Western Canada/ May Reports

[jmckay]

Spent Sat thru Mon April 29-May 1 on the Wapta, starting at Bow and ending at Sherbrooke.

 

The Bow approach is still holding together but could be gone soon I suspect. Continued loose snow and wet slab avalanches in the moraines on the approach to size 1.5 with rain showers to 2700m on Saturday.

 

Still very good coverage on the glaciers. Not a lot of thick crust formation at upper elevations although that is changing with recent warm temps/rain and now cooling. The surface hoar is 50 down and reactive to compression tests. Still, I felt confident enough in stability to take the shortcut under the east side of St Nick on Saturday and to go over the Balfour High Col on Sunday with -3.5 degree temps and no wind but with 6-10cm of new snow and no visibility.

 

-7.5 on Sunday at Scott Duncan and it was frozen hard although the crusts were still only a few cm thick. We took the direct classic exit rather than go under the cornices that were in the sun on Niles. Many recent wet slab avalanches to size 3 on the west aspects in Sherbrooke Valley (Sunday? no snow or rain effect on the debris and the sun came out for a few hours on Sunday PM). Propagating a long way. I suspect on either surface hoar or perhaps a crust.

 

Skating across Sherbrooke Lake. The trail out has a few bare patches and is very narrow in spots. The Parks trail crew was in there cutting out the recent blowdown and I suspect they will have cleared the trail by Wednesday but the trail is not long for this world.

 

Fresh snow on the lawn in Banff this morning and wind transport off Rundle but the skis have already got storage wax on them and I'm packing for a road trip. There's gotta be summer somewhere south of here.

 

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.

Edited May 16, 2006 by jmckay

[jmckay]

Skied up Mt. Field today. Excellent conditions with powder over crust on

the upper half and corn snow on the lower half. The road is melted out up

to the meeting of the waters so a bike would be useful. Skiing from there

with the exception of the switchbacks that are also melted out.

 

Marc Ledwidge

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.

[jmckay]

Just talked to a party ascending north ridge of Victoria after leaving skis

at col. A party of 2 was following them. The lower party triggered a

cornice failure on the way up the ridge and was avalanched down the upper

Victoria glacier for a few hundred feet. They were miraculously unhurt and

later, everyone was able to ski down without further incident. The cornice

did not seem overhanging to the either party but was at least 4 meters

thick. Details are from a phone conversation so I hope I got the details

right.

 

Marc Ledwidge

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.

Edited May 11, 2006 by jmckay

[stinkyclimber]

Skied into Balfour Hut last Saturday under "variable" conditions. The weather turned from "sun and clouds" to mostly clouds by the time we got there. Had to return (after waiting till noon for the weather to clear) the same way the next day in a total whiteout and moderate snow-fall.

 

Bow Lake was still frozen, and unless it has gotten sunny again since then, should still be crossable for a few weeks. Only at the far end was the ice starting to melt back from the shoreline, and even then only half a meter (whichy only makes it more sporty). Patchy snow to the first canyon, although it was possible to leave skis on all the way from the car on upwards, with the exception of 100m. The main canyon was skiable, but it is getting tricky in spots. Another while yet before it melts out although there are 2-3 sections where you have to walk and even wade. The summer route above the canyon is snow free for the first half already, unfortunately.

 

The glaciers seemed well covered. Snowpack quite consolidated from last week's freeze-thaw cycle, although there was breakable crust above 8700ft. New snow accumulation when we left was less than 10cm and heavily wind effected.

 

The route up to the High Col looked in very good shape. The hut was, as usual, great. Not many parties do this trip after early May so get on it and avoid the earlier crowds.

 

Stinkyclimber

Mountain Wanker

 

PS - Thanks to Joe for posting all these MCR reports. They are a great service! Just trying to give back a little...

_______________________________________________

These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. I am not a guide, just a wanker. 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. My advice could kill you, your friends, your pets, even your plants.

[jmckay]

 

Just back from a week in the Coast range where excellent spring conditions were encountered – last weeks cooler temps and sunny skies allowed for great travel and powder/corn skiing conditions. This is a bit of old news as weather in BC has taken a turn for more summer like conditions (temps to reach 30 degrees in Revelstoke today).

