Spent 2 days skiing over the Wapta Icefield from Bow Lake to Sherbrooke Lake with a night at the Balfour hut a couple of days ago.
Coverage on the glaciers ranged from 120-200+cms and there was extensive wind effect in the Balfour Pass area with pockets of hard slabs. The route up the high col has one crevasse crossing to deal with currently but it is over a sizeable snow bridge and was straightforward.
Little to no wind effect on the Daly glacier and up to 20cm ski penetration. The exit across Mt Niles was simple but the snowpack thinned out substantially once you entered the forest and most of the creeks were open requiring a bit of navigation to get through. Sherbrooke Lake had a spooky layer of slush on the top 4 inches...we walked on the shore.
Have fun!
Mike Stuart
Mountain Guide
