[MCR] Continental Divide Skiing

Got back from a great little day trip that I've never done.

 

Skied to the back of Sherbrook lake, then headed west towards Mt Ogden (crossed at the south end close to the shore - not comfortable enough to ski across the middle). At the NW end of the lake we skied up the major slide path with a little bit of bashing to get to just above treeline which opened up into a great selection of terrain with various aspects. Something for everyone. Up to 10cm fresh with little to no wind affect of overlying a supportive crust of various nature. Great turns!

 

Information for the Day

Sky : Overcast

Temps : high -12 / low -17 (no inversion here)

Wind : light southerly AM / calm PM

Precip : S -1

High point around 8000'

HS varying from 70 to 125cm

 

Profile

Time 1330

7200' on an East asp. of 32 degrees

HS 120cm

Rain crust is down 63cm 

Compression Test Hard (24 and 29) down 65 just below the rain crust in a slighly faceted layer.The shear failed cleanly but with resistance. Of note was the lack of depth hoar at the ground. Impressive.

 

Stability

alpine - fair to good

treeline - good

Below treeline - good

 

Early season hazards still exist in the trees with some facetting which is allowing you to contact stumps and rocks.

 

Darcy Chilton

ACMG Ski guide

 

 

 

[MCR] Whistler Creek, jasper

Up Whistler Creek yesterday with RAC course. (Maligne Road closed)
Still generally shallow 20-30 at 5700ft in the trees.
No signs of wind since before storm which gave about 20cm. Creek bed
shallow and rocky but skiable (good trail now!) Watch for open water,
rocky and quite a bit of new deadfall in the creek.
No signs of any recent activity on N aspects of marmot or S/E on Indian ridge.
Did a test profile at 2050m, NE aspect, 65cm, first open roll near
treeline. Found Pencil to knife windslab down 20cm (yellow stained
from wind) It is about 5 cm thick.
We were getting CT8 just below this in facets, and a CT20 at 53cm,
just above the old MF layer close to ground, which is quickly deteriorating
We had a RB score of 3 on the same interface down 20cm.
Travel not great, very willowy to tree line. expect better travel in
alpine but suspect instabilities on old wind loaded features.
Caution certainly advised.
Still marginal skiing below 2000m, barely threshold except where wind loaded.
The alders and willows continue to grow....

Peter

Alpine: suspect fair to poor
treeline: fair
Below treeline: threshold/fair

Peter Amann
Mountain Guiding
Box 1495, Jasper AB, T0E 1E0
www.incentre.net/pamann
pamann@incentre.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] French-Haig-Robertson

French-Haig-Robertson circuit on Sunday. The recent storm brought enough
snow to this area to make the skiing reasonable--about 10 cm overall, but
thinner where the wind had got to it.

You can ski this thing in its entirety now without doing much damage at all
to your skis.

The recent storm snow is deposited on top of an amazingly sturdy temperature
crust -- I couldn't pound my handle of my ski pole through it, so I left it
at that. This is on all aspects and elevations we visited. The slope up to
the Haig-Roberson col is covered with snow and made for reasonable
step-kicking.

En route, we checked out the little bowl that contains a few ice climbs
halfway up French creek on the east side of the drainage (I believe at least
one has been done by Owens & Walsh). The ice is in fine form -- there are
several lines up there right now, including some mixed potential. The ski
back down to the valley needs more snow to be really worthwhile, and
probably wouldn't be all that great even then.

Amazing wildlife viewing -- we say a family of three moose and a family of
three goats (mamas, papas, babies)!

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] Rogers Pass Asulkan Valley

Well since Glacier Park isn't updating their info I figured I better let
people what is going on in Rogers Pass

I was up Aslkan valley toady and there is between 20-25cm. of recent storm
snow (from Friday aan Saturday night) - temps are cool and look like they
will be that way for a while.

In the am it was snowing lightly but the clouds lifted and left some very
softly lit skies.

There was little wind affect observed in the Alpine and the only avalanche I
saw was a size 1 loose snow sluff that ran down the far climbers right side
of the steep slopes just below Sapphire Col (where everyone climbs up.

Other than that I observed many smiling faces out there.

