[MCR] Coire Dubh Integrale

Guided Coire Dubh Integrale today, November 9. We climbed to the summit of Loder Peak and descended the ridge to highway 1-A .

Right now, there is no climbable ice on the route, although crampons were used for some verglas in the narrow part of the gully. This proved to be the crux due to challenging gear placements and the soft nature of the verglas. A few knifeblade pitons are useful in this section. The rest of the climb was done in mountain boots, easily avoiding all slushy ice.

Temperatures varied from -6°C to -2°C, although it felt much warmer in the sun. There was a small amount of snow in the shadow of Loder Peak, but never more than 5 cm deep. The lack of snow increased the rockfall hazard, although no natural rockfall was observed. The wind was light and variable on the route and ridge top winds were moderate to strong from the west.

All in all, I would say that in its present condition the route is still a good climb, but it is more enjoyable when there is ice.

Have fun, take care,

Grant Meekins
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

[MCR] Rogers Pass correction Nov. 2-4

Please note that with my previous post yesterday I made an error with the aspects of the avalanches observed. It should have read:

 "Several avalanches up to size 2 observed on E and NE aspects".

The photos were:

1) Looking East from the summit of North Terminal Peak across the Beaver Valley
2) Looking back up at our tracks down from North Terminal Peak
3) Looking West towards Sapphire Col from Youngs Peak
4) Looking at the highway from Youngs Peak

My apologies.

Alex Geary

[MCR] Rockies, Mt Kitchener, Grand Central Coulior

My guest and I decided to go check out the Grand Central Coulior on Mt Kitchener on Wed, Nov 3rd. We had our eyes open for slabs on the drive up as friends of mine had witnessed a large slab avalanche rip wall to wall on the big half-way ledge on the North Face of Mt Cromwell on Oct 30th. That avalanche turned the whole lower wall of Cromwell white. Also I got a second hand report of a team retreating from the Asteroid Alley route on Mt Andromeda because of slab conditions. I started noticing recent slab activity from around Bow Summit, and northe, with a very large slab out on the summit ridge of Mt Epaulette. The below pictured slab on the Ramp route of Mt Athabasca was spooky to see, but we decided to go stick our noses into Kitchener and have a look. Thus far the principal risk of our trip was hard packed snow on the highway. It is time for winter tires on the 93 North.

The approach into the face is in fine walking shape with no water to walk through on the Sunwapta River. Picture of the face below. We camped on the glacier below the face. A number of slabs were out on the face.

Nov 4th we left the tent at 5am. The initial bergshrund had been scoured down to summer snow by avalanches. One hundred meters higher we entered the first pillow of storm snow, got out the shovel and dug a test pit. We found a moderate shovel compression test and two easy to moderate shovel shear tests. The failures were clean pops with the recent storm snow failing on the October surface that had been rained on, and then frozen (this surface had granted us fine climbing conditions on our ascent of the Robinson/Arbic route on Mt Cromwell on Oct 19th). It appears that the snows and, mostly, the winds of the last week have overloaded that interface. We turned around and went back to tent for tea.

As a consolation prize we made the first ascent of the below pictured ice/mixed climb: WI 3+, 5.7 mixed, thin -you need rock gear. The route is on the lower cliffs between K2 and K3 (Kitchener 1 and 2), and we called it K9 because we got pooched on Kitchener.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

www.yamnuska.com

Nov 3rd

[MCR] Midday Peak, Selkirk Mountains near Salmo

Had a sunny hike/ski in the Barrett Creek drainage today near Salmo. We
reached the summit of Midday Peak just after noon. There was a whopping
45cm of snow at 1925m on the summit. The snow fully covered the ground
above about 1500m. Air temperatures ranged from just above freezing in
the valley in the morning to around 10C at noon on the summit.
Temperatures plummeted rapidly as the sun went down.

