[MCR] Avalanche season in the Rockies

It's avalanche season again, and Parks Canada will be periodically conducting avalanche control on all avalanche paths that threaten major highways in Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks.    If you're planning on climbing or skiing in Banff, Yoho, or Kootenay Parks this winter, you need to be aware of which areas may be affected by avalanche control, and how to check if there is any control planned in these areas.  
There will be signage located at common trailheads for climbing on Mounts Bourgeau (Banff), Stephen and Dennis (Yoho), and skiing on Mt. Whymper (Kootenay).  

The signs look like this:

If the signage indicates that avalanche control is planned, the area is closed for recreation: DO NOT ENTER.  Most of the time, the signage will indicate that there is no avalanche control planned, and the area will be open for recreation.

In addition to the signage, Parks Canada will post a warning to the public avalanche bulletin for Banff, Yoho and Kootenay, Parksmountainsafety Twitter and Facebook, the MCR, and community webpages such as Gravsports-ice.com, and Big-lines.com.  

Remember, Parks Canada is conducting avalanche control to protect the highways, and is NOT making the areas safe for recreation.

Finally, be on the lookout for undetonated explosives while recreating in these areas, and contact Parks Canada at 403-762-1470, if any are found.  

Please respect this system and check for closures before recreating in these areas, so that we can all continue enjoying the permit-free system that exists in Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks.  

Have a safe winter!

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

[MCR] Large Avalanches-West Coast

I received the following link this evening with some good footage of large avalanches - figured they were worth passing on. These occurred today, November 28th, during Blackcomb ski patrol's avalanche control work. The slope is in the Blackcomb Glacier area locally known as Corona, which is above you on the skiers right as you descend Blackcomb Glacier. The debris and powder cloud from this avalanche cover the regular Blackcomb Glacier ski run. http://youtu.be/O65CFK0zoFk

A darn good reminder of what avalanche forecasters mean by low probability, high consequence avalanches. Check out the forecasts below-and keep in mind the limited amount of observations available this time of year.

http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/advisory/index.htm

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/bulletins/latest/sea-to-sky

Anna Brown

Ski Guide

[MCR] National Parks Avalanche Control Nov 28

Parks Canada is planning avalanche control for Monday, November 28th on Mounts Bosworth and Stephen (Yoho), and Whymper (Kootenay).  No outdoor activity of any kind in these areas on Monday.  

Thanks  for your co-operation.

Ian Jackson
Visitor Safety Technician
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks
Parks Canada
220 Hawk Avenue, Box 900, Banff, AB
T1L 1K2        
Ph: 403-762-1480
Cell: 403-431-0563
www.parksmountainsafety.ca
www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca

 

 

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

 

[MCR] Ice Climbing - Evan Thomas, Haffner, Grotto, King Creek

Hello,

Spent 4 days last week out Ice guiding with Yamnuska's Mountain Skills Semester.

The High danger rating in the Avalanche bulletin kept us away from avalanche terrain pretty much all week. 

We went back a few times with different groups to the routes at Evan Thomas Creek. Snowline and Moonlight were in great shape, with mostly soft plastic ice the whole way (on both) with good protection. A few shorter screws are useful on the starts of both lines. Chantilly was good to go too, but sounded like it was hosing in places.

In Grotto Canyon, His and Hers are both climbable but maybe a little tougher than usual. Grotto falls is fat and plastic and sounded super busy over Sat. and Sun.

Spent some time at Haffner and King Creek as well. Haffner has room for about 5 pure ice lines at the main area and the most of the mixed routes are good to go. Busiest I've ever seen in there this weekend, and a great crew all happy to share ropes and be social - good fun. Same went for King Creek, lot's of ice there and good to go.

Was also up the Icefields Parkway yesterday for an AST course at Bow Summit. Snowing about 2cm's/hr when we left at about 3 pm. Locally  SW moderate/strong winds while we were there. Didn't go anywhere near avalanche terrain all day. Roads were plowed one way (northbound lane) as we came home but still a fair bit of snow on the other side. Passable but good tires and clearance would be a good thing if your heading up there.

Have fun out there!

Mike Trehearne

Alpine Guide & Asst. Ski Guide

mike@cloudnineguides.com

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Monashee Mountains - Perry River area

I figured it was worth posting some info from the Monashees – the locale is north of the TCH highway and west of Revelstoke.

 

Numerous profiles have established that the Nov.11 Surface hoar layer is widespread within the Treeline elevation(observations of the Alpine terrain have been limited to visual only). Though the layer is collapsed in the profiles we have observed, the crystals are in the 10-15mm. range, this is significantly larger than what I have observed in the Rogers Pass area. Difficult to trigger but still showing the potential to propagate (Sudden Planar compression results as well as positive Propogation Saw Test results).

 

The majority of the snowpack is well settled which has created a strong slab overlying this deeper persistent weak layer (now down @150cms). The Oct. 20^th crust is evident just above the ground interface at this elevation and is generally tied up in the lower ground roughness at this elevation – makes me wonder what is looks like in the Alpine terrain.

 

Another key observation is the presence of numerous glide slabs (when the whole snowpack is slowly moving on smooth grassy or rock slab features) – some in places where we have never seen them before – there could have been a couple of releases today but foggy weather made observations difficult.

 

Temps dropped this afternoon accompanied with significant winds – last nights and today’s snowfall improved ski conditions significantly from yesterdays shin bruising freezing rain crust.

 

Lots of uncertainty about what is going on up high and we have been avoiding larger open steep treeline features – still lots of great skiing with better than average early season coverage!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

AACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Athabasca Glacier -Toe

Crevasse rescue & glacier travel course on the Athabasca glacier this day. We did not venture above 2200 Meters. It felt like a North Pole expedition with strong winds gusting to gale force from the SW and snowing 2-3 cm's an hour at times.Temperatures were moderate with a low of -5.

