Up on the Columbia Icefields with Grant Meekins and the Yamnuska Mountain Skills Semester from May 28 to June 1st.
We found very good conditions on the Athabasca glacier and anywhere from 0 to 80 on the lower icefall ramps and increased depths with elevation gain. We traveled right of Center for the 1st ramp, left of Center for the 2nd. The final ramp to the icefield has a few open cravasses that are easy to avoid in good light at 2600m.
Snowpack on the icefield is averagely 300+ cm. Travel to and up Columbia was excellent on May 30th. The ramps in and out of the trench are in very user-friendly shape.
Up to 20cm storm snow fell may 30/31. Westerly Winds increased overnight and have most likely formed isolated slabs on high alpine features, we saw some sluffing from steep terrain. This morning (happy June 1st) we skied soft sastrugi over a melt freeze crust. Ski pen 5cm and foot pen is 15-30cm. Under this recent storm snow there are a number of crusts with still settling isothermal layers between.
-5 this morning at 2900m.. A wintery start to a summer month.
Safe travels.
Merrie-Beth Board
Apprentice Alpine/Full Ski Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
