[MCR] Rockies - Yoho

Adding some observations to Mark's report.

 Skied some steep SE slopes on Mt Whymper today between 1500 m and 2800m. 10 - 15cm cold faceted powder.

Directly observed a natural size 2 solar triggered sluff in the main SE slide path off Whymper.

 Temps above 0 deg C in the sun on the peak at 2800m with snow melting off rocks. (-20 deg C at car in the am).

 Surface hoar growing to  10mm at 1750m and below. 

Sent on behalf of:

 Scott Thumlert

ACMG ASG

 

by

Peter Tucker
Executive Director
B: +1.403.949.3587
M: +1.403.689.4324
ed@acmg.ca  |  www.acmg.ca

 

[MCR] Rockies: Yoho

We skied in Yoho Park yesterday, on south and northeast aspects between 1300 and 2450 m. 

We found excellent boot top skiing conditions with no slab avalanche issues where we were. Bulletins are reporting a Wind Slab problem and I'm sure there are some lurking out there in some higher elevation locations but we didn't see any in our zone.

The greatest problem I have been noticing, and it has been a trend on my tours over the past couple of weeks, is that of cornices. Every day I have been out I have noticed recent cornice falls, up to size 2. Yesterday I saw two of them that probably ran in the previous 24 hours. Although the cornices that failed were relatively small, they pushed a lot of loose snow with them and ran surprisingly far down slope, no doubt because of the weak facets and surface hoar on top of the snowpack.

I have a feeling that the big temperature swings between night and day are triggering these cornices. Yesterday we saw a swing from -28 to -6 over a few hours. So the classic "critical factors" of a rapid rise of 3 degrees in an hour, or a temperature rise into the -5 range, seem to hold. Pull your thermometer out and reduce your exposure time under cornices.

Mark Klassen

ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide

Banff-Lake Louise, Canada

Alpinism | » Revelstoke Long Weekend

[MCR] Rockies - Ice Conditions - Kicking Horse Canyon

We hoped for warmer temps this morning by travelling west but it took until noon for the cold to break.

Pretty Nuts is in great shape. It is brittle from the recent cold where the water isn't flowing. The rock slab right of the classic P2 curtain offers 70m of protectable WI2. Both P3 options are in and take good protection.

Riverview, Essondale, and The Asylum look to be in good shape.

The parking on the south side of the TransCanada 1.5km west of Pretty Nuts is plowed offering a shorter approach than the Kicking Horse rest area. There is a boot pack behind the diversion wall so that most of the highway walk can be avoided.

Brent Peters
Alpine Guide
PeakStratagem.com

Pretty Nuts

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains - Rogers Pass - Dec.29-2015

Amazing day in Rogers Pass today!

 

First full day of sunshine as a persistent looking ridge builds in.

 

I observed several small (size 1-1.5) loose dry avalanches that were triggered by the sun on steep rocky solar aspects in the afternoon - also lots of roller balls-tree bombs as the trees started to shed the recent storm snow. I would keep my eyes out for overhead solar over the next few days as things shed after this recent storm cycle.

 

Other than that it appears that there is minimal wind effect, though I noted some downflow (katabatic)  wind effect in an Alpine bowl, that mostly just added some texture to the surface - this may increase over the next few days as this ridge of high pressure takes hold.

 

Tracksetting is reasonable with @30cms ski penetration - however the unconsolidated (faceted) surface snow makes for frustrating tracksetting on steeper side hills (I am taking my ski crampons tomorrow!).

 

I am sure things will get skied up pretty quickly - but for now it looks like there are a few turns left to be had.

 

Lots of cars in the parking lots - but somehow I did not see anybody all day ;-) !

 

Merry new year to all,

 

Scott Davis

ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Ice Conditions-Snivelling Gulley

Date: December 28th 2015

Location: Weeping Wall Area, Banff National Park

Route: Snivelling Gulley

Gear. Standard Ice Rack 70m rope X 2

Route Conditions Report:

It was -13 at the base of the route at 10:30am with the sun already high in the sky and warming our backs. The past cold snap has allowed for this route to finally form in good guiding conditions.

