[MCR] Mountain Conditions Report (MCR) on Facebook, Twitter, email and online!

The Mountain Conditions Report (MCR) is produced by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and contains information on current mountain conditions and updated route information supplied by trained and certified professional guides. 

For everyone who enjoys reading the MCR you now have four options to access these reports. You can view the MCR's on our ACMG Facebook page, follow us on Twitter to be notified when an MCR has been published, have the MCR's sent directly to your email, or view the MCR online.

1) Click on our Facebook page to view recent MCR's, interesting mountain news, and other ACMG updates. 'Like' us on Facebook to get the most recent reports delivered straight to your Facebook news feed.

 

2) Follow us on Twitter  @ACMGmcr to be notified each time an MCR has been published.

3) Sign up to have MCR reports delivered directly to your inbox by subscribing through the ACMG website

4) Go to www.acmg.ca and view MCR's online.

Stay warm and have a great winter season!

Conrad Janzen

ACMG Mountain Guide

www.acmg.ca

[MCR] Coast Range, Ice Observations - Duffy drive by

I drove south from Goldbridge and over the Duffy Lake road last night.

Bridge Canyon is very slippery and only Night 'n Gale and Old Dogs New Picks were formed enough to consider. Night 'n Gale looked thin but good. Old dogs looked thin and desperate. BVM had an excavator right below Old Dogs pulling out material likely to make storage space for future avalanches that come down the route. I'm not sure how long they inted to be there, but you would be right in the way if you try to climb there. Some of the climbs on the south side of the canyon looked formed but did not touch down...lots of mixed projects to get to them.

Along the Duffy, Synchronicity, Carl's Berg and the Rambles all looked worthwhile. Syncro looked thin throughout, possibly bony in the lower gullies but the main flow looked thick enough to take long screws. Carl's Berg was WI 5+/6 and looked challenging but mostly protectable. The Rambles had several options that looked formed enough to climb. The tube was not there at all.

When we drove through (4pm) the temperature was -8 but was expected to drop to around -20 by the next morning. Not much snow on the ground, so approaches would be alright. I would be very cautious of brittle ice because most of the ice has only formed during the latest cold snap. The road was very slick where ever it came close to the river.

Conny Amelunxen

MG

---

[MCR] Cascade Falls, Banff, December 5, 2013

Despite the ridiculously cold temps, we enjoyed a sunny and warm ascent of Cascade Falls today thanks to calm winds and clear skies.  We were able to climb in the sun for all but the final small step in the back of the gully and descended via the walk off/rappel next to "Rogan's Gully". The climb is a little thin but generally in good shape with good protection throughout. Some short ice screw were handy is several spots and care must be taken for the final few meters of the steep pitch where there is only a thin shell of ice over the flowing water.

Until the winds pick up or we get more precipitation the avalanche hazard above the climb seems quite minimal with about 15-30cm of facetted snow on the ground.  Having said that...carrying avalanche gear for climbs like this is not a bad idea at any time.

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

[MCR] Rockies, Guinness Gully

I guided an ascent of Guinness Gully today, Dec 3rd. The route is in good shape and it was a pleasant sunny day in Field with no wind on the route. There is a shallow 30 centimetre snow pack to the top of the route and much of the walking is a stumble on rocks lying under a meringue of snow.

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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
See http://informalex.org/subscribe.shtml#unsubscribe to remove your name from this list.

[MCR] Trophy Range- South Cariboos

The recent weather system has dropped between 35-40 cm of new snow in the past 48 hours in the Trophy Range of the South Cariboos. Below tree line and tree line skiing was very good yesterday with most ground obstacles covered under an average of a 1.0 m snowpack.

The new snow overlies a variety of old surfaces including a widespread surface hoar layer that developed in late November and some pockets of sun crust on steeper solar aspects.

As of yesterday the new snow/surface hoar layer was moderately reactive to ski cutting on small unsupported features at and below tree line- including cracking and propagation. We avoided steep open glades & cut blocks and gully/creek features. 

Once the new snow becomes more consolidated with the forecasted cooler temperatures and high winds- initially it is possible that the SH layer may become very reactive to skier/rider triggering and likely we will see a natural avalanche cycle occur in some areas over the next day or two.

