[MCR] Sacre Blue avalanche close up

Size 3, occurred on Mt Rundle yesterday, one 
gully feature east of the professors ice climb.  Photo referred to in the Banff avalanche bulletin at www.avalanche.ca

Lisa Paulson

Mountain Guide

Visitor Safety Specialist

Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay Parks

Begin forwarded message:

From: mike.grande@pc.gc.ca
Date: 31 December, 2011 8:58:35 AM MST
To: lisapaulson@me.com
Subject: IMG-20111230-01014.jpg

[MCR] Sacre bleu avalanche

Occurred yeaterday

Lisa Paulson
Mountain Guide
Visitor Safety Specialist
Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay Parks
>

[MCR] Rockies, Louise Falls

I spent a day of instruction on the approach slope, and under the roof, of Louise Falls today, December 30th. The route looks to be in fine shape and good conditions were reported by fellow Mountain Guide who climbed it today. Good ice on the first pitch, the climb is big.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.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.

[MCR] Yoho Avalanche Control Dec 31

Parks Canada will be conducting avalanche control Saturday, Dec.31 on:
Mt. Bosworth
Mt.Field
Mt.Stephen

No outdoor activities in these areas, thank you for your cooperation.

Stephen Holeczi
Parks Canada Visitor Safety Programs
Banff/Yoho/Kootenay National Parks
_______________________________________________
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] Rockies, Snowline

I guided an ascent of Snowline today, Dec 29th. There is a lot of ice on the road in, I considered putting on crampons. The route is in good shape and had a line of water reaching to ground. Snowline was growing and it should get bigger. I meant to take a photo but forgot, below is a photo of Chantilly Falls which looked to be in great nic as we walked by.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] South Coast Ice

Hi all,

I took a drive over the Duffy Lake road today. It was 1 degree at the pass and 3 degrees at the rambles parking. It looked like some ok skiing high above the road but it would be about a 300m elevation gain to get to the goods. There were lots of cars at all the parking lots.

I was watching for ice climbs and saw a few. The grade 2/2+ gullies   north of Cayoosh Creek Campground on the east side of the highway looked like the best climbing up there. The rain has stripped the snow from most of the climbs, and there was at least 400m vertical meters of ice that reached as low as Cayoosh Creek.

The Rambles had several lines that would be climbable, but without snow covering the creek bottoms between the vertical section I would be very cautious of ice and debris sliding down the frozen creek beds...not to mention ice detaching while you are on it due to warm temps . The Tube had melted out at the top. Carlsberg looked climbable but detached from the rock (i wouldn't get on it). Syncronicity was missing a pitch or two in the middle ramp section. Loose lady was skinny but climbable to the final pillar which looked thin from the highway view. Nothing was in the Bridge River Canyon.

Cheers,
Conny Amelunxen
MG

[MCR] Skiing at The Pulpit

Happy Holidays,

I had the pleasure of skiing S aspects off The Pulpit today with friends Josh, Alex and Darren.

Between 2300-2400m, we found the Height of Snow to be about 2.1m.  A Compression Test yielded the following results: CTE 3 down 10 cm (new storm snow), CTM 16 down 60cm (storm snow from last weekend), and CTH 28 down 95cm.  Small lee pockets (E aspects of the slope) exhibited touchy soft slabs which released easily when ski cut.  Precipitation continued throughout the day at a rate of S1.

We found great skiing with boot top plus powder treeline and below.

Brent Peters
AAG

[MCR] SARs on Ice and Five Seven Zero

I guided an enchainment of SARs on Ice and Five Seven Zero today, December 28th. Both routes are in great shape and nowhere on the ascent did we find enough snow to create an avalanche. We descended via walking the ridgeline south towards Whirlpool Point. We descended from the ridgeline to the east at the first opportunity. While bum slidding through 25 centimetres of facetted snow over frozen grass we started some sloughs in the facettes that made for a good cushion over frozen mud with rocks protruding.

Quiet out there today,
happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Bow Summit skiing

Outstanding skiing today at Crowfoot Trees. About 30 cm of recent storm snow on top of a firm midpack. No whumpfing or cracking although you would think there is a significant load on the facetted base now. No wind effect in this area but at ridge top there was transport and numerous large loose snow avalanches and a cornice fall were observed off the cliffs.

We kept to tree line runs and away from overhead hazard.

Mark Klassen
ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.alpinism.com/SORCERER

Sent from my mobile device for which I refuse to advertise
_______________________________________________
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] South Coast ~ Fitzsimmons Range

I hope this finds Everyone keeping well and enjoying the Holiday season.
 
I spent the day touring in the Oboe Basin area of the Fitzsimmons Range. Here are some of the things I noted:
 
It has been great to finally receive some new snowfall. The new snow that has fallen seems to amount to 30cm or more, and much deeper in places that have received wind-loading. I did not observe any alpine terrain today, so my observations are from treeline elevations and below. Exposed (open) treeline terrain has recently received some wind-effect and the surface snow is a little more slab-like, but skiable. There was evidence today of both natural and skier-triggered soft slabs that were in the size range classification of 1 to 2. Most of these results were in that open terrain around treeline and in 'alpine-like' features around treeline elevations. Other terrain characetristics that were favoring triggering today were lee (northern aspects), steeper, rocky, slopes immediately below ridgecrests, and on convex (bulging) terrain that was wind-loaded.
 