Pitch 1 65m: Good ice coverage over this pitch with only a short section of separation and running water between the ice and rock. Good ice on climbers left for a ice screw anchor avoiding the over head hazard of the daggers on the climbers right wall.

Pitch 2 60m: Running water under sections of snow and ice. Fun scramble with short sections of stemming. Belayed under the roof on the left side with good ice screw anchor. Again avoiding the daggers on climbers right.

NOTE: Snivelling Direct is IN and touching the ground. All bolts are covered. Looking FAT!

Pitch 3 60m: Last pitch is in fine shape with good protection all the way up. Only the last few meters are thin with sections of low angle rock and snow. Belay from tree high climbers left.

Descent: All stations are in good shape but I do recommend a 70m rope X 2 so you can cleanly rappel the last pitch to the ground 65+ Meters.

Snow Conditions Report:

Temp: -13 @ 10:30  Sky: Few  Wind: Light NW

I observed no New naturals over the day, Solar output was strong for this time of year but the snow surface remained cold and dry within my observation area. No structure or significant layers to report within the upper over-head pockets that threaten this climb. Boot penetration was to Ground. (Lot's of snow for transport) No Surface Crust Observed.

Safe Travels Yall! o-ya Merry Christmas 😉

Ryan Titchener

ACMG Apt Alpine Guide

CAA Level 2

Sent from Windows Mail

[MCR] Kootenay Pass, Southern Selkirks

Hi all,

I spent the last few days guiding in the Kootenay Pass area. As most other areas in southeastern BC right now the skiing here is excellent. We skied supported open glades and planar slopes up to 38 degrees between 2200m and 1450m in the headwaters of Lost creek and Wolf creek. The average height of snow at treeline in this area is about 170cm and the recent settled storm snow amounts overlying the December 10th layer area in the 50-70 cm range. This storm snow displays a perfect stiffness gradient with widespread low density powder overlying an increasingly stiffer and supportive snowpack. We observed very minor wind affect even at ridge top. We saw no new avalanches and no signs of instability. 

 

Today we did a test profile at 2150m on a south aspect (Missile Ridge) and observed a moderate resistant shear down 35cm on decomposing surface hoar to 3mm and a hard sudden result down 55cm in soft sugary facetted snow just below the December 10th layer. The crust at this location was a 2 cm thick ice layer. Despite the Moderate avalanche hazard and fantastic skiing in this area, we only saw a few people out there today.  The incoming weather pattern is pretty stable and conditions should remain similar for most of the week.

Enjoy the great skiing & happy holidays!

David Lussier

acmg mountain guide

www.summitmountainguides.com

[MCR] Selkirks, Rogers Pass, Mt Green December 25th 2015

Yesterday we climbed Mt Green and descended the north face to the Illecillewaet River. The rock band through to the Bonney (Parsons)-Green Col was thinner than Ive ever seen. Ice axe, crampons and a rope was utilized in this section due to thin snow on the rocks. Descending from the Summit down the north east ridge was also rockier than I had experienced in previous years. A rappel was required to gain the "ski run" where usually a side slip is sufficient. High quality skiing to valley bottom from there.

 

Joey Vosburgh
ACMG SG

Revelstoke, BC

[MCR] Hankin today

I spent the day at Hankin NW of Smithers today. It snowed only 5 to 10
cm there, and that slowed down from noon on. The upper wind shifted from
S to NE during the day. A pit at 1300 m showed 10 cm of recent storm
snow that sheared easily in several tests. I saw no persistent weak
layers. There is still only 90-120 cm of snow at treeline, and many
rocks are exposed. In the afternoon, we went to the west and climbed the
valley below Cardiac Arrest. The ridges were strongly wind affected,
with hard snow and sastrugi. We saw no recent avalanches, but the
visibility wasn't great. I think that there are windslabs in isolated
areas, but there has not been a lot of snow to blow around. Those thin
windslabs are probably mostly in NE aspects, but the afternoon's NE
winds will have built some in southerly aspects too. Below treeline,
it's good skiing, but still pretty thin.

