[MCR] Columbia Icefields/Castle/Louis

The Assistant Alpine Guide Exam was at the Columbia Icefields Aug 30

Boundary Glacier - North Glacier circuit (and vice-versa), up to 2900 m
elevation at A2 col and below N Face of Athabasca

Up to 10 cm new snow from Aug 29 precipitation event. Variable
conditions in the old snow beneath, occasionally punchy just above firn
line, firm at higher elevations. Lots of thinly bridged crevasses. More
new snow evident at higher elevations, windloading with mod-strong
northerlies turning to westerlies at ridgetop over the day. Significant
wind pillows noted on the Silverhorn. Suspect slabs on the Silverhorn
and the ramp on the regular route.

On Aug 31 we were on Eisenhower Tower and Mount Louis. Both were dry.

Mark

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.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] Lake Louise area

The Assistant Alpine Guide Exam is based in the Lake Louise area this week

Aug 27
Grassi Ridge - dry
Bass Buttress, Castle Mtn - a few wet bits on the last 2 pitches

Aug 28
Mt Whyte traverse, Lake Agnes to Plain of Six - generally dry with some
remnants of snow left over from the recent storm
Mt Carnarvon - dry

The Alpine Guide exam is also active in Lake Louise and Rogers Pass

Aug 27/28 - Traverse from Collier/Vic col to Mt Whyte, with a bivy at Unnamed/
Popes col. Good alpine travel conditions, some remnants of snow from the recent
storm, isolated drifts of 20 cm with some up to 40 cm. No avalanche activity
noted.

Talked to the other AGE group on the radio who were on Tupper in Rogers Pass,
from Carnarvon. Sounded like good conditions but a front was approaching from
the NW.

Wireless internet at the Alpine Center. Cool

Mark

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.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] Lake Louise area

The Assistant Alpine Guide Exam is based in the Lake Louise area this
week

Aug 27
Grassi Ridge - dry
Bass Buttress - a few minor wet bits on the last 2 pitches

Aug 28
Mt Whyte traverse, Lake Agnes to Plain of Six - generally dry with some
remnants of snow left over from the recent storm
Mt Carnarvon - dry

The Alpine Guide exam is also active in Lake Louise and Rogers Pass

Aug 27/28 - Traverse from Collier/Vic col to Mt Whyte, with a bivy at
Unnamed/Popes col. Good alpine travel conditions, some remnants of snow
from the recent storm, isolated drifts of 20 cm with some up to 40 cm.
No avalanche activity noted.

Talked to the other AGE group on the radio who were on Tupper in Rogers
Pass, from Carnarvon. Sounded like good conditions but a front was
approaching from the NW.

Wireless internet at the Alpine Center. Cool

Mark

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.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] Mountain Conditions Report - Aug 25

Mountain Conditions Summary - Rockies and Interior Ranges
Issued August 25, 2005

A bit of a change to mountain conditions this past week  especially on the eastern side of the Rockies. A typical third week of August snowstorm crossed all regions mid week, leaving various amounts of new snow behind.

This upslope storm was focused mainly on the Bow Valley and Lake Louise areas. Regions to the west and north were spared the full brunt. Rogers Pass, the Columbia Icefields and the Bugaboos received about 5-10 cm, which was melting away rapidly on Thursday. Expect good conditions in these areas over the coming days, with fresh snow lingering on the north facing terrain.

In the Lake Louise area, observations the day after the storm put the snowline at about 2200m, just down into the treeline. Depth increased rapidly with elevation to about 30 cm of snow observed at 2500 m. Add to this the drifting effects of wind, and pockets of new snow up to 70 cm can be expected at higher elevations.

With the good weather forecast, its likely to be a great weekend and hopefully some of this recent snow will settle and/or melt away. Alpine climbing in the Lake Louise group will require some serious thought - with drifted snow in excess of 75 cm in the alpine, and a return to warm temperatures . . . put your avalanche thinking cap on! Stick to ridge crests and watch out on the big faces. No doubt the mountains will be shedding the new snow over the next few days.

Be wary of steep, sun-exposed terrain where both avalanches and rockfall may be a concern. On the glaciers, watch for crevasses bridged with a thin skin of recent snow  its probably difficult to see crevasses that may have been visible just days ago.

In summary  it looks like an awesome weekend to be out, things have changed but lots of good options for alpine and rock climbing still exist. Conditions are better in Rogers Pass, the Columbia Icefields and the Bugs. In the Lake Louise area the big serious north face routes will be out of shape, but moderate routes and low elevation (or front range) south/west facing rock should clean off nicely.

Lets hope this sets us up nicely for good mixed climbing in September!

Grant Statham

___________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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] Blowdown Creek, Duffy Lk

The 21st -23rd was up at the Blowdown Creek Cabin off the Duffy Lk road. Distinct lack of insects probably due to the cold temps and snow that fell on the morning of the 23rd. The road to the trail head is in good shape, looks like they where hauling last year and is 2 wheel drivable. The trail head is now at 0557045 5579827 NAD 27 (follow the main line and its just after a creek crossing, no flagging at start). From there its a well worn and marked trail up the S/SWside of valley to the alpine.

Dave Sarkany
_______________________________________________
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] Bugaboos

Hi All,
Left the Bugs yesterday morning (24th)and there was much less snow than in
the Rockies. Most of it had already melted off the sunny aspects by around
10:00 AM but I am sure that the higher shady stuff (Bugaboo NE ridge) will
have some snow on it for a few days.
Cheers,

Marc Piché
_______________________________________________
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 Niblock, Aug 24

Via the scramble route from Lake Agnes. Better weather in the Lake
Louise group than in the Bow Valley today. New snow above 7000'. 30cm at
8000' varying up to 70cm where it has been wind drifted. Very wintery
above 9000', lots of verglas and dry snow being blown around. On the way
down, at 15:00, snow below 9000'was setteling quickly. No avalanches
observed.