I felt numerous 'whumpfs' in low-angle, open, and below-treeline terrain that was east-facing. I stopped and had a dig for the suspicious layer and found the 'surface-hoar' that was buried around the middle of this month. These crystals were still obvious and were between 5mm and 9mm in size, and resting just below a very thin and decomposing crust. These crystals 'seemed' to disappear with elevation gain into more open terrain that was more influenced by wind, sun, and those warmer temperatures of early-mid December. As below-treeline elevations give way to treeline elevations, and again in open north-facing terrain, a layer of old facets can still be found down 48cm from the surface. The snow above any of these weak layers, at these elevations and in these spots that were less affected by the winds of late, is soft. As we receive new loading and if the temperatures warm, then I suspect these layers will become more reactive, for a while. 
 
There is currently an honest coastal-storm settling into the mountains here and it's snowing hard, and that's being accompanied by strong winds. Expect the avalanche danger to spike during, and immediately after, this storm. The size of the slabs that can be triggered will increase during this cycle.
 
It appears that Winter has returned.....
 
Best wishes and safe travels,
Dale Marcoux
ACMG Ski Guide
 
 

[MCR] Stay Safe This Christmas

Please check the CAC Forecaster Blog for a new post discussing current conditions and providing advice for how to manage the conditions we expect to see over the next week or so.

 

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/bulletins/forecaster-blog

 

 Karl Klassen - Public Avalanche Warning Service Manager

 

Canadian Avalanche Centre

P.O. Box 2759 | 110 Mackenzie Ave.

Revelstoke, BC Canada | V0E 2S0
kklassen@avalanche.ca | www.avalanche.ca |  Skype: karlklassen

Phone: 250.837.2141 ext. 227 | Mobile: 250.814.8981 | Fax: 866-366-2094

 

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Sir Donald Basin - Dec.23/11

Went for my first tour in some time to Rogers Pass today – checking out the west facing basin below Mt. Sir Donald.

 

10cms of fluffy low density snow fell overnight and during the day today – definitely sweetened up the skiing today.

 

No avalanches observed nor any wind effect up to our high point of 2300m. When I got off of the established skin track in the valley bottom glades(1600m.), we experienced several whumpfs (sound of weak layer collapsing and propogating)– a quick poke in the snow revealed the Dec.10 Surface hoar crystals (10-15mm.) under @30cms of snow which failed when I tried to isolate a block to do a compression test on. Luckily it was really flat here!

 

Higher up (1900-2200m), I had  less whumpfs when breaking trail and test results where correspondingly higher with no fracture across the column when doing an extended column test (ECT) – the surface hoar was in the 5-6mm. size range and was overlying a faceted interface – Still found clean fractures on compression tests (Sudden Planar). Depth of slab over the Dec.10 interface was between 30-50cms., depending on elevation and location.

 

We stuck to moderately inclined slopes and small terrain features and avoided larger open features (including overhead). I definitely found things lees reactive where there were old ski tracks (and not just a few) – wouldn’t count on this too much when the slab gets thicker in the future.

 

The fast and silky snow conditions made skiing this moderate angled terrain a real blast.

 

Probably still a good time to give the larger/steeper features a miss.

 

Have a great Holiday Season and may Santa bring you lots of powdery turns this winter!

 

Cheers.

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Gibraltar wall, Western rockies, Canal Flats area

Hi all,

 

I guided an ascent of Gibraltar wall today December 23rd. We had clear sky and temperatures between -11c and -3c. The wall is in good early season conditions with as many as 4 different climbable lines.  The left head and right hand lines are in better shape than the center lines. We ascended the climber's right most line which provided good protection and generally plastic ice.

The ice on the wall was quite sun beat for this time of year, perhaps a reflection of the locally dry and clear conditions in the last few weeks.  The thin exit ice lenses, which are overlying wet rock slabs, became quite unstable in the heat of the day. It generated some spontaneous ice fall down onto the left hand and center lines; the right hand line was significantly more protected. Due to the sun exposure of this route, colder temperatures or cloudy conditions would have been useful.

The road is in good conditions; mainly compact snow with the odd icy sections.  There is very little snow on the ground in this area.

Happy holidays!

 

David Lussier

Mountain Guide, IFMGA/ACMG

www.summimountainguides.com

[MCR] Bourgeau Control Results

One shot yesterday on a lower target on Bourgeau 5 that had not avalanched
yet this
year produced a size 3 avalanche that dusted the road. Failure to ground.
Max slab depth est. 1.5 metres. Elsewhere, reloaded bed surfaces produced
avalanches up to size two again to ground. The basal depth hoar and Oct
crust is still a major concern in the Rockies.(See attached file: B5 Slab
initiation 4.jpg)(See attached file: B5 Slab initiation 2.jpg)
Brad White
Visitor Safety Programs Specialist
Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks
Mountain Guide

[MCR] Whiteman Falls

Climbed Red Man Soars and Whiteman Falls yesterday Dec 21. Starting the second pitch on Whiteman Falls was challenging, overhanging fragile mushrooms. The upper part was excellent and dry. We walked on the road, no need for skis, there is only about 10 - 20 cm on the pavement.

