Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued Nov. 9th, 2006
The monsoon is over and we are back into fairly normal, early winter conditions in the snowpacks of the Rockies and Columbias. There was a large and widespread avalanche cycle earlier in the week throughout the Columbias and Rockies that only ended with yesterday's cooler temps. Generally, these cooler temps have helped strengthen the warm, wet and moist snow of earlier in the week and brought snow to valley bottoms in all reporting areas. The legacy of this is a raincrust at treeline and above in the Columbias and in much of the Rockies. This Nov. 7th crust will be a layer to watch closely over the coming weeks. With more moderate temperatures and extended precipitation in the forecast, stability is likely to deteriorate over the weekend in the Columbias and some areas in the Rockies. The National Parks are producing avalanche bulletins so check their information before heading out. We are still a long way from good coverage at all elevations, so ride very conservatively and watch out for all those rocks, stumps and alders. Snowbridges will still be very weak on the glaciers and all the snow in the forecast will hide them well in the coming flat light.
Ice and mixed climbing is still suffering from the monsoon. Realistically we are starting from scratch after all that warmth. Assume that almost all the ice is new and doesn't have much real strength for at least another cold week. It would be really nice if people would consider staying off the ice in places like Haffner Ck. and Bear Spirit till it has a chance to fatten up and gain some strength.
Alpine climbing. Hah, you are dreaming!
The Canadian Avalanche Centre's public bulletins should be in full swing on November 13th. Get on their email list at www.avalanche.ca to keep current with conditions and the avalanche danger throughout the winter. This will be the last formal Mountain Conditions Summary until the spring. Individual ACMG guides will continue to provide reports throughout the winter, but it has always been our intention to not duplicate the CAC's excellent services in the winter.
Thank you very much for listening and for all the excellent feedback we have received in this first year of weekly summaries.
Have a really fun and safe winter!
Larry Stanier
Mountain Guide