Happy trails
Barry Blanchard

_______________________________________________
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] Eliminating the "Big Email Download" problem

This is for James Blench, and others...

I can't believe I only just discovered this now, but there is a simple
solution for all of you who dread downloading megabytes of Informalex photos
on a dial-up connection that you don't necessarily want in the first
place...

It's the "Digest" mode of receiving emails. Not only do you just receive
emails once a day (typically), but you also do NOT receive attachments in
the body of the message -- to view attachments, you click on a URL that is
designated in the post.

To set yourself up for digest mode, visit the list info page:

- For the MCR, that is at http://acmg.ca/mcr
- For the guides' Informalexes, that is at either
http://informalex.org/coast or http://informalex.org/rockies

Towards the bottom is a box where you fill in your email address and click a
button that says "Unsubscribe or Edit Options".

You will then be presented with a page asking you for your password. If you
forget your password (it gets emailed to you once a month) you can click a
button at the bottom that will email a reminder.

When you are successful with entering in your correct password, you will be
presented with a page full of options (including the opportunity to change
your password to something easier to remember). Scroll down and look for the
"Digest" option -- change this to "yes" and you're set.

Digest messages are a little more awkward, but have obvious advantages.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
Informalex Moderator

_______________________________________________
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] Bishop Range

Spent the last four days camped below Mt. Selwin near the Bishop Glacier.
Selwin was dry. Did not get over to Hasler, but looked in good shape. The
schrund on Hasler is large, but crossable. Climbed Wheeler on Aug. 21. The
Deville Glacier was largely bare, with snowline around 9000ft. Snow/firn on
Wheeler was firm, perfect styrofoam conditions, softening in the afternoon. No
overnight freezes for all three nights, but got a dusting of snow last night
above 10,000ft. System intensified this afternoon, with limited visibility,
S1, moderate NE winds.

Checked out the Deville rap stations - all in good order. Look skiers left of
main gully - cairns and bits of colored tat help find the start of the raps.

Report from climbers on Sir Donald: very good conditions with snow lingering
on the north side of the ridge, but main ridgeline and south side all dry. A
system moved in last night however, and climbers were reporting (by radio)
snowing S3 as of 14:00 hrs this afternoon, depositing lots of fresh snow on the
ridge. Sounds particularly ugly up there right now.

SF.

_______________________________________________
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] Matier, Joffre, Tricouni

E ridge Matier, Aug 20:

E Ridge Matier. The firn on the lower section of the ridge is hard enough
and exposed enough to make crampons worthwhile. The rap from the 2nd to
last tower before Matier proper is nicely set up with mallions, but can be
nicely scrambled on 4th class. Dont be intimidated by the fresh goat
carcass at the top of the rap, Im guessing he died of natural causes?
The schrund to get onto the final NE ridge from the E ridge can be avoided
by staying on the E Ridge (rock). This spits you out about (vertical) 75m
from the summit. Still surprisingly good coverage on the NE ridge Matier.
Easy step kicking with crampons, but, still firm enough to go for a good
slide if you were to blow it& Access/descent from the NE ridge can be
done free of crevasse and schrund via the snow on the immediate East side
of the rock ridge between the NE ridge and N face.

S ridge Joffre, Aug 20:

Followed this up with the S ridge of Joffre. Nothing new hear, all rock,
all dry. Quite a nice route with difficulties up to 5.6/7. The standard
descent for this and most routes on Joffre is the SE face. Be aware that
with recent extensive snow melt the route is very prone to natural and
especially man-made rock fall. Rock fall will travel top to bottom of the
route. This is a route to be avoided as an ascent if you have a late
start, as anyone descending at the same time would slaughter you with
rockfall.

N. Ridge Tricoune Aug 21:

Approach with a 4x4 will get you to 4500ft Chance Cr Rd., and a 10 min
walk will get you into the alpine. The early season approach to the col
on snow is now 1.75km of loose blocks& Glacier on the N side of the col
is in excellent condition. The moat to get onto the N ridge is getting
problematic but doable. The easiest descent option is to descend west from
the summit to 6200ft then contour south to the col 600m directly South of
the summit. From here, return north along the ridge for 75m to a NE facing
ramp which leads easily back to the lake. Ran into 10 other people on the
summit in the period of 30min., which had hiked in from High Fall Cr.
Apparently, and as suspected, the recently released West Coast Scrambles
book is having an influence.

Keith Reid

_______________________________________________
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] illecilliwaet/asulkan

Just spent 5 days at Wheeler Hut/Asulkan Cabin with an ACC group, Aug
17-21. I climbed:

Terminal North, SW Face: good snow coverage on the face, no major
schrund issues
Uto SW Ridge: dry (with Gerta, 68 years old)
Uto, again
Abbot Traverse to Asulkan Cabin (again with Gerta!): normal summer
conditions, not recommended to go to Asulkan Cabin as it is a very long
day, Sapphire Col is better
Jupiter Traverse: normal summer conditions

Asulkan Glacier: Firn line at about 2150 m (mid Cleaver). I descended
from Sapphire Col twice. I tried the centre line beneath Jupiter but
late day soft snow conditions, two tired people on board and a digital
photo taken from Uto the day before that didn't show the saggy bridge
over the one crevasse that spanned the entire small bowl you go through
foiled that attempt. It might work in cold temps and a fresh crew. So
we went down on bare ice and boulders close to the Cleaver. Awkward
here, as usual. The next day I went down the normal ski line to the
descender's right of the Cleaver. Lots of weaving on ice around exposed
crevasses, some balancing across narrow ice bridges, one spooky snow
bridge that I belayed across with an ice screw anchor. Lower down
crevasses force you underneath the serac (which has been active) for a
little while. Overall I found the route close to the Cleaver to be a
safer option although rockfall could be an issue.