Cheers,
Scott Davis
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] Twisted area and Evan Thomas creek

Well as you all know lots more snow over the weekend. did some climbing in
Field on Saturday. conditions looked good and a lot more like winter. But
as you all know lots more snow maybe up to 15 cm over friday night. We had
aimed for twister but a party had got there before us. Instead we headed up
to the right on 3 pitches of mixed terrain starting at the top of the first
pitch of that route. The protection was good when found and a small
selection of cams was enough with a small rack of screws. The second pitch a
bit thin finished at the top of the thick ice on twisted. The last pitch
short but serious traverses in on a narrow ledge to a steep step of not rock
getting on to a short curtain. Above the climbing is nice hopping from blob
to blob and calming down as you hit the plastic sheet at the end. 4 double
raps to the ground. Some sign previous travel was notice on the third pitch
in the form of an old angle, and a cam is now fixed on the first pitch.
Over all the grade....not sure maybe M6 M7- with a bit of an R rating in
places and just a little more head spacey at the top getting on to the final
ice but never really hard. Would appreciate beta if any have beta on this
lines history. An awesome outing for sure. No significant avalanche
activity was noticed during the day except a big sluff on the descent but
i'm sure that is changing in Field in general as you are reading this. Today
brought some friends to evan-Thomas Creek. Chantilly falls has yet to
really form needs more cold temps and like the stream it is running.
Moonlight, Snowline and2 low are in fine climbing shape as well a mixed line
has appeared 200m north of 2 low and the line left of moonlight might form
almost to the ground.

Patrick Delaney

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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] David Thompson

I'm doing some avalanche forecasting work at the Canadian Avalanche Centre and we are setting up a new forecast region in the David Thompson area on the east slope of the Alberta Rockies. The region is described as follows:

 

The Rocky Mountains between the Alberta/BC boundary and the Forestry Trunk Road, north of the Red Deer River. The northern boundary goes east on the Cline River, north on the height of land between Coral and McDonald Creeks, east through Coral Lake to the confluence of the Bighorn River and Sunkay Creek, then parallel to highway 11 through Shunda Creek, and then encircles Nordegg.

 

Users in this area will mostly be sledders and ice climbers. There's probably a bit of mountaineering going on and maybe some ski touring in the western reaches of the region. There have been at least three fatalities in the area in recent years so we feel it's important to provide some information to these user groups.

 

We need data. There are some remote sensing stations, a couple of forestry workers, and one local guiding outfit/mountain school in the region, but the data stream is pretty thin.

 

If anyone is in this area, we'd appreciate your taking the time to send us some information. ACMG members can post to informalex or MCR and we'll get the info. Others can post info online by going to www.avalanche.ca then clicking on "Discussion" and posting in the "Central Rockies" forum. You can also send an email to forecaster@avalanche.ca or phone the CAC office at 250-837-2435 and ask to speak to a forecaster. We could use information about weather conditions, avalanche activity, and snowpack observations. Formal/profession or informal/recreational obs are all of use and interest to us. In addition, if you are familiar with the area and know a good source for mountain/technical weather forecasts, we'd love to hear from you. Other than public forecasts for Nordegg we are not aware of any winter weather forecast products for this region.

 

If you often visit the area or are a local, call us if you are willing to become a regular observer.

 

You can check out the David Thompson region report at www.avalanche.ca in the "Bulletins" area. While there, you can sign up to get the David Thompson report by email: look on the left side of the page and click on the "Subscribe to Email" link. If you'd like to have the report faxed to you, call 250-837-2435 and give us your fax number.

 

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
1735 Westerburg Road
Revelstoke, BC  V0E 2S1
Canada
250-837-3733
kklassen@rctvonline.net

[MCR] Icefields Parkway Nov.18-23

Just back from a week of work on the Parkway, here's what we saw...

 

Nov 18 - Balfour Wall - Able to set up 5 ropes.  Minimal snow on approach.

Nov 19 - 5/7/0 - No snow on approach.  First pitch climbed on right hand side with half of the pillar being open, running water.  This pitch was unclimbable when we got back to the base.  Rest of route in good shape with exception of large chunks of ice and some rocks coming down the climbers right hand side (10 to 15 metres from climbing line) from melting ice/running water. 

