Matt Mueller and I enjoyed a slog-alicious day on the Wapta (Jan 16). We did the so-called "mini" Wapta from Bow Lake to Peyto Lake. Weather at Bow Lake at 8:15am was -14 C with broken skies and light west wind. On the Wapta itself the wind was moderate to strong also from the west. Most of the track to Bow Hut was blown over but trail breaking was easy on stiff wind crust. Above Bow Hut on the glacier, 1 cm of snow over a stiff crust made for easy travel. Ski quality down the Peyto Glacier was variable with a combination of half-decent dust-on-crust turns interspersed with difficult breakable crust. The Peyto Glacier has good snow coverage down the middle. The crevasse sections are obvious and easy to avoid. Once off the glacier, we boot packed up wind scoured moraine past the glaciology station then were able to ski crusty snow down the moraines to the lake. Good travel on Peyto Lake with 5cm of snow over the ice but once in the trees we floundered in bottomless facets back up to the highway. All in all, a fine day of touring but not the place to go if good pow turns are what you desire.
Sean Isaac
Assistant Alpine Guide