The ford across the stream to regain the Asulkan trail at the bottom of
the moraine was as bad as I've seen it, worse than when I crossed it
during the heatwave of 2003. We had to go down almost to the junction
with the stream coming from the Pterodactyl. I got my feet wet but
worse could happen in this place.

Couch time!

Mark

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.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] Jasper Park Alpine Conditions - August 21, 2005

Numerous phone calls and emails regarding conditions in Jasper, so here is
the latest:

Parkers Ridge Weather Station @ 2000m (near Mt. Athabasca):

August 18th - Low temp -2.7 @ 06:00 / Hi temp +6.5 @ 17:00
Aug 19th - Low temp +3.4 @ 05:00 / Hi temp +10.4 @ 16:00
Aug 20th - Low temp +7.2 @ 05:00 / Hi temp +13.4 @ 18:00
Aug 21st - Low temp +9.4 @ 06:00 / Present temp +15 @ 15:30

Conditions:

Aug 19th - Moist point release avalanche size 2 from Silverhorn (single
rock startzone) on Athabasca running onto flats of North Glacier across the
Ramp Route. Also a moist point release size 1.5 onto Ramp Route from
Silverhorn, and a size 1.5 moist point release from rocks on upper
Skyladder running half path.

Recent reports of good travel conditions at the Icefields, but most parties
are starting super early (02:00) and off the routes for an early brunch.
In the afternoon climbers are breaking through the crust up to their knees
into the moist snow below. One Athabasca North Face By-pass party reported
this morning measuring +11 at 03:00 at the climber's parking lot, and
decided not to climb.

The upper east ridge of Edith Cavell is still quite snowy, with recent
attempts but no report of any successful summiteers.

With a dusting of recent storm snow and moderate north winds the crevasse
fields are thinly bridged, and many slots are well hidden. Cautious roped
travel with lots of probing is essential. See attached photo on the
Boundary Glacier taken August 18th. The roped climber that fell in to
their waist was walking in the footsteps of the climber in front, with no
indication that there was a crevasse underfoot. Lots of end-running slots,
probing and Chevron/Echelon travel was required to move through.

The skier's left side of the Boundary Glacier is passable with lots of
transitioning between short-roping and glacier travel spacing, and some
rockfall hazard as the line goes below the cliffs of Boundary Peak.

Jordy

(See attached file: Boundary Glacier Crevasse Fall - August 18th, 2005.jpg)

[MCR] Mount Assiniboine

Climbed Assiniboine with a client Yesterday -August 20th. The wind was consistently moderate from the west all day, all elevations. Freezing level started at about 9000 feet, and the snow from the previous week was well frozen all the way to the summit. We started using Crampons at about 9800 feet and was excellent cramponning all the way to the summit! The Summit (11800 Feet) at 12:30 was -5, maybe -10 with the wind- chill. Felt like winter!! One of these years I will climb Assiniboine when it is dry!

Regards,

Marco
-----------------------------------
Marco Delesalle
mdelesalle@telus.net
403/609-5580
cell-403/609-7940

_______________________________________________
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

Tupper, Swiss peaks, Eagle, Uto, Terminal, and Sir Donald now dry following
the precip from early in the week. Sir Donald was climbed over the past two
days. Sir Donald might be short lived with precip expected by Monday.

Marc Ledwidge
_______________________________________________
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 Aug 18-19

Dynamocrack and I traversed from the S ridge of the mighty Uto to the North
ridge of the majestic Eagle on the 18th--This is a great moderate outing,
with a just a little trickiness in between the two and a low choss factor.
It gets a rating of 48.6 on the Wolfe Training Day Quality Scale.

Yesterday (19th) we messed around on the Illysilly/N Terminal/Vaux, etc.
Great travel conditions, excellent crevasse bridges overall. Minimal
softening/boot pen but enough, at about 12:00 pm, to make for secure footing
on the steeper (30+ deg) due-South-facing snow slopes up N terminal,
2700-3000 m. Bridges on this slope and the Vaux (2 pm) were softening but
still passable with care. This got a 71.2 on the WTDQS.

Great overnight freezes, great weather, great climbing.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe

_______________________________________________
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] Cerise Cr

Spent the last couple of days at Cerise Creek. The winters snow on the Anniversary Gl is melting out fast. Ice below about 7300' and between 7300' and the Matier/Joffre col about 25% of the surface is now firn/ice. The shrund at the Matier/Hartzell col is still filled in. The bugs have really died out, but watch for a partly dug up wasp nest .5 m off the trail about 3 min above the glacier/cabin route split (where trail is paralleled by 3 large elevated barkless logs)

Dave Sarkany
_______________________________________________
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] Tantalus

Just back from 5 days parked up at the Serratus-Dione Col.

Conditions are currently excellent in the range with average late summer snow coverage. Warm temps of the past few weeks have consolidated the snow for quick travel conditions especially if you have a good overnight freeze like we had Wed night.

N Face of Serratus is mix of snow, ice, and rock. Several variations of rock and/or ice exist. Most parties are descending down the west side of the mountain. Several options here. Try to get a good look at it from camp before you leave.

The Dione Coulior is still climbable, maybe for a few weeks more. Schrund can be crossed on left side by crawling into it. 3 pitches of snow climbing from here with good moat belays. We passed the rock step on the right side (low 5th) Last half of couloir is mostly loose rock. Great care should be taken if parties are below.

The SE Face of Dione is easily accessed on the left of the schrund. About a dozen folks summiting on Thursday.