Nov 20 - "Bullshit Canyon" - No ice, pure drytooling.  Minimal snow with the creek being just barely frozen in places.

Nov 21 - Bow Falls - Minimal snow around lake (lots of ice on trail though).  Route is small right now with it being a solid WI4.  Very dry and brittle.  No cornice. 

Gorby Falls was also climbed and reported as wet and  soft ice for the crux with some brittle dinnerplates on the approach ice.  Cornice on left hand side of route looked quite stable at the time.  Another group went back to Balfour and did not climb the right hand pillars after lunch as it was heating up too much.

Nov 22 - Two O'clock Falls - Again no snow on approach and wet and soft.  Melt out was also climbed and reported as in good shape with some running water in spots, easy to avoid.  Route was rapped from a tree about 150m lookers left of top of route to avoid streams of water on the route.

Nov 23 - Haffner - Coming along nicely.  Temperature inversion taking place as all trees were rime coated and -9 temperature was recorded. 

Other observations - Curtain Call has fallen down, as has the routes above La Tabernac.  Couldn't see the bottom but looked like parts of Tabernac had crashed too!.  Minimum temperature all week were -6 with maximums being +7.  Polar Circus looked good with the second last pitch looking like the crux.  Weeping Wall was falling apart.  Basically anything that was south facing was getting torched.   Shades of Beauty looked good.  Observed numerous point releases on south aspects (Mt.  Wilson) as well as NE aspects (Mt.  Jimmy Simpson).  Murchison looked like solid WI5. 

 

On behalf of Stevie B, Grant M and Mike S

 

Cheers

 

Mike Stuart
ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide
#1-730 3ST Canmore, AB T1W 2J6
T: 403 609 8454
E: m_stuart@telus.net

[MCR] Super Bock

Guiding on the route yesterday. Freezing temps all day, valley fog in
the am. The route is involved and complicated right now due to a lack of
avalanches that usually fill up the gulley. There is a new WI 4 pitch
below the keyhole pitch that is usually buried in snow (fun climbing).
Keyhole pitch is all ice and great climbing, the pullover onto talus
held in place by a dinner tray slab of slate is sporty. Upper ice is wet
in numerous places an the last pitch is pushing the upper range of WI 5.
We didn't get the last 20 m due to running out of time. Strange to say
but the route could profit from an avalanche, I'm sure its on its way.

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] Rogers Pass - additional observations

Here are a couple of things to add to recent observations from Rogers Pass -

An interesting one was the size 3 avalanche that had run off the SE face of
Mt. Swanzy (you know the inviting slope that everyone sees from Sapphire
Col). It likely occurred near the end of the last storm cycle (weekend of
Nov.12/13) and ran across the entire breadth of the slope (@80-100m) and
under the rock band it appeared to step down to the old summer firn (old
snow) surface, it ran across the flats below the face for several hundred
meters.

This could have run on the October rain crust but hard to say from that
distance.

The other is that the surface hoar (@3-5mm) in the Asulkan valley is intact
from below treeline and into the Alpine except where there has been
significant wind.

Cheers,

Scott Davis
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] Twisted

Guided Twisted today in Field. Winter over there with sub zero temps all
day and low cloud. Route is wet in some places, but ice all the way to
the ground, no rock gear necessary.

Happy trails
Barry Blanchard
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.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

[MCR] saphire col, frisby ridge, boulder mtn, sale mtn.

Here is what I have found in the last week of being in the mountains around revelstoke. 

     Sapphire col today (nov 21), valley fog to about 1500m then high overcast above that.  Light to moderate west winds.  -1 at parking lot @ 0915 (1300m).  -0.1 at 2700m @ 1430 (col).  No moist snow observed today.  High cloud kept out most solar radiation in that area.  Above 2300m there exists a rather industrial temperature crust from the previous days melt freeze cycles due to  temperature inversion.  Skiable yet uninviting…..  below 2300m, ski quality was fair to good with ski penetration about 15 cm (surface snow faceting).  ski quality deteriorating below about 1650m due to poor coverage.  Snowpack height on glacier 175, below 1650m 50cm to 20cm at 1300m.  upper snowpack has settled drastically in the last several days due to warm temperatures.  No signs of instability at any elevation, but would be cautious for any lurking wind slabs in the alpine or shallow and or rocky areas at any elevation.  Glacier is still reasonably bony with several slots to negotiate. 