There was 50-70 cm's of snow on the glacier with wind drifts greater than 250 cm's deep. Intense snow transport occurring with major winds buffeting the peaks at high elevations. Difficult to estimate total accumulation due to the winds but about 10 - 15cm's below 2200 Meters. Highway, though snowy, was in surprisingly good shape with fresh plowing.

Carrying my ski's down <20 degree slope, I broke through a supportive wind slab into the basal facet's and had a wumph propagate across a 40 x 50 meter slope.


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

[MCR] Avalanche Control in Yoho and Kootenay Nov. 28th

Parks Canada is planning avalanche control for Monday, November 28th on Mounts Bosworth and Stephen (Yoho), and Whymper (Kootenay). No outdoor activity of any kind in these areas on Monday.

Thanks for your co-operation.

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

www.parksmountainsafety.ca
www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca

[MCR] conditions in Revelstoke

It rained all night at my house (450m). The 40cms of snow in the yard as of early last week is down to a slushy 10ish and patches of green grass. Very windy all night. Freezing level looks pretty high: the trees look green all the way to the cloud base which is around 1600/1700m right now. There was a lull this morning but now it's +2, windy, and raining again. I suspect avalanche conditions will have deteriorated overnight and are worse now than they were yesterday. Looks like the end to this storm cycle is near. Forecast for the coming week looks increasingly dry and cool.

 

The pack will likely tighten up quite quickly when the weather breaks and temps cool off. However, I suggest giving everything a couple of days after it clears before starting to step it up, and then start out on smaller, low-consequence terrain before jumping onto the big, steep stuff.

 

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC

[MCR] Large Avalanches on the Coast

Hello All,

Just a heads up: we are hearing reports of large avalanches reaching low elevation roads in the Sea to Sky country. Some of these slides are starting well below treeline. Know what is above you if you plan to head out on the Forrest Service Roads.

Cheers,
Conny Amelunxen
MG

[MCR] Large avalanches in Glacier National Park/Rogers Pass

T

[MCR] new CAC Forecaster Blog

The Public Avalanche Warning Service has started a forecaster blog. You can access it here:

 

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/forecasterblog

 

There links to it from our forecasts on the web, check for the Forecaster Blog tab at the bottom of the page.\ or the Forecaster Blog link in the left panel.

 

I’ve put a couple of posts there in the last couple of days discussing current conditions and how to manage post storm risk.

 

I’m interested in your thoughts and suggestions. Please distribute this link to others who might be interested.

 

 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: 250.814.3756 | Fax: 866-366-2094

 

[MCR] Evening Ridge, near Nelson, BC

Curious about conditions after the storm, we had time for one quick run at Evening Ridge this morning.  We found about 100cm at the parking lot (1500m) with 20-25cm of new low density snow sitting on a 4cm thick rain crust.  This crust disappeared at ~1800m indicating freezing levels did not go as high as expected.

 

A test pit at 1870m showed variable snow depths from 150-190cm but averaging ~170cm.  We had easy but resistant shears down 17cm at the most recent storm snow interface and hard shears down 110cm that were below an older 3mm rain crust and giving inconsistent fracture characteristics.

 

The trail breaking was a bit of work with up to 40cm ski pen and a few alders to bust through below ~1650m.

 

Ski quality was excellent up high but below 1650m you could really feel the rain crust beneath the new snow and had to pick your line carefully through the alders.

 

We experienced no significant cracking or whumpfing, and saw no recent slabs out, but had limited visibility and saw nothing of the alpine.  We stayed in the trees and away from larger, steep, open slopes.

 

Here is a short clip that gives you an idea of the ski quality:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrIN-87enSg

 

Cheers,

Shaun King  ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide

Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction

www.mountainsense.ca  +1-250-505-5139

www.facebook.com/mountainsense

 

[MCR] The Ghost

Hello,

Spent the day in the Ghost yesterday.

We started the day on Wicked Wanda which is in similar shape to previous posts. Good climbing on the first pitch and extremely wet on the second. We were able to make it to the chains at the half way point with a few delicate moves. We choose not to climb the second pitch because of the volume of water.

Reports from another party said that malignant mushroom was in good shape but a little wet.

We drove to the GBU area which had 3 good climbing lines. While we were there we ran into fellow Guide Sarah Hueniken who had made an attempt to get into the Valley of the Birds with no luck (Dry tooling on slick rock with no ice).

Driving conditions were good with no more than 5-10cm of snow with no drifting. There is one crossing going into the South Ghost that smaller vehicles might have problems with as there is a bit of an ice shelf after a deeper pool. The North Ghost driving was in good condition.

The wind picked up in the afternoon and there was intense wind transport at treeline and above. We observed one size 2.5-3 avalanche triggered by the wind event from a steep East facing alpine feature from the peak at the far end of the North Ghost. Although there is little snow in the Ghost I would be looking out for those deeper areas you come across.

Thanks to Bryce and Patrick who saved us from a major epic after we blew a coolant line on the logging road!!

Jesse de Montigny
ACMG/UIAGM Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

[MCR] Bear Spirit Mixed Climbs

Bear Spirit is in great condition right now. None of the main area daggers are touching and though weeping well, one can stay dry the whole time. Not much for pure ice other than the short flow far right. It is recommended to put crampons on once at the fixed ropes - narrows easily scrambled. Bring a wrench, there were a few loose hangers.
 

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

[MCR] Ghost -Hidden Dragon area mixed routes (P wall)

Warmer weather in the Ghost today with some gusting winds at higher elevation. Not much snow to speak of. Ghost access is excellent apart from infinite pot holes on the dirt track. The Real Big Drip lower pillar is not yet adequately formed. Joker (some thinner ice) and Hidden Dragon ice are fattening up nicely and offer good climbing. Candle Stick Maker has a long way to go. 

We top-roped the mixed routes below Hidden Dragon left as we found the dagger is not formed and there are long stretches of rock and very thin ice without protection. 