--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
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: Bow Pass

I went for a short tour on my way to my Mom’s house for Christmas dinner. I was north of the Bow Summit area, on an east aspect between 1750 m and 2300 m. 

A pretty thin snowpack here still, only about 100 cm. But like everywhere this season so far it was  supportive in both the forest and open areas.

 

I saw snowballing and small loose dry avalanches coming out of steep, cliffy terrain when the sun hit it. This even though it was still about -20 in the shade. Something to think about if you are skiing couloirs like many of us have been doing during this period of stable conditions.

 

I also saw evidence of a size 2 avalanche that had been triggered by an icefall. This had occurred overnight after yesterday afternoon’s snowfall. I was surprised that this rather benign looking serac had calved seeing as it was -26 when I left the truck.

 

Finally, of note more to ice climbers and alpinists perhaps, I saw another avalanche that had occurred overnight. This was on an east facing hanging snowfield at about 2900 m. It was a deep persistent slab, about  120 cm deep, and had failed on the ground. Probably triggered by a cornice. It did not propagate across the entire snowfield, it was only about 15-20 m wide.

 

Turkey dinner was good tonight!

Mark Klassen

ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide

Alpinism | » Avalanche Skills Training 2 January 2016

 

 

[MCR] Glacier Gulch Ice

Fellow guide Lucas Holtzman and I climbed the Left Hand Falls in Glacier
Gulch near Smithers today. All major lines are in. We stayed away from
the right side of the valley as it's fairly warm aloft and we did not
want to be underneath 1800 m of steep gullies in the sun. The Left Hand
Falls are in good shape. It goes as grade 4 right now. We turned around
just below the top as it got thin there. Everything below protected
reasonably well, and the top probably needs just a few more days.

The Left of Left line has slid pretty big for its size. We did not check
for debris on the right side.

It was -10 at the falls and we could just drive up to the parking lot in
4 wheel drive trucks. I won't try that after the next snowfall.

--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
IFMGA/ UIAGM Mountain Guide - Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
CAA Professional Member
Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada
tel. 250-847-3351/ fax 250-847-2854
info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca

_______________________________________________
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] Bulkley Valley ice and snow

I tried to find south facing ice yesterday as temperatures are dropping
in the valley. It was only -3 on the top of Hungry Hill at 800 m, but no
ice at all above Helen Lake. This surprises me as it has certainly
rained in the fall. The icefall at 14 km on the Equity Mine Road was in,
but too steep and thin for my first outing of the season. So I ended up
touring on Hudson Bay Mountain above the ski area. The prairie is its
usual windswept self, but the coverage is fairly firm. Most rocks can be
avoided. There are 40 to 70 cm of highly variable snowpack in this area.
The cornices above Crater Lake are forming, but they are by no means
large yet. The slopes of Kathlyn Peak on the N side of Big Simpson's
Gulch showed lots of wind effect. It was -9.5 at 1850 m. There was very
light snowfall and a moderate SW wind, but no accumulation. The ranges
to the west were clouded over more, but I doubt that much accumulated
there either. So it's still thin, but there are things to do.

--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
IFMGA/ UIAGM Mountain Guide - Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
CAA Professional Member
Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada
tel. 250-847-3351/ fax 250-847-2854
info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca

_______________________________________________
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] Rockies, Cascade Falls, Healy Creek slidepaths, Mt Jimmy Junior

I guided an ascent of Cascade Falls on Friday, December 18th. The route was sporting several large open and wet holes earlier in the week but these froze over nicely with the colder temperatures through the week. The climb was in good shape and we opted to walk off (and climb the last half ropelength, which was good climbing) rather than rappel down through the 11 people below us. The walk off is in good shape, mostly due to traffic from Rogan's Gully.

Saturday, December 19th I guided a ski tour to the Healy Creek slidepaths. We had a clean planar shear down 35 centimeters in the moderate range (18) of our compression test on a southsouthwest facing slope of 30 degrees at 2100 metres. The slab failed on the Dec 3rd layer which was a weakening sun crust on this exposure. We chose a less steep slope to ski and skied one and two at a time (our group was 5). The ski quality was good.