     Frisby ridge and Boulder mtn (monashees) and Sale mtn (selkirks), have had excellent conditions over the last week with only crusts present on steep south and some west aspects. Temperature inversions seem to have missed these areas due to elevation (all terrain below 2300m).

     In general best ski conditions seem to be around tree line north and east aspects.

Have fun!!!!

 

Jeff Honig

Mountain Guide

Alpine Addictions

Box 1106

Revelstoke BC

V0E2S0

(250)837-2215 (home)

(240)837-1333 (cell)

jeff@alpineaddictions.com

 

[MCR] Sacre Bleu integral

Guided all of Sacre Bleu, save for the last 40 m, yesterday. Biked in on
dry roads to the trailhead. No snow on the trail nor on the approach
talus. Climbed all the ice right from ground zero, fist pitch an
intresting WI 4 pillar (one Leeper Z piton, one knifeblade). Then a long
and stepped gulley ramble very similar in length and difficulty to This
House of Sky, another WI 4 pillar 1000 feet higher. Then into the
approach ice for Sacre Bleu, all the ice is there. Boot top snow in
narrow strips of lee. Low hazard in the last 100m to Sacre Bleu. 4 pm,
for us, at the base of the last 40m so we bailed to get into the timber
before dark. Two 70m raps with some downclimbing then a traverse skier's
right into the timber. Two 30m raps off trees to reach the base of the
route. Great climbing, long day.

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] French Reality, ooops

Two corrections - Don't forget to bring a few KBs as well, because you'll
probably want them. And the ice is LEFT of the chinmney. Off the belay we
climbed the ice to the left of the chimney but it's steep and hard. Then we
kept to the chimney....

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] Stanley Headwall - French Reality

French Reality is in decent shape right now, thin on the first two pitches
(mainly rock climbing), last two pitches are in good shape. Not quite the
give-away that it was last year but still soft for the grade.

Two 70 m raps puts you at the base nice and quick. Bring a half dozen cams
to 2.5/3", a few tricams, and a few nuts. Looking at Rob Owens' recent
photos I thought that the ice was in the chimney (and so brought an overly
skimpy rack) but it's not -- it's on the wall to the right and is thin.

Snowpack in the Stanley Valley consists of about 30 cm of dry,
unconsolidated faceting snow with a thin temp/rain?/wind crust on the top
(up to 10 mm thick) in patches. Snow levels are below threshold for
avalanches at least as far as Nemesis.

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] more on Jasper conditions

Up for a quick look to the Bald hills today. Fire road is generally packed,
about 10cm at the parking lot. Went up summer trail, reasonable travelling
20-30cm in the trees. More wind affect at and above treeline, numerous
subsidences right at treeline where the slab is more fragile.
Did a quick test pit and found a weakness down 3 cm just under the surface
slab, a weaker midpack and a weakness (compression test 7) down 12cm on
some pellets of snow (graupel)

Lots of wind affect in alp. Old MF layer from Sept is facetting, much weaker.
No signs of new activity though suspect of loaded features with the warm
temps. -4 at 0800 parking lot, +2 at 2240 m.

Getting down the road is OK, strong snowplow seems to work.
Nice day..

Checked BS canyon early week and still too much water running.
Checked marmot falls, "edge of the world" again not really formed yet.

Peter

Peter Amann
Mountain Guiding
Box 1495, Jasper AB, T0E 1E0
www.incentre.net/pamann
pamann@incentre.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] Rogers Pass Asulkan valley

Greetings everyone,
I was up the Asulkan valley today and skied some lines in the Dome Glacier
area.

Sky conditions were mostly scattered cirrus (high clouds) and a valley fog
layer that was topped at around 1800m. Temps were wintery and winds were
light in our area (with some drifting off higher ridges) and the snow has
definitely been more sheltered from wind affect than the Connaught drainage.
That said Youngs peak definitely had some wind on it.

