Western Canada/ Febuary 24th - March 10th

[jmckay]

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.

Edited March 10, 2006 by jmckay

[jmckay]

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

[jmckay]

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

[jmckay]

 

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.

[jmckay]

 

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

[jmckay]

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

[jmckay]

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.

[jmckay]

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

 

 

_________________

[jmckay]

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

[jmckay]

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

[jmckay]

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

[jmckay]

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.

[jmckay]

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

[jmckay]

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.

[jmckay]

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!)