Sunday December 20th our group of 5 attempted an ascent of Mt Jimmy Junior. We found no results on our compression tests at 2350 metres. Higher, several hand shears showed bonded snow at the surface. We ran out of visibility, and time, at 2500 metres. Lots of evidence of southwest winds and small surface slabs 5-10 cms deep cracking away from our skis every twenty steps or so. We skied down through older tracks that had filled in and the ski quality was fine and fun. Having done this tour several times in the spring, as the guidebook suggests, I doubt that there will be many more winter days in the future that I'd feel good about going there. The low hazard and great travel we experienced yesterday just hasn't been the norm for December in the Rockies as of late.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Rockies Ice: Canmore Junkyards

I ran up to the Canmore Junkyard to check out conditions yesterday afternoon and was a bit depressed by what I saw. It is definitely in early season shape right now.

The main flow has only two really climbable lines right now. When I got there yesterday a party of two had rigged their rope in such a way that both lines were in use by them leaving only very sub-optimal lines for anyone else that wandered up. (This was OK at the time as the place was nearly empty late afternoon on a weekday. Had it been a weekend this would have been a problem for anyone else showing up.)

The undulating flows on the right side of center were soaking wet and very thin in many places. This section has not filled in yet and is not very steep. Anchors on top would be difficult to rig as the ice up above is thin with running water underneath.

I rambled up twice to check it out and soaked my gloves through in two quick climbs. In addition, I bent the tips of my picks on rock even though I was trying to be extremely delicate.

The two gullies on the left side of the main flow were very sketchy and looked like scrappy and spooky dry tooling. Marginal protection would be all you could expect. Some of the ice is wet and does not look well attached at all. I didn’t bother even trying to head up these lines. My tools were already banged up enough!

Synopsis: The Junkyard ice is still pretty junky with the exception of the single section left of center. Needs a couple of weeks of cooler temps to fatten up before the area will support the normal weekend hoards that show up here.

Stay Cool

Cyril Shokoples
Mountain Guide

[MCR] Shades of Beauty and Rick Blak Memorial Route. Beauty Creek. Jasper National Park

Climbed the Rick Blak Memorial Route in Beauty Creek yesterday. The route is well traveled but is holding up quite well. The cold temps have made the ice hard and delicate and we found light swings and hooking were the best way to avoid bigger dinner plates coming off. Generally the ice on route is thin and big swings will have your tools bouncing off the rock below. We didn't carry any screws bigger then 16 cm and generally found reasonable placements with 13 cm and 10 cm screws. 1st pitch was very thin at the bottom of the steep ice but there was decent hooking to help give a little security until it budges out near the top of the pitch. Second pitch feels a little fatter and despite being only sightly overhanging at the start, there is good stemming to be had and easily took 13 cm screws. Hard snice at the top of the route on the transition exiting the route will likely become faceted out with the cold temps and not offer much security. Not much for daggers threatening the route. 

Both Shades of Beauty and Stanley Senior look fat and welcoming. Shades is very popular and well traveled but not much action on Stanley yet. 

Photo from yesterday available for Shades and Rick Blak available on the Parks Mountain Safety Facebook page. 

Jasper Visitor Safety 

[MCR] Rockies: Helen Ridge

We went for a short tour yesterday on the Helen Ridge, on the east side of the Parkway, traveling on west, east and south aspects, between 1950 m and 2500 m. A beautiful day with some good turns, we did runs off Sugar Col and in the Helen Ridge burn.

It is still a thin snowpack in this zone. Depths were generally in 80-100cm range. That said the snow was surprisingly supportive for early season in the Rockies. We dug at least five times in our 5 hour tour to check on the December 3 interface. Our investigations verified the local avalanche bulletin.

We found surface hoar down 30 cm at 2050m where the rocky terrain created large openings in the forest. There was mostly unconsolidated snow atop the surface hoar so it was not a concern on the steep slope we ascended here.

