[MCR] Special Public Avalanche Warning (SPAW) for Banff/Yoho/Kootenay NP's

Parks Canada is issuing a SPAW for the Banff/Yoho/Kootenay National Parks this weekend, May 4-5. April has been a cool, wintery month with continuing snow in the alpine. The forecast of warm temperatures this weekend will likely cause a change to the alpine snowpack, bringing about a large, natural avalanche cycle. 

This time of year sees the summer and winter seasons collide, and our concerns include people hiking along valley-bottom trails that may be affected by avalanches. Areas that are not recommended to be hiking, especially in the heat of the day, include: Plain of Six Glaciers trail, Lake Agnes trail, Fairview Mtn, Castle Mtn Lookout, Sulphur Mtn, etc. All of these trails have significant avalanche paths crossing them and will likely have avalanche activity as the day heats up.

April 30th marks the last day of the season for our daily avalanche bulletin. Have a great summer.

Parks Canada Visitor Safety

[MCR] Rockies, Mt Hector

Did an ascent of Mount Hector yesterday via the regular route. The snow coverage is still good down low and the approach gully had a crust that made for easy boot-packing. On the glacier there is more than 3 meters of snow, including 20-30cm of new powder. There are a few open crevasses at around 2900m that are easily visible on the ascent and the descent. The cornices on the East and North-East face of Little Hector are massive right now and there were lots of old debris from past avalanches. It looks like you can almost ski  to the East summit without too much trouble. However the West summit does not currently hold a lot of snow and a tricky bit of climbing through a rock band is required to access the summit. Ice axe and crampons are a must. The weather was mixed in the morning with 0C at the car. Then it turned into a winter blizzard as soon as we reached the glacier. Moderate to strong winds from West were redistributing the new snow rapidly. Expect some wind slabs. By early afternoon, back at the car, it was +5C. The snowpack was isothermal below the approach gully. We only saw one size 2 natural avalanche and it was off the East side of Little Hector. Enjoy the Spring! Felix Camire ACMG Hiking & Ski Guide elgato.ca

[MCR] Drummond Bonnet Ski Traverse, Rockies, April 21st to 26th, 2013

Finished guiding a traverse of the Drummond-Bonnet today with ascents of an unnamed peak on the Drummond Icefield and North Bonnet Peak on the Bonnet Icefields. Conditions were near perfect for the first 4 days with cold temperatures, easy travel at all elevations, and minimal avalanche hazard. Yesterday the wind and cloud arrived and things started to warm up. We observed several loose snow avalanches out of extreme north facing terrain yesterday and today as the wind picked up. The only other recent avalanche was a small slab caused by a large cornice failure on a steep high N aspect on the Bonnet. No persistent weaknesses observed in this area but occasional shears down 40cm on facets on the Bonnet Icefield. Moist snow on solar aspects and wet snow at lower elevations yesterday and today with wind pressed snow on N aspects. Snow depth on the glaciers was between 200-240cm+, the valley bottoms averaged 100cm at 1900m with a supportive snowpack during our stay. We were able to ski all the way to the Ink Pots in Johnson Creek today with only a couple places of unsupportive isothermal snow but this will deteriorate with warmer temperatures. There was a mix of walking and skiing below the Ink Pots to reach the highway. Still good winter travel conditions up high! Conrad Janzen ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide www.banffmountainguides.com

[MCR] Rockies - Wapta conditions Apr.21-26/2013

Here is an update to Barry’s Wapta posting from last week – as noted by him conditions were pretty darn good after the storm of Apr.20^th and continued so for several days afterwards.

 

The last couple days (and especially today) saw increased winds (mod West with strong to extreme gusts) and rising temps that have created windslabs in lee features and otherwise wind pressed or scoured surfaces, that are still skiable but not quite as pleasant as the earlier powder we enjoyed.

 

The canyon section of the Bow Hut approach was starting to become weak and with skis breaking through the crust and as there has yet to be a major spring thaw cycle there – some caution would be warranted if you are coming there late in the day on a sunny afternoon.

 

Our other major concern throughout the week was a persistent weak layer (either small Surface hoar or stellar crystals – it was hard to say for sure) at the interface of the Apr. 20^th storm snow . We had a couple of Whumpfs on high elevation ridgecrests (MT. Rhonda and Mt. Gordon at @ 2900-3000m.) – one of which (Mt. Rhonda) resulted in a remote triggered (10m.) size 1 avalanche on a steep (40 degree) tensioned/convex N. facing feature, that was adjacent to where we had stopped for a break.