SE Spur of Tantalus (high route) is accessed by contouring accross and crossing snowbridge onto rock. We left our ice axes and crampons here, and ensured we descended via same 'high route'. 'Alpine Select' guidebook suggests 20 m rap into Darling Coulior, however we found 5m of easy downclimbing instead. Galvanized chain and padlock still on summit (Anyone know where this came from? -heard rumour of disgruntled climber that broke into cable car, and carried chain to summit)

Descent Route off of Dione ridge on page 164 is wrong. A better descent is one gully to the right of the 'yes' route. 60 m rap gets you to the glacier, however rope drag is a problem when pulling the ropes.

Red Tit is still a reasonable refuge in bad weather, although leaks in several spots. It is rumoured to be removed when the new hut is finished.

This place is becoming very popular, and I only wish I had bought real estate here before the boom.
No less than 8 helicopter loads (5 different groups) of folks showing up over the 5 days that I was there!! This weekend will be busy.

New hut is looking good. Experienced building help still needed if you would like to volunteer some time. See www.jimhaberlfund.org

Happy Tantaleering!

Brian Gould
www.hautealpine.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] Aberdeen

Aug 19 - climbed the glacier route on Mt. Aberdeen today with Lisa P.

Awesome alpine day - clear and cool all day, with a nice bit of warmth
in the sun. Fresh snow crunching under the crampons, no wind. Just great.

Storm snow starts to accumlate above 3000 meters, where we walked
through 10-15 cm of rapidly settling fresh snow. Aberdeen's summit is
3100 meters, but there looked to be an increasing amount of snow on the
higher peaks like Temple, Deltaform and Hungabee. Peaks below 3000m
looked mostly dry. Snow in the shade stayed cool and dry today,
although the sun warmed things up and we saw lots of rockfall in sun
exposed gullies in the afternoon. South facing rock was melting off well.

Route in great shape. Lower glacier step is ice with a frozen trace of
snow, the upper part of the glacier was excellent travel on steep snow
all the way.

This weekend should be awesome!

Grant Statham

_______________________________________________
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] Mountain Conditions Summary for August 19th,2005

Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Interior Ranges. August 19th, 2005

Winter paid a brief visit with snowfall above 3000m on August 16th and 17th and a generally cold day with North winds on August 18th. Snow fall amounts varied over the area with 15cms on Assiniboine and Edith Cavell being the highest observed. Less snowfall was observed in the Lake Louise group, Columbia icefields, Bugaboos and Rogers Pass but expect conditions to be a little snowy and icy in the alpine for a couple of days on anything but steep south aspects. There are no reports of slab avalanches but lots of loose snow avalanches large enough to push climbers around ran during the storm. With the forecasted warm temperatures and sunny skies another short cycle of loose wet snow avalanches should be expected. Somewhere in the alpine, I am sure enough snow fell with the right winds to create localized windslabs that could be triggered by climbers or possibly daytime heating. There is no current information from Mt. Robson but it seems a very likely place to have a slightly
higher slab avalanche hazard.

If the current forecast of sunny skies and warm temperatures is correct, conditions will improve somewhat over the weekend. With careful route selection alpinists should be able to get in some good safe climbing over the next few days. Be aware that the alpine may be going from cold and snowy to warm and sunny in a relatively short time span and there will be more rockfall, verglas, snowed up rock, balled up crampons and avalanche hazard than last weekend.

Bon Cours

Larry Stanier

_______________________________________________
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] Cerise Cr/Joffre lakes Aug 12-15

Cerise Cr/Joffre lakes Aug 12-15

Clear skies and warm nights.

Snow coverage on Glaciers above 7000 remains good (approx 1.5m) for mid
August. Snow pack very well settled and strong. Glacier travel remained
excellent throughout the days even with poor overnight recovery. Crevasse
bridges remaining strong.
Alternatively; below this elevation the snowpack has diminished rapidly
with the hot sunny days over the last couple of weeks and are largely
exposed ice below 7000.

Significant previous rockfall deposit on the ice at the south edge of the
Anniversary Gl, at approx 6600-6000ft, is releasing boulders (microwaves
to VWs) at a steady/near constant rate (traveling up to 600m) throughout
day light hours and into the early night&

N face Matier bottom ½ ice
NE ridge still snow and well accessed with good coverage and bridges from
the col.

Auzi Couloir Joffre: mid section melted out for approx 35m and again at
the base of the route for another 10m.
SE face mid 1/3 ice

Rock routes dry and friendly&

Keith Reid

Clear skies and warm nights.

Snow coverage on Glaciers above 7000 remains good (approx 1.5m) for mid
August. Snow pack very well settled and strong. Glacier travel remained
excellent throughout the days even with poor overnight recovery. Crevasse
bridges remaining strong.
Alternatively; below this elevation the snowpack has diminished rapidly
with the hot sunny days over the last couple of weeks and are largely
exposed ice below 7000.

Significant previous rockfall deposit on the ice at the south edge of the
Anniversary Gl, at approx 6600-6000ft, is releasing boulders (microwaves
to VWs) at a steady/near constant rate (traveling up to 600m) throughout
day light hours and into the early night&

N face Matier bottom ½ ice
NE ridge still snow and well accessed with good coverage and bridges from
the col.

Auzi Couloir Joffre: mid section melted out for approx 35m and again at
the base of the route for another 10m.
SE face mid 1/3 ice

Rock routes dry and friendly&

Keith Reid

_______________________________________________
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] Mount Smuts

Climbed South Ridge of Mount Smuts in K-Country Yesterday(Aug 16). I am quite surprise that this peak is in the Scrambles book, and that more people have not fallen off of it!! After the typical Rockies scree slog, you get on to the ridge, then the next section you climb about 150 meters of exposed low 5th class climbing, and the upper part is 3rd to 4th class. On the 5th class climbing, there is bunch of pins, few of them I pulled with my fingers. I had 3 medium size cams, which I used for one of the belays. There is one brand new bolt and piton on the upper part of the ridge.

