[MCR] Columbia Icefields Conditions

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Just back this afternoon from a May 24 to 30 trip in and around the Columbia Icefields. We experienced generally unsettled weather, quite a bit of rain thru the period and limited overnight recovery. Travel anywhere with tree cover was post holing and unpleasant. Despite the limited freeze travel on the glaciers was "not too bad" where ever the snow cover exceeded a meter; below a meter and there was often crotch deep post holes. Many sags are becoming visible over crevasses. Most notable conditions wise was a slab avalanche cycle beginning on the 26th and continuing sporadically as of this morning. Most releases were in unglaciated terrain on easterly aspects; about 2500 to 2700m elevation, often running to ground and up to size three in size. Accompanying the slabs was on going loose wet avalanches generally in the size 1 to 2 range usually stopping high on the slopes.  With the ongoing unsettled weather and potential for rain we avoided being underneath any slopes capable of producing avalanches due to the unusual nature of the big slab releases. First mosquito hatch last night and burly ticks in the Icefields campground....at least June will be here soon!

 

Play safe...

 

James Blench IFMGA/UIAGM

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued 05/28/2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued 05/28/2015 It looks like the bluebird, summer like conditions have come to an end for a little while. The last couple days have been good reminders of storm build up and the potential of thunderstorms here in the rockies. More unsettled weather is on the menu for the next couple days, with slightly cooler temps. With all the warm temps and sun from the past week, the mountains have really started to clean themselves off. Rogers Pass has had a significant decrease in snow levels, with swollen creek levels and two significant size 3 avalanches, off Macdonald and one on Catamount to the ground. Alpine routes still have a ways to go though before being in "normal" shape, with lone-pine slide path on Tupper and NW routes on Macdonald being the only known attempts so far. On the Icefields, several slabs up to 2.5 have released this past week. One on the upper parkers ridge and one on son of Snow dome- both in the 2500-2600m level. As mentioned earlier as well, a large serac failure off the hourglass ran past the flats and below, and a deep slab left of the silver horn, a 3rd of the way from the top have also been witnessed. Groups have experienced great travel in and around the Athabasca area, with early starts and fast travel, but climbers should be suspicious about loaded higher alpine features that have not gone yet. Current conditions on North Face of Athabasca and practice gullies on Andromeda are great travel but It seems likely some of these North Face routes are not going to be in condition for very long given the lack of winter snow. Jasper Alpine is still snowy along with the East ridge of Edith Cavell. The road is also closed until the end of June for construction on the bridge. The Berg Lake Trail into Robson is only open up to White Horn and Snow Bird Pass is Closed due to snow for hiking. Overall, spring feels pretty advanced in the mountains with all the heat of the past couple weeks. Currently, the freezing levels are staying quite high, and precipitation is mostly arriving as rain up to mountain tops. Expect weak and mushy snow, slumping cornices and crevasses, and lots of potential for rock fall. An overnight freeze could provide great travel that would deteriorate quickly when the day warms. Potential for thunderstorms are an increasing factor to consider in planning the days objectives. Still lots of great opportunity for adventure when the rain stops, but be aware that conditions are in a state of change right now as we continue to move towards summer. Sarah Hueniken ACMG Alpine 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] Columbia Icefields Photos, Rockies, May 23, 2015

A few photos taken earlier today from the Columbia Icefields. They can also be viewed on the Parks Mountain Safety Facebook page

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Conrad Janzen

Visitor Safety

Banff, Yoho & Kootenay National Parks

[MCR] Squamish Rock Fall Chief North Walls

Today the last scheduled day of rock scaling (for now?) on the North Walls of the Chief in Squamish. see link - http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/stawamus/
They removed many lose rocks over the last 3 days.
It was an exciting view from the Shlanay today watching the fridge size rocks come down.

There is still plenty of rock fall potential in the Northern Lights region and the start of Angel's Crest.

My strong recommendation is to stay well away from the area. Currently there are signs at the start of the trails as shown in the photos bellow.

As quoted from signage:
"Trail to Angle's Crest CLOSED until further notice due to rockfall."

[MCR] Glacier National Park Conditions, Selkirks, May 21, 2015

A few photos are attached from a recent flight in Glacier National Park. They can also be viewed on the Parks Mountain Safety Facebook page.

