ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued October 18th, 2007.
In the Rockies you should probably expect wind hammered snow above 2500 m anywhere except south faces below 3000 m and high north faces and lee slopes.
On wednesday, driving from Canmore to Abraham Lake (David Thompson highway) and on a flight around the Upper Cline River area I saw bits of climbable looking ice on most aspects above 2500 m. The south faces were almost snow and ice free till 3000+ m. No ice at the Kitty Hawk, Murchison Falls elevations, Riptide is disconnected but Crowfoot Falls, for example, looked climbable. You have to decide if it is worth the approach and if the objective hazards are reasonable.
Lots of water-ice and snow on places like the East Face of Howes pk-Yipes!!!
In the Columbia Mountains, perhaps the most significant observations to mountain travellers were from the Selkirks and Monashees. Recent avalanches of the full depth of the snowpack were observed on both sides of the Columbia River north of Revelstoke. It would be safe to assume they occured sometime during the recent rain events or under the midday sun. Full depth, wet slab avalanches in snow covered glades and gullies between 1700 and 2000 m would be my big nightmare right now. Tell your hunter, logger and early season ski friends. If you find a snowpack more than 50 cm deep in the Rockies and it is getting WARM and/or raining I would be worrying about wet slides to ground there too. The forecast makes it look like it may be cool so it may not be a problem for this weekend. However, that is the forecast, keep your eyes open for what is REALLY happening when you are in the mountains.
There may be isolated pockets of decent skiing in the Columbia's for the desperate. You would need to be High (elevation, that is) and probably somewhat north facing. The usual early season hazards of rock, wood and ice are still waiting. The big question is - do you want to work hard to risk missing a whole winters worth of good skiing for one mediocre October run? Throw in some tricky crusts and possibly very fast ski-outs and you have been warned. There is only a little snow and wind in the Columbia's forecast but keep an eagle eye out for surface windslabs if they get more snow than forecasted. Again, the consequences of even a little ride could be bad with just a few snowflakes between you and all that rock and wood.
Throughout the ranges cornices are new and perhaps fragile. Glacier travel will still be a bit serious and the crevasses a bit stronger but even harder to read with a wind crust. Mid elevation scrambles in the Rockies and other dry ranges are probably the safest bet for those who feel the need to go uphill this weekend..
Patience Grasshopper,
Larry Stanier
Mountain Guide