[MCR] Southern Great Divide Ski Traverse, Rockies, May 2-11, 2013

Just completed a 10 day ski traverse of the Southern portion of the Great Divide with Owen Short, Sara Mae, Jenn, Thomas, and Sepp!

We began up the Alexandra River valley May 2nd and exited via Bow Lake this morning, with ascents of Lyell, Mons, Barbette and Baker along the way.  With early starts we had very good spring travel conditions overall and were fortunate to have ten days of sunshine in a row!  A spectacular trip in some beautiful, remote country with nothing but bear tracks for company!

Early morning travel conditions on the glaciers were excellent with solid over night recoveries despite the warm temperatures (+7'C at Peyto hut at 0400 this morning). A supportive crust in open areas was still present down to Bow Lake at 0900 today.  Isothermal snow was found beneath this crust in thin alpine areas and below treeline with some wallowing near rocks and trees.  The canyon below Bow Hut required some wading to descend and soon will not be passable.

Avalanche activity revolved around daytime warming with low hazard in the mornings and considerable to high hazard by late morning or early afternoon especially on steep solar aspects.  We observed numerous wet slides to size 3 on solar aspects as well as many cornice failures as things heated during the days. Quite a few slabs of various depths have failed recently on depth hoar or other persistent weak layers on all aspects, but this activity seemed to have diminished over the past few days. 

For future reference if you are planning this trip...

We were able to ski 90% of the way up the Alexandra River on May 2nd.  We gained the Alexandra Glacier via the left side with some boot packing through the rock cliffs below the glacier toe to avoid the serac hazard on the right.  Crampons may become necessary to gain the glacier depending on how the glacier recedes, we were still able to ski onto the left side of the toe.

Many thanks to Larry Dolecki for the use of the Mons Hut as a great spot to overnight and to store our food cache.

The Mons rappels are well set up with a 25m and a 25-30m rappel off bolts equipped with cord and mallions. Bring replacement cord for these. A 60m lower worked well for the first 5 folks in the crew then two raps for the final person. While descending from the Mons rappel into Forbes Creek stay on skiers R of the creek once in the trees.

The climbers L (East) of the two possible Niverville Col options has a nicer lower angle entrance onto the Freshfields but both work.

Descending from tree line on skiers R of Lambe Creek has well spaced trees to use if required, and an easy log crossing of the Blaeberry River was present at the confluence with Lambe Creek this year.

Traversing along the bench to gain Parapet Creek was a bit of a grunt but certainly preferable to the Blaeberry River descent, a higher line may be easier.

Lower elevation trees in both the Blaeberry River and Forbes Creek areas provided wet but generally supportive travel on a more dense snow pack even late in the afternoon.

A really great trip to go and experience!

 

Cheers, Conrad Janzen
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.banffmountainguides.com

[MCR] Yamnuska

Climbed Western Union and the first bit of Broken Wing today (May 9) on Yamnuska. Both of these routes are dry and in good condition.
 
However, a fair amount of snow and ice is lingering on the summit ridge and in protected chimneys, gullies, cracks and ledges. We saw lots of seeping water on the cliff and heard a large nasty-sounding rockfall in King's Chimney around midday. Avoiding the chimney and gully-style routes right now seems like a good idea until another week or two of warm temperatures can get rid of the snow and ice and reduce the rockfall potential.
 
Have fun!

Jeremy Mackenzie
IFMGA/ACMG Mountain Guide

[MCR] Conditions in Glacier National Park

Spring has definitely hit Rogers Pass, with record high temperatures for
this time of year. Rapid and intense daytime warming, with little
overnight recovery, has caused an interesting avalanche cycle in the past
few days. Specifically, numerous very large avalanches (to size 3.5),
releasing very deep in the snowpack, or to ground, have been observed.
While it is not uncommon to have many moist or wet avalanches at this time
of year, the fact that we have seen so many large slab avalanches, many of
which have run to valley bottom, is a good reminder that we still have a
Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) problem. If you are planning on skiing at the
Pass in the next while, be aware of the potential for large slab avalanches
which could fail anytime of day or night, in addition to more typical
springtime moist afternoon avalanche cycles.

(See attached file: IMG_0075.JPG)(See attached file: IMG_0099.JPG)

Sylvia Forest
Mountain Guide

[MCR] Wapta May 3-8

Hamish Sanderson and I guided a group on the Wapta during the great
transformation period into summer. We went in Peyto in good
conditions on the 3rd, spent a few days at Peyto skiing to the
Baker-Habel Col on the 4th, and Mt Rhonda on the 5th enroute to Bow Hut.
We climbed Mt Olive on the 6th enroute to Balfour hut, and Mt Gordon
on the 7th, returning to Bow hut.

Initially we had planned to go out Sherbrooke but changed plans
deciding that this section could present poor conditions below alpine
elevations, with an increased hazard as well.
A few other parties did continue over to Sherbrooke, would be
interesting to know how that went.

On May 4th we witnessed a very large wet slab on the south aspects of
Peyto peak come down near the shores of Peyto Lake. In the following
days till the evening of the 7th. we saw widespread avalanche
activity on east, west and south aspects.