On the descent, right where the crux starts, there is a sloping ledge on the west side. I built a station with three pins and was able to rap to the scree gully with a 55 meter rope( a clean rap).

An ok route, but I would not recommend it as a typical scramble!!

Cheers,

Marco

-----------------------------------
Marco Delesalle
mdelesalle@telus.net
403/609-5580
cell-403/609-7940

_______________________________________________
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] Bugaboos August 12-15.

Excellent conditions at this time. Morning of August 13 was -1.0c , ice
formed on small pools and rocks crossing streams.
No afternoon build up.
Bugaboo/Snowpatch col still good travel. Wouldn't it be great if everyone
one used a different track down to preserve the up track for the frozen
mornings?
Some rock fall out of col off Bugaboo side, not desperate though.
Shrund is still no problem, yet samller crevasses are now strarting to open
up in several spots lower down on the col, several boot holes evident going
through into space in smaller but hidden crevasses. Trip across to Pigeon
and the Howsers also starting to get thinner, with more holes opening up.
Still many climbers travelling along this stretch un-roped.
Decent to South Howser in good shape.
At the time I left on Monday, power was down at hut. Lots of climbers in
the area, hut near capacity most nights.
Cheers Rich.

www.mountainguiding.net

_______________________________________________
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] N Summit Mt. Victoria

Climbed north peak of Mt. Victoria from Watchtower creek on Monday.

Gaining glacier at 8000' easy but requires thinking - the serac threat
is very real. We gained the ice on the left side of the tongue and did
2 diagonal pitches on 35 degree ice to reach lower angled travel - there
is walking route on the right side of the toe but it is very threatened
by active seracs. Crevasses are still bridged (barely) and crossable
through the middle of the glacier although you need to be creative to
stay on solid ground. Crossed to the left side of glacier for upper face
and the snow line is at 9000'. Upper route to NE ridge mostly snow with
lots of serac debris in the middle of the glacier from high on the north
face - stay left of travel fast across the middle.

Snow not frozen but there was some crust that kept us happy - these
upper slopes to the col are very snowy still with lots of big wet
grains. This would be a very bad place to be in a rainstorm or super
warm day. NE ridge from Vic/Coller col no problem on snow.

East side of Vic/Collier col melted out but good travel on bad rock,
some cornice hazard remains overhead - shrund easy to cross. Upper
Victoria glacier crevasses opening up and we did an end run under Mt.
Collier and back to get around open crevassses with a sagging trail
across them.

Still quite snowy above 10 000' - most terrain that is normally black
and icy by mid Aug. is still snow covered (Lefroy, Sickle). Big crack
looks to be spanning the glacier below Abbot's Hut.

Grant Statham

_______________________________________________
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] Columbia Icefield

Columbia Icefield, August 14/15 th. Thundershowers yesterday afternoon and
overnight. + 6 degrees at 5 am at campsite (2000 m) , rain to 3000 m.
Went up Mt. Wilcox between rain showers this morning.
Hias Ahrens

_______________________________________________
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] Starbirds

Gord, Nathan, Scott and I traversed from the Catamount Glacier to Welsh
Creek Aug 12-15, with 3 peaks bagged along the way: Griffith, Harmon
and Pk 9500.

Some hard showers the morning of Friday the 12th, giving way to clear
skies that night and the rest of the trip. A skiff of snow on the peaks
Friday morning melted away by lunchtime. A classic example of the high
pressure building over BC and butting up against the Rockies, causing
NW and SE flows to give the Rockies bad weather while the Columbias
bask in the sun.

Good overnight freezes, with excellent travel in the morning trending
to good in the afternoon, with the exception of crevassed areas right
at the firn line (spooky thin and weak bridges with warming afternoon
temperatures). Firn line about 8500 - 8800 ft.

18 years since my last visit to Welsh Creek, I had forgotten how rubbly
it is to descend from the Alpha Centauri Col to the Centaurus Glacier.
Big granite boulders perched on smooth slabs and unstable gravel, but
only about 150 m of it. It's best to try to stay in the middle on the
slabs, with a bit of a trend descender's left at the bottom to get off
the slabs (fixed pin). Lower, in the moraines, it's again best to stay
descender's left to gain the treed ridge which is taken to the lower
lake.

What a beautiful and gentle little mountain range.

Mark

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.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] Mt Resplendent, Aug 13

Flew into Extinguisher Tower Aug 11th and started walking up the Robson
Glacier at 14:00. Snow cover on the glacier about 1/2 km uphill. Good
travel into the Robson/Resplendent basin to camp at 18:30. Suspiscious
looking black object at the very bottom of the Robson Icefall is a black
garbage bag full of human feces.

Easy up to the Robson/Resplendent col Aug 12th via the Resplendent
slopes. One of our team felt a little overwhelmed by the whole affair
there so we opted to camp and give the Kain Face of Robson a miss. Clear
skies and an excellent freeze that night.

Aug 13th, perfect cramponing up Mt Resplendent. Class 2? slab off of the
very summit west slopes, 30cm crown, 50cm flanks, 100m across. Class 1+
surface slab out of the top 1/3 center of the Kain Face, some stepping
down. Everything was welded with frost for us. No runneling yet on the
Kain Face, Fuhrer Ridge is a snow climb bottom to top. Descended to the
Robson Pass campground that pm.

Kain icefall has been passed by at least one party, possibly two others
while we were leaving.

Walked out Aug 14th. A bridge at the North end of Kinney Lake washed out
and necessitated about five river wadings, some knee deep, over about
1/2 km. Take sandals if you're walking in or out. Thunderstormy Aug 13th
pm-14th pm.