Marco Delesalle
Mountain Guide
www.greatdividemountaineering.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.

[MCR] Avalanche Control - Mounts Stephen & Bourgeau, Dec. 21st

Avalanche control is planned for Mounts Stephen (Yoho), and Bourgeau (Banff), tomorrow, December 21st.  No outdoor activities of any kind in these areas tomorrow. Thanks for your cooperation.

Ian Jackson
Visitor Safety Technician
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks

[MCR] Bow Summit conditions Dec 18

Bow Summit had broken skies,  moderate temps around -3 with lighter winds today occasionally rising to moderate. We received 15-20 cm of new snow overnight and morning which was bonding well. There was little wind associated with this new snow at tree line and below which offered good powder skiing even in open areas at these elevations.

We saw one less than 24 hour old size 2 loose snow avalanche out of the main north bowl steep feature that had likely run during the storm.  At treeline on NE aspects, snowpack tests were producing mainly high end of easy to moderate results on the depth hoar basal layer which is an improvement over last weekend. Snowpack now sits at 80 - 100cm. The two main concerns we saw were signs of light wind affect higher up in the alpine and a few times during the day the wind did pick up. With quite a bit of new snow available for transport, there will be surface soft slabs and more deeply buried wind slab at ridge top lee features. As well any shallow snowpack areas, trigger points such as rocks sticking out of the snowpack especially on any windloaded or convex/unsupported feature really could trigger that deep layer, which would go to ground.

Eric Dumerac - Professional Mountain Guide - IFMGA/ACMG, CAA II ,CSIA II
✆Canada: Canmore 011- 403-609-1564 
Mountain Skills Academy 

[MCR] Rockies: Weeping Wall Area

Mostly excellent conditions on the Weeping Wall today. At least 8 parties there, with all the Lower Wall routes (Right, Center, Left and Snivelling Gulley) seeing traffic. 

The moderate winds and 15-20cm of snow around and south of Bow Summit dwindled to light winds and 10cm on the road from the David Thompson onward. Snowfall had ended by daybreak, and with the mid-morning passing of the northerly front, it was bluebird and calm for the rest of the day. Temps hovered around -2 all day, but it felt plenty warmer with the windless conditions.  

Plenty of moving water on all the routes; nonetheless, the ice quality and climbing on the three central routes was reported good. Snivelling Gully is still not fully formed and not recommended. It has very little good ice but lots of unconsolidated snow lying over a combination of bare rock, fragile ice lenses, and moving water. 

There are two decent trails in to the Upper Tier now with lots of wallowing anywhere else. Mare in Winter looks in, but a bit scratchy at the bottom. We started up Weeping Pillar, but turned around part way up when solar sluffing off the steeps reached a crescendo and we started getting pummelled. The Pillar looks fully in, though typically fierce at the finish. 

From the road, the Whimper Wall, Bob Sized Smears, Polar Circus (what could be seen, including a fat-looking Pencil) and Ice Nine all looked in good shape. 

Have fun!

Carl Johnston, AAG/RG

Jesse DeMontigny, MG

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

[MCR] Fang and Fist, North Ghost

I guided an ascent of F&F today in the ghost.

There was approx 10-12cms of new snow that had fallen since yesterday evening. The winds were calm in the Claw Creek area all day and there was no snow transport due to wind. I witnessed some sloughing of the new snow in steep terrain.

The route is in excellent shape for the third year in a row and the first 3 pillars are well formed and in true WI5 shape.

The 4x4ing is getting a little sportier but all river crossings weren't too bad with a stock jeep and winter tires.

Kris Irwin
ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide
www.rockies-ice.com

Sent from my iMachine
_______________________________________________
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] Conditions in the Roger's Pass

Hi Everyone,

I've been teaching an AST 2 course in the Roger's Pass area.  Thus far we've skied in the Connaught Creek area the last 2 days.

Yesterday (Dec 17th) saw snow falling less than a cm per hour in the morning and up to 1cm per hour as the day moved into the afternoon.  It was accompanied by light to moderate winds once we climbed up to tree line elevation (2000 meters).  The temperature most of the day ranged from hovering at zero in the valley bottoms to -1.0 at tree line and hence we observed the conditions becoming very slabby as we got to our high elevation of 2100 meters with increasing wind.  Ski cutting and compression tests produced easy results down 25 cms at the interface between the new storm snow and the sandwich of faceted grains, surface hoar and cold stellars.

Today we slid up Connaught Creek again (AC closures on the highway limiting our options) and we saw winds subsiding early in the early AM, temps in the same range as the day prior which promoted settlement of the storm snow into a cohesive soft slab and consequently the same interface behaving in the same manner as the day previous.  Lots of settlements in the flats (valley bottom) and some settlements and cracking about the skis in the Ursus trees areas where we were skiing and digging.  We did some mechanical tests and had easy to moderate compression tests down 30 and 45 cm's respectively and we also did a Rutschblock test and got a score of 2 down 30 cm's.  Ski cutting small features verified easy failures on the same layer.