 

We flew into the Pantheon Range (just north of Mt. Waddington) on Monday May 8 (delayed by one day due to weather that brought us 10 cm. of new snow) with Mike King of Whitesaddle Air Service under clear skies and temps of -6 at 8,000 ft. – we camped in Nirvana pass but I would suggest flying a little further south until you are underneath Mt. Bayamee which will allow you to ski downhill at the end of the day from most reasonable objectives. During the week we observed no new avalanche activity including solar aspects as the crust was staying intact throughout the day.

 

We had good crust formation overnight that continued to support through out the day and flew out Thursday night under clearing skies – Friday brought a brief period of snow showers (10 cm. on the road from Williams lake) as we drove to Whistler to ski the Spearhead. By Friday evening the skies had cleared and temps dropped overnight forming a strong supportive crust with up to 15 cm. of fresh powder on top on higher elevation north aspects. Blackcomb is closed so access is currently from the Whistler ski area. Observed a couple of older large cornice failures with large blocks that ran 2,000 ft, vertical in one case – other than that not much recent avalanche activity – though later in the week I am sure that the new snow started to run on the solar aspects. This is a great time to do the Spearhead as there is no heli ski traffic in the area and the Village is cheaper and way less crowded – something to keep in mind for the future.

 

As mentioned earlier this is old news and the more recent warm temps will require early starts to beat the daytime warming.

 

Have a great spring – time to get the rock shoes out today,

Cheers,

Scott Davis

Mountain Guide

[jmckay]

Mt. Columbia/Castleguard May 13-15

(See MCR post Icefields Conditions for more conditions info)

 

*Pictures courtesy of Nick Rapaich. Warning; pics give a foreshortened view.

 

Myself and a group of 5 including aspirant extraordinaire, Nick Rapaich, skied up the Saskatchewan glacier, climbed Mt. Columbia and skied to the summit of Castleguard.

 

Saturday; From big bend, no skiable snow on approach to glacier (bring hiking shoes). @ alluvial flats stay left and gain treed terraces/trail for easier traveling. @ the moraine lake go around its right side. Skied up Saskatchewan gl, camped at 2640m, 15 clicks from big bend pullout.

1900-2200m; From Sunday to present there was a dramatic melting of snow and weakening of bridges from the toe to about 2200m. Crevaces covered on Saturday were like surfacing dolphins by Monday. Isothermal below 2100.

2600m and above had over 4 meter snowpack with strong bridges, no visible sags or crevaces in compression zones, only the big gapers visible.

 

Sunday; skied up and down and up the trench to the base of mighty C. Some double penetration trail breaking with p.m. heating. Above 3000m is 10-15 cm of settled storm snow overlying 20-35cm of denser snow on top of a 3-4 cm melt-freeze/windcrust depending on aspect that is well bonded with settled snow below. On wind affected slopes, especially the SE cross loaded slope lookers right of the S ridge, a soft slab has formed with a poor bond above the crust.

From base, the East Face rib like feature looked inviting. I saw what looked

like a diagonal cross loaded pillow en-route 2/3 up the face (appears in picture as a stark white pillow on upper face). That, with limited snowpack obs and the rather large real-estate over head decided me on the South Ridge. Gained the ridge and skied to the base of the rock step. @ 3460 quick hand shears showed easy results. Further investigation revealed the soft slab instability 30-40 down (see summary below). Good plan not to be on the East face eh! Staying high and close to ridge rocks, scrambling up a rocky gully feature and rocky snow slopes gains the summit ridge. Good steps can be made, good short roping stances and over the ridge counter balance belays. On summit ridge now, from 10 meters, remotely triggered a small soft slab from ridge, 15- 35cm deep by 10 meters across. Further up the ridge triggered another remote that propagated below and ahead of me to almost ridgetop 10-40cm deep x >150 meters wide this time to size 1.5. Definitely would knock a person off. The crux is the hundred meters or so between 3550 and 3650 meters requiring steeper gully feature snow climbing, sometimes hoping over the ridge to belay and careful management of threading a safe line between the South East slopes slab and summit ridge cornices. There is one small double cornice on way to summit. Overall the cornices were quite manageable. Though there was no new avalanche activity other than p.m. solar aspect sloughs. When we came down, our tracks were filled in. I suspect the slab will fill in and re-build with observed snow transport shortly. Instabilities in the high alpine especially on wind-affected features remain an important hazard. From the top of the province, I am happy to report everything is looking good, the views were spectacular on this blue bird day; Twins, Bryce, Clemenceau, the Rocky Mountain Range, what a treat and no one else around!?