All our other investigations at higher elevations did not show a prominent surface hoar layer but there is a distinct layer of facets below the Dec 3 interface, between 25-45 cm down from the surface. There is little difference in hardness between the upper snow and the facets so it was mostly non-reactive to column tests. We had one "pop" compression test result, 45 cm down from the surface, on a wind loaded east aspect at 2500 m (Sugar Col). This was a stiff wind slab failing at the Dec 3 interface. The thicker, harder slab atop the facets was the reason for this result, but this slab was not present further down slope. Even so, we chose to ski a supported feature with an incline in the low 30s.

The greatest hazard of the day were the numerous rocks still lurking near the surface. I recommend skiing cautiously and wearing a helmet if skiing in this zone, until the snowpack gets deeper.

Mark Klassen

ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide

Banff-Lake Louise, Canada

Alpinism | » Avalanche Skills Training 2 January 2016

[MCR] Polar Circus

Climbed Polar Circus yesterday (Dec 16) The approach ice is thin, but climable. Didn't get any results on hand shear tests on the slopes turning the pencil. The pencil is not even close to forming. However there are nasty daggers that look quite fragile! You would 't want to be under it on the wrong day - ie... Super warm or a cold snap. Today conditions were perfect and the temps were -10 degrees. The 1st half of that ice pitch is exposed to the daggers.

One of the stations was half missing in the first pitch of the upper tier. With a 70 meter you would bypass it. The crux of the route is doing some mix moves to get to last station.
Cheers,
Marco
---
Marco Delesalle
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.greatdividemountaineering.com
1 403 609-5580
1 403 609-1074



_______________________________________________
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] Bourgeau Right and Kitty Hawk, Rockies, December 15-16, 2015

Climbed Bourgeau Right on Dec 15 with one guest. The route is in excellent shape, takes good protection throughout and should stay for a while. Avalanche hazard was minimal on the route, however we did bring avalanche gear. All the rappel stations were uncovered as of yesterday however the top station will likely get covered again soon. A topo of the descent is included below if it is helpful. (Photo is from 2013)

Today we climbed Kitty Hawk along with another group. The second pitch is thin but well bonded and protects with short ice screws, the final pillar is in excellent shape. We added a bolt to the belay station on climber's left below the final pillar. The pitons were no longer trust worthy and the old bolt is well past its expiry date. A second bolt would be very useful here if someone has the time, it is a good belay spot for the final pillar. Minimal avalanche hazard on this route right now.

--

Conrad Janzen

ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide

Banff Mountain Guides

[MCR] Rockies, 2 Low 4 Zero

I guided an ascent of 2 Low 4 Zero today, Dec 16th. A cooler night had the creek overflowing some and we had to avoid some of the trail that had become suspect (just a 10 metre stretch).

2 Low 4 Zero is fat for 2 Low 4 Zero. Ice all the way with screws from the ground. 2 X 13 cm and 2 X 10 cm screws was useful.

Moonlight Falls and Snowline are both in good shape.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

Yanmuska Mountain Adverntures

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Rockies, The professor falls.

I guided on The professor falls. today, Dec 14. My guest rented us snow bikes to ride in and it is the way forward, the studded tires are far safer.

The route is largely dry despite a number of pools of water and windows into the flow. The third pitch is heavily chandeliered and offers no screws for 10 metres. Lots of hooking and lots of stuff to stand on. Good screws are possible where the angle backs off.

My guest ran out of gas so we didn't climb the last pitch but it looks good.

The walk off is good. We did  the one mandatory rappel from a tree rather than doing the exposed scramble down to the bolted anchor 5 metres lower (30 metres from the tree to the bottom).

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

[MCR] Rockies, Rogan's Gully

I guided an ascent of Rogan's Gully today, Dec 13th. The route is in challenging shape. First pitch is fine, second is very narrow and won't survive a heavy hand until it gains more ice. The grade 1 pitch leading to the third bolted anchor fell away in the heat and is a bunch of fractured plates lying in the gut of the gully. Today a hand's width of 1 cm deep bubble pack ice bordering the left and right sides of a six inch wide trickle of water offered risky tip toeing. The narrows where thin on ice and snow depth and challenging. Last pitch thinish and hollow on the right hand variation. Left hand variation looked fine.