We noticed one healthy Size 2 natural avalanche that likely pulled out during the storm (rapid loading) at the far end of the drainage off of Cheops.  Of note, the Frequent Flyer path slid overnight during the cycle, however the Grizzly path has not yet ran and I didn't notice any debris mid path or higher up in the track.

Given the high hazard we kept our exposure to a minimum and exercised very cautious travel today.  This layer (Dec 10th) layer will persist for some time and I'll be giving this interface the respect it deserves over the next few weeks.

Have Fun Out There.

Paddy Jerome
ACMG IFMGA Mountain Guide
#205-176 Kananaskis Way
Canmore, Alberta
T1W 3E4 Canada
(C)403-609-0795

[MCR] New snow update Banff - Bow Summit

Last night and early this morning we received 15-20 cm at Bow Summit, Sunshine, and Lake Louise. Winds died down to the light end of moderate, from the west, before the bulk of the precipitation came. Expect to find reactive soft slabs 15-20 cm thick in the immediate lees of steeper terrain features. The basal weak layer may be slightly more reactive then it has been, until it has some time to adjust to the new load.

Lisa Paulson
IFMGA Mountain Guide
Visitor Safety Specialist
Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay Parks
_______________________________________________
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] Wicked Wanda Dec 15

Guided Wicked Wanda on Thursday. Orient point parking is now very hard to reach. River is deceptively high.

Wicked Wanda is in fun shape with some laminated ice and mushrooms. Exit pitch is a half tube with plastered mushrooms on the right wall to stem off of. I broke the climb into two pitches enlarging a natural ice cave.

Upper anchors have a bent over bolt with no hanger. This needs a new bolt....




Eric Dumerac - Professional Mountain Guide - IFMGA/ACMG, CAA II ,CSIA II
✆Canada: Canmore 011- 403-609-1564 
Mountain Skills Academy 

[MCR] Mt Lefroy Avalanche

This avalanche is over a week old, but I finally got some good light to
make a photograph so I thought it still may be of interest. The entire NE
face of Mt. Lefroy failed down to firn or glacial ice. Estimate size 3.5.
This occurred with wind loading on approximately Dec 07. The potential for
large full depth releases on this type of feature will likely resurface
with further loading.

Brad White
Visitor Safety Programs Specialist
Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks
IFMGA Mountain Guide(See attached file: MtLefroyDec2011.jpg)

[MCR] Nemesis

I guided an ascent of Nemesis today, Dec 16. The route is in good shape, not as fat as it gets, nor as skinny. There is a supportive trail to treeline and then a bit of tedious going to ground for us today on snowshoes. Wide skis would be more supportive.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Kootenays snow

Sue Gould and I have been teaching an avalanche course in Kootenay Pass (Salmo-Creston Pass) this week. Last night we had 10 cm of low density snow that covered up a huge surface hoar layer (up to 30 mm). This surface hoar in turn is atop another 20-30 cm of weak facets. Although the snowfall amounts have been too low so far to cause an instability there WILL be avalanches on this layer as soon as we get a bit more snow or there is a significant wind event.

Time to start planning what you're going to do once the tipping point is reached on this layer. Either the local ski hill or on the couch watching the hockey would be my plan.

Mark Klassen

IFMGA/ACMG Mountain Guide

www.alpinism.com/SPEARHEAD_TRAVERSE

[MCR] Field ice climbs

New photos of Field climbs Facebook.com/parksmountainsafety.com

http://on.fb.me/vHPws0

Lisa Paulson
Mountain Guide
Visitor Safety Specialist
Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay Parks
_______________________________________________
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] Coire Dubh Integral

I guided an ascent of Coire Dubh Integral yesterday, Dec 13th. The first pitch is formed well offering several green lines that take screws. It is not huge yet, but is still getting water and should fill out to climber's left in time. All the other ice pitches are formed well.

There was fresh wind slabs on the route, but all well supported, I felt, presenting low consequence if they did fail. I happily trod up the edges of some and through the middle of others.

A party was on the first rock pitch of the normal Coire Dubh Integral so we climbed two pitches of Doors of Perception then traversed to the 5.2 pockets pitch. The snow climbing in the gully above was a tad tedious with lots of knee deep postholes.

We traversed Loder Peak and descended the ridgeline finishing the last half hour by headlamp.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Southern Cariboos, Raft Mtn

Begin forwarded message:

From: Snowy Mountain Alpine Tours <snowymountain@xplornet.ca>

Date: December 10, 2011 6:01:32 PM PST

To: MCR <mcr@informalex.org>

Subject: Southern Cariboos, Raft Mtn

Hi all,

I got a chance to ski on Raft Mountain today near Clearwater, BC.  I went up from km 17 on Rd 80. I found 150 cm of snow at treeline and made some observations of conditions there. There was strong evidence of recent wind events, and snow at treeline was wind hammered.

