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
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