 

Another party had a skier accidental size 1.5 on a N. facing convex feature on the Diableret Glacier, which was triggered when the second skier down the slope fell near the top – fortunately no involvement, but it did propagate fairly wide (40m. wide and 30-40cms deep).

 

Something to keep in mind for those that are considering some more serious objectives in the Rockies this spring – hard to say how long this will persist but worthy of some investigation before leaping on any steep N. facing slopes.

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

 

 

[MCR] K Country to Columbia Icefields

April 15-21 was a great time to be ski touring in the Rockies. Two groups from the Thompson Rivers University Ski Guide Exam found good conditions from Kananaskis to the Columbia Icefields. 

Primary concerns at the end of the week were:

- Large cornices. We witnessed cornice failures due to wind loading and expect a cycle of cornice falls to occur in the next warming event.

- Crevasses. Although coverage on the glaciers is generally good, we travelled on rope as much as was practical, taking it off only where we had good visibility and a good knowledge of the terrain.

- Windslabs near ridges, on both west aspects (from the easterly winds early in the week) and east aspects (from more recent west winds), and in cross-loaded areas.

Avalanche Activity was limited to a few thin hard windslabs observed April 16-17. These were on alpine west aspects, size 1 - 2, formed by "upslope" easterly winds. We wonder if  those windslabs linger due to the cold temperatures. Later in the week a large cornice fall was observed on an east face during a wind event.

Weather over the week was mixed sun and cloud with 10-20 cm of snow later in the week (depending on location), moderate-strong ridgetop winds, and mostly colder than seasonal temperatures. The exception was Thursday April 18 when the freezing level jumped up to 2400 m in the afternoon.

Highlights of the week included ski descents off Mt Whymper N Face, Cathedral N Couloir, Collier N Face and White Pyramid, in addition to an extended Pat Sheehan Traverse that started/finished on the Athabasca Glacier.

Marc Piché, Mountain Guide

Mark Klassen, Mountain Guide

6 Ski Guide candidates

TRU Ski Guide Exam

[MCR] Rockies, Wapta

I guided a ski traverse on the Wapta April 18-21. Great snow coverage from the car all the way into the high country. We made our attempt to cross the Balfour High Col on April 20th. The best coverage in Balfour Col that I can remember seeing -no need to ski over, or around, rocks or pebble studded plaster sidewalks of boilerplate (more common in previous years). I tried to thread the needle through the massive crevasses on the glacier ramp to keep a serac eater on our uphill side, but got stymied by cross crevasses. We backtracked out of the maze and went around skier's right of all of the crevasses (I recommend doing that). We turned tail soon after in worsening weather that sent us on a long tramp through the white-out and wind back to Bow Hut. 15-20 cms of light dry new snow fell that day and night and when the 21st dawned sunny the skiing was mighty fine, dry above 7500 feet, but getting spongy on steeper solar aspects below that, yet still great to ski.

My last trip of the season,
happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide
http://www.barryblanchard.ca
http://www.yamnuska.com
barryb3@telus.net
1 403 609 4615
cell 1 403 609 1321

[MCR] Freshfields

I have a trip into the Freshfields.  I am flying in on April 23rd and was thinking of skiing out to the Blaeberry FSR.  Just thought I would check about the possibility of combining a flight on April 28th.  So if anyone is planning a flight in and would be interested in share the cost please let me know

Dan Madell

[MCR] Stein Valley, Coast Mountains -bridge out.

I don't know the area myself but I'm just passing on some info:

"The the north tower was hit by that big rock at the water's edge and badly damaged- one of the cables was severed and the tower knocked off its foundation.

The bridge was right at the bottom of a rock fall bowling alley. This picture was posted on Bivouac, warning hikers not to try crossing and that basically, the trail beyond 12.6 km is inaccessible for the time being. It could be months before it is repaired."


Conny Amelunxen
MG

 

[MCR] Wapta Traverse, April 14-18

I guided the Wapta Traverse for OnTop Mountaineering from April 14-18, starting at Peyto Lake and finishing via the Sherbrooke Lake exit.  We had mostly good weather and visibility with temperatures ranging from -16C to -5C above treeline, and generally light winds.  It is still very winter-like above 2400 metres.  Snow stability was good in all areas travelled. 

 

We used ski crampons on the ascent of the moraine to access the Peyto Glacier. 

