alpine up to180+cm in lee features precip : nil Profile 7000' NE Asp 27degrees HS 80cm surface instabilites in the top 20-30cm from last couple of storms- below well settled pack NO results with tests / be aware of buried pockets of wind slab in shallow features Avalanche Obs : Surface sluffing in steep terrain Stability Alpine: fair treeline :good below treeline : good Early season hazards exist at treeline and below. Be aware of rocks and stumps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 4, 2005 Author Share Posted December 4, 2005 First field day for avalanche control on the E slope of Hudson Bay Mountain. Clear and -14 at 1100 m at 1000 hrs, no snow. Broken, light NW wind, -11 degrees at 1230 hrs at 1550 m. Snow profile on SE aspect at 1550 m showed 43 cm of snow. Sequence of crust and soft facetted layers. Resistant planar shears were near ground and below first crust 13 cm down, both in large facets. There is a strong temperature gradient and some depth hoar is visible. Hudson Bay Mountain is below threshold for skiing and for avalanches. There was some old debris in the North Kathlyn Path. The ice in Glacier Gulch seems well formed and safe for climbing. There are reports that it is thin in places. Snow is expected starting tonight. Christoph Dietzfelbinger Mountain Guide, Bear Mountaineering and Burnie Glacier Chalet Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada tel. 250-847-3351 fax: 250-847-2854 info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Here's a bit of an update from the last few days doing some ice around Jasper. Dec 3rd -Tangle Falls good climbing, gets the sun for these colder days. Good beginner training area. The small falls to the right look good as well. Dec 4th. Edge of the World. Filled in quite a bit this week. Upper pitch has some good variations, lower pitch is a bit wet on the right but good pro (easy 3). Large block above the lower pitch uses a pin and a thread to build anchor to rap to the bottom. This may be iced up enough in the next week or so to build an ice anchor on top. Dec 4pm climbed BS canyon. The one main short grade 2-3 pitch takes good pro to protect stepping over the toilet bowl feature formed behind the lower part of the pitch. A bit wet in places but building fast. Both of the last 2 climbs have improved considerably over this last week. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 We went ski touring in Commonwealth Creek (Little Commonwealth Traverse) on Sunday Dec 4. Looks like the area has seen a fair bit of travel lately, inspite of the fact that the snow depth in the trees is rather skimpy (around 40 – 60cm of faceted snow) and hitting rocks and deadfall is unavoidable. Temps between -16C (at departure at 10AM) warming up to -10C at return to the car at 3PM with the front approaching, which brought about 5 cm 12 hour snow to Canmore today. Snow pack in the alpine and at tree line was very wind affected and we managed to kick off some very small, hard wind slabs, which went on facets above of a melt freeze crust. The melt-freeze crust itself is loosing strength due to faceting with the cool temps lately. However, no recent naturals observed. Let’s hope for more snow! Jorg Wilz Mountain Guide IFMGA / UIAGM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 On a short trip to the Howsons today, we found 50 cm HS at the lodge (1020 m) and 60 to 80 at 1200 m. There is evidence of a recent significant cycle that is now obscured by the strong winds prevailing over the weekend. We could not get to any fracture lines, but suspect that last week's snow slid on the thick hard crust below. A snow profile at 1165 m, SW aspect, showed 38 cm of soft cold snow sitting on a hard crust that extends from ground to 45 cm. There is a strong gradient and the soft snow is facetting. There was almost continuous whumpfing and cracking when travelling at these low elevations. Exposed areas show much wind effect out of the NW. Skiing is marginal at best. Air temperature was -7 degrees. The upper glaciers still show much ice, but look skiable. -- 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 We are doing a guide training course in the Monashee mountains just west of Blanket glacier (Monashee Powder Snowcats). Lodge elev.1600m Afternoon Weather Skies scattered Nil precip. Temps. Max. -6.5 Pres. -11.5 Min.-11.5 22cm. storm snow Height of snowpack 109cm. Light winds from the north Today we had strong winds from the north as the arctic air moved the storm of last night out of the area - extensive wind effect in the alpine and into the Treeline has created soft slab conditions that were quite reactive to ski cutting in the morning at treeline/alpine but seemed to tighten somewhat later in the day - some natural activity observed but with all the wind transport things were being blown in as fast as they failed - most activity was size 1-2 maximum and limited to unsupported steep features. Snowpack 30 cm. recent wind affected storm snow - over 30cm. of low density snow that is sitting on a 5 cm. crust - we have had limited obs. In the alpine and so far have not seen the buried surface hoar that is being reported elsewhere. Roughly 150cm snowcover once you are above 1800m. Hopefully things will be somewhat less blustery tomorrow. Keep them slippery side down, Cheers, 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 Climbed Candle Stick Maker Yesterday Via Hidden Dragon in the Ghost. Extremely strong winds, and a two hour squall gave us 5 cm. Soft and hard slab reacting extremely easily. Good thing that we were in and area that was well below threshold. I am not sure what was like anywhere else, but if the Banff Jasper highway had the same winds as we did, definitely need to be careful of any big open slopes!!! Second to the last pitch I found quite challenging, very cold ice, and even the ice screws were squeaking and having a hard time going in. Had to clean a lot of ice to get a solid stick! Sure felt like a solid WI 5. The last pitch was quite a bit easier. There was water running, which made for good plastic ice. The draw back was the wind was blowing the water all over the place making us wet, and with –10 degrees temperature, everything froze solid instantly. However was a great day out! Marco Delesalle Mountain Guide ACMG/UIAGM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 10, 2005 Author Share Posted December 10, 2005 There