There appears to have been 10-15 cms. of new snow since Tuesday and the
surface is currently covered with surface hoar that ranges from 3-5mm. in
size - this was observed from below treeline all the way into the alpine.

Of note were several old slab avalanches that judging from the amount of
snow on them, probably occurred last Monday. There were 3 size 2 slabs off
Mt. Pollyx and the broken icefall below it (sometimes referred to as the
Thorington route) they were @ 20-30 m. wide and probably 60-80 cm. thick and
ran off steep (40 degrees) unsupported features - I am guessing that this
was the storm interface (observations from a distance).

The Nov.12th crust is @ 40-60cm. from the surface and the October crust was
buried by 140cm. of snow. The HS (height of snowpack) was 200cm. on the
upper Dome Glacier. There were several sags on the top of the glacier, so be
aware if traveling in the area in poor light.

No significant shears observed and no results from the ski tests.
Cheers,

Scott Davis
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] Rogers Pass

Up for a late afternoon jaunt up to Balu Pass. Similar conditions to other
recent mcr reports.

Upper level clearing today, but substantial valley fog, and clag clinging to
mountainsides varying from1500-2200 m. These fog conditions seem to have
helped encourage surface hoar growth withing the fog, but it is not in all
areas. These crystals were as big as 5mm and they were rimed, on the last
steep slope leading to Balu Pass. Left undisturbed, this layer could become
a concern when buried.

Winds at ridgetop - moderate Westerlies - some transport observed. Cornices
seem large for this time of year.

Friendly skiing in the trees leading up to 8812 from Balu Pass

Play smart and enjoy the fun!
Brian Gould

_______________________________________________
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] Candlestick Maker

Climbed CSM on Tuesday via Hidden Dragon.  Some wet ice on the first pitch but dry, featured and a bit brittle the rest of the way.  Short 10m pillar was the crux, solid 4+.  The Hooker looks good.  Nasty windcrusts in most gullies - kept us on our toes whenever the angle eased.  Road to the big hill is in great shape with most of it being snow covered and sanded on the hills.  Driving the rest of the way to the route was easy.  I really hope that we can always go and climb in the Ghost.....

 

Mike

 

Mike Stuart
ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide
#1-730 3ST Canmore, AB T1W 2J6
T: 403 609 8454
E: m_stuart@telus.net

[MCR] Professors

First pitch not climbable, second and third pitch climbable but a Spa,
fourth pitch not there etc. Not ready yet.

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] Stanley Head Wall and Roger's Pass.

Was up to the Stanley Valley for my first day of ice of the year. Climbed
Nemesis, generally Grade 5 shape except for about 25m of Grade 6 up from the
big ledge.
Had to make a quick traversse under a bit of spray on the mid way ledge, but
only got a little wet. Generally great ice, good pro and all-round fun.
Trail all the way to the back end is in fine waliking shape. Not much for snow
pack issues, there is the odd thick isolated slab in the form of drifts here
and there.
Roger's Pass today. Generally the same observations as Scott reported.
Definetley some moderate winds and snow transportation at treeline and above
and more so on the ridges. Thicker snow with moderate concern immediatley in
the Lee tapering out quickly. Not much tension in the snow pack overall. Saw
no new avalanches, but would expect slabs to start popping out with extra
loading. Some old sun crust at and just above treeline on steeper south
aspects getting buried with recent new snow. Bloody alders are huge this year
and standing at attention.
Cheerio.
Rich Marshall
_______________________________________________
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 - Ursus/Bruins area

Joined the ever growing number of skiers in Rogers Pass today. Toured up the ridge to Bruins most of the way then skied into Ursus Minor Bowl followed by a few laps down lower in the bowl.

 

Definite change in conditions since Monday – lots of wind effect and stiff windslabs on the ridgecrest and onto the lee side of the ridge at and above treeline – so far the wind effect hasn’t reached too far downslope but continued moderate/gusting strong SW winds will only continue the process.

 

No new avalanches observed.