A couple of things were noteworthy; The surface hoar that formed this last week is 5 to 10 mm in size and is now buried by about a cm or two of fresh snow.This surface hoar is still in place and standing upright in all areas I saw today.There was no wind of note today as the snow fell. This surface hoar may become a layer of concern and it dates as buried Dec 10, 2011in the Southern Cariboos. The second thing of note was a rain crust buried about 35 cm on East aspects at 2000 meters elev.. This layer was laid down two weeks ago and it was found to be 5mm thick. It was easily able to support the overlying snow plus the weight of a skier or sled. This crust layer may be active later in the season, but for the time being, the snow above and below it are not showing signs of faceting or becoming less stable. The bond on this crust was strong in the areas I saw. This crust has prevented severe snow transport by wind at ridgetop.

Skiing was good in gladed North aspects. Trail breaking is 1/2 way to boot top, so it is easy to cover ground.

Happy Trails,

Stephen Ludwig, ACMG Ski Guide

Snowy Mountain Alpine Tours

P 250 674 2988

www.snowymountain.ca

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Laforme Creek

From Sylvain Hebert:

 

Just spent 3 days ski guiding in the area adjacent and North of the Mt Revelstoke National Park boundary.
Excellent skiing found at treeline and below. Some wind slabs and wind effect observed at alpine elevations and near ridge tops at tree line.
Of note, a widespread surface hoar layer found on all aspects up to 2200m (we did not travel higher than this elevation) has now been covered by 2 cm of snow overnight. You will probably hear about this layer in the near future referred to as the Dec 10 or Dec 11 surface hoar layer.

The surface hoar crystals were generally large in size, up to 10mm (and bigger near valley bottoms). This layer will have to be kept in mind when it gets buried as it could  become an extremely weak layer on which future slabs could slide on easily. The layer of snow below the surface hoar crystals is faceted and was sluffing easily while skiing steeper slopes. A thin suncrust was found on steep South facing slopes.

So the skiing is great right now but the facets/surface hoar combo will have to be watched carefully in the weeks to come.

We were rating the hazard at Low in the trees and Moderate at Treeline, with caution for windslab near ridges and areas of shallow snow (weak) in the Alpine.

Sledders were observed ripping it up (outside the National Park) on steep North and East faces at low Alpine elevations and below without any problems.

Enjoy the great conditions,

Sylvain Hebert
ACMG Ski Guide

Peter Tucker
Executive Director
B: +1.403.949.3587
M: +1.403.689.4324
ed@acmg.ca  |  www.acmg.ca

 

[MCR] Last post: Bow Summit Dec 12 meant to be December 11.

Last post: Bow Summit Dec 12 meant to be December 11.

Eric Dumerac - Professional Mountain Guide - IFMGA/ACMG, CAA II ,CSIA II
✆Canada: Canmore 011- 403-609-1564 
Mountain Skills Academy 

[MCR] Bow Summit - December 12

Overcast with light winds from NW, -9 and snowing lightly all day  at Bow Summit today. We skied up to higher treeline. 70-100cm supportive snowpack with depth hoar and faceted basal layer producing easy to moderate compression test results, no wumphing, ski cutting produced no results and we saw no new avalanches. Windslab prevalent on any wind affected slopes. Boot top ski pen with good skiing in wind sheltered areas. Bow Summit still has many little trees sticking out and thus below treeline skiing is limited and shortened until we get more snow cover.

Parking lot gets crowded early as it has not been totally plowed.


Eric Dumerac - Professional Mountain Guide - IFMGA/ACMG, CAA II ,CSIA II
✆Canada: Canmore 011- 403-609-1564 
Mountain Skills Academy 

[MCR] Guinness Gully

I guided Guinness Gully today in Field.  The route is in excellent condition.  The first pitch if thick and takes at least 16cm screws for protection.  All other pitches are also fat and blue.

 

No new snow fell in Field area today, Dec 10th.

 

We did not hike to Guinness Stout but there were tracks heading up that way.

 

 

Kristopher Irwin
ACMG

Assistant Alpine Guide

[MCR] Weeping Wall

Hello,

I climbed the Right Hand line on Weeping Wall today with fellow guide Geoff Ruttan and friend Fraser Quelch.  The line is in good condition and both the Central Pillar and Left lines are there and have seen traffic. Snivelling Gully's first pitch is looking like a thin tube with water visibly running behind it.

We walked up to the upper Weeping Wall to have a look. Weeping Pillar looks quite hard at the moment and Mare in Winter looks good. The other routes are coming in.

Enjoy!

Jesse de Montigny
ACMG Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

[MCR] Carlsberg Columns Rockies Dec 8

Up on Carlsberg today at a balmy -14 to -10.
 
The approach pitch is in good shape with plenty of ice formed to get to the columns.
There are 2 solid columns formed, the driest and traveled being on the left side, some nice technical grade 5. 
Lots of water running on the center groove with transparent chandiliered ice.  So still getting in shape there.
 Ice screws went at one good one about every 2, certainly good to sow it up right now.  The ice was fragile enough that light swings or hooking was necessary.
 
 
Most significant was the large surface hoar crystals on any snow covered bench and the walk off. 
Would not take much new snow for avalanche possibilities to increase. 
 
Merrie-Beth Board
ACMG
Assistant Alpine/Full SKi Guide
 
 

[MCR] South Western BC, Manning Park

I was in Manning Park for the past four days. The snow pack is well settled and the hazard at Tree Line and below was moderate if not low where I traveled. I did not see, or hear any info about recent avalanches.