I took skis (the eternal optimist!) and my buddies took snowshoes.
Snowshoes were the better option. The skiing sucked on the breakable
crust, but I still had fun!.

Craig Hollinger,
ACMG Assistant Ski 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] Rogers Pass Nov. 2-4

We spent the last 3 days skiing around the Illecillewaet Neve at Rogers Pass under sunny skies. Nov. 2nd we accessed the Neve by the Perley Rock Summer Trail. Nov. 3rd we summitted Terminal Peak North, and Nov. 4th Youngs Peak.

Snow
We managed to put skins on our skis around 1900m on the way up the summer trail, the same point we managed to ski down to today over many rocks (20-30cm at this point). Snow depth on the glaciers ranged from around 30cm where we accessed the Neve at 2300m to 140cm near the Bergschrund on the approach to Terminal Peak North, but mostly around 50-70cm.

A quick profile at 2775m, SE aspect near the Bergschrund on the approach to Terminal Peak had a foot penetration of 75cm, and a right side up snowpack with no significant shear results.

Excellent skiing on glaciers, still too rocky anywhere else.

Temperatures
Warm temperatures observed. Minimum of -8.0 deg overnight Nov 2/3, and maximum of +4 deg at 7am Nov 4th, although obviously it got much warmer than that.

Avalanches
Several avalanches up to size 2 observed on W and NW aspects 2300-2700m, suspect ran on Neve. Most notable were on Youngs peak, some running from near the cornice to the flats below, nearly 300m vertical.

Alex Geary (Assistant Ski Guide & Assistant Rock Guide)
Fred Amyot (Assistant Ski Guide & Assistant Rock Guide)

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 4th, 2010

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 4th, 2010 Fall continues to cruise pleasantly along. Here on the east slope of the Rockies you can still climb when the wind is low and the sun is on the rock. Ice climbing is to be had in the cold high places and even the Terminator is starting to form into a collection of icicles and daggers that MAY be climbable soon by a very light person with a very light touch and a very high risk tolerance. Skiing in the rockies is probably pretty grim in most locations. People have been ski touring up high on the Rae glacier and at the Fernie ski area as an example. Lots of wind on the east slope so I am guessing it has been windy up high along the divide too. There have been two interesting and spooky reports from the Columbia mtns, both mentioning fairly large slab avalanches(approx 100m wide) from around 2300m elevation that ran on the summer snow. This is a bit disconcerting and will be something to watch for as the season progresses. High elevation skiing is still obviously a bit rough and the usual early season hazards like rocks, stumps, crevasses, open creeks etc are all still there at all elevations and just waiting for a tasty leg or head. The forecast for the Columbias and the Rockies divide is for more precipitation. Early season skiing in flat light is not my cup of tea, so I can only hope for ice, warm rock or a good movie. Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA 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 November 4th, 2010

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 4th, 2010 Fall continues to cruise pleasantly along. Here on the east slope of the Rockies you can still climb when the wind is low and the sun is on the rock. Ice climbing is to be had in the cold high places and even the Terminator is starting to form into a collection of icicles and daggers that MAY be climbable soon by a very light person with a very light touch and a very high risk tolerance. Skiing in the rockies is probably pretty grim in most locations. People have been ski touring up high on the Rae glacier and at the Fernie ski area as an example. Lots of wind on the east slope so I am guessing it has been windy up high along the divide too. There have been two interesting and spooky reports from the Columbia mtns, both mentioning fairly large slab avalanches(approx 100m wide) from around 2300m elevation that ran on the summer snow. This is a bit disconcerting and will be something to watch for as the season progresses. High elevation skiing is still obviously a bit rough and the usual early season hazards like rocks, stumps, crevasses, open creeks etc are all still there at all elevations and just waiting for a tasty leg or head. The forecast for the Columbias and the Rockies divide is for more precipitation. Early season skiing in flat light is not my cup of tea, so I can only hope for ice, warm rock or a good movie. Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA 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.