Several pools of water along the route and a number of exposed flows, all manageable or avoidable.

Spooky to feel how much heat this December's sun is packing. We had a couple of snow ball instabilities roll down steep southerly aspects at 11:00 when the sun was out. I was happy to have the clouds stream back in and take the heat of the sun away.

Having said all of that, we had a great climb.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

[MCR] Rockies, Coire Dubh, Dec 12th, 2015

>
>
>
> Coire Dubh was in pretty good shape today(saturday). The ice is in for the 1st pitch, an easy section and a fat 3rd pitch. All grade 2 . Scruffy in the upper easy sections, unconsolidated snow on talus. We climbed the big left facing corner just right of centre for the last 100m. It was a mostly dry rock with a dusting of powder on top. Some firm snow and ice but not much up there.
>
> We didn't find any scary cracking or whumphing windslabs. Not much snow left to move around so until it gets hot, rains or snows a bunch more it should be a reasonable place to go reasonable places.
>
> Larry Stanier
> ACMG Mountain Guide
> laristan@telus.net
>
>

_______________________________________________
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] Special Public Avalanche Warning

Avalanche Canada has issued a Special Public Avalanche Warning. It’s a bit of an unusual one in that the area of greatest risk is open areas below treeline, a place people usually consider safer than higher elevations. It could be a tricky weekend. Please use caution until the current conditions have had time to settle out. You can view the text of the SPAW here:

 

http://www.avalanche.ca/news/VmstFiAAAIEBUcRl/spaw-2015-12-11

 

And the area of concern can be viewed on a map here:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zXL9iJ1oQi9c.koeugVgVqm3s&usp=sharing

 

Karl Klassen – Manager

Public Avalanche Warning Service

Avalanche Canada kklassen@avalanche.ca

 

[MCR] Rockies - Icefields Parkway Ice Conditions

Hi MCR Subscribers,

Fellow guides Alex Lawson, Ryan Titchener and I just returned from 5 days of guiding out of Rampart Creek.

Most of the ice climbs are still in early season conditions with thin and unconsolidated ice. There was little fracturing with the warm temps. The climbs are all snow covered requiring time and glove consuming cleaning. Bring the Goretex! And expect lensing.

The main flow at Tangle Falls is open. The area left supports a few ropes. The area in the trees to the right also supports a few ropes with open water on the ledge above.

Melt Out is thin with mushrooms. It has not filled in yet. It would be challenging for a beginner leader. P3 has open pools.

LHS Weeping Wall is discontinuous over the big ledge. RHS Weeping Wall has formed left of the main corner. Both Central and RHS climb with unconsolidated chandelier through the steeps.

Pure Energy is forming well. Evil Energy also climbs. The talus slope on the left is mostly free of ice right now.

Brent Peters
Alpine Guide
PeakStratagem.com

[MCR] Transceivers and batteries

If my experience last weekend helps only one person's beacon to work correctly, then this post will be worthwhile:

One of my guest's Mammut Pulse transceiver was giving repeated "Calibrate compass now" warnings, despite being calibrated two times and batteries at 55%.  When in doubt, reboot.  When I removed the batteries, I noticed there was corrosion on the contacts.  I scraped this with my knife, but wasn't able to remove all of it.  It looks like the beacon was stored over the summer with batteries inside.  We didn't get the error and warning again after the clean up.

 

I recommend checking beacons and carefully cleaning the contacts with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab and/or light sandpaper.  I think it was losing power for a fraction of a second triggering the compass on reboot function.  Who knows what scary consequences there could be in a real avalanche situation.

The model of beacon isn't important, as corrosion complications could occur with any brand.