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

[MCR] Icefall Peak, Rockies

On Friday Nov 18 at 1 pm on the approach to Icefall Lodge, I observed an avalanche coming off the east face of Icefall Peak. This is in the western Rockies about 15 km east of Mt Forbes. The fracture line was on an east aspect at about 2900m. The avalanche ran full path reaching the valley bottom at 1000m, 1900m vertical! I didn't get a good look at the debris so it is hard to speculate on the size of the avalanche but definitely big. There were strong east winds at ridge top during the day on Friday. While this information is a bit dated now and the winds calmed down for Saturday and Sunday, there is still the potential for large avalanches running full path.
Snow depth at valley bottom (1000m) was 40 cm; at the lodge (1900m) 130 cm. No other signs avalanches were observed. Temperatures were -12 to - 19.

Larry Dolecki
Mountain Guide
www.icefall.ca

[MCR] Jasper ice Nov 19th, 20th.

Climbed Kerkeslin Falls on Saturday and Shades of Beauty on sunday.

Kerkeslin was a little bit thin but very climbable on plastic ice. The main falls can be rappelled on a single 70m rope from the fixed anchors.

Shades of Beauty was fat and brittle on the first 2 pitches. Plastic fantastic on the last pitch.

Easy walking on both approaches and no avalanche concerns at present. Biggest hazard was probably the poor ice cover in the creeks.

Athabasca/ Columbia Icefields area looked seriously wind ravaged last night.

Larry Stanier
ACMG 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.

[MCR] Cascade Falls, Banff. Nov. 20th

Had a great day climbing Cascade falls today with Barret Hatton.

Busy day up there with up to 10 people or so at various points on the route below us as we topped out.

The route protected well taking 16cm screws pretty much the whole way, the first steep pitch was wet with easy tool placements the whole way. The last pitch has some funky mushrooms to get through but good hooks too. The upper half of the pitch needed a bit of a delicate touch as the tube is still a bit thin in places.

Lot's of wind transport going on in the alpine up there today. Felt pretty confident to stick with our plan this morning with the forecast light winds, and what looked like minimal snow in the start zones above the route, but when we hit the last pitch those changed to well in excess of 40km/h and put a pretty good hop in my step wanting to get out from under any features that were being overloaded above. 

We decided not to rappel the route, mostly because of the change in the winds but also because of the amount of people below us. Walked across the top of the wall to the south and did one single pitch rappel from a bolt & chain station and then walked down next to Rogan's Gulley. 

Great day out with great company.

Have fun out there!

Mike Trehearne
ACMG Alpine & Asst. Ski Guide

mike@cloudnineguides.com

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Wapta Icefields, Icefields Parkway. Nov. 14-19

Myself and fellow guide Grant Meekins just returned from a week of ski mountaineering on the Wapta yesterday. Here's a bit of what we saw and did while we were up there. 

The approach to Bow Hut is still quite boney but actually better than I think we'd both expected. The lake has only started to really freeze over this past week with the cold temps, but still way to thin to be skiing across. The track around the lake has good coverage, and we were able to keep the skis on the whole way to the hut. The canyon just past Bow Falls was definitely thin in places, but passable. Still lot's of open water to negotiate, but easy enough to get around if your careful. Above treeline coverage wasn't too bad, but still thin enough to make the descent a bit nerve wracking

From Bow Hut, we did most of our skiing on the hut slopes just above the toe of the glacier. Snow coverage down near the toe was usually between 120cm & 200cm's. There's still one or two of the big crevasses on the toe yet to fill in but their getting close. We managed to ski and climb Mts. Olive, Gordon and Rhondda while we were there. Coverage on the ice field proper was somewhat dependent on whether or not we were above this past summer's firn line - above it we found more than 300cm's at best, and below it  around 200cm's

Ski quality for the first couple days was quite good until the winds picked up on the 16th. Our stability tests produced results on a variety of slab interfaces in the top 50cm's of the pack. We saw mostly easy to moderate results in tests on layers down (on average) 10cm's, 30cm's and 40cm's on eastern aspects with both resistant and sudden fractures. These were consistent with a cycle we saw overnight on the 16th. A wind and light snow event produced numerous avalanches from Sz. 1.0 to 2.5, almost all on perfectly eastern aspects with crowns in the immediate lee of ridge features between 8000ft. & 10,000ft. The east faces of St. Nicholas, Collie, Crowfoot, Ayesha and Baker all had at least one or two crowns on their flanks. We only skied one west aspect over the week, a run on the west side of Mt. Olive. Stability tests there (just shy of 10,000ft) produced easy results 10cm's down on an interface below a newly formed windslab. Ski quality was similar to what we saw elsewhere during the week.

-26*C on the coldest morning and with it saw a bit of surface faceting on our last day up there and some decent ski quality returning with it. 

Definitely felt like winter!

Play safe!

Mike Trehearne
ACMG Alpine & Asst. Ski Guide

mike@cloudnineguides.com

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Guiness Gully

[MCR] Carlsberg column

[MCR] Massy's

[MCR] Pilsner piller collapsed in the cold

[MCR] Massey's lower pitch

[MCR] Guiness gully lower pitches

[MCR] Sale Mountain, Selkirks, Nov 16

Hi Folks,

Hope all enjoying the great winter we've got going on!

Up at Sale Mountain yesterday (north of revelstoke) - a few snowmobilers and LOTS of sled assisted ski tourers and snowboarders from as far away as Vancouver and Calgary.  Cold too - high temperature recorded was -11.

Profile on NW Asp at 2000m today, in an open treeline 32 degree roll.  Evidence of north winds in the previous 24 hrs.  145cm of snow on the ground with a moderate resistent shear down around 40cm (CTM16-18, RP), likely the new snow/old snow interface and a hard but sudden shear down almost 1 meter on old rounding surface hoar to 10mm (CTH22-30, SP). Pretty well settled snowpack for this time of year, we didn't get the sled stuck once which tells you something about the firmness of the pack already. I would not want to be in the wrong place if that surface hoar layer decided it wanted to wake up so, in this area anyway, I'd be looking for the surface hoar on any sheltered, steep north facing bowls, etc.

