From March 14th - 17th, Aaron Beardmore, myself and two park wardens completed a traverse from the Bow Hut to the new Louise and Richard Guy hut, and back.
Ski conditions were great through out the trip, with steady snowfall on the 15th and 16th giving up to 40cm of new snow (redistributed into pillows up to 100cm deep by Moderate Westerly winds). Clearing on the 17th made for easier travel on our exit day. Numerous cornice falls were observed to have occurred during the snowfall, triggering storm slabs up to size 2.0.
Snow depths on the icefield ranged from 240 - 280 cms in areas probed. The ascent of the glacier beside Mt. Collie involved travelling through an area with many open crevasses, this section requires careful route finding. The final approach to the Guy hut is also challenging. We chose to descend to the hut via the ridge above, which was gained by traversing a bench at 2750m. Several open crevasses were visible on the bench but could be avoided (photo attached). I've also attached a kml file of the route that we chose.
Play safe out there,
Jonas Hoke
ACMG ASG
Visitor Safety Technician
Waterton Lakes National Park
