[MCR] Backcountry ski conditions: Banff Park ; Plain of the six glaciers Lake Louise

Greetings,

 

Myself and guests skied in the Plain of the Six Glaciers area behind lake Louise yesterday.

Fantastic morning fresh powder and conditions quickly deteriorated by 12 pm as the entire area was affected by both a wind event and solar/day time warming. By 2pm there was a crust below 2000 meters and widespread soft slabs up to 30cm thick in more wind exposed areas. By the time we left the snow was mostly upside down or crusted and the surface slab had reached necessary cohesion values ripe for propagation and slab avalanches. It remains to be seen how this instability settles out.

 

We also saw plenty of wind transported snow in the alpine which was building cornices and loading lee aspects. There we a few natural avalanches up to size 2 from the West aspects of Victoria, Popes and Collier.

Eric Dumerac- Professional Mountain Guide
✆ 403-609-1564 
Mountain Skills Academy 

[MCR] Banff, Yoho, Kootenay - hazard ammendment & Stephen avalanche

Winds are forecasted to pick up to strong SW by mid-day today.  With increased wind the hazard will rise to Considerable in the alpine and at treeline with increased slab development from wind transport.  Expect some natural activity on lee features & slopes.

Also remember, the spring sun has a lot of strength.  Expect  avalanche activity on solar aspects (both small point releases and possibly larger slab releases on the suncrust)  in the afternoon, particularily intiating from cliffed terrain.

Lastly, just received a report that the glacier path on Mt. Stephen (N. asp) went last night, size 3, stay tuned for a photo later today.


Lisa Paulson MG
Visitor Safety Specialist
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks

[MCR] Size 3 Mt. Fairview

Just received a report of a size 3 off Mt. Fairview. It was the first main path that goes down to Sheol Valley to after leaving Saddleback Pass as you head towards Surprise Pass. It involved only the storm snow (about 50 cm), ran from the top of the path, propagated the width of the feature, and ran into Sheol Valley. The observation was made around noon today and likely happened within the last 12 hrs.

Lisa Paulson
Mountain Guide
Visitor Safety Specialist
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks
_______________________________________________
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] Rockies: Kicking Horse Pass

So today I went to north aspects in the Kicking Horse Pass area and there were issues there as well. 

Numerous large avalanches had run on major paths on north and east aspects over the past few days. 

In addition to those there were two very fresh size 3 avalanches, one on an alpine east asp of Cathedral Mtn which probably was triggered by early morning sun today and one on the ski line on the glaciated shoulder of Pope's Peak (north aspect). Fracture lines were 1-2 m deep.

I managed to push out a stubborn windslab on an open treeline ridge, it took a couple of hops but then it propagated 90 m around the corner from the east aspect I was on to the north aspect and ran 70 m into the forest. It failed in the storm snow 40 cm down. 

We skied tight lines in the forest. Any slope that was sun exposed was moist and will have a crust tomorrow.

Mark Klassen

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Rockies, Coire Dubh Integral

My fellow guide, Pat Delaney, and I guided ascents of Coire Dubh Integral today, April 1. The ice on the first pitch is deteriorating and climbed like somewhat detached stiff slush. It may not be long for this season. The rest of the ice was fine. Recent snows have blanketed the scree ledges with snow that feels like spongy whale blubber, but provided good step kicking today. The snow is also holding the rocks in place, no rockfall there today. We climbed the crux rock corner without crampons on dry rock with some wetness weeping from snow patches. We descended the ridgeline to the 1A Highway after traversing Loder Peak.

Overall -good conditions. We made the trip in about seven and a half hours.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com

_______________________________________________
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] Recent Large Avalanches in the Rockies

Approximately 50 cm of recent storm snow has fallen in the last few days, which has resulted in several large and destructive avalanches in the Lake Louise area.  These have initiated on the storm snow, Valentines surface hoar and basal facet interfaces depending on their location.  Of particular note are two events that occurred in the last 24h (see pictures):
       

• NE aspect of Cathedral peak which most likely involved the storm snow interface.
• N aspect in skiiable terrain on the Popes peak tour and likely stepped down to the Valentines surface hoar.  

 

In addition, there was another close call with an avalanche that failed on the basal facets in West Bowl in the Lake Louise Backcountry yesterday afternoon, and Parks Canada was called out to search the debris.

It seems all of this recent snow is awakening some older weak layers that have been lying dormant for a while.

Ian Jackson
ACMG Apprentice Ski/ Alpine Guide
Visitor Safety Technician
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks
www.parksmountainsafety.ca
www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca

[MCR] Avalanche Involvement, Miners Gully, Kananaskis Country

A skier triggered size 2.5 avalanche occurred on April 1^st in the feature know as “Miners Gully” near Canmore.  The slide stepped down to ground in some areas with fracture depths up to 160-170cm.  The snow was reported to be moist at the time of the accident at the top of the gully feature which is an E-NE aspect.  Luckily, the person involved remained on the surface and suffered no injuries.

 

It appears that the heat may be starting to wake up some of the deeper persistent layers around Kananaskis Country.  Spring is looking like it’s here, keep close eye with regards to aspect and temperature. 

 

See photos at  http://ow.ly/a0JOX

 

Mike Koppang

Public Safety Specialist

Kananaskis Country, AB

 

 

 

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