Great skiing - felt like mid winter up there.

A super day out...

Ian Tomm

ACMG Ski Guide

Canadian Avalanche Association/Centre

[MCR] Whitewater backcountry - Nelson, BC

We headed out to enjoy the sunshine on this beauty high pressure day and check out local snow conditions.

 

I saw tracks in the Prospector shafts, West Ymir and Goat Slide but nothing else in the main Ymir Bowl and only 2 tracks into Five Mile.

 

There was 15-20cm of dry powder over a 3mm rain crust in sheltered areas.  In exposed areas at treeline and above, previous winds had either stiffened this snow into slabs or scoured it down to the crust.  The slabs were small but reactive and a snowboarder kicked off a small size 1 on the Goat Slide Path.

 

Snow depths ranged from ~70cm at the parking lot to 100cm at our high point of 2200m (where the rain crust got weaker).  One drift was up to 180cm! 

 

Travel was quite reasonable with a base that carried well except for the odd moat around thinly buried rocks and trees.  Good skiing could be found with a keen eye, but expect variable conditions and watch for the thinly buried hazards.  We were able to keep our bases intact though.

 

We did see a "Sun Pillar" caused by "diamond dust" - very cool.

See 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

www.facebook.com/mountainsense

 

[MCR] 3 of 3 Downed avalanches along Highway 93 N

[MCR] 2 of 3 Downed avalanches along Highway 93 N

[MCR] 1 of 3 msgs Downed avalanches along Highway 93 N

Hello everyone, 

I did an avalanche patrol up the Banff Jasper Parkway today from Lake Louise and observed several downed avalanches that likely occurred 2 days ago.   The avalanches on Crowfoot and Bow Peak were up to 1.5 m deep, failing on an old snow surface, involving windloaded shallow gullies or unsupported slopes above cliffs.  The Thompson peak above Bow Lake avalanches were smaller, on unsupported features or convex roll, and also slid on an old snow surface.  Hector sub peak slides were typical of what we are seeing on S-SW aspects, which are thin slabs 20-60 cm thick. 

Although there were no new avalanches reported today, these layers are likely still sensitive to human triggering, see today's Parks Canada Avalanche Bulletin for more details. 

Lisa Paulson
Visitor Safety, Specialist

Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks

www.parksmountainsafety.ca 
www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Bruins/8812 Bowl

Just an update regarding some avalanche activity in Connaught Ck. drainage resulting from the last storm cycle.

 

Observed two avalanches off of the South East face of Pk.8812 that ran into the bowl below – they looked like they happened sometime yesterday.

 

One size 2.5 out of steep windloaded rocky terrain on the climbers left side of the face. It didn't run far once it hit the slope transition (looked like late yesterday during the late day wind), nor did it trigger any slab on the lower slope.

 

Another size 2.5 ran down the usual Bruins bowl ski line, almost made it to the bench above the last pitch to the valley (in other words it ran quite a ways), not sure what the release depth was as I didn't see the fracture on that one. Lots of chunks so watch out if you are skiing it in flat light!

 

The previously mentioned avalanche from “Frequent Flyer” was a small size 2.0 that ran just past (and over) the summer trail – again looked like it was limited to a storm snow depth (just judging from the deposit size).

 

There were signs of old avalanche deposits from some of the steep North facing paths of Cheops (Cheops 6 - aka Niccy’s Notch – named in honor of Niccy Code – and Cheops 4 – aka STS Couloir) – which had run to the bottom of the avalanche fans (perhaps on Monday).

 

Several profiles have shown the Nov.7^th surface hoar to be in the 6-7mm size range – getting harder to trigger but still something to keep in mind in steeper alpine features.

 

Lots of wind recently and today it was not from the west but from the east – so expect some windloading on westerly aspects as well as the usual easterly ones.

 

Have a great weekend and bring a thermos and puffy jacket as it was definitely chilly out there today!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

[MCR] Rogers Pass: Puff Daddy

G.G. and I skied a line in Puff Daddy today (steep, south facing, lightly treed terrain between Grizzly Shoulder and Hermit).

No recent signs of avalanches observed but we had mediocre visibility.

We pushed out an "extra large pizza" on a small, steep, wind loaded roll at treeline that failed on the surface hoar buried recently. So we avoided wind effected terrain where the skiing would have been crap anyway.

Where we went the skiing was low-density, high-speed, blower pow with chest shots.

Still lots of buried hazards and we both have core shots to prove it.

Mark Klassen

IFMGA/ACMG Mountain Guide

More info/photos: alpinism.com | Mountain & Ski Guiding | BLOG

[MCR] Rockies Silk tassel Nov 18th, 2011

Climbed Silk tassel today. Good climbing conditions in the morning but the cold is definitely sinking into the ice. Nasty spindrift slabs/wind slabs at the base fracturing easily up to 15m wide and 50-80 cm deep. Watch out for those things as the wind was blowing pretty hard out of the NE today in field. Bubble Wrap Blues is in but very thin. Super bock looks good but not much else is fat.

Cold!!!

Larry Stanier
ACMG 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.

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Grizzly Shoulder - Nov.17/11

First trip up Grizzly Shoulder this year – but I was far from alone – lots of skiers there today enjoying the 30cms of low density fluff we received overnight. Fairly good coverage for this time of year, and as usual a bit of an athletic uptrack especially near the bottom.

 

I noticed a new snow instability within the overnight snowfall, down about 15cms., that sloughed in steeper open glades in the trees, but I didn’t see anything deeper reacting on small rolls that I ski cut.

 

I met some locals from Revelstoke that had skied in Ursus Trees today, they mentioned that the “Frequent Flyer” avalanche path( just past the first bridge on the summer trail) had run across the trail before they crossed it early this morning. I didn’t see any other avalanche activity but visibility was quite limited.

