ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued September 6th, 2007.
Conditions in the alpine have been generally good in the past week throughout the Rockies and Columbias. There was scattered light precipitation in many areas on the night of the 5th. With the forecasted cool temperatures, you should expect some snowcovered rock up high and perhaps some verglas at and just below the snow line.
There is possibly just enough snow for isolated small windslabs along the divide in the Rockies on lee slopes above 3000m's. As always, be aware of the consequences of being knocked off your feet if you are in new snow.
Glacier travel conditions remain good, but the new snow will make judging crevasses a little trickier at high elevations. An interesting report from the guides at CMH Bugaboos that some of the thinner, high elevation snow bridges are actually starting to rot(facet?)and lose strength. With the still shallow snowcover, probing is still the quickest and most effective tool for finding crevasses and avoiding walking on air.
The temperatures are perhaps cool enough for some of the big mixed alpine gullies and faces but there is a definite alpine water-ice drought going on. Travelling over Wenkchemna and Opabin passes yesterday I saw only scattered bits of water ice and lots of bare choss in the bowls that feed the gullies. I would assume the situation is similar at the Columbia Icefields. This will not change until we get some signifigant precipitation and a decent melt-freeze. This melt/freeze gets a little less likely each day as we march through september. Hmm.
It looks like a good weekend for classic mountaineering and sun warmed rock. Pack your woolies and keep your eyes wide open and your feet on the ground.
Larry Stanier
Mountain Guide