 

The snowpack in general appears well consolidated but I have seen some places (like the steeper central roll off Balu Pass) where the deeper October crust was weaker than it appears most other places – so some caution in shallower areas where this may be predominant would be prudent – remember that these deep crusts sometimes take more load than most weak layers before they become reactive.

 

Keep them slippery side down,

 

Scott Davis

Mountain Guide

 

---

[MCR] Kananaskis: Rae Glacier and Ice Climbs

Went ski touring to Rae Glacier yesterday Nov 14.

Trail to Elbow Lake and on to the morraine of Rae Glacier is well packed by snow shoers with only the odd rock or root sticking out. In the morraines, the snow coverage is more skimpy due to heavy wind effect and we ended up carrying the skis once or twice for shorter sections. 

 

Snow in the Rae Glacier Bowl was wind-affected, however we found good quality skiing on 20 - 40 cm of soft slab. Temps around -15C with moderate to strong northerly winds caused some wind loading in the upper bowl while we were there. Test pit at 2700 meters showed HS of 160 cm (total depth of snow). Soft surface slab of 25 cm over graupel on top of a thin temperature crust. The temperature crust is much more pronounced in lower elevations. The base and mid-pack appeared surprisingly well consolidated with no significant shears in a compression test. A concern would be the increasing depth of the windslab as you climb higher in the bowl and towards the saddle. We turned around just before reaching the first band of rock on the left side.

 

We also had a look at some ice climbs but only from the road. Amadeus is looking relatively good higher up but doesn't reach the bottom (which I believe is pretty standard), Sinatra doesn't appear to be in, Kidd Falls is looking pretty good and as far as I could see, Saddam's Insane is pretty phat at least in the upper part that is visible from the road.

 

Happy trails!

Jorg Wilz

Mountain Guide (IFMGA / UIAGM)

[MCR] Bow Summit

Up practicing how to put on skins at Bow Summit today.  Flurries all day and quite comfortable, except in the windy areas (forgot the thermometer).  Excellent skiing to be found on the more skier right hand lines  just before the bug chutes (left hand lines all chunked up with old tracks).  The brief warming last week really helped strengthen the mid pack up there, easy trail breaking and poles didn’t plunge to the ground too often at all, even close to trees.

Watched some skiers ski from the very, very top of the shoulder, ended up in the cliffs and rocks way right looking into the big bowl... They finally got themselves sorted out, but were in big terrain for sure, hope they were wearing their helmets.

It felt more like early season at the pass than early season in the Rockies, but the area needs a good dump now to erase the old tracks, not much left up there.

Rumor has it that Robertson Glacier was again very good on Friday...

Ian Tomm

[MCR] Mountain Conditions Summary - November 10

ICE

Ice is finally in. Climbers have reported decent early season conditions on
Twisted Sister, Bourgeau Right & Left (thin), Kidd Falls (thin), R&D.
Hazards: keep in mind that this is early season ice, easy to access, but
probably thin, weak and more serious than
later in the season. As well, while avalanche hazard has been minimal up
until the recent heat wave, snow levels in start zones are approaching or
exceeding threshold levels. The last snowfall, and the fact that the
temperatures have skyrocketed over the past 36 hours, means that avalanche
hazard has increased in some areas. (see below).

SNOW

Rockies
It's been a fantastic early season for skiing, with great reports coming
out of the Wapta, Highwood Pass area, Bow Summit area, Surprise/Saddleback,
and Sunshine/Lake Louise.

There are some imminent concerns, however. To begin with, we have had close
to a week with lots of new snow and intense wind. To make matters worse, the
last 24 hours of chinooking have raised freezing levels to treeline or
higher. On Thursday, isothermal conditions were reported in Highwood Pass
where the temperature was +10 C in the afternoon. The winds and warm
temperatures have been forming stiff slabs on North and East aspects and
easy shears have been reported at the October rain crust (the major layer of
concern right now). A size 2.5 natural avalanche, North aspect, was reported
yesterday above Bow Hut. Of note, the side slopes above the Bow canyons
were covered in low density snow on Tuesday, but on Wednesday isolated slabs
were
reacting to ski cutting. Things are changing rapidly. Fortunately, the
temperatures are forecasted to drop again throughout Friday and by the
weekend should be back to normal. Snow stability may begin to improve later
in the weekend but there is continued precipiatation in the forecast. At the
present time, Parks Canada is rating
the Danger as Considerable at treeline and in the alpine. Hopefully this
year's infamous November Rain Crust won't develop into the monster it's
been in past years.