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Glacier National Park 

Visitor Safety

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 21, 2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 21, 2015 Warm temperatures are the current theme in the mountains with a high of 10 degrees Celsius measured at 2600 m in Lake Louise today and daytime highs near 20 degrees Celsius at 1300 m in Rogers Pass. Lots of snow is melting and the creeks and rivers are beginning to rise. In the main ranges of the Rockies the snowline remains below treeline on north aspects with just over 150cm of snow at the weather station near Black Prince (2250m) in Kananaskis. Snowline is higher in the eastern areas around Banff and Canmore and some sunny scrambles are coming into shape. Clear skies and cool overnight temperatures continue to provide good early morning travel on snow. Expect a rapid breakdown of the crusts formed overnight once the sun hits the slopes with a corresponding increase in avalanche hazard. Loose wet avalanches in steep terrain have been observed by late morning and a few recent deep slab avalanches have been seen as the warm temperatures begin to penetrate the snowpack. Cornice failures have also been observed and many cornices are sagging badly. A few people are still out exploring the icefields and local couloirs on skis and early morning travel is reportedly quite good up high though ski quality is variable. In the Columbia mountains there are still snow patches in the forest on north aspects near Rogers Pass and while the valleys are melting out quickly, lots of snow remains up high. Not a lot of overnight crust recovery so again you will want to be down early from any objectives and can expect loose wet avalanches by mid-day. Yesterday a group turned back from the West Ridge of Mt Tupper due to too much snow on the ridge, but reported good travel conditions up and down the Lone Pine slide path. Lots of wet rock on the faces of Mt Macdonald but it is drying fast. The Asulkan Valley still looks very much like winter. Rock climbing is in full swing at the lower elevation crags and on higher south aspects. As usual at this time of year you can expect more loose rock than normal due to the freeze thaw cycles over the winter and any remaining snow patches above the cliffs will start spitting rocks once the day heats up. Tick checks are highly recommended at the end of the day since the nasty little fellows seem to be out in abundance. It looks like the weekend will continue to be clear and hot so either start really early for your alpine objectives and be back down before the snow starts falling apart, or relax and enjoy some early season climbing, hiking and biking. Conrad Janzen 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] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 21, 2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 21, 2015
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] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 21, 2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 21, 2015
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] Mt.Clemenceau Conditions

Scott Thumbler and I just returned from a wonderful spring ski touring trip from May 11th to the 15th into the Mt. Clemenceau region. We flew from Golden to the Tusk glacier with 4 clients, and set up camp next to Mt. Clemenceau. On the flight in we did not see any evidence of natural slab avalanches. Travel conditions where great with good overnight freezes in the am (with ski crampons) turning to excellent corn and moist deteriorating crust in the PM on solar aspects. The snow became moist on all aspects in the PM all the way to 3300m. Crevasses are well covered in the area still and the route goes through the middle of the seracs as described in the West face route description in "The 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies" guide book, at the moment.

We directly observed rather predictable avalanches running on solar aspects with the powerful sun effect. Mostly moist point release avalanches to size 2, however we did witness a size 2.5 serac triggered slab avalanche at 2400m on a west aspect at 2pm. The slab failed to the rocks. We also experienced a large whumpf at the same elevation and aspect, in a shallow rocky area on facets and depth hoar. At 3pm two simultaneous size 2 glide cracks also released on the south aspect of Mt Clemenceau at 2000m. There was also evidence of what looked to be a 1 week old natural cycle to size 3.


Mt Clemenceau west flank avalanche.

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued 05 16, 2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued 05 16, 2015 In the Rockies, the snowline is quite variable, with levels at treeline or higher in Eastern regions around Banff and Canmore, and still below treeline in places around Lake Louise and along highway 93 North. Reports from the Columbia Icefields have seen good conditions with an overnight freeze In the high alpine. The Athabasca glacier still looks in decent shape with careful route finding, and routes such as the Silverhorn and Asteroid Alley have been climbed numerous times this past week. The crux of the route Shooting Gallery is reported to be dry and would be exceedingly exciting to get around! Good alpine skiing can still be found, but in many areas you will now be walking a while to get there. One common theme throughout the Mountain Parks and Kananaskis Country are the gigantic cornices that are lining alpine ridges, which will lose to gravity at some point in the near future. Rock climbs in the front ranges are mainly dry with some snow or wet patches in chimneys, but routes on cliffs such as Yamnuska are getting climbed almost daily at this point. In Rogers Pass the snowline is around treeline on S aspects and lower on N aspects, and in most places you will be walking a long ways to strap on the boards. But if you do, good skiing has been reported in the high alpine with a good freeze in places such as the Asulkan. The alpine climbing routes are still in full winter condition with very large cornices. Valley bottom rock climbing in the Revelstoke area is mainly dry and good to go. It looks like a warm week coming up with a decent amount of sun and valley bottom temperatures in the high teens in the Rockies to mid - twenties in the Columbias. I would expect the mountains to become a very loud place as the day heats up with cornice falls and avalanches, especially on solar aspects. Go check out some routes and be back before the heat takes its toll, and consider wearing avalanche gear for both skiing and alpine climbing as conditions change quickly this time of year. Steve Holeczi 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] Columbia Icefields May 15th, 2015