has been a CAA Level 1 course in the Whistler/Blackcomb "near" country for the past few days. Here is a synopsis of what we have seen. A few cm of snow and cold temps early in the week gave way to broken skies and temps in the positive range later on, maximums of +2 were recorded Thursday. Light winds. Snowpack depths variable: not enough snow below treeline to avalanche; at treeline and in the alpine depths range from 70 to 130 cm. Two melt-freeze crusts are found at all aspects and elevations, one down 10-20 cm under the low density surface snow and the other down about 50-70 cm. The upper one is only a few cm thick and shows signs of facetting on either side of it, most notably on upper elevation north aspects. The deeper one is thick and strong but also shows some facetting although these facets are not as weak as around the upper one. Some moderate to hard shears have been found on these crusts, but nothing consistent. Near the surface in the alpine there are some windslabs, and inconsistent moderate to hard shears have been observed beneath these slabs. Surface hoar is buried a few cm below the surface beneath very soft surface snow but is not an issue at this point. No avalanche activity has been noted. No reaction of the surface wind slabs with limited ski testing. Alpine: Low Treeline: Low BTL: N/A Marc Schoenrank, Assistant Ski Guide Mark Bender, Ski Guide Mark Klassen, 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 11, 2005 Author Share Posted December 11, 2005 As a follow-up to Scott's last post... I just returned from 7 days from taking the "other" guide's course, at Mustang Powder, a cat-ski operation east of Revelstoke in the Monashees with a heck of a lot of snow. Here's the low-down: Lodge elev: 1740 m Temps: -10 to -20 40 cm storm snow (Dec 4-5) Height of snowpack: 150 cm average above 1600 m, less in lower down and in windswept alpine areas. Limited alpine observations. Weather ------- We experienced moderate to high winds from the NW throughout the week. 40 cm of storm snow starting on the evening of Dec 4 through to Dec 5. Dec 6-8 were calmer, warmer, and sunnier with a brief temperature inversion on the morning of the 7th. The high pressure ridge is keeping up a strong fight against the lows that have been bringing just light to moderate precip to north and west parts of BC. Snowpack -------- Below the November 25 MF crust seems to consist of a dense snowpack that is well bonded, with a distinctive thick MF/Rain crust from October about 50 cm from the ground. Above the November 25 crust there is about 20 cm of facetted snow with the recent Dec 4th storm snow above it. There is heavy wind effect on all aspects with lee loading on SE aspects and cross loading on all open terrain on all aspects observed. We noted a couple of weaknesses, notably a facet/surface hoar layer about 5-10 cm above the crust, a facet/SH layer at the November 25 interface, and a mid-storm weakness halfway through the December 4th storm snow. These weaknesses are settling out quickly. The recent cold weather and clear, sunny days have resulted in a lot of faceting in the upper snowpack. Stability --------- The storm brough poor stability at treeline and above from Dec 4-6, but things settled out quickly. A widespread avalanche cycle resulted in many sz 1-2 on all aspects which "didn't run far"... By Thursday (yesterday) we decided: F (alpine) F (TL) G (BTL), which would likely translate to a danger rating of Considerable in the alpine and Moderate at and below treeline. Quality ------- Excellent, deep powder, all aspect, in the trees. In open areas at all elevations things were pretty hammered; this might change with the faceting. Forecast -------- Cool temps and light precip with moderate winds are in the Wx forecast. For avalanche forecasts, see www.avalanche.ca! Regards, Tom Wolfe _______________________________________________ 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 12, 2005 Author Share Posted December 12, 2005 On a hike toward the glacier today, I found the ice climbable on both main falls in Glacier Gulch. The other routes vary. The middle falls, which are great for teaching, are not reaching down and unusable. There were 35 cm of snow at timberline (1150 m). Two crusts interspersed with facets, some buried old surface hoar 12 cm down. Wind effect in alpine. No skiing. -- 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 13, 2005 Author Share Posted December 13, 2005 I was up in Corbin Pass area which is located in the Selkirk Mountains about 45kms. east of Revelstoke yesterday. The weather was mostly sunny with definite solar radiation effects on the southerly aspects (some snowballs rolling and moist surface snow). The snowpack was quite a bit shallower (mostly around 80cm. with a maximum of 100cms. at 2100m.)than what I have been seeing in the Rogers Pass area and considerably weaker as a result. There was @ 30cm. of faceted snow over a weak and rotting crust (meaning lots of faceting going on in and around the crust). There is not much of a slab yet but when the load comes it will cause some problems in this area for sure. Some surface hoar was observed (3-5mm) on the surface with suncrusts forming on solar aspects from the daytime radiation. Other than that it is hard to recommend that people head to Corbin as the Alder down low is still pretty thick to say the least. Tonight (Monday Dec.12) in Revy we had a tease of 2-3 cm. (kind of like a rockies dump) - other than that not much in the outlook for snow coming our way for the rest of the week. Cheers, 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmckay Posted December 13, 2005 Author Share Posted December 13, 2005 ello Climbed Massey's today with one guest. Route is in ok shape. Pillar on first pitch (climbers left) was soaked so took the line to the right, which was dry and brittle. Second pitch was also quite wet (no real dry lines). Dry and brittle again for the third. -9 at the car at 0830 and a high of -4 at 1315. Calm winds with heavy fog in the morning, clearing in the afternoon. No avalanche activity observed. Lots of really BAD drivers on the TCH - Be aware!! Have fun Mike Mike Stuart ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide #1-730 3ST Canmore, AB T1W 2J6 T: 403 609 8454 E: m_stuart@telus.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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