 

Great travel through the Balfour High Col on April 17^th, with brilliant sunshine and moderate winds keeping temperatures cool all day (-10C).  Despite the cool temps, we observed some minor icefall off the seracs on the east face of Mount Balfour, with debris stopping well back from the ski ascent line.

 

The exit to the Great Divide Lodge via Sherbrooke Lake on April 18^th was sun crusted at treeline on solar aspects making for some challenging skiing, but the summer trail was still in excellent skiing condition between Sherbrooke Lake and the Trans Canada highway.

 

Jordy Shepherd

ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide

CAA Professional Member

Email: jordy@peakalpine.com

Web: www.PeakAlpine.com

 

 

[MCR] Rockies, French Reality, The Silver Lining, Tokumm Pole

I guided and attempt on French Reality on April 15th. We took snow shoes to the flats below the shoulder access to the traverse ledge, but the crust underlying the 10 to 20 centimetres of new snow was supportive and we could have probably got by without them (We walked down to the car at the end of the day without the snowshoes and had no post holing). There is a gully around to the north of the described approach in Waterfall Ice that works well now that the forest has changed with the 2003 burns. The gully is about 100 metres around to the north. We cramponed up there on the hard supportive crust. There was the occasional wind slab while crossing the approach ledge but the snow is bonding well and the hazard was low. The route was in good shape up to the last (crux) pitch of ice that started with a very serious pillar that was cracked across its bread loaf sized footing. We gave it a miss and it looked to my naked eye today from the 93 highway to have fallen off (binoculars
will tell).

April 16th we attempted The Silver Lining under beautiful blue skies and calm to no wind. A strong supportive crust allowed us to walk on top pretty much everywhere once we stepped out of snow shoes and skis and the crust hung in there all day. We found a lot of detached ice that felt too serious and opted for the rock variations described in Waterfall Ice, and used on the first ascent (note that there is no option to the dry tooling and thin and detached ice of the first pitch, but there was patches of attached ice there that took 10 and 13 cm screws). Time slipped through our fingers between attempting the thin ice of the second pitch then opting for the rock, we bailed from the cave at the end of the second pitch.

April 17th I guide on the Tokumm Pole. There is only 15 metres of floor left on the creek and the bottom right side of the climb has been undercut by water and fallen away leaving a 2 metre roof.
We climbed on the left which is hanging in there well, but does have water running behind it at its top. More supportive day long crusts.

Happy Trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

Sent from my iThingy
_______________________________________________
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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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[MCR] Field to Icefields Parkway

Hello all,

Friday I guided a late season ascent of Guinness Gully. I found surprisingly great spring conditions on this classic. The first 10m of pitch 1 had some hollowness but beyond provided good opportunities for protection. Pitches 2 and 3 are fat. Of note, crampons are still effective on the approach and the initial ice is quite thin.

Saturday I went back Field with friends Jesse and Kendra to climb Guinness and Carlsberg. From the TCH Carlsberg looked sun effected. We were surprised that after the initial 3m the spring refreeze has completely rebuilt the LH pillar. The RH pillar looks close to collapse and the approach pitches are not there. The alternate scramble approach to the right was almost free of snow. Pilsener fell down in the past week.

Sunday with same friends, changed to ski mode. -5C at 0800 below Mt Patterson. We were still able to find snow bridges over creek to base of SE couloir. Not a lot of snow at valley bottom but just enough to keep skis on. Recent storm snow seems well bonded to sun crusts. 0-15cm soft slab provided reasonable ski quality. We avoided final 100m because of increased wind effect. Lower fan just softening at 1230h.

Jesse and I ventured to the Icefields yesterday morning. At present there are snow ramps through each icefall that allow ascent to the final headwall without exposure to the Snowdome serac fall on the right. We overnighted in King's Trench and ascended Mt Columbia this am. -15C at 0500. Chilly but clear morning. It is still winter on the Icefield. We climbed the S Ridge. Bergschrund is mostly filled in across the east face. 0-15 cm wind pressed slab overtop early April sun effect. Crampons and ice axe were useful on ascent of up to 50 deg crust. Thankfully this crust held a good ski edge during an engaging icy descent.

0-10 cm ski pen across Icefield made for good travel. Of note, about 1km SW from top of headwall a team of glaciologists have set up camp for the next two weeks. They reported 6m snow depth on the ice cap.

