[MCR] Rockies -- Ha Ling, EEOR and area, 4 May

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Rockies -- Ha Ling, EEOR and area, 4 May

Posted on Thu, 05/05/2016 - 00:00 by Carl Johnston

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Took advantage of the July-like conditions yesterday to climb Ha Ling via Sisyphus, and to have a good look around the valley. The Ha Ling approach trail was almost entirely dry except for a couple of problematic snow patches right where the trail is steep and scrappy at the base of the route. Given their size and aspect, I expect they'll last for a bit yet, but that's easy to see from valley bottom. It's possible with a bit of exposure to detour low around them for gaining the shoulder and the NE Buttress. Otherwise, traversing the moat to the start of Sisyphus would be spicy with a firm freeze or light footwear. Beyond that, the whole NE face of Ha Ling was bone dry as is the descent. On the route there are plenty of early-season handhold souvenirs still hanging about, of course, and a feast of ticks that must have hitchhiked up somehow, but otherwise the peak was in fine shape and it felt like mid-summer there yesterday. Looking across from Ha Ling to EEOR, there was still a bit of snow lingering on the summit shingle (mainly above Generosity area) and a couple of small seeps on the face, although the descent looks basically dry already and more typical of 6-8 weeks from now. Still, with the signs of moisture up there, I'd be expecting plenty of rockfall from those soupy scree slopes up top, and for that reason, we gave it a pass yesterday. However, with today's rain and a few of the warm days in the forecast, I'd be surprised if the snow isn't melted and the seepage dried up very soon. Elsewhere in Spray Lakes, anywhere shady above 2200m had some kind of snow coverage and above 2500m still looked pretty white. Enjoy, Carl Johnston ACMG Alpine & Rock Guide Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

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[MCR] Sunshine Ski Touring Trip Was On May 4th

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Sunshine Ski Touring Trip Was On May 4th

Posted on Thu, 05/05/2016 - 13:35 by Jordy Shepherd

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Description

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[MCR] Snow Conditions - Sunshine Backcountry March 4th

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Snow Conditions - Sunshine Backcountry March 4th

Posted on Thu, 05/05/2016 - 12:49 by Jordy Shepherd

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For those of you still hunting for snow, I was ski touring out of bounds yesterday (March 4) at Sunshine ski resort with fellow guide Fred Amyot and a group of Thompson Rivers University students. There was a light freeze overnight making for reasonable ski travel. At noon the air temperature was +11C at 2200m. Some broken cloud cover helped reduce the solar effect. By 3:00pm we were breaking through the crust below 2300m as we skied back inbounds. There was up to 115cm of snow at 2200m, but lots of bare patches showing!

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[MCR] Cornice Failure, Mons Rappels, Mons Icefield, Banff National Park

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Cornice Failure, Mons Rappels, Mons Icefield, Banff National Park

Posted on Thu, 05/05/2016 - 00:00 by Parks Canada

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Heads up to folks still travelling in the high mountains this spring: A team of Parks Canada visitor safety specialists responded to an incident involving a skier who was struck by a cornice as they were descending the West Glacier of the Mons Icefield on May 4th, 2016. The skiier was part of a group of seven that were on the southern half of the Great Divide Ski Traverse in the northwest portion of Banff National Park. The skier had finished rappelling down the final rock band on the established rappel route when he was struck by debris from a cornice that released overhead. He travelled approximately 40 meters in the debris, landing on the surface and sustaining a back injury. The skiers were descending the rock band one at a time and no other individuals were hit by debris. The group had knowledge and experience travelling in avalanche terrain and had done thorough route planning before commencing their trip. They were on the rappels around 10 am on an overcast day, but there had been no freeze the night before. Although it is spring in the Valleys, there is still snow up high with all of the associated hazards of avalanches and cornice failures and thinning crevasse bridges. Have a safe spring! Parks Canada Visitor Safety Banff, Yoho & Kootenay National Parks www.facebook.com/ParksMountainSafety

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[MCR Regional Summary] ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 5th, 2016

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ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 5th, 2016

Posted on by Larry Stanier

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It seems to be a wet and chilly day in most of the Rockies and Columbia Mountains. Snow is probably falling somewhere in the Alpine but a quick survey of the Parks Canada remote weather stations in Glacier and along the Rockies Divide made me think it would be a grey, damp just barely freezing sort of day up high. Yukk! The snow line will be getting pushed even higher up and it would be prudent to assume that the remaining snow around treeline will be soggy and poor traveling till we get a good overnight recovery again. Big greasy wet slab avalanches, glide slabs and rockfall should all be happening today as the rain carries on. This rain soaked snow could get strong quickly with clear overnight skies and cool temperatures. There may be some stiff windslabs in the alpine but I don't imagine there is too many people currently in the alpine making direct observations. Access into the alpine is improving as the snowline recedes and is way ahead of "normal" by at least a month throughout the forecast area. Along the divide of the Columbias the snowline is generally lower than the Rockies. It is possible to drive to the turnoff for the Bugaboos parking lot but there is still some snow in the forest down low and lots of snow above the moraines and around the hut. Glacier Park has received 50ml of rain so far and it currently appears to be well above freezing there at 2000m. What does all this mean? Well, the bad news is that skiing is becoming an increasingly more desperate act with longer and longer approaches. The good news is that alpine climbing is becoming much more reasonable from the roadside attractions like the Columbia Icefields and Rogers Pass. Wise sources at Rogers Pass figure that routes like the West Ridge and South Face of Tupper and the NW ridge of McDonald could be climbed with an early start and a willingness to deal with some snow on the approach and the ledges. At the Columbia Icefields, moderate routes like the W Shoulder Direct on Andromeda and the ESE Face of Athabasca looked great. Steeper routes like the A-strain, Asteroid Alley ,Shooting Gallery etc are difficult to see but looked lean for ice. The bottom of Slipstream looked melted out last Sunday and is very unlikely to have improved. The whole East slopes of the Rockies are very scrambler friendly for this time of year and East slope peaks close to the valleys in the Columbias would be worth considering but I don't have any direct observations to confirm that. As usual in these transitional periods, it is all about the weather. Keep an eye on the forecast and on the sky if you are going out. It could be good and it could be bad. How is that for an expert opinion?:) Larry Stanier ACMG Mountain Guide