 

Snow flurries all day and strong gusty winds from the West were evident near the top of the shoulder.

 

On another note, the Army, and more importantly the 105 Howitzer, arrives tomorrow marking the beginning of the Winter permit season in Rogers Pass – so a bit of a change for those that have been skiing for the last while – Time to check in with the Discovery Center at Rogers Pass to find out what is and isn’t open for the day (includes Grizzly shoulder)and pick up your daily permit. Mat at the Parks office figures he will have things set up for the annual permits by tomorrow afternoon.

 

Looks like a nice weekend coming up!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Asulkan Brook - Nov.15/11

I decided it was time to check out something different and headed up the Asulkan (aka A-Sloggin!) Brook today with fellow Guide Anne Keller.

 

Trail is well covered with 10cms. of new snow overnight covering the previously broken trail.

 

Similar snowpack depths to Connaught Ck. – perhaps slightly deeper (120 cms in valley bottom).

 

Lots of wind action on Youngs Peak (not a surprise) but less wind effect at Teeline and below compared to what I saw yesterday in the Connaught drainage.

 

No problem with bushes heading to the “Tree Triangle” below Asulkan hut, but it is pretty aldery after the” Mouse Trap” if you were trying to head towards Sapphire Col.

 

Of note avalanche wise were several slab avalanches below the Jupiter Peaks. The whole of the East face of Leda had released from the top, as well as 2 deeper slabs on glacial rolls above the “Thorington” route and below Pollyx Pk. (those didn’t run far due to the bench below them) – I am suspecting the upper ones were on the October 20 surface hoar layer, given the depth and elevation – the slab on Leda’s east face looked shallower.

 

I ran into some other Guides who were up Connaught today and they mentioned a new slab avalanche(since yesterday afternoon) off the East side of the ridge leading to Bruins Pass (this is the slope that runs into Ursus Minor bowl) – they said they saw 2 people on the ridge but no way to know if this was a natural event or perhaps a remotely triggered from the ridge. Sorry I don’t know size and extent.

 

Sounds like more snow on the way starting tomorrow afternoon!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

 

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Connaught Ck Nov.14/11

I know – yet another update from Connaught Ck.

 

I just wanted to send a quick snapshot of conditions post storm.

 

The recent accumulation of storm snow has settled out to @ 60cms depth. Whoompfs and cracking of the snowpack has backed off and none was observed today in Treeline and Below Treeline terrain. Some real trail breaking (30-60cms ski penetration) was found if you ventured off the beaten track.

 

LOTS of wind from the West/Northwest today, from ridgetop to valley bottom, transporting significant amounts of snow above treeline onto lee slopes and features and creating wind pressed slabby snow on windward slopes.

 

No new avalanches observed but everyone was keeping it  real and sticking to the trees even though visibility was better than it has been for days.

 

Tomorrow is looking like visibility once again be reasonable and the “White Siren” will be tempting folks to venture higher onto more open Alpine terrain. Though the Nov.7^th surface hoar is somewhat less reactive than a couple of days ago, the recent wind slabbing and loading has deepened and stiffened the slab above it, meaning that if something does happen, it is likely to very significant in size and consequence.

 

Just remember the surface hoar was very widespread and preserved well into the Alpine terrain – only time will heal this one and not much has passed at this point.

 

As they say” What you don’t see, CAN HURT YOU!”

 

Play safe,

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] South Cariboos Snowpatrol

Hello all,

I went on snowpatrol today on Raft Mountain in the Southern Cariboo Mountains. I found about 80 cm of snow at cutblock elevation and about 100 at treeline on the East ridge of Raft. Conditions were wind hammered above treeline with a strong NW flowing wind. When I checked  a 100cm snowpack in treeline glade terrain at 2000 meters elevation, I found two stellar crystal layers that would react easy or moderate to shovel test and compression test- one down 22cm and one down 40cm. My guess ( hope) is that these two storm snow layers will not cause us trouble later in the year. As I searched for slides, I noticed that those layers had only let loose in steep north chutes naturally. They did not run fast or far. Overall, ski touring is now pretty good in the Cariboos! There are still rocks, logs, and bushes to stay clear of!

Tired tourers reported that trailbreaking was tough in the North Blue River Drainage yesterday. They found 165 cm of snow at an elevation of only 1200 meters! Pretty impressive considering that 1200m meters is lower than Canmore or Rogers Pass!

Happy Trails,

Stephen Ludwig

Snowy Mountain Alpine Tours

Blue River - Clearwater BC

P 250 674 2988

www.snowymountain.ca

[MCR] Urs Hole, Rockies ice, Nov. 13th, 2011

Climbed the Urs Hole today with 17 others(the morning shift). Lots of well travelled climbing on "straws" (ice with running water underneath) and walking around small to medium sized open pools. A good place to be light on your feet and maybe consider being in some kind of roped glacier travel mode if you aren't an experienced ice water swimmer.

The sections in, around and under the chunks of glaciated avalanche debris are the cruxes and the highlights. Bring a headlamp and get there before it snows a bunch.

Larry Stanier
ACMG 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.

[MCR] Beauty Creek Climbs

Climbed Shades of Beauty yesterday. The route is in great early season
shape, offering good climbing and lots of protection. The approach trail
and slopes have 10-30cm of recent storm snow with minimal wind effect and
the travel is easy. Rick Blak Memorial Route also looks in great shape.
See attached pic. Stanley Falls Senior looked climbable but not as
inviting as the North facing climbs.

(See attached file: Shades111113.jpg)

Max Darrah

Alpine Guide
JNP Visitor Safety

[MCR] Rogers Pass - Ursus Minor trees

Hello again,

We skied Ursus minor trees in Rogers Pass again today.

Here is an update.