Brent Peters
Apprentice Alpine Guide
CAA Level 2
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

Sent from my iPhone
_______________________________________________
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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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[MCR] Surprise Pass

Up to Surprise Pass yesterday, Sunday the 14th with 3 guests. Good travel up the Saddle Back trail and with a good skin track all the way to the Surprise Pass itself although it is getting icy in places. Lots of ski traffic on the Fairview avalanche paths and on Fairview itself. Ski crampons would be useful for the last pull to the Pass.  On descent, the top half of Surprise pass was good boot top powder skiing however there has been lots of traffic. The lower third just above Lake Louise was dust on old ski ruts and debris but still quite skiable. A small amount of new snow will tune the place up nicely. We did not observe any avalanches yesterday. The recent storm snow was well bonded to the crusts on solar aspects and there was minimal wind affect. Play safe!

 

James Blench IFMGA

[MCR] Wapta Peyto to Sherbrooke Lake April 6-12

I spent the past week guiding on the Wapta, We had unsettled weather
throughout the week with a couple of short storms, light
precipitation, and moderate, variable winds but also plenty of broken
skies and sun and excellent powder skiing every day.

Avalanche concerns to pay attention to currently are wind slabs from
the recent storm (touchy/possible to size 2), sluffing in very steep
sheltered alpine terrain (possible to size 1.5) and cornice failures
(possible to size 2.0).

The glaciers are covered in a 275-350 cm snowpack with the exception
of thin exposed areas (e.g. the approach to Peyto Hut where I probed
as shallow as 180 cm). The lower route to Balfour High Col (adjacent
to the rock outcrop) and down to Scott Duncan Hut was straightforward.

The underlying snowpack is well settled. The April 5 facet/crust
interface is now covered by up to 40 cm of snow. Test profiles and ski
cutting throughout the week show this layer to be generally well
bonded. On April 8, a ski cut on a very steep unsupported wind loaded
roll (NE aspect) on Mt Gordon produced an initially small slab
avalanche (10 cm deep and 50 m wide) which after dropping over a
second very steep roll stepped down to the April 5 facet/crust
interface (down ~50 cm) propagating 200 m wide and running about 100 m
to the flat glacier below (size 1.5). Otherwise, in test profiles and
in aggressive ski cutting of very steep alpine features to 48 degrees
this layer was nonreactive.

April 10-11 a storm produced another 10-15 cm of snow in the alpine.
Winds first from the N and then from the SW resulted in moderate wind
loading mainly on N and E aspects. This morning skiing out from Scott
Duncan hut we noticed a widespread avalanche cycle (to sz 1.5) in the
storm snow interfaces. The E face of Mt. Niles had numerous sluffs, a
couple of sz 1.0-1.5 slabs, and a sz 1.5 cornice failure from the
previous 24 hours. Today the wind slabs appeared to be settling with
minor cracking noticed on steep alpine wind loaded features.

The ski out to the highway from Sherbrooke Lake was icy and fast but
all things considered for this time of year it's in very good
condition.

Regards,

Tom Wolfe
Mountain Guide ACMG/IFMGA
twolfe@sawback.com www.sawback.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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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[MCR] Great Divide Lodge Parking TEMPORARY CLOSURE

This will affect folks coming off the Wapta Traverse at the south end of
the trip. The following closure will be in place effective April 14:

Good day,

Please be advised that the Great Divide Lodge Parking area will be closed
from 14 April 2013 - 14 June 2013. This will restrict parking for the
Wapta traverse and access to Sherbrooke Lake to the small, near-by pull-out
maintained by highways.

If you have any questions, please contact the Lake Louise Info centre.
Thank you.

Chris Gooliaff
IFMGA/ACMG MG

_______________________________________________
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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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[MCR] Whistler/Duffy lake area conditions

A Thompson Rivers University CMSGA/ACMG apprentice ski guide exam just finished a week in the Whistler and Duffy lake regions. Overall we found a well settled, but below average snowpack in the locations skied. Height of snow ranged from a low of 180cm in select Duffy lake areas and up to 300+cm up high in the Whistler area. 

During the week we received up to 40cm of new snow in the Whistler region but only 15 cm around the Duffy lake area, although we did find isolated areas of deeper pockets due to wind loading. This new snow overlies the April 5th melt freeze crust that was found at all elevations and aspects. Generally the new snow appears to be bonding well, however we were avoiding areas that had been affected by the wind, had a firmer crust interface and were sufficiently steep.

Our other concerns during the week were large cornices that looked rip to fail during the rise of daytime temps strong solar affect.  Generally we had relatively cool daily temps but we concerned on solar slopes for loose snow avalanches when the temps spiked or sun came out.We found below average snowpack depth on the glaciers for this time of the year, however we found good coverage and easily travel, but crevasses were beginning to sag and show themselves with the settlement of the snowpack.