 

Monday; in complete contrast to Mt. Columbia, the North East Face of Castleguard was in excellent condition. Benefiting from its lower, warmer elevation (compared to Columbia) more North aspect, and less wind effect, the snow here was well settled and tests showed no results. I felt comfortable setting a track across steeper slopes to gain the east ridge, then skiing the face itself. A fun summit and a great way to come off the Saskatchewan Glacier with good downhill skiing. Intense solar radiation on the way out. Widespread Snowballing and sloughing, isothermal below 2100. I witnessed continual serac activity in vicinity drainages with daytime heating. Glad we did not have to ski out the Athabasca Gl. in the afternoon!

 

If ya know the lingo;

Conditions: 1880-3700, Clear, L 12, H 12, L-Moderate SW, Nil, ridgeblo- M, snpk@2600>4.5cm.

Mt. Columbia @ 3460M Test 70dn; SE, 30 deg, CTE 8 CTM 13 SP 35dn 1F on P-. (SSL on wind crust), NR below. Castleguard @ about 2900M NE, 32 deg, STN. Iso Wumfing on glacial flats above 2800m. Aval obs; Mt. Columbia 05/14 sz .5 Sr SSL 35deg SE approx 3550, sz 1.5 Sr SSL 35deg SE approx 3600 35cm dn by <150m.

 

Eric Dumerac

Rocky Mountain Vertical

ACMG Assistant Ski/Alpine Guide, CAA Level II, CSIA Level II Ski Instructor.

Long time ski tourer, pioneering alpinist, rock, ice, and mixed climber at your service.

403-609-2965 Canmore AB.

Edited May 17, 2006 by jmckay

[jmckay]

As the CAA has stopped functioning for season and not many people seem to be going out into the hills and reporting about it, this might help out;

 

On a ski mountaineering tour May 13-15th in the Mt. Columbia zone;

 

Valley bottoms melted out, hiking shoes a boon. Intense and severe radiation. Clear skies, overnight lows of 12, alpine highs of 12. Winds L-Moderate from SW increasing with altitude. Some ridge top snow transport. No new NATURAL avalanche activity observed. Soft Slabs triggered on Mt. Columbia summit ridge (see Mt. Columbia/Catleguard MCR report for details and pics).

 

Snowpack Synopsis

 

GLACIER CONDITIONS:

Valley to 1900m: Innovative business man could set up a slurpy stand anywhere in snow leading to glaciers.

1900m to 2200m; widespread melt-freeze crust supportive in early a.m., softening in p.m. creating either troublesome breakable double penetration but mostly nice soft crust/corn depending on aspect/elevation. Snow on the lower reaches of glaciers melting out super fast, bridges beginning to sag, crevaces going bearback, snowplugs exposed and yellowing. What snow there is, is isothermal. Here water has percolated deep into bridges weakening them significantly. Roping up advised at the very least on lower reaches of glaciers.

2200m-3200m; winter conditions beginning to change. Over 4 meters of snow with strong bridges, no sags, only the big gapers visible. Above 2800 meters 5-10 cm of settled HST (recent storm snow) can be found.

 

 

 

 

SLOPE CONDTIONS:

Icefields snowpack very variable with isolated weakness persisting in the high alpine. First area of concern is the particular widespread weakness, susceptible to human trigger, on high alpine- lee & cross loaded- SE and NE aspects.

-2800-3700 m, 10-15 cm of settled storm snow over 20-35cm of denser snow over a 3-4 cm windcrust/melt-freeze depending on aspect. On wind affected slopes, especially SE, a soft slab has formed with a poor bond above the crust. Seemed well settled below crust.. N and I suspect NW aspects, were much better, well settled/bonded layers with preserved 5-15cm surface powder. These slopes are susceptible to surface sloughing/loose snow avalanches- with trigger.

 

 

-Below 2800 meters warmer temps have had an overall settling effect on the snowpack. Isolated pillows are still visible, caution on convex features. Next cycle of lower elevation solar aspect wet slides not running yet.