Got turned around today on Mt. Andromeda by Shooting Gallery's little crux pitch. It was a choice between an unprotectable couple of meters of friable, downsloping, snowy rock to reach decent rock and gear on the climbers right side, or running it out up 15m of thin snow/ice with an unknown finish. Or bailing.

Snow conditions were pretty good until around noon and then it was somewhat weak and variable in the moraines below the AA glacier. It was snowing lightly for awhile and never got really hot. We saw only small dry sloughs at the Icefields but saw a couple of big wet sloughs around Howse peak and Hector Lake on the mid-afternoon drive home.

It sounds like Asteroid Alley has been climbed at least twice and a party was making good progress on it when we bailed. Andromeda Strain looks kinda grim at the top. No water ice on the last pitch.

Athabasca glacier still looks in good shape for ski travel on the climbers left side but the middle looks complicated and the climbers right side looks as easy and dangerous as ever.

From the road-
Athabasca N side looked white, with no obvious signs of avalanche activity. All the various seracs looked not as nasty as some years but they are still hanging in there in all the usual spots. Patiently waiting.

Slipstream is still climbable but looks kinda scary. The summit cornices appeared gigantic through binoculars in mediocre light. The serac above the climbers left border of the route looks to have a nasty crack in it. Yukk.

Larry Stanier
ACMG Mountain Guide
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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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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[MCR] Rogers Pass - Asulkan

A weak freeze overnight last night due to cloud cover resulted in lots of unpredictable post holing from knee to thigh deep on the Jupiter Traverse this morning.

It was possible to skin all the way from the old railway line (5 mins from the car) on the summer trail, with only a few very short sections of dirt, which I didn't bother taking my skis off for in either direction.

There was a recent (past couple of days) size 2 slab avalanche failing on a steep rock slab on The Dome running down over the large convex glacial roll climbers left of The Cleaver, but no other recent slab avalanche activity was observed today. Numerous loose wet avalanches triggered by solar and daytime warming up to size 1.5 were observed today.

With a clear night and a good freeze conditions will be excellent again, although the ski out won't last much longer with the warm temperatures.

Get out there while the access is still easy!

Alex Geary

ACMG Ski Guide and Apprentice Alpine Guide

[MCR] Ski Tour Mt. Victoria - Mt. Collier Saddle / Lake Louise

Great corn skiing conditions today in the high country above Lake Louise.
-2C at 5.30 this morning as we left the parking lot. Crossing the ice on the
lake has become quite sketchy as there is a lot of open water along the
edges of the lake. We crossed it in the morning (which made for fast skate
skiing) but there was no way it was going to work when we returned mid-day
and we carried our skies back along the tourist trail.

We found a beefy melt-freeze crust (around 10cm thick in the early AM) which
carried at all elevation levels and inclines on the east and southern
aspects we travelled today. Only the final, steep (to 40 - 48 degrees)
headwall into the Mt. Vic - Mt. Collier saddle showed a very moist,
unconsolidated snowpack, which was only held together by the surface crust.
Given the strong solar radiation we decided to call the saddle our
turn-around point at around 10AM. The remaining 200 vertical meters to the
north summit of Mt. Victoria looked laborious requiring deep boot packing in
a more wintery snowpack.

The "Mouse Trap" to Abbott's pass showed some recent downhill tracks -
unfortunately there is a big crevasse with an evident sag crossing the
entire slope about 2/3 up (see attached image). The Surprise Pass run looked
well-travelled and the snow coverage goes almost to the lake.

Enjoy the spring!

