Bugaboos in the next couple of weeks?

[Wallstein]

Does anyone have any experience with the Bugaboos this time of year?

 

Given some good clear weather would a quick mission be possible?

 

 

[G-spotter]

http://www.acmg.ca/mcr/archives.asp

 

See Rogers Pass report from May 14. Similar conditions should prevail in the Bugs right now.

[blackhead]

Mikey,

climbed the reg. route on Bugaboo the first week in June once.

the lower half of the ridge was all snow.

approach to the hut was postholing, too.

But, my girlfriend and I had the whole hut to ourselves.

hokey-pokey nude sunbathing was awesome...

[G-spotter]

Consensus this year is that the snowpack right now is about a month behind where it normally is, so conditions are more like mid-April than a regular mid-May.

 

Here's part of the most recent CAC bulletin (last Friday), last one of the season will drop on May 19th:

 

Of note this week are reports of a widespread avalanche cycle in the Rockies but I suspect it’s also happening in other areas of the interior. Numerous size three avalanches are failing deep in the snowpack, on the ground, and running to the snowline. I’d guess that really big ones might even run into the grass and brush below the snowline so climbers, hikers, ATVers, and hunters beware. What details we have are in the bulletins mentioned above. This cycle is likely to continue through the weekend with warm temperatures and sunny conditions forecast for most of the interior. Where this is happening, it’s the first big spring cycle of the season and, while it will likely slow down a bit after a couple of days, conditions will remain challenging and somewhat unpredictable until a decent freeze occurs. Once we’ve had a couple of cold, clear nights I expect to see more normal spring avalanche conditions where the diurnal melt-freeze cycle is the primary driver of avalanche danger.

 

The coasts have been a bit cooler and wetter and we have not heard of widespread, unusual avalanches there but it’s definitely spring out west as well so keep an eye on the effects of gradually warming temperatures and rain. When the sun comes out, expect avalanche activity to pick up and it’s not impossible that some of them will be big, deep ones.

 

In all areas, obtain information about conditions from knowledgeable locals before venturing into avalanche terrain. And this season, you’ll want to ensure that everyone in your party has avalanche rescue equipment even though it’s mid-May—there’s still huge amounts of snow in the mountains.

 

Keep your head up if you are going into the mountains this weekend.

 

Karl Klassen

Public Avalanche Warning Service Manager

Canadian Avalanche Centre

Revelstoke, BC

[G-spotter]

Couple of final data points, many automated snow pillows are showing record or near-record depths of snow, but the East Creek one

http://bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca/data/asp/realtime/asp_pages/asp_2d08p.html

 

is showing a recent decline to near-long term average levels. Of course, it's at 2000m and the climbing in the Bugs is more generally around 3,000 so it will be winterier up high than shown on the gauge.

[Wallstein]

Thanks for the beta. Looks like it would probably be a wet snowy adventure up there right now.

 

 

Thanks kinda what I figured.