-Non glacier vicinity slopes are warmer and need careful evaluation as they have had several melt-freeze cycles and are either bomber corn or ready for wet slide initiation depending on time of day/aspect.

 

Outlook:

High Alpine:

Caution; SE-NE soft slab on wind affected slopes. Do not be deceived by good overnight freezes. Daytime heating is just now beginning to affect alpine slopes below the surface snow and into mid-pack. A resulting slide or cornice failure could trigger a secondary early season weakness avalanche especially in the lower alpine zones where they are more prevalent. I encountered cornices over 3600 meters that had a glazed top with moist snow 15 cm down. Below 3000 meters in the shade, moist snow down 30cm . Since the alpine is currently in that temperature transition time and just beginning to react to the day after day warm temps, all those nasties, such as cornice fall, rockfall, snowballing, falling mushrooms, will in my opinion make even North facing gullies not so user friendly. Increase caution with higher night-time low temps. Widespread cornice failure has not yet begun, but

 

Low Alpine:

A new cycle of wet slide avalanches will likely begin happening on steeper S aspects very soon below 2800 meters or so. There are however many excellent solar aspect corn snow slopes to be skied and soft North aspects too. Maintain caution on windloaded and steep convex rolls here. Rockfall potential will become prevalent in the next while.

 

Treeline and Below treeline; Wretched blood sucking parasitic pests still abundant

 

Recommendations: These are tumultuous transitional times. In the mountains conditions are very variable; stop, think, consider, be more conservative until things even out and become more predictable.

 

Eric Dumerac

Rocky Mountain Vertical

ACMG Assistant Ski/Alpine Guide, CAA Level II, CSIA Level II Ski Instructor.

Long time ski tourer, pioneering alpinist, rock, ice, and mixed climber at your service.

403-609-2965 Canmore AB.

Edited May 17, 2006 by jmckay

[jmckay]

Hi All,

This may seem early to most of you but I have had several inquiries lately

so I thought I would pass it on.

 

It is still winter in the Bugaboo Spires. The logging road has only been

passable (4x4 only) for a couple of days and the last three KM into the Park

are closed due to construction from last fall. The trail is snow covered

all the way to the hut and is still threatened by serious avalanche hazard

from Eastpost Spire.

 

Historically, parties heading into the Bugs before mid to late June have

spent more time wallowing around in waist deep snow than climbing.

 

Cheers,

Marc Piché

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.

[jmckay]

Was on Forbidden Corner Thurs 18th. Be aware that on the pitch 6 (the

one you climb the loose flake to gain the webbing for protecting the

traverse to the belay) has serious loose rock waiting to come off. The

lead climber just placed his hand on it and the size of a fridge door

just pealed off. Missing me and somehow not even scratching the rope.

This rock is climbed all the time to gain that webbing and just from

looking at what's still attached. There is still more waiting to come

off. It is very easy to recognize what peeled off.

 

I've never posted a posting and I thought this could be important info

to pass on regarding Forbidden Corner, especially since the Assistant

Rock Training is coming up. It's apparent that winter freezing and

melting had contributed to what is stated below. This is one time that I

did not have my camera so I have no photo to show and tell.

 

Nick Rapaich, ARG

 

_______________________________________________

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]

Caution! Diretissima, on Mt. Yamnuska. On the last pitch (8) below the crux chock stone by about 3 meters, there are 2 blocks stacked on top of one another, about volley ball sized, and perched precariously. I repositioned them but there is really nowhere to put them otherwise, (without sending them all the way down!, not advised)

 

It seemed in general the last pitch has more loose stone, than previous ascents that I have made.

 

Aaron Beardmore

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.

Edited May 21, 2006 by jmckay

[jmckay]

Hello,

 

Climbed the south ridge of the south peak of Mt. Edith today with Matt Mueller. The route has a regular covering of spring gravel on it but otherwise is dry and in good shape. The hole/chimney on the descent has some snow but we were easily able to kick steps down.

 

Enjoy, watch for loose rock on the way up.

 

Jesse de Montigny

Assistant Rock Guide

Assistant Ski 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.

[jmckay]

Was flying around Louis today. Gmoser route is mostly dry. Kain route

still has snow and water on east face. Homage to the Spider is a ways off

yet. Descent gully has surprisingly little snow.

 

Marc Ledwidge

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