A significant avalanche cycle occured today. The cycle started with the
arrival of the winds (around 11am-12pm)
Numerious 1.0 to 2.0 slab avalanches were observed in the connaught creek
drainage.
Of note, the sides of the gully on the "frequent-flyer" path slid. Size 1.5
and the slab pulled out at around 1600m. A small amount of debris ran over
the uptrack. The debris amount (that covered the uptrack) would have
covered your skis, but not your boot tops.

Temperature: colder than friday. -5 at 12:15pm at 1920m.
Wind: moderate with strong gusts from the SW. This means that north and
east sloped were getting significanly wind loaded.
The colder temperatures pulled moisture out of the snow, making for better
ski quality.

Be careful out there!!

Neil Warren
ACMG ASG DHG
403-700-4741

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] Selkirk Mtns - Rogers Pass - Usrus Minor Trees - Nov.11/11

This is just a follow up to Neil Warrens post regarding some avalanche activity in Rogers Pass yesterday – a friend (thanks Reinet) sent me a photo of the avalanche that occurred on the approach to Ursus Minor trees yesterday (see attached). Hopefully this gives people a sense of what is lurking out there.

 

Also another friend was up at Mt. McCrae yesterday and reported a widespread cycle on the Nov.7^th Surface hoar layer which was down @ 50-60cms from the surface. They turned back before they got to any real ski terrain.

 

It has continued to rain all day to day in Revelstoke and glimpses through the cloud show the snow line not far above town, so this instability is only getting buried deeper by the minute.

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Selkirks - Rogers Pass

Hello,

myself and 2 friends skied the Ursus trees in Rogers PAss today (friday
Nov.11)

Here are some observations:
elevation range traveled today: 1300m-2100m
Temperature: warm. 0 degrees at 1300m at 4pm
snowed 15cm throughout the day
wind: calm to light from South
snow depth: 60to100cm
Avalanches:
Size 1.5 slab avalanche was obsered. This slide failed on the Nov7th
surface hoar layer. 1950m. NE aspect. slope inclide: est. 27 degrees.
depth of slab: est. at 40-60cm. trigger: naural or skier triggered, not
sure. The slide crossed the exising uptract to Ursus Trees.

STS Couloir on Mt.Cheeops slid to middle of runout (300meters above valley
bottom)

Snowpack notables:
1) the Nov.7th surface hoar layer was observed down 50cm today. This layer
is ***HIGHLY*** reactive/unstable. stepping on snow-mushrooms/mini convex
rolls resulted in immediate failure of this layer with wide spread
propagation and shooing cracks. many whoomphs/setlements today. The nov7h
surface hoar crystals were observed up to size 7mm; that is relaively big
and means that this layer will take a long time to stabilize. The snow
above the Nov.7th has formed a soft slab. (4F+ resistance).

2) the middle of the snow pack is dense enough to carry a skier. Really
good traveling conditions for this time of year.

I would rate danger as considerable below treeline and high at treeline. We
did not observe the alpine.

Really good ski quality!!

Cheers,
Neil Warren
ACMG ASG DHG
403-700-4741
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] Tokumm Creek

Hiked the 3hours up Tokumm Creek today to climb Phantasmagoria after reading Rob's post.

 

It snowed lightly around midday for a couple hours.  Only 2cms of new snow fell with calm winds.

We witnessed no avalanche activity.

 

We also had a look at Marble Canyon climbs and Tokumm Pole is not completely formed.

 

 

 

Kristopher Irwin
ACMG  AAG

[MCR] New avalanche warning system

Further to the MCR summary that just came out, Parks Canada has just launched a new avalanche warning system.  Go here:

http://avalanche.pc.gc.ca

This takes you to a Google map, where you will see national park boundaries and danger ratings.  From here you can drill down further into the warnings.

Clicking on any of the regions will take you to a close-up map for that particular region.

From here, you can select "show weather stations", and wind sock icons will appear. We have made seventeen of our remote weather stations available for viewing. You can see temperature, wind, and snowdepth from the past 24-hours.  It might be a few hours old when you see it, and remember that weather station data can be notoriously suspect from riming or other conditions that effect the sensors.  So take the data with a small grain of salt - if it reads -72, that is probably not correct!  Not all stations have all sensors; some just have wind and temperature, for example.

The bulletins themselves are now mostly graphical, with a short editorial from our forecasters relating to specific avalanche problems. Much of what you used to get from the text is now represented with graphics.  Learn how to read these and you will get a snapshot of the mountain conditions quickly.

Bookmark this site on your mobile phone, as you can get all of the same information formatted for Blackberry, iPhone and Android.

Sign up via Twitter for instant notification of a new bulletin, and the danger rating.

Hope you like the newly designed information, available in both English and French.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre will be following suit shortly, and we expect to see a common avalanche bulletin template for all regions within the month.

Grant Statham
ACMG Mountain Guide
Parks Canada _______________________________________________________
Unlimited Disk, Data Transfer, PHP/MySQL Domain Hosting
http://www.doteasy.com

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 10th, 2011

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 10th, 2011 Winter is easing into the Rockies and Columbia Mountains and the usual early season venues for skiing and climbing are seeing lots of fairly happy traffic. In the Rockies, ice is where it is at. Certainly not everywhere is climbable but higher elevation, shady places like Ranger creek, Stanley Valley and Rundle North face have some climbable and protectable ice. Valley bottoms like Cascade and Field still have a ways to go. In most places along the east slope there is still not enough snow for avalanches to be a big concern. However, after a trip to Ranger creek last weekend I felt I wouldn't want to be walking off the top of the Chalice and the Blade in the more open, high consequence, wind effected bowls. It is warm and the wind is blowing in Canmore this morning so assume some snow will be moving around in the mountains. Wide variability in ice conditions, some are bone dry and others are pouring water. Alpine ice along the Rockies divide is probably good. There is certainly enough snow up there for avalanches and new cornices to be a concern but we have almost no reliable recent observations. People are getting after the skiing at Rogers Pass but it is still bony and fairly unconsolidated in the mountain snowpack so keep your eyes wide open and your speed down. There are definitely some concerns in the current snowpack. To learn more check out the next paragraph--- For avalanche conditions, check out the Kananaskis Country bulletins and the shiny new Parks Canada avalanche bulletins currently available for Banff/Kootaney/Yoho, Glacier and Jasper. The Canadian Avalanche Centre will be starting up its public bulletins next week so this will be the last MCR summary for this season. Thanks for tuning in and have a fine winter season. Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA 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.