Happy trails
Barry Blanchard

_______________________________________________
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] Abbott Pass from OHara

Valid as of August 14th, 2005

The trail up the final gully to Abbott Pass on the OHara side is in the worst dry summer condition I have ever seen. The first bit across to the Lefroy side is excellent then it disappears into a field of what I believe is mostly talus rearranged from a big wet spring avalanche. The talus is terrible walking and even potentially unstable in short sections where the slope angle gets above 40 degrees. The trail reappears in the towers on the slightly climbers left approximately 100 vertical meters below the hut.

It is manageable but don't count on setting any personal speed records or doing it in sandals. Descent down the center left on scree is actually in good condition almost to the intact trail at the bottom. The hut is in good condition with lots of snow, propane and green firewood. Lefroy is still almost all snow, Victoria dry to 10,500ft, icy above. Death Trap to lake Louise looks very crevassed and unappealling.

Larry
_______________________________________________
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. Bryce Conditions

Just back from the NE Ridge of Bryce. The route is in good albeit "early"
season conditions. Lot's of snow on the ridge above 9500 ' with large
butterfly cornices on the middle and main peaks, making for some
interesting climbing. Lot's of previous cornice failure along the ridge.
Snow pickets would definately be an asset . Didn't use any ice screws.
Lower third of the route is mainly dry and free of snow upper 2/3 was
good Neve climbing. In crampons most of the day. Still plenty of snow below
the col at the base of the ridge , making for an easy decent on the knees

The road is in good shape. Active logging at present with trucks hauling up
to the north fork junction of the Bush. No trucks passed on the north
fork...

Cheers Troy

troykirwan@telus.net

Home: 250 837 9551
Cell 250 814 8150

_______________________________________________
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] Fairy Meadows

> Just got back from Fairy Meadows August 6 to 13th. First two days, we
> did
> not get any freeze, but the rest of the week we had excellent radiation
> freeze. The days were relatively cool as well. The Granite Glacier
> still
> in really good shape...Crevasses well bridge. Patches of snow on
> Austerity NW ridge...The Head wall of Austerity is all snow, but well
> frozen, and the Schrund in excellent shape. Friendship Col..all snow and
> the Shrund has not really opened up yet...only in the extreme climbers
> right
> or left. Was a great week!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Marco
> -----------------------------------
> Marco Delesalle
> mdelesalle@telus.net
> 403/609-5580
> cell-403/609-7940
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rockies/Intalex brought to you by
> The Informalex: The World's Biggest Guides' Meeting
> http://informalex.org
>
>

_______________________________________________
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] Princess Louisa Inlet to the Elaho River

Hi, Two clients and I did this traverse over the last 8 days (got back last night). The trail from the BC Parks Ranger Cabin in Princess Louisa to alpine is in great shape. Very hot Wx 15-35 degrees. Sun Lake's surface temp (4400') was 17.5 degrees! The glacier's in good shape but melting fast. Firn line is at about 6000'. The descent off the glacier on the Elaho side has gotten steeper and icy over the last few years and this year (and last) it was necessary to do 1 - 40m lower to reach easy angled ice.
In a couple of sections cairns that mark the route to Bug Lk seem to have been flattened by snow creep, but the trail from the lake to Mile 56 on the G main is in good shape. The floods in 2003 washed out the bridge at mile 50.5 so now you need to walk the extra 5.5 extra miles on reasonably good road from where it is 2WDable. A fire started near Mile 60 (East side Main) on the 11th so right now the place is a little busy with machinery and smoke.
A few years ago I GPS'ed the route for the Squamish Forest District and produced a map. If you want an emailed copy give me a call. 604.938.4056

Dave Sarkany
_______________________________________________
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] Mountain Conditions Summary for August 12th, 2005

Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Interior Ranges. August 12th, 2005

Summer is definetly here up to approximately 3200meters. There is generally little change since the last report on August 4th.
Reports from the Rockies and Interior speak of bare ice on low elevation glaciers and on some ice faces. Some examples of this would be the lower Bugaboo glacier, Athabasca North Glacier and the North face of Mt. Fay.
Reports from higher elevation glaciers in most areas still talk about good to excellent snow travel. Examples of these conditions would be the Upper Vowell glacier, Bugaboo Snowpatch Col and the West face of Mt. Lefroy.
A good example of the combination of these conditions would be Mt Victoria on August 9th. From the Abott pass hut there was excellent summer climbing conditions up to to the ridge at 3200meters. The Sickle was in great shape. After that the summit ridge had a hard snow cover on cornices, little knife edges and some gullies. This combined with weak snow around the rocks on the sunny east face made it unusually tricky up high. The descent onto the Huber glacier was on excellent hard snow around 11am and Huber ledges were completely dry.

The cold and rainy weather that hit the east slope of the Rockies on August 10th appears to have had little effect in the main ranges. Generally, it seems that insufficient snow fell to increase the avalanche hazard in most areas. The main consideration for alpinists is that enough snow fell in scattered locations in the Rockies above 3000meters to make the rock slippery for awhile. It appears that freezing levels were higher in the interior as of the evening on August 11th.

The effects of solar radiation and daytime heating are still the main driving force behind alpine hazards at present. Predicting spontaneous rockfall with daytime melting, weak snowbridges over crevasses, wet snow avalanches, cornice collapses etc. all require you to be assessing where the alpine is frozen in place, and where it is losing strength as the snow and ice becomes more like water.

The 5 day weather forecast is generally calling for a mix of sun and precipitation in most areas. Mountain conditions will change with any precipitation and the possibility of thunderstorms increases as more moisture is present and more weather systems pass through.

Some "normal" summer routes such as the West Ridge of Mt. Hungabee and the Japanese route on Mt. Alberta are still plastered in wet snow and are probably a bad idea right now. It is also generally still too warm, too often for most of the big mixed North Face routes. There are however, lots of routes in excellent condition all over the Rockies and in the Bugaboos and Rogers Pass right now. Choose your objectives carefully and get out there while it lasts.