With the new snow the skiing has drastically improved above tree-line however below tree-line the skiing is still quite rugged with frozen tree-bombs or isothermal snow below 1600m later in the day. On solar aspects were the wind blew off the new snow, good corn skiing could still be found if the sun came out.

Have fun out there and enjoy the great spring time conditions. 

 TRU Instructors/ACMG Mountain Guides

Keith Reid, Craig McGee 

and the Apprentice Guide Candidates. 

[MCR] Shades of beauty, Jasper National Park

Hi all,

I guided an ascent of shades of beauty yesterday April 9th.

Despite the recent warm temperatures the route was in good shape and protection was excellent. There was a fair amount of surface dinner plating due to  the recent shift in temperatures.

The well used approach trail was also in good shape with supportive snow surface in and out.

The route will likely stay in good shape for a while with forecast temperatures.

Happy Spring!

David Lussier
ACMG/IFMGA
www.summitmountainguides. com

[MCR] Obs Sub-Peak, Divide Cr, White Pyramid, Apr 7-9

Spent the last few days skiing in the Rockies. A few observations for folks that might still be out touring and haven't hung up the boards:

Observation Sub-Peak, Apr 7 - the usual wind-swept affair on the west-side with decent skiing off the NE side. We managed to find some protected snow on the west side on Sunday, but it might be getting sun-torched today. Another suncrust for the next storm snow to fall on. No new avalanches observed.

Divide Cr, Apr 8 - soft slab evident lower in the drainage, but nice, mid-boot powder in upper half of run. -12 midday at the Whyte-Niblock col. Still felt like winter at tree-line and above in the Lake Louise area.

White Pyramid, Apr 9 - some obs here were: 1) touchy, thin slabs (<5cm) in the immediate lees of ridge crests  2) lots of spindrift on steep, alpine faces pouring down with the strong winds at ridgecrest. Skiing from the head of the drainage down to Epaulette Lake was in great, ankle to mid-boot powder. The crust was supportive below tree-line, making travel super-fast both in and out of the valley. Crossing the Mistaya River is easy right now, with only the occasional hole in the river ice. Good for a little while yet.

Chris Gooliaff

IFMGA/ACMG MG

[MCR] Rockies, Pilsner Pillar, The Waterworks

Yesterday, April 3rd, we retreated from the approach slopes to Pilsner Pillar at 6:30 am because it was too close to 0 Celsius and there had been rain in the wee hours. We salvaged our day of picture taking on the diminutive climb, The Waterworks. There is a good trail leading to that area right now and no avalanche threat at all.

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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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[MCR] Rockies, Massey's

I facilitated a photo shoot on Massey's today, April 2nd. We approached via the train tracks as the Kicking Hoarse River has opened up in the last week. A decent freeze in Field last night saw a supportive crust and plastic ice. The route is in good shape with some sun affected ice and some shiny new ice surfaces. The temps rose above freezing at about 11:30 am and we skedaddled.

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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
See http://informalex.org/subscribe.shtml#unsubscribe to remove your name from this list.

[MCR] Mt. Jimmy Simpson

Attempted Mt. Jimmy Simpson today hoping for a solid freeze and a good corn run before the next storm moves in. At 4:30 a.m it was -2 and the crust was only 2 cm thick and moist underneath. The crust was supportive with skis, but not for long! I would guess that the crust would last 15 minutes or less once the sun hits it. We pulled the pin on the benches above the flats.

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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
See http://informalex.org/subscribe.shtml#unsubscribe to remove your name from this list.

[MCR] Collier Peak, Lake Louise Group, April Fools Day

I headed up Collier Peak with a friend via the Lake O'Hara road early this morning. We found barely supportive crusts in the forest below 2000m in the a.m. Higher up in the drainage, north of the Watchtower, fast travel was found on a bomber sun and wind crust. The Collier Glacier toe was stripped of snow by down-flow winds, the mid-section of the glacier had 5-10cm boot penetration into '4-finger' density snow, and the last 150m to the ridgecrest was variable, with isolated lenses of non-reactive wind slabs. The bergschrund was bridged by 2.3+m of snow. I've never been there in the summer, so I don't know how large this hole really is, other than looking at Google Earth images.