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Connaught Ck.

I spent the last 2 days skiing around the Connaught Ck. area in Rogers Pass and figured it was worthy of an update.

 

First off, the Nov.7^th Surface hoar/suncrust interface was buried about 10-15cms by Mondays fluffy snowfall. This low density snow lacked the stiffness and depth to create any issues so far, but has done a good job of preserving this layer as the snowfall came in with little or no wind effect to disturb it before being buried.

 

Other than that, there were lots (and I mean LOTS!) of people out enjoying the mostly sunny skies of Tuesday and somewhat fewer folks skiing under the cloudy weather of today. This has resulted in a significant amount of tracks in the popular lines (Balu Pass, Bruins Bowl etc.) as well as some less frequented places such as STS couloir and Nicki’s Notch (both steep North facing lines off Cheops Pk.). The other side affect has been that the trail out is getting Faster and Faster while the snow cover over the rocks is getting Thinner and Thinner.

 

As mentioned by Greg Golovach in his post, steeper southerly slopes did form a thin breakable suncrust during last week’s nice weather – this was evident on the skiers left lines on Bruins Pass as well as Ursus Minor trees – fortunately if you moved farther skiers right on Bruins it was no problem nor was it a problem on slopes under 30 degrees. Something to remember as everyone will likely be heading to the Ursus Trees given the weather outlook for the next few days.

 

What avalanche activity I saw was limited to a shallow size 1 soft snow slab off the far skier right side of Balu Pass (possibly natural) and what looked like skier triggered size 1.0 windslabs in STS couloirs.

 

This could of course change quite quickly with the snowfall that started this afternoon and the additional load forecasted over the next few days.

 

Have fun out there and remember, if all else fails – LEAN BACK!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

 

 

 

[MCR] Field Ice Routes - Photos

Hey all,

Driving back from a couple days skiing in Rogers Pass today, snapped a few photos of some of the ice routes down in Field that Brad White just described in his post earlier this afternoon. Hope it helps to paint some more of the picture.

Photos are of: Pilsner - Carlsberg - Kronnenberg - Super Bock - Silk Tassle - Twisted

Mike Trehearne

Alpine Guide & Asst. Ski Guide

mike@cloudnineguides.com

[MCR] Sacre Bleu Mt. Rundle

Kris Irwin and I had a great day on Sacre Bleu.  The climb is in good shape, with only a trace of snow on the approach and zero wind today. From the Kiosk we were able to get to the base of the approach ice in 2 hours of easy travel.  We hiked up the drainage and moved into the trees to the right when the drainage cliffs out.  A bunch of fun approach steps led to 2-3 (depending on how you break it up) pitches.  Neither of us had climbed it before and were surprised to find chain anchors in a bunch of places.  Beyond the actual climb, there is still more ice, but we were thwarted by a thigh deep pool hiding under the snow.  It looked like another nice pitch of ice beyond that though! 

On our way out we went to take a look at Professors.  It appears to have all the pitches formed from what we could see....but we didn't take a close enough look to know for sure how "in" it really is.

 

Sarah Hueniken
ACMG Alpine Guide
www.sarahhueniken.com

---

[MCR] T2, Trophy Wall, Mt Rundle

On Nov 7th 2011, Ross Berg, John Freeman, and I climbed T2 on the Trophy Wall. 

The conditions were excellent. We left the car at 6:30 and arrived at the alcove below the Trophy wall in approx. 2 hrs. 

There was little to no snow on the approach and little evidence of previous traffic.

The  temps were around -10 C all day, which seamed reasonable considering it is the beginning of the season. Maybe the calm/light winds helped to make us feel more at ease. 

There was evidence that a team had already climbed Terminator but on further inspection they had only climbed the first pitch (thanks boys for cleaning it for us, definitely made it more pleasant).

We climbed the route in 3 pitches. The initial pitch was the crux with some mixed climbing to access the upper ice (maybe 4-6 moves depending on how quickly you commit to the hanging dagger). The first pitch was 50m, the second pitch was 50m and the third pitch was 60 m. We brought 14 ice screws and easily placed them all on the 2nd and 3rd pitches. 

Replicant looks fat but sustained. Sea of Vapours is still a butt smear!

Hope this video helps anyone interested in going up there.

Cheers 

Joshua Lavigne

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

alpinesummits.blogspot.com

[MCR] Field Ice Conditions

In Field today looking at the ice. Nothing on Mt. Dennis looks thick enough
to recommend yet, but Super Bock on Mt. Stephen looks probable.
Brad White
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.

[MCR] Grotto Canyon Ice

Photos of Grotto Canyon Ice from Nov. 8, 2011.

Jeremy Mackenzie
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Kananaskis Country Public Safety

[MCR] Phantasmagoria: Tokkum Creek KNP

Went off the beaten path to this ice climb up Tokkum Creek. The guidebook states V, 170m, WI 5 which seemed about right. We did it in 4x 30-45m pitches. A really classic ice line in a beautiful place. It is in huge avalanche terrain so now is the time. There has been some sluffing off the rocks walls but otherwise no avalanche activity. The snowpack is all low density facets and generally no more than 40cm's deep on the approach. The climb is thin at the start but protection can be found with short screws. Over 3 hours to the base but it was well worth the effort for those that are looking for something new to check out. Rob Owens Mountain Guide

[MCR] Ranger Creek & Evan Thomas Ice Climbing.

Hey all,

This info is a few days old but hope it's still be useful for some.