At about1800m on an E aspect there was about 1.3 m of snow. On the surface and also 5 cm below the surface there is 5 mm size surface hoar. The first 20 cm is nice light fist density powder below this are 3 ice laminations followed by a progressively hardening and solid pack. Just above the heather are rounded bottom facets. I got hard irregular compression tests between the ice layers.

The sun has baked true S aspects a bit and made a very thin ice crust. The north aspects are good skiing.

Dave Sarkany
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.

[MCR] Rockies Crust Photos 2/2

(Embedded image moved to file: pic32261.gif)
Observation Peak Skier Remote Dec 03, 2011

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Coral Creek #3 Skier Accidental Dec 04, 2011
Brad White
Visitor Safety Programs Specialist
Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks
IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] October Crust in the Rockies #1

RE: The 2011 October Crust.

The October Crust is also alive and performing here in the Rockies, but it
is pretty isolated in spatial distribution. It is only in some locations
above treeline and appears to have melted elsewhere. Also it is very close
to the ground so surface roughness plays a factor.

Here are some avalanches that have failed with October Crust as part of the
failure/bed surface

A natural size 2.5 on Wawa bowl on Nov 24 directly after the storm had a
15cm Knife crust on the ground with 3-6mm DH on top in the upper start zone
but none in the lower start zone or track.

A skier triggered size 3 on Coral 3 on Dec 04 had an older snow surface
that is suspected to be October Crust with DH on top in 1/2 of the upper
start but none in the track.

A skier remote 200m size 2.5 on Observation Peak on Dec 03 appears to have
a smooth crust like bed surface in part of the bed surface that I also
suspect is Oct Cr.

This smooth bed surface in the start zones is likely responsible for some
of the wider and larger propagations of early season avalanches that we
have been seeing. We will have to wait and see how much of a factor it
plays into the future, but it is definitely worth noting and looking for
right now.
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WAWA BOWL Nov 24, 2011

See message # 2 for more photos
Brad White
Visitor Safety Programs Specialist
Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks
PO Box 900 220 Hawk Ave.
Banff, AB T1L 1K2
403-760-0556 (cell)
www.parksmountainsafety.ca

[MCR] Junk Yards, Hafner Ck. (new anchors), Grotto falls

Greetings,

I visited these areas from December 4-7.

Junk Yards; Lower main flows are all in good shape but of note is that the upper waterfall has climbable lines and the upper right flow is well formed. Excellent alternatives when the lower flows are busy.

 

Hafner Creek; Most ice flows have now dried out. Mixed routes are mainly in excellent condition.  Anchors were added atop the two smaller practice flows at the back of the canyon left side. This will eliminate the major safety issue that consistently occurred due to the narrow bulbous nature of the top out which always dinner plates. This dinner plating at the top out was  weakening the v-threads. Previously one v-thread was witnessed to be covered by a giant dinner plate which after being nudged away completely exposed the entire v-thread.

 

Grotto Canyon; Main flow is in easier shape than usual and now dry. His and Hers are both climbable but in narrower conditions making their associated mixed routes much harder than usual. Some hangers are loose, bring a wrench.

Happy Trails,

Eric Dumerac - Professional Mountain Guide - IFMGA/ACMG, CAA II ,CSIA II
✆Canada: Canmore 011- 403-609-1564 
Mountain Skills Academy 

[MCR] kananaskis

Hello,

My bro and I climbed the sub-peak to the NE of Mount Burstall today, tuesday
Dec6th.

3 things I feel are pertinent:

1)We observed a class 3.5 slab avalanche. I estimate this avalanche
occurred 12-24 hours ago. The slide initiated at 2625m on the NE side of
the summit of Mount Burstall. Some of the debris ran down towards burstall
pass-trail(to the NW) and the other half of the debris ran to valley
bottom(2050m) in French Creek (to the ESE)

2)There was alot of wind transported snow today due to mod to strong WSW
winds. The lee alpine faces were streaming with spindrift that was piling
up on the slopes below the faces; This will be building large windslabs.

3)off-trail travel was surprisingly supportive.

Neil Warren
ACMG ASG, DHG

www.alpinethreadworks.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.

[MCR] Rockies, North Ghost

We enjoyed a great day in the North Ghost today on House of Sky & GBU. 

Temps hovered around -5C with light cloud and calm conditions all day, despite the forecast. The road was in very good condition with only minor drifting of the latest storm snow. Recent road grading and snowfill have significantly helped smooth out the potholes, too. Likewise, none of the usual issues with creek crossings all the way in.

HoS was very snowy, taking some of the angle out of the main pitches and turning the shorter steps more into step kicking than ice climbing. GBU was in good condition (clearly lots of action last weekend) with V-threads a-plenty on top.

By late afternoon, winds became gusty and strong from the NW, but with only moderate transport. Ultimately, not much blowing around in the Ghost today compared to conditions in the Bow Valley.  

Carl Johnston

RG, AAG

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Rockies, Johnston Canyon

Climbed on the steeper side of the flow today. No climbs to the left were formed yet.