No shears noted in the mid-upper snowpack, -7*C at 9am below the face, and no winds gave us the confidence to explore onto this large, unsupported feature. On the way out, slopes with sun had nicely corned up and gave great skiing. The forest below 2000m had turned to unpleasant mashed potatoes, but still "skiable" in a long traverse back to the road.

A great tour in these fantastic spring conditions.

Chris Gooliaff

IFMGA/ACMG MG

[MCR] Avalanche Ratings in Spring Conditions

Every year it seems that there is a debate of what to call the avalanche
danger in the public bulletin when true spring conditions have arrived. IE:
frozen solid and LOW danger in the mornings rising to wet and unstable HIGH
or EXTREME conditions by late in the day, but there is only one forecast
rating for the 24 hr period. Should the rating default to the highest
possible danger to warn people that avalanches are almost certain at some
time in the day, or default to the lower end because travel while frozen
has almost no avalanche danger, or pick somewhere in between?

At various times the terms "Variable", "Not Rated*(*see text, )", and
"Spring" have been used to overcome this dilemma rather than pick a single
rating, but this approach is not standardised to the North American Danger
Scale

It is important to remember that avalanche danger varies both spatially
(over terrain) and temporally (over time). We have no problem understanding
that the danger may be different in different places in the terrain and can
certainly think about danger improving or decreasing over time periods of
several days. The issue with spring conditions is that the temporal swing
in danger happens rapidly within the period of 24 hrs normally covered by a
public bulletin, (or a commercial operational forecast), so it really is
a question of timing and aspect to determine the specific danger.

When I am asked how the danger can be rated as "LOW" when there have been a
number of large avalanches observed on a given day, I think about it this
way. "Where in the terrain would it be possible to go and not be subjected
to avalanche danger on that day, and how long during the day would it be
possible?" (space and time). If there have been clear cold nights with a
good solid freeze and the answer is that you could go almost anywhere and
have solid snow conditions and have them for a reasonable amount of time,
then obviously the danger must be LOW. The bulletin user has to understand
that timing is part of the equation. Conversely, if there was cloud cover,
very little freeze and there would likely be stability problems during the
majority of the day, the danger would have to be higher.

"LOW" does not mean "NO AVALANCHES" It takes into account the fact that
there is a swing in danger during the day, but that for the average
bulletin user who can understand that ice melts when heated above zero, the
conditions are excellent and it is the time to take advantage of the
conditions.

This last week has been one of the best weeks of ski touring in the Rockies
for some time. Excellent freezes with very little in the way of avalanche
concerns and good travel. We use the headline to highlight the importance
of good timing, and give the users the "Green Brick". Go have some fun. It
is the right time to do the big trips. Use your head , start early, keep an
eye on the temperatures and the faces that are exposed to the sun and
enjoy! Come home before the avalanches start....and the danger to you will
be LOW.

Brad White
Visitor Safety Programs Specialist
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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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[MCR] Rockies, Yoho and Little Yoho Valleys

I guided a photographic expedition into the Yoho and Little Yoho Valleys March 15-31. Spring has sprung and Takakkaw Falls was already taking a hit with the sun on the 25th and 26th when we shot pictures at it's base. It looked more eaten up by flowing water when skied out yesterday and I won't head back in there to climb it right now the crux being narrow and fragile this year and close to collapse, or so I figure.

Sun crusts had formed on sunny aspects on Mt McArthur when we boot packed to the top of Isolated Peak on March 28th. Several parties have made it over Isolated Col in the last week. Challenging skiing down old tracks in the dark after they had refrozen, but great photos of the President in the setting sun.

Skiing out yesterday wet snotty afternoon avalanches where roaring down from the steep cliffs Wapta Mountain and Mt Field. There are HUGE cornices on the ridgeline of Wapta Mountain and I glancied to them constantly to see if they were staying put as we skied beneath them at noon.

Happy trails,

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


Takakkaw Falls on March 26th

[MCR] hydrophobia/Waiperous

I guided Hydrophobia yesterday March 31. The road in was ok with a high clearance 4X4 vehicle. We left my Tacoma at the creek crossing before the hill and walked from there (1.5 hrs walk to base). Luckily on the way back we got a ride with a pathfinder who had a winch and we had to use it. In the PM, the road out where we left my truck was a river.

The route itself was in pretty good shape except a section on the last pitch had aerated ice, which was hard to protect (the gear was good, just had to work hard to find it) and didn't gave huge confidence in the tool placements.

Cryophobia was falling apart in the PM.

Marco Delesalle
Mountain Guide
www.greatdividemountaineering.com












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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.
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