Up both Lone Ranger & Chalice and the Blade last week at Ranger Creek, as well as most of Moonlight at Evan Thomas in K-Country at the end of last week.

Ranger Cr:

Lone Ranger, as I'm sure one might guess, has seen a ton of traffic and the steeper top half of the route is full of good hooking and really fun climbing. The whole route seems to protect well right now, and we didn't have any problems sinking 16cm screws the whole way up. Chalice and the Blade was also really good and getting fatter by the day. The line on the left side was pretty wet and the ice a bit better formed while the line up the right side has some really good climbing through some funky, bulging features that also offered some really fun climbing. Both sides of Chalice were steep and protected well, a few stubbies in the first 15m or so but after that easy enough to get 16cm screws in again.

Also saw some pretty standout windslab formations up there right now as well. Not a big concern for us at the time given where we were relative to them, but they'd be something to watch out for with the next big wind/precip event. It looked like the winds had been variable enough over the previous week that the slabs were in pretty variable locations up there. For the most part though, even in the upper bowls, and right up to ridge top you can still see scree poking through the snowpack, making me think that most of the terrain up there still doesn't really have enough snow sitting on it right now to produce an avalanche. It might though, be good to be cautious of how far up you climb when you're topping out, as you might find some of those windslabs as the ice kicks back slightly and the terrain has allowed for more cross loading in the gully features at the top of the routes.

Evan Thomas:

Walked in to check out the routes Snowline, Moonlight, and Too Low for Zero.

We climbed about 2/3'rds of Snowline, and bailed from there as it hadn't formed up totally above that. The route took 13cm screws in a few places, but you'd do well to have a ton of stubbies with you for that one. Ice was consistently detached from the rock behind it, and seemed like it took an extremely delicate touch to not collapse any of the features as we gained height. Anchors were tough to get, and the whole endeavour was pretty time consuming. I'd give this one at least another couple weeks before going back, be a lot more enjoyable then I think. 

Moonlight wasn't even close to ready, and Too Low for Zero had a fair bit of ice but would still need a pretty healthy rock rack + pitons to climb safely, looked fun though.

Be Safe and have fun out there!

Mike Trehearne

ACMG Alpine Guide & Asst. Ski Guide

www.yamnuska.com

mike@cloudnineguides.com

+1.403.679.8080.

[MCR] Northern Purcells

To add to Scotts email, much the same observed in the Northern Purcells along with sun crust on steep solar aspects at and below tree line. The surface snow was running quit easily in steep terrain and with more snow in the forecast be careful out there....its only November.

Greg Golovach
ACMG/IFMGA 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.

[MCR] Selkirk Mountain snowpack

It is snowing ever so lightly this morning in Revelstoke, so I wanted to update everyone on what things looked like before the snow began.

 

I have been trapped in the class room teaching so no direct observations but I have had numerous reports from others, ranging from the Monashees (north of the Trans Canada highway), McCrae Peak (Selkirks South of Revelstoke) Sail Mtn (Selkirks just North of Revelstoke), all of which have noted significant surface hoar formation.

 

Given the depth of snowpack out there I suggest this could become a layer of concern once buried deep enough – this would include Alpine and any smooth Treeline features(meaning the terrain you would want to ski!).

 

I know this isn’t particularly specific information but I wanted to give everyone a heads since it will not be so obvious now that it is buried – time to put the thinking caps on as this is not a typical situation in our early season snowpacks.

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Joker and Hidden Dragon, Ghost River Valley

Spent the day guiding in the Ghost yesterday.  We climbed some approach ice, the Joker, and a couple lines on Hidden Dragon.  The Joker is still quite thin and requires mostly 10-13cm screws to protect it, but there is good ice at the anchors.  Hidden Dragon is forming well and has several lines to climb.  Candle Stick Maker has a little ice on it but is not formed, nor are any other routes in the bowl.

 

The road into the Ghost is bumpy but largely free of snow and travel is straightforward.  The approach road/cutline leading up towards the climbs from the Ghost valley is also in good shape and makes for easy travel to the routes with only about 5cm of snow on the ground.

 

Cheers, Conrad Janzen
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.facebook.com/banffmountainguides

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 3rd, 2011

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 3rd, 2011 Winter seems to be knocking at the door. Here in the Rockies there is lots of talk about early season ice. People are getting after it with lots of caveats about thin ice, stubbies, rock gear etc. Currently, it seems you can get around in the Rockies below treeline on slippery ground and mostly avoid the snow and avalanche concerns. Treeline may have some drifts to avoid and in the odd place(think big gullies) you should consider what snow is doing above your head. Not many observations from the alpine but assume that there is more than enough snow for it to be avalanche season. We have almost no observations from the Rockies alpine so your confidence should be very low if you heading up high. There is definitely enough snow in most places for avalanches to occur and there has been reports of high winds in the past couple of days. It would be wise to assume that there could be windslabs in the alpine that could send you for a nasty ride over the scree, cliffs, crevasses etc if you stepped on them. Crisp new cornices are the icing on that cake. Ski season is off to a decent start, for early november, in at least parts of the Columbia mountains. As a gross generalization, the limited observations show that the further north you go in the Columbias the more snow there is. Low down at Rogers Pass, there is around 60-80 cm snow. Enough to travel on and enough to camouflage the rocks, stumps and rhubarb. Recent posts point to good travel above treeline. There is some avalanche concerns up high due to limited observations of a surface hoar layer possibly above 2100m and some recent wind strong enough to create windslabs. As in the Rockies, there is nowhere near enough information to make generalities about avalanche problems in the Columbias. That uncertainty is "normal" for this time of year. Conservative terrain choice is a good plan for this and a bunch of other reasons like rocks, crevasses, early season legs etc. It looks like it will be a cool to cold weekend. If you feel you can manage the thin ice and thin snow then you had better go!! Be light on your tools and your skis and to state the obvious-try not to fall. Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA 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.