[MCR] Avalanche - Lake Louise Backcountry

Today, two back country skiers remotely triggered a size 3 avalanche in
Coral 3 (local name for slide path just outside the Lake Louise Ski Area).
The pair of skiers set an uptrack across a bench and then onto the ridge on
the lookers right side of the feature that avalanched.

They skied a run straight down the middle of Coral 3 without incident. They
ski toured back up the slide path and re-connected with their old track,
making a second run. When they topped out on the ridge they triggered a
small avalanche that in sympathy triggered the bigger size 3 avalanche. The
skiers tracks (uptrack and ski line) were completely wiped out. Needless to
say, it was a very close call.

In the Rockies, now that the storm has passed, natural activity has
subsided. However, todays avalanche demonstrates that human involvement is
still quite likely on big alpine features.

Tread lightly.

Aaron Beardmore
Specialist, Visitor Safety Programs
Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay Parks
Box 900, Banff, AB
T1L 1K2
Ph: 403-762-1415
www.parksmountainsafety.ca
www.facebook.com/parksmountainsafety
www.twitter.com/ParksMtnSafety

(See attached file: IMG00393-20111204-1337.jpg)
(See attached file: IMG00402-20111204-1338.jpg)
(See attached file: Coral 3.jpg)

[MCR] David Thompson Hwy

I had the opportunity to climb Isaac's and SARs the past two days.  Both are well formed, and multiple lines can be climbed at each venue while keeping ropes dry.  There was less than 20cm of snow on the approaches, although it was snowing on the descent from SARs today at a rate of S2, which continued through to Bow Summit on the drive back to Canmore.

On the drive out from Nordegg to SARs this morning, the following conditions were observed:

Kitty Hawk looks fully formed, possible thin, with quite a bit of ice on The Unicorn.

Nothing But the Breast looks thin, but climbable.

5-7-0 looks fully formed.

Friends reported good conditions at 2 o'clock falls, the Gallery is wet and needs more cold weather to form.

Brent Peters
AAG

[MCR] King Creek

Had an excellent day at King Creek with the Mountain Skills Academy.

 

All main climbing areas are thick and blue.  The short route into the cave is not fully formed but offers some thin climbing at the moment.  Most creek crossings are easy but a walking pole or stick will make the fallen log crossings a little easier.

 

Looks like Wedge Smears are climbeable, we saw many cars parked near the access trail.

 

 

 

Kristopher Irwin
ACMG

[MCR] Bow Summit, Banff Park Dec 3

Out for a couple laps at Bow Summit today, December 3. We noted the recent avalanche on Observation Peak that Chris just reported.

53 cm of snow at treeline. Supportive skiing with good snow quality in the trees, but wind affected surface above treeline. -8 deg at 1:30 pm, light north wind. Moderate compression tests results down 25 cm. Hard compression test at the ground on large depth hoar. No whumphing or reactivity to ski cutting on the supported slopes that we stayed on.

With all the recent wind in the alpine there are probably some windslabs that are just waiting for a skier or climber to trigger it, with potential for wide propagation and failure to ground, just like the natural avalanche across the highway on Observation Peak.

Jordy Shepherd
ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.PeakAlpine.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.

[MCR] Avalanche on Observation Peak, Banff NP

Recent avalanche activity above Bow Summit, on the Observation Peak side of
highway 93N, at 2500m. This fresh avalanche from the last 24 hours released
to the ground. The crown was a constant 70cm in thickness, over 200m in
width, and the debris ran nearly 400m. It was an isolated event in the
area, and it most likely released during the extreme wind event that blew
through the area yesterday.

Larger slides are possible with enough loading, and this can happen quite
rapidly with the stronger winds that have been tormenting the Rockies the
last while. Be aware of what terrain lies above you, and stick to
wind-sheltered slopes while enjoying the early season skiing.

Chris Gooliaff
ACMG AAG/ASG
Visitor Safety Technician
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks
Parks Canada










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[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Dome Glacier - Rogers Pass Dec.2/2011

Just to add a little to Rudi’s excellent summary.

 

I noticed a significant and hard raincrust a few hundred meters above Asulkan Brook while descending from the Dome Glacier today (lucked out and managed to hit a break in the fog in the late afternoon). There is currently about 30cms of low density snow overlying this crust which lacks any slab properties at this point, but still possible to trigger loose snow sloughs on the steeper slopes near the bottom of the descent.

 

I just wanted to put this in people’s minds for when it receives more load and or develops a significant slab – it is the kind of thing that might catch you unawares as it doesn’t exist much higher and when descending the Dome those last pitches to the valley are quite steep.

 

As Rudi mentioned the skiing is quite good with an additional 10-15cms of low density snow from last night’s system.

 

Have a great weekend,

Cheers,

 

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Rogers Pass

Posted on behalf of Ruedi Beglinger.