Interior

Decent early season skiing has been reported from Rogers Pass area, and
approach trails, while a little bony, can be skied in their entirety with a
good pair of rock skis.

On Wednesday (Oct 9) the slide path from Cheops North Face above the turn
up into Ursus Bowl had run around 1pm down to the half fan level in two
narrow lobes. Other than that not much activity reported. HS at 2100 m in
Balu Pass area was reported at about 140 cm, and moderate compression test
results about a metre down above the early season melt/freeze crust.

Coast

Again, some tantalizing reports of skiing have been coming from the coast,
especially the Blackcomb "nearcountry" glaciers, e.g. Blackcomb, Husumi,
Horseman... but limited reports on avalanche hazard.

For detailed avalanche reports, see http://avalanche.ca. Parks Canada has
been issuing reports already for over a week, and CAA bulletins will begin
in just a few days.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
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] Bow Summit and the Bourgeau's

Bow Summit area on Nov 9th. Generally very good skiing up and downhill. Lots of wind and warming that day and it is still going on. Stability was generally good in non wind affected areas. Lee slopes with big fetch(windward) areas could have recent windslabs. These windslabs could overload the crust approx. 40cms from the ground and make skier triggered avalanches possible in some areas.

 

Opeing day at Sunshine Village today. Warm and windy but not much loose snow left to move around in the mountains. Excellent skiing for November, but, more importantly, Bourgeau left and right are formed. Right hand looks pretty reasonable, especially when things cool down a bit. Basically no snow in the avalanche starting zones above the Right Hand. Bourgeau left hand is formed but looks wet and probably a bit serious. There is snow in the start zones above the left hand and the next snowfall could produce avalanches that reach the route.

 

Larry Stanier

[MCR] Wapta - Balfour Pass

An exhausting trip on the Wapta with Luis Castillo, and an aborted attempt (due to very poor visibility) at circumnavigating Mt. Gordon via the south glacier route yesterday. We made it up to just below the col and descended back to Balfour Pass. With good visibility and continued good stability this would be a recommended route right now.

Conditions are excellent for this time of the year:

? With a decent pair of rock skis you can ski about 60-70% of the approach to the Bow Hut up and down. The rest is walking on a well-packed trail (thanks to the dozen or so weekend visitors!) You can use the winter trail for the first canyon (on the left), but the second canyon is still best passed on the summer trail (access it about 100 m into the canyon via an obvious snow slope, above the canyon on the left).

? 30-40 cm ski pen on the glaciers where not wind affected – light fluffy stellars.

? From the little investigation we did of the snowpack, it seems reminiscent more of Rogers Pass than the Rockies… That said, there are some layers failing in the moderate range with Compression Tests, in the upper snowpack.

? Daytime highs of about -9, lows of about -15.

? Lots of moderate winds with frequent strong gusts – plenty of wind transport and wind affect, but also lots of areas with virtually undisturbed snow, e.g. on the Vulture Glacier, S Gordon Glacier.

? Grant Meekins and Meagan Carney skied the West Glacier on Mt. Olive yesterday (Sunday), a steep line up to mid/high 30's, and reported good stability and excellent ski quality.

? At 5:00 pm yesterday the glacier above the Bow hut was firming up with a soft windslab that still offered OK skiing but hinted at possible problems to come . However, as of yesterday evening we saw only minor sluffing on steep terrain (e.g. below the seracs above Bow Hut).

? HS ranging from nil (e.g. around Balfour Pass) to 75 cm (top of the onion skin/glacier above Bow Hut), to 200+ cm (Vulture Glacier, etc.)

Avalanche Hazard summary:
Alpine: Moderate
Treeline: Low
Below Treeline: Snowpack is still a work in progress…

Stability: F-G (deteriorating with wind)/G/~

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] Kidd Falls

Climbed Kidd Falls today in Kananskis Country.