Ken BÉLANGER

ACMG Ski Guide, CAA Professional Member

adventures365.ca | info@adventures365.ca

[MCR] Chickadee Valley, Kootenay National Park

I guided up there yesterday and found fair dust on a soft buried suncrust skiing on a south facing slide path of Boom Mountain.  The winds raged all day long at treeline and above, so we didn't venture very high.  A quick hole just below treeline (same south aspect) found a mostly low density snowpack of only 50 cm.  No surface hoar found in this pit, but we were up high enough that previous wind and sun would have destroyed any that formed.  I wouldn't be so sure of its absence on shaded and/or sheltered slopes.

Of course with the forecasted snow, all will (hopefully) change.

Ken BÉLANGER

adventures365.ca | info@adventures365.ca

Professionally guided custom adventures worldwide. Aussi en français.

[MCR] Rockies: Sunshine Backcountry / Healy Creek to Twin Cairns

Hi Folks

Went up Healy Creek toward Twin Cairns and out the Sunshine Ski Area on Saturday, December 5, 2015. Our route was up what I commonly call the “waterfall pitch” which is more commonly done as a descent route from the Sunshine backcountry. This is after the Wizard Chutes but before the Simpson Pass route described by Chic Scott in Ski Trails and is “Complex” (ATES rating) and complicated terrain requiring solid routefinding, navigation and avalanche travel skills.

Treeline and below, the height of snowpack (HS) varied from 60 to 120 cm. The travel up the Healy Creek trail was a packed trail and easy travel. Seemed to be less than 1cm of new snow (HN) since the last time anyone traveled the trail and we were the first on the packed trail that day. When we left the Healy Creek trail at the first major slide path we had to cross Healy Creek. This required taking our skis off since the creek was wide open. This was an easy shallow crossing.

Once we started breaking trail the snowpack was mostly supportive with ski penetration of about 20cm. Since the snowpack was so shallow there were a LOT of natural hazards and deadfall issues that I had never experienced before in the 7 or 8 times I had done this trip previously. This made the travel in the forest and creekbed particularly tedious since a lot of the deadfall had to be circumnavigated and the creekbed was not well filled in in a number of places.

At about 2000m we started up on steeper terrain. I noted that the upper 15 cm of low density snow overlying the midpack was sluffing very easily and didn’t seem very well bonded. Foot penetration at this elevation was essentially to ground. It was still an early season shallow weak snowpack. Didn’t investigate to see if surface hoar was in the mix here but I certainly had seen a lot of surface hoar the last time I was around Sunshine a week ago. In the protected areas in the trees I certainly took it for granted that it was lurking.

A bit of a surprise at this elevation was that when I dug down a bit I found the mid-pack to be moist.The base of the snowpack (basal layer) was quite facetted as one would expect in the Rockies in December. We didn’t see, hear or feel any cracking, whumpfing, shooting cracks or hollow sounds below treeline.

When crossing the one real smooth planar avalanche slope we encountered below treeline we took full avalanche precautions and travelled one at a time. I understand that the avalanche hazard below treeline was rated as low but low hazard doesn’t mean no hazard! Even a small size 1 slide would have given us a serious beat-down since there were so many early season boulders, stumps and deadfall waiting below.

On the actual waterfall pitch the trailbreaking was heinous due to the variability. I figure that we took an hour more than average to cover the more interesting terrain from the creekbed to the top of the waterfall pitch.

Upon breaking out at treeline we immediately noticed moderate wind drifting things around and a drop in temperature. The moist snow we found lower down was not found at treeline or in the open higher up.

Looking at a lot of the backside exits from Sunshine Area north of Wawa Ridge I was immediately struck by how thin and wind affected the common ski lines were. If anyone were to ask, I would say don’t bother with any of these lines since they were mostly rock studded. In addition any place you did find some snow would probably be a windslab over the basal facets.

The backside run on Twin Cairns was completely wind hammered by moderate to strong winds with a LOT of rocks sticking out everywhere. Not a place for a good board or set of skis. The front side was simply wind scoured and a rock fest. I didn’t find any of the major lines on Twin Cairns to be attractive at this time of year.