Larry Stanier
_______________________________________________
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] bugaboos

Bugs still in fine form. BS col snow covered, schrunds easily bypassed.
Descent off S Howser still has a bit of a cornice. Good coverage on
glaciers as shown by the photo of the S side of Pigeon. Good travel on
the snow even in the heat of the day.

I used crampons most of the time while on snow.

Mark

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.com

[MCR] (no subject)

Just got back from 4 days at Hermit. Excellent conditions and snow couloirs
staying firm during the day, No avalanches or significant rockfall noted.
Good overnight radiation freezes. Swiss glacier still mostly snow covered.

Marc Ledwidge

_______________________________________________
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] Parks Canada - avalanche information

Parks Canada has removed the special avalanche advisory that was issued for the Mountain Parks on August 1. Conditions have changed and we have issued a general summer avalanche bulletin that is valid until further notice. This is not so much a warning, as it is advice for alpinists. See the attached pdf file.

Grant Statham

[MCR] Waddington NW summit

Waddington NW summit via Dais Gl.
July 31st - Aug 8th, 2005.

Coverage on the Dais Gl. remains good as low as 2500m. With good overnight
recovery travel remains descent till approx 1100am, after which the crust
carries with variable success. By mid afternoon, on S and E aspects,
expect to be breaking through this crust and sinking to your hips in large
granular wet snow.

Dais couloir is still well filled this season compared to previous.
Schrund at base of couloir easily passed L or R. Expect the couloir, with
clear skies overnight, to be bullet proof early AM. Day time temps never
penetrated fully through the 25cm crust, but be aware there is a meter
plus of large wet granular snow, and largely useless for anchors in AM
or PM. lots of horns in rock lateral. Boot top pen except for last 150m+
in the PM. Could be a scary place without overnight recovery.

We experenced minimal rock fall into couloir but the rocks above and
lateral are in the sun by 0730 and the couloir proper by 0900. Be aware
that the considerable rimming so common to the S face of Waddington takes
a few days to clear, post storm.

Still very wintery on the Angle 2800m and above. Day time temps held below
freezing. The most recent storm, July 30-31st, came in cold and left
60-80cm new. The Height of new snow seems to have settled well except for
the bottom 10-15cm which cold ,low density and sitting on a very hard old
surfaces. The storm produced considerable slab activity (N to NW
aspects). Most, but not all slopes running during the storm, with many
slopes reloaded. Things seemed to have tightened up a few days after the
storm, but be aware if the daytime temps begin to climb&

The schrund from the NW ridge onto the Angle GL. crosses nicely in
numerous spots.
The remaining cornices on the N ridge are massive and still pose a
considerable threat to the bottom two thirds of the Angle GL. The icefalls
at the base of the angle above the schrund crossing off the NW ridge also
posses a considerable threat, not a good place to do brunch. Most slots
still well bridged. Summit schrund still crosses nicely numerous places
just W of summit.

Keith Reid
_______________________________________________
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] Athab N.face

Yesterday with 1 strong client. +2 in P lot @ 2:00AM. Decent freeze getting
cooler until 9:00 ish AM. Schrund is casual. Did 1 pitch above and then short
roped to crux in perfect boot top snow (that will change rapidly!) Crux
is "snice" with a lot of excavating of snow. Pins all covered up but not
enough for decent screws. Found a #2 metolius a ways out left.

Went down AA col which is deteriorating rapidly. Signs of recent slides all
the way to the bottom of the big slope. Things are still moving. Was really
hard snow and cold on the way down. Felt good with 1 @ 8:00AM but with 6
people at 3:00pm I would be a puckering starfish. N. Glacier looks to be in
great shape.

Stevo
P.S. Any info out there as to Assiniboine conditions

_______________________________________________
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] Sir Douglas W Ridge

Tom Harding and I climbed the west ridge of Sir Douglas on Aug 6.

At our bivy at 2350 m at 1 am the temperature was +9.5, at the toe of
the glacier it was +8.2 at 3.30 am. We had hoped to climb the NW Face,
which is a fine looking route, but at the moment conditions on the face
looks like thin snow over rock in a few spots low down, and the warm
temperatures caused us to change our plans.

Snow conditions were mostly poor with a minimal freeze even at higher
elevations. Anywhere the snow is thin or over rocks the crusts were
breakable and would break down quickly in direct sunlight, resulting in
significant avalanche risk. From the summit we heard water running on
the NW Face, at 9 in the morning. These conditions were significantly
different than we found on King George a few days before (and only 10
km away) and shows how the snowpack is still very dependent on weather
conditions right now. Many areas are only being held together by
surface crusts that are liable to break down with warm daytime or
night-time temperatures. Glad we didn't go to Mt Bryce like we
originally wanted!

We don't recommend the west ridge as an ascent route, it has a dirty
ice tongue at the start with rock fall issues, and the rock ridge above
is very loose. Even in descent the route is ugly. Note that if it is
warm and you want to avoid the glacier tongue late in the day you can
continue along the narrow w ridge over several small towers of crumbly
rock to a small summit where the ridge becomes easier. Keep descending
the ridge, bypass a rock step on it over scree to the north and then
traverse back towards the ridge to avoid cliff bands below and keep
descending the ridge to a col. From here 10 minutes down soft black
scree to the north brings you to the valley below and your approach
route from the morning.

Mark

Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.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] NE Ridge of Victoria

NE Ridge of Victoria
August 6, 2005
+12C in Canmore at 3am
+8C in LL at 4am


UP:
Had decent travel with max 10cm foot pen on the way up the glacier.
Approached up the center of the glacier but saw old tracks on both extreme
right (all snow) and way left. Crampons were needed for a few short sections
and the bridges were fine.
Fairly large cornices above the col still with some small snow patches
interspersed.
Minimal foot pen from col to summit (~11am). crampons were helpful.