Route is in good early season shape - 2 pitches of grade 4. Good ice
today, lots of water around keeping the ice soft and easy sticks but not
getting soaked. Take some stubbies as its still pretty thin and lots of
"gong" noises on the first pitch - no rock gear needed. I climbed to
the very top of the last pitch and ended up in a drifted snow gully with
only 1" thick ice to be found (despite alot of digging) - no anchors and
so had to downclimb 10 meters. Ended up belaying on the ice just below
the last steep step to the top.

10 cm snow at the base of the route, windy day was drifting it around
and stiffening the snow. Below threshold for large avalanches but at
the higher elevations, it felt like an unlucky person certainly could
trigger an isolated slab. No avalanche issues on the route today.

The Terrace Trail has an AB Parks closure on it due to a cougar last
seen Sept 25 . . . you can't walk down the trail but its still easy to
avoid the closure and approach the route by going directly up the treed
shoulder.

Grant, Mark K

_______________________________________________
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] Howson Range/ North Coast Mountains

Short visit to the Burnie Glacier Chalet today. -9 at 2000 m, 38 cm HS
at the lodge. Sluffs to size 1.5 out of steep rocky terrain. Little wind
effect visible. Evidence of some slabs to size 2 from 2 November.

Christoph Dietzfelbinger
Mountain Guide, Bear Mountaineering and Burnie Glacier Chalet
Box 4222
Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada
tel. 250-847-3351 fax: 250-847-2854
info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca

_______________________________________________
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 Nov.2-4/05

Greetings everyone,

Spent Wednesday to Friday skiing in Rogers Pass – first 2 days up at Asulkan hut and Friday up Connaught Ck..

 

There has been significant snowfall since last weekend – the valley bottoms trails have 30-60cms. of coverage – once you are above 1800m. the depth increases significantly averaging between 100-140cm. between 1800 and 2100m. – I didn’t get much higher than that so no real info on the alpine other than there has been significant wind events with these last storms and so windslabs are likely in exposed or lee terrain.

 

You can now ski from the parking lots (if only barely) but the descent trails are a bit sporty with low snowcover and numerous early season hazards.

 

Snowpack above 1800m. shows a multi-layered crust with @ 50 to 100 cms. of snow over it – the snow below the crust is moist (almost wet) as is the snow just above the crust – things seem well bonded to the crust with no clean shears in any of my tests – I did find a moderate Compression Test down 60cm from the surface but it was not very clean (CTM 18 RP – this means Compression test moderate on 18^th hit with a resistant planar shear). There was also a second easy shear 15cm. from surface where the snow surface had been affected by the wind.

 

No significant avalanche activity to be observed but all days were poor visibility with limited observations.

 

Things are skiable but remember that there are numerous early season hazards out there so bringing your brain bucket for the ride out the trail might not be a bad idea – I would also suggest that the alpine should be treated with caution until more is known about the crust/storm snow interface in that elevation band it could be quite different from what I observed lower down.

 

Happy Trails,

 

Scott Davis

Mountain Guide

[MCR] Robertson Glacier

Excellent mid-season like skiing on the Roberston Glacier today.  Max temp –3 at the parking lot, Min temp –10 at the Robertson Col.  Probed around on the glacier 120-160cm coverage with up to 220cm on the ‘steep’ slope.  Compression Test on the hard side of moderate with a very resistant fracture character (progressive compression for those in the know) on the steep slope.   Wind effect up high but barely a tickle on the skiing lines.  Up to 30cm new snow, more in wind sheltered places.  Evidence of an old cycle to size 1.5 or so out of the steep terrain off Sir Douglas.  Not a crevasse in sight on the skiing lines, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.  Its been 12+ years since I’ve been up there in the summer to see what it’s really like.

Shin to knee deep ski penetration made for excellent skiing.  Skis on parking lot to parking lot, only a few rocks encountered on the way out.  Quite surprising how good the coverage was, but beware the wind, it could change fast.  Snowing 2cm/hr at the parking lot when we left @ 4:45pm.  Highly recommended day out, except for that flat ski in/out!

A U.S. party attempting the NW route on Sir Douglas today, hope they made out ok.

Ian Tomm