Jorg Wilz
Mountain Guide (ACMG / VDBS / IFMGA)
 
OnTop ltd.
www.ontopmountaineering.com
+1 403 678 2717 or 1-800-506-7177

[MCR] Northern Selkirks - Rogers Pass

Perfect ski mountaineering conditions today on Mt Rogers, with a good freeze at tree-line on all aspects, and also on solar aspects up to the summit. Steep, shaded northerly aspects still had dry powder above 2800m with amazing skiing.

I took advantage of some snowshoe tracks and wore running shoes up to the Hermit campground, but managed to ski to within 200m vertical of the car or on the way back to the Hermit Parking near the summer trail.

The snowpack is well settled and bonded, with no avalanche concerns this morning, although there will be with daytime warming this afternoon.

Alpine rock routes on Tupper and MacDonald were still looking pretty snowy.

Enjoy the spring.

Alex Geary

ACMG Ski Guide and Apprentice Alpine Guide

[MCR] Waddington, Coast Mountains

Hi all,

We just finished guiding a successful ascent of the Northwest summit of Mount Waddington via the Dias Couloir/Angel Glacier route from May 5-8. We access the mountain with White Saddle Helicopter in Bluff Lake BC.  With the benefit of strong high pressure conditions we were able to make an ascent of this circuitous route in good time. The route was in good spring ski mountaineering condition and required the use of all the tools of the trade; ski crampons, boot crampons, ice axe, rope, etc. Daytime freezing levels were in the 2700m elevation range while overnight temperatures dropped to -5.0 C at basecamp nightly.  The combination of clear skies and fluctuating freezing levels created classic spring skiing conditions with firm surfaces ideal for traveling in the morning and unstable wet snow in the afternoon. Despite this we found fantastic powder skiing on north facing terrain above 3300m.

The snowpack was quite stable, particularly in the morning. We made most of our progress in the early morning and avoided traveling on solar aspects in the afternoon.  We saw a few wet loose avalanches out of steep south facing terrain in afternoon however; we did not see new slab avalanches or any other signs of instability. Our main concern was the snowpack on solar aspects in the Dias Glacier area below 3300m where we found consistent moderate to hard sudden shears down 50 to 80 cm on sugary crystals between crust layers. There were no crusts on the Angel glacier and the unconsolidated snow produced only minor shears. Snowpack depth varied from 250cm at the Dias Glacier basecamp at 2100m to 400+cm at higher elevation. Crevasses bridges on route were generally strong and passable.

All in all a fantastic trip!                                                                    

David Lussier
Mountain Guide
&
Morgen Funston
Apprentice Ski Guide

www.summitmountainguides.com

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 7, 2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 7, 2015 Apologies for the blank reports earlier; technical glitch. The last few days in the Rocky and Columbia mountains were cooler, as the influence of a NW flow produced upslope snow flurries in areas to the east of the Continental Divide. Wednesday afternoon and evening was a return to winter, with snow to the valley bottoms (melted now) and lows of -10 up on the high icefield areas. Fortunately, that is changing now and an awesome weekend appears to be in the forecast! Starting Friday the skies will clear and all areas from Revelstoke to Jasper to Banff are forecast for bluebird and sunny, with highs in Revelstoke of 21, Jasper 21 and Banff 12 degrees. For the remaining keen skiers and riders reading this . . . another critical piece is that the overnight lows will range from 0 to -6, so expect a solid freeze on the snow. All of this points to an excellent weekend for high mountain travel on skis (icefields trips), or north facing couloirs that remain on your hit list. Corn snow is a sure bet on the sunny slopes if you're good with your timing. Be sure to get up early to take advantage of the solid freeze, and then be like the Swiss and make sure you're eating Roesti on a sunny deck by 2:00 in the afternoon. As for rock climbing - most valley bottom crags are in full action now, except the north facing ones that could still be cold and wet. Yamnuska looks great, although plan for a slippery and wet descent, as the backside trails will be snow covered still. Even south facing rock climbs in alpine areas like the Bugaboos or Rogers Pass could be really good this weekend if you are prepared to tough out the snowy approaches and descents. The hiking trails are melted clear (with wet patches) in the valley bottoms, and snowline on the Banff-Jasper highway seems to be at about 2000m. We're ahead of a normal schedule for this season, but anything at treeline and above will still be locked up in snow. Have a great weekend out there! Grant Statham 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] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 7, 2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 7, 2015
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] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 7, 2015

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 7, 2015
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.