 

Over the past few days I have been guiding at the Rogers Pass area. The skiing conditions have been absolutely incredible. Yesterday we skied Little Sifton, climbed up via Grizzly Shoulder and skied down via the upper and lower Grizzly Bowl. In the higher alpine I noticed a weakness down 35cm which gave me some concerns regarding stability of larger slopes, mostly near exposed ridges.
Today we skied towards Sapphire Col. Again skiing was absolutely five star, deep and very light powder with ski penetration of 25cm. As soon as we reached the alpine, I again observed this distinct weakness down 35cm. At elevation 2360m, aspect N, sheltered slope with 30 degr. incline I made a test snow profile and stability tests. This profile and tests confirmed my concerns of the present snowpack at Rogers Pass. Down 37cm easy compression tests with sudden planer results (CTE4 SP), down 55cm lower moderate shear also with sudden planer results (CTM13 SP), down 91cm moderate shear results with sudden planer shear characteristics on decomposed surface hoar and down 135cm moderate to hard shear results with sudden planer shear characteristics on decomposing surface hoar. At 1600 m elevation we reached a steep exposed slope, probing showed the distinct weakness down 100cm. I decided that this slope is not stable enough to climb up or ski down. It was time to pull the skins off and ski down without reaching the actual goal of the day.
The snowpack I have found at Rogers Pass is classic for this time of the year. Just because the snowpack in the alpine is anywhere from 3 to 4 metres, it is still a young snowpack which had little time to consolidate into a strong snowpack or to bond the many interfaces.
Of course we can go skiing, enjoy the amazing powder and deep snowpack, but caution and respect towards the rather young snowpack is very important.

Stay safe
Ruedi Beglinger
A.C.M.G. Mountain Guide

Selkirk Mountain Experience
www.selkirkexperience.com
info@selkirkexperience.com

[MCR] Whitewater backcountry - Nelson, BC

Some obs from the past couple days:

 

13cm of new snow that fell Tues. night / Wed. morning is still providing excellent skiing in wind sheltered areas at treeline and below.  A reverse wind loading pattern had compressed the snow on N-NW aspects and reduced cornices somewhat, but yesterday winds were back to a SW flow affecting alpine elevations. 

 

I saw a fair bit of terrain the last couple days and observed some sluffing on steeps from the new snow and a few small wet surface sluffs from sun effect on steep south aspects but no slabs were visible.

 

The warm temps of last week have really settled out the snowpack with settlement cracks on all the trees.  This, combined with cooler present temps (-7C yesterday in the parking lot at 10am) had stiffened things up quite a bit.  I had variable clean shears on the new windslab (10-20cm) with moderate to hard results but it generally seemed to be bonding well.  I would be leery of cross loaded slopes though and the better skiing is off of the windslab anyway.

 

Snow depths were averaging 170-190cm above 1900m although shallow areas still exist (especially where wind effected).

 

Surface hoar was growing with crystals 3-7mm observed at treeline ridgetops.

 

The resort will open tomorrow with excellent skiing to be had.

 

 

More photos at www.facebook.com/mountainsense

 

Cheers,

Shaun King  ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide

Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction

www.mountainsense.ca  +1-250-505-5139

 

 

[MCR] Cariboos-Blue River

Cariboos - Blue River

Out from five days in the Cariboos west of the village of Blue River

Weather

Big rain event during the day on November 27th, wind and light snow on the 28th followed by 35 cm of new snow on the 29th and a clear blue sky day on the 30th.

Air temp Dec 1st am was -15.0 c.

Alpine (lmtd obs)

Tree Line Snowpack - Test Profile 1700 m 

-As of Dec 1st there is 185 cm of snow at  1220m and 250cm at 1700m NE aspect.

-35 cm of new snow is now overlying theNov 27th rain crust, here it was 2 cm thick and un-supportive, the new snow was not reactive to tests or ski cutting yet near the crust interface.

-Below the rain crust the upper 150cm of the snowpack appeared to be very well settled with no shears found at this site.

-I could not find buried SH in the upper or mid-pack at this location.

Below Treeline

Here conditions are a much different story!

-The Nov 27th rain crust is industrial below tree line and now there is 15-20 cm of low density new snow and a thick layer of surface hoar ( up to 20mm) sitting on top. 

-At this point the new snow/surface hoar is un-reactive to ski cutting in steep or un-supported features. Except for the classic SH tinkle-shus when you ski it.

-Snowpack depths are certainly above threshold in all below tree line avalanche features such as avalanche run outs, fans, cut blocks, creek gullies and road cuts.

Avalanches

-Several wet loose avalanches ran during the rain event in steep features including the lower portion of avalanche run outs and fans.

-As the weather cleared on the 30th I observed a few isolated wet loose and very soft slab storm snow releases in steep terrain with direct solar heating at various elev. running mid-path.

-I did not observe any large or deep slab avalanches at this location.

Outlook

Cornices are getting large, tender and ripe in the alpine and overall I would be leaning to stay out of large features and sticking to lower angle terrain in the alpine until the latest precip inputs, wind events etc.. have found their happy place.

The biggest concern I have right now is below tree line where the rain crust, new snow/surface hoar combo is just waiting for additional loading such as new snow or a wind event. 

Skiing healed up with deep dust on crust, coverage is excellent for this time of year and the tree line snowpack here is looking good so far!

Dana Foster

Ski Guide

CAA Professional Member

Snowy Mountain Alpine Tours

Blue River - Clearwater BC

P 250 674 2988

www.snowymountain.ca