At just after 3PM we saw three snowboarders boot-packing their way toward Twin Cairns. They were breaking trail up to their knees or deeper and their progress was exceptionally slow. Not sure where they were going or if they persisted but it didn’t look like fun!

Synopsis: Early season conditions and a shallow Rockies snowpack with surface hoar now hiding below the new snow.

Play Safe
Cyril Shokoples – Mountain Guide

[MCR] Rockies: Ghost River, This house of sky, ice climb.

Climb is in excellent shape and there is fresh tat on the descent anchors. 
We descended the walk off but found the trail difficult to follow in the upper section. I would suggest staying farther left than our tracks in the upper part.

The driving is reasonable, with the exception of the first significant river crossing going in. There is a narrow canyon of open water between ice walls on either side which was a deep enough to put water almost over the hood of a 3 inch lifted 4runner. There are also significant ice shelves on either side. I would not suggest going this way and there is an alternate route approximately 100 m to the east. However I would recommend checking ice thickness on this alternate route. The diesel truck we were with on the way out fell through over the wheels and was seriously stuck. The route we ultimately took was solid for both vehicles, and now has tire tracks showing the way.

For anyone headed in I would suggest bringing an axe for adjusting ice shelves on the river crossings. I  would also recommend a lifted vehicle with studded tires or chains.

Josh Briggs MG
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403.609.9153
www.briggsconsulting.ca

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Josh Briggs
Consulting Geologist / IFMGA Mountain Guide
☎ 403.609.9153
www.briggsconsulting.ca

[MCR] Kananaskis - Evan Thomas Creek

Hi MCR Subscribers,

The Moonlight area is in great early season shape. In spite of the warming trend, the Evan Thomas climbs exhibited tension (shooting cracks from axe and crampon placements) from previous cold nights this morning. The upper sections of all three climbs are weeping and reforming. We climbed Snowline and 2 Low 4 Zero. Another party climbed Moonlight. We all found 10 and 13cm screws helpful for the first pitches.

A couple of notes for those who don't have recent beta:

1) There is an anchor on the ledge between Moonlight and Snowline (often covered later season). When climbing Snowline it is at about 65m. It is a 60m rope stretching rappel straight down to the ground.

2) There is an anchor on the ledge on the right above the small roof (1 bolt here) and steepest climbing on 2 Low 4 Zero at about 60m.

Of interest were the number of v-threads already in place on all routes and the size of cord that has been used. There are all sizes from what looked to be 4mm up to the standard 7mm. Also, a number of the threads have very short tails on the knots. I would encourage all climbers to inspect these threads before clipping them blindly for the quality (depth) of the thread, size and quality of cordage and knot. It does make sense to preserve the integrity of the dry and thin ice for threads to be in place and re-used instead of the inevitable honeycombing.

Brent Peters
Alpine Guide
Apprentice Ski Guide
PeakStratagem.com

[MCR] Area Closure, Mt Wilson, Banff National Park, Winter 2015-2016

Attention Ice Climbers on the Icefields Parkway!

A section of Mt Wilson is closed following an ice climber being bitten by a denning grizzly bear. This area will be closed for the winter to protect climbers and the bear. Although this was a very rare and unlucky encounter, it serves as a reminder that bears are still active (often until late December) and other animals stay active throughout the winter. Make lots of noise and keep your eyes open!

Details here: http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/scond/cond_e.asp?oid=22162&opark=100092

Parks Canada Visitor Safety
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks | Parcs Natiounaux Banff, Yoho, Kootenay
www.parksmountainsafety.ca | www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca

[MCR] South Coast, Spearhead New ice cliffs

I was in the Spearhead today and noticed a couple of sizable new ice cliffs at the bottoms of very popular decents. They might be difficult to see even in good light.

The first shot is of the East Decker Glacier. It looks like more of this slope calved into Decker Lake this past summer.

The second is the bottom of the Blackcomb Glacier. Probably over 6m at its highest. Lots of ice chunks in the area as well.

These cliffs would make nasty last turns...

Dave Sarkany

 

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