Down:
Cornices were dripping and looking a lot heavier as we descended from the
col. The small snow patches were very reactive when disturbed and creating
rockfall hazard.(1200pm)
Up to 40 cm foot pen on the glacier as we descended. The bridges were still
fine but in some more days like this it will open up a lot for sure.

All in all this route is in pretty good shape right now as long as the snow
is somewhat set up in the morning. Beware of the cornices above the col.
They look quite stable but definitely could release in the warmth of these
afternoons. They are to either side of the usual ascent line but would/could
threaten the climbing line especially while low down on the slope.


Rob Owens, Mike Stuart, EJ Plimley



_______________________________________________
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] corrected Mountain Conditions Summary for August 4th, 2005

>
> Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Interior Ranges.
August 4th, 2005
>
> Summer has finally begun in the Alpine. Twelve generally warm days and
> some cool, clear nights have helped establish a summer snowcover that is
> representative of what we
> might expect in early July. There are reports of excellent alpine
> conditions when good overnight freezes occur, but there was also the
> tragedy of two climbers killed in a large avalanche on the North face of
> Mt. Robson during a very warm and wet period on July 29th.
>
> On August 2nd Park Wardens issued an Avalanche Advisory Update for High
> Alpine Routes in the Mountain National Parks. They are calling the
> conditions SERIOUS/CONSIDERABLE. Until more precipitation arrives,
> alpinists have to make considered decisions almost completely based on the
> question "Is it frozen now or not and is it going to be frozen later or
> not?" Watch the thermometer, watch the skies, watch the sun and don't stop
> thinking about how the snow feels now, and how it is going to feel later,
> on your route. Get your hands and other tools into the snow. Be certain
> that conditions are appropriate for your alpine adventures and be aware
> that things change fast under the summer sun.
>
> Generally the Rockies and Columbia Mountains have more snow cover than
> average for early August. They are starting to get icy below 3000m and in
> some places to the peaks, but high north faces (above 3300m) may still be
> a bit on the wintry side.
>
> Glacier travel is still good for this time of year but you likely won't
> get far without crampons if you get a good freeze. Rockfall is still a
> major concern, especially around the edges of the retreating glaciers and
> where the snow is melting to expose steep rock.
>
> Alpine Rock Routes are generally in great shape except on low angle, high
> elevation ridges and on some of the big gnarly Alpine North Faces like Mt
> Alberta.
> Mixed Alpine routes such as the Andromeda Strain and Edith Cavell North
> Face are very BAD ideas right now with poor climbing conditions and LOTS
> of rockfall potential.
>
> Keep your thinking cap on and enjoy the summer while it lasts.
> >
> >
> Larry Stanier
> _______________________________________________
> Mountain Conditions Report mailing list
> Please see http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

_______________________________________________
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] Out of Park

I will be out of the office starting 01/08/2005 and will not return until
10/08/2005.

Please direct all questions to Rupert Wedgwood or Garth Lemke.

Thanks.

_______________________________________________
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] AVALANCHE ADVISORY UPDATE FOR HIGH ALPINE ROUTES- FROM PARKS CANADA

From: rockies-bounces@informalex.org [mailto:rockies-bounces@informalex.org]
On Behalf Of Grant Statham
Sent: August 2, 2005 10:39
To: rockies@informalex.org
Cc: mcr@informalex.org
Subject: [Rockies/Intalex] AVALANCHE ADVISORY UPDATE FOR HIGH ALPINE ROUTES-
FROM PARKS CANADA

AVALANCHE ADVISORY UPDATE FOR HIGH ALPINE ROUTES

Canadian Rockies National Parks, ALBERTA, August 2, 2005 - Parks Canada is
still advising hikers and climbers to take extra caution when climbing on,
or when exposed to steep, snow covered slopes in the alpine; the avalanche
back-country advisory is currently listed as SERIOUS / CONSIDERABLE.

The previous advisory that was sent on July 11, 2005, was a result of a
cold, winter-like snow pack at higher elevations; conditions have now
changed to more of a springtime wet avalanche cycle. Given the current
conditions, avalanche training, experience and rescue equipment are
essential for safe climbing on alpine routes. Conditions are UNUSUAL for
this time of year and will not improve until we have an extended period of
melting and/or overnight freezing. Many of the popular climbing and
scrambling routes have more snow than normal.

A brief period of cold overnight temperatures the week of July 20 has given
way to a prolonged period of warm temperatures, with little overnight
freezing. This combination of snow and warm temperatures is resulting in
wet snow avalanches, collapsing cornices and weakened snow bridges over
crevasses. Natural and climber triggered avalanches and cornice releases
are being reported, and are occurring in both the day and night.

While climbing, remember avalanche hazards can change quickly throughout the
day as the temperature warms; be cognizant of changing conditions in your
surroundings. An additional hazard to watch for are thinly bridged
crevasses which may be difficult to observe.

On Friday, July 29 two climbers were killed on the North Face route on Mt.
Robson, British Columbia. Park Wardens from Jasper were dispatched to the
scene and were able to recover one of the bodies. The other body has not
been recovered due to subsequent large avalanches sweeping the accident
site. This is one more example of climbers being involved in an avalanche
on alpine routes in the throughout June and July.

Further information on climbing routes and conditions can be obtained by
calling the Park Wardens in Jasper at (780) 852-6155 or in Banff at (403)
762-1470. TIPS to avoid an AVALANCHE please visit our web sites.

___________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
Rockies mailing list
Rockies@informalex.org
http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/rockies

_______________________________________________
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.