Due to the heavy fog and weather we did not observe the start zones of the larger north facing bowls on Raft Mountain- I would suspect there is certainly some natural loose avalanches occurring with the new snow loading.

The base and mid-snowpack are relatively homogenous with very little in the way of melt freeze crusts etc... It is also very well settled creating an excellent bridging effect allowing good travel for early season. 

So it's time to think more about TERRAIN choices- now that there is a developed snowpack with the seasons first layer of concern. 

Snowing hard in the upper North Thompson this morning~

Dana Foster

ACMG Ski Guide

CAA Professional Member

Snowy Mountain Alpine Tours

Authentic Mountain Trips

O 250 674 2988

M 250 674 8069

snowymountain.ca

[MCR] Monashee Mountains Dec.1/2013

I am currently working in the Monahsee Mountains just west of Blanket Glacier (SW of Revelstoke).

 

All these observations are limited to Treeline and Below Treeline terrain – we have not had the opportunity to observe the Alpine other than the occasional glimpse between the fog and snow

 

We have had 34cms of snow in the last 24hours with mild temps and little wind (again no ALPINE obs). Our test have indicated that there is currently a touchy storm snow interface down 35-40 cms.

 

The Nov.28^th layer in this area is down 45-55cms and is a mix of small surface hoar and decomposing new snow on Treeline Northerly aspects with a suncrust on steeper solar aspects – the Surface Hoar was more developed in Below Treeline terrain but we done’t ahve a lot of info there. It is still a concern at this point in time, but hopefully it won’t linger too long.

 

The Nov.12 interface is a crust in all profiles and has been unreactive in all tests.

 

On North aspects we have found some found remants of the October snows at the base of the snowpack – it presents itself as a crust with some weaker snow below it (basal facets) but currently is not reacting. It is not present on aspects that got more sun in October.

 

We have not observed any natural avalanches but we are getting results in the recent storm snow with our test (including low scores on rutschblock tests) and managed to ski cut a 40 cm deep slab on a steep convex feature at Tree line (size 1)

 

We are using conservative route finding and are optimistic that the forecast cooling temps will help bond these layers in the next while.

 

Until then – keep it real and play safe!

 

Cheers,

Scott Davis

ACMG Mountain Guide  

[MCR] Hummingbird Pass, Whitewater ski hill area, Southern Selkirk Mountains

I conducted the field day portion of an AST1 course today in the
Hummingbird Pass area near the Whitewater ski hill. These are a few
observations from the day.

When we arrived at the parking area at 8AM, we found about 17cm of new
snow had been deposited by the storm overnight. The snowfall continued
for most of the day and another 2-3cm was laid down by the afternoon.
I'd say there was a healthy 20cm of new snow on the ground by the time
we got back to the cars at 4PM. And, it was still snowing lightly when
we left. The forecast is for this to continue through tonight and part
of tomorrow. There was little wind throughout the day and I couldn't
hear any up higher on the ridges either.

There was about 1m of snow on the ground most everywhere we went and the
coverage over rocks, stumps and fallen trees is minimal at this low
elevation. The rain crust from mid-November was around 60cm down and
the crust from late October was about 15cm up from the ground. It was
difficult to test the bonds on and around these crusts as the pits I dug
were on level ground. It will be interesting to see what the additional
load from the storm snow of today and tomorrow does to the stability. I
think we could see some natural avalanche activity tonight and tomorrow,
perhaps failing on these crusts.

We didn't gain much elevation (max 1600m) and the visibility didn't
allow us to see much of the ridges up higher, so no natural avalanche
activity was observed (not say that there wasn't any, just couldn't
see). In the pass, we observed some point releases and sloughs off the
cliffs.

The temperature was around -2C for the day. It was the kind of
temperature that felt colder than it really was. Didn't take long to
start getting that damp, cold feeling.

Although the snowpack is building, the coverage at lower elevations is
minimal, so any sliding activities would best be done cautiously to
avoid any mishaps. If I were going out again tomorrow, I'd be treading
lightly and avoiding serious avalanche terrain. This storm could push
the snowpack to the tipping point and produce a natural avalanche cycle.

Thanks to my keen and attentive students, we had a great day exploring
the snow.

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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
See http://informalex.org/subscribe.shtml#unsubscribe to remove your name from this list.