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[MCR] Columbia Mtns, Asulkan/Illecillewaet drainages closed

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Columbia Mtns, Asulkan/Illecillewaet drainages closed

Posted on Thu, 05/05/2016 - 00:00 by Parks Canada

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The access to the Asulkan and Illecillewaet drainages at Rogers Pass is currently closed due to several grizzly bears in the area. Parks Canada staff are working on radio-collaring these bears to better monitor their movements throughout the spring and summer. Once this work is complete, we anticipate the area to be reopened to the public. Thank you for your patience and cooperation in avoiding this area. Parks Canada Visitor Safety

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[MCR] Rockies, Columbia Icefields. May 1st to 3rd, 2016

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Rockies, Columbia Icefields. May 1st to 3rd, 2016

Posted on Tue, 05/03/2016 - 00:00 by Larry Stanier

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Fine June skiing from May 1st to 3rd at the Columbia Icefields. WARM, CLEAR and not a dry snowflake in sight. Good freeze every night and good skiing up high. Getting very lean or dry below the glaciers. We had good skiing above treeline at Parkers Ridge on Sunday and it was "manageable" skiing below treeline at 3pm. Today we skied up the Boundary Glacier and down the Hilda Glacier. The Boundary Glacier moraines were easy to get to but we walked with skis on our packs all the way from the Hwy. Good ski travel above there for now and excellent corn on the Hilda Glacier side at 10:30am. It was much more rugged than Sunday getting down the last 100 vertical meters on the lower Parker's Ridge to the Hilda Hostel as it is melting fast. A couple of bare sections had to be crossed and the snow in the trees now has a nasty selection of frozen ski trenches, human sized craters, variable crusts and wet weak snow. Yesterday we skied from the toe of the Athabasca Glacier to the summit of Snowdome in excellent early summer conditions. The 2nd Icefall can be passed on the left of center but it does require some fancy ski walking or cramponing on bare ice in a few places. Snow was fairly shallow at the top of the Athabasca glacier and on the upper south face of Snowdome. Good, easy roped travel going up but I thought it would be a terribly lonely place in bad light unroped. It felt reasonable skiing down unroped on Monday but we had perfect light and it was still a solid snowpack with a good fast corn surface all the way down to the flats where the Snowcoaches turn around. Somewhat sticky from there down at 3pm. 25c in the shade in Canmore at 4pm. Hard to believe it was great skiing 6 hrs ago:) Larry Stanier ACMG Mountain Guide

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[MCR] Mount Columbia, Rockies

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Mount Columbia, Rockies

Posted on Mon, 05/02/2016 - 00:00 by David Lussier

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Hi all, We guided and ascent of Mount Columbia over 3 days from April 30th to May 2nd. We skied in and out of the Columbia Icefields via the Athabasca Glacier and camped just East of the Trench for two nights. We had a mix of sun and clouds while skiing in on our first day and mostly clear skies for the remainder of the trip. Temperatures ranged from -2.0C overnight with calm winds to 10.0C during the day with variable light winds. The snow coverage was thin on the lower Athabasca Glacier, deep spots were in the 70cm range and many bare ice areas were starting to show. We had to walk from the parking area to the toe of the Glacier before putting skis on. We ascended the first icefall on the right side, the second via a snow ramp ¾ of the way across the left side and the third via the usual snow slope. As expected snowpack depth increased with elevation; we measure 150cm at the base of the third icefall and upwards of 300cm on the Columbia icefields. Despite the warm daytime temperatures, the overall travelling conditions were excellent. Surfaces ranged from hard supportive crust in the AM to 5-10cm of moist corn snow in the PM. We toured up to 3400m on the Southeast shoulder of Columbia and boot packed the last 300m to the summit. Crampons, ice axe and conditions made for secure steps up and down. There were several hard crust in the top 30cm of the snowpack, this helped maintain mostly stable avalanche conditions. Let's hope these great ski mountaineering conditions persist, enjoy! Cheers, David Lussier acmg Mountain Guide & Kenton Lambert acmg Apprentice Ski Guide www.summitmountainguides.com

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