[MCR] Stanley Valley

Yesterday (Wednesday) I spent the day climbing on the Stanley Headwall.

Up to 60 cm of recent storm snow in the upper valley made for heavy trailbreaking with knee- to hip-deep trailbreaking in places. This low density storm snow is well bonded to an underlying rain crust. Moist snow from the rain crust down to the ground, 20-30 cm, for a total snowpack depth in the area of about 70-90 cm.

No signs of instability apart from a couple of small size 1 loose (?) snow avalanches from high on the north facing slopes below Stanley near the head of the valley. The alpine had some wind effect with rocky outcrops bare of snow. Moderate SW winds in the alpine but dead calm in the valley bottom. A beautiful, peaceful and lonely day with temperatures in the -8 to -12 range.

Skis or snowshoes are definitely the way to go for travel in this area now. Ski quality would have been quite good.

The storm eased in throughout the afternoon and by 4pm back at the parking lot our car had close to 10cm of snow on it. Snowing 2cm/hr as we left and bad driving conditions.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
Mountain Guide ACMG/IFMGA
www.banffmountainguides.com