Of note was a size 3 on the upper bench of Mt Balfour which released
early on May 7th. This was an icefall avalanche.
The moraines below Bow hut also cleaned out with debris right next to
the trail.(late afternoon on the 7th) Many of the pockets above on
the west side of Crowfoot peak also released.
The east side of the Onion skin had a very large size 3+ on the
morning of the 8th, which most probably came out late on the 7th, and
was most likely cornice triggered..

The slopes above Bow lake, visible from the highway. are a testament
to the nature of activity in the Bow Summit area.

Skiing up high on the glacier was what spring skiing is all about,
great travel in the mornings with great skiing in the afternoons.
However, once you drop below the glaciers, isothermal conditions were
evident in the afternoons. Only on the morning of the 4th did we have
temperatures below freezing. However we did have good travel all days.

We had a good hard crust coming out of Bow hut early on the 8th but
the canyon is quickly changing and I would recommend taking the
summer trail in the lower canyon to avoid open water.
Bow, Peyto and Hector lakes are all down to ice. Bow lake was good
skate skiing with no signs of open water.

Driving north to Jasper was interesting as there was much less
activity, and most of it appeared to be loose slides with much less
slab activity.

I was amazed to see how much snow had been lost in the last 6 days.

Peter Amann
Mountain Guide.








Peter Amann
Mountain Guiding
Box 1495, Jasper AB, T0E 1E0
780 852 3237
cell 780 931 2521
www.incentre.net/pamann/
pamann@incentre.net
amannpeterr@gmail.com

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 02, 2013

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued May 02, 2013 It's been a fairly cool end of April, with plenty of snow left in alpine regions. In the Interior ranges, there have been reports of good skiing still to be had, with up to 30cm over the past week in the alpine. A pronounced crust is present everywhere on solar aspects, and below 2000m on shady aspects. Valley bottom travel above 1100-1200m is reported to still be adequate with a good overnight freeze, but is dwindling fast. The biggest concerns reported have been isolated wind slabs or storm slabs in steep, lee alpine terrain, and solar triggered wet snow avalanches in the afternoons. There have been good snow and travel conditions in the Rockies as well with cool temperatures over the last few days. Wind slabs and loose snow avalanches can still be triggered in steep alpine features, especially where they overly harder crusts and bed surfaces. On Wednesday, one person in the Aemmer couloir on the North face of Mount Temple was taken down 300m in a loose snow avalanche caused by another party above, luckily with no injuries. Starting this weekend we could see the first really big warm-up of the spring,with freezing levels to 3000m or higher. This will likely cause a natural avalanche cycle at some point during the week. A Special Avalanche Warning (SPAW) has been issued for Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks for May 4-5 due to these warming temperatures and how they will affect many hiking trails in the runout zones of avalanche paths. Each day will be warmer than the last through to the middle of next week, with higher overnight temperatures resulting in little to no freeze of the snowpack by the end of the weekend. I wouldn't be surprised to see some deeper slab releases, especially on solar aspects, and some really big cornice failures. Ice climbs at lower elevations are mainly delaminated or have given up for the season. Only high, north facing climbs will be in good condition, but I would wait until the temperatures drop again before committing to these climbs and other alpine li nes. You may be able to sneak out for a quick trip in the hills with a decent overnight freeze, but your window of opportunity on any snowy or icy adventures will likely be quite small this coming week. However, your window of opportunity on sunny, low elevation rock climbs will be quite large, and many crags in the front ranges and Revelstoke region are mainly dry. Stephen Holeczi ACMG 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] Mt. Revelstoke Park (Selkirk Mtns.) and Mt. Begbie (Monashee Mtns) May 1/2013

Snuck in a great day in the local mtns with the assistance of one of our local helictopter companies for access (the skiing within Mt. Revelstoke park was ski touring only).

 

There was 15 to 30 cms of snow from Sundays storm and the last couple of days of snow showers – no additional snow today under scattered skies and cool temperatures. This overlies a strong crust on any solar aspect and polar aspects below 2000m. and appears to either lack any slab properties or is well bonded where it does (within the terrain I observed – up to 35 degrees incline) – this deteriorated with warming on steeper solar aspects.

 

Avalanches today were limited to a few loose wet/moist avalanches to size 1 on steep solar aspects – there was also evidence from a previously skier remoted slab on a steep convex NW facing roll at 2200m. that had occurred last week (likely on the Apr. 4 SH interface).

 

My descent of Mt. Begbie at the of the day provided dry snow on N aspects to @ 1400m. after which I found supportive skiing with soft corn until it ran out entirely at @ 900m. – after which I was relegated to hiking down the road until I connected with my ride home.

 

Things could change as the weather warms – but that is how things looked currently!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Mt. Hector

Up to the easterly peak of Mt. Hector today with two guests and Walter Bruns. Left the car at 0630 with a cool minus 8 degrees and moderate to strong west winds. Good travel conditions the entire way as per Felix Camire's post last week. We did not use ski or boot crampons but that could change quickly. The recent storm snow has seen a bit of wind resulting in generally shallow ski penetration. Very little slab development was noted until above 10'000 feet. Here we encountered discontinuous lenses of wind slab however it was unreactive in tests and well bonded to the old surfaces. Ski quality was still quite good despite the strong westerly winds of today and the low elevation surface crust was just starting to soften at 2 pm when we got back to the car. We did not see any new avalanches.

 

Play Safe

James Blench IFMGA