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.