This week has been dominated by the return of wet weather to the coast.
Freezing levels have remained between 2200 and 2500m throughout the period.
Little information has been available about the exact build up of new snow above these elevation. However, from a recent drive of the Duffy lake road and from observations around the Whistler area there appears to be only 5-10cms above 2500m.
With the recent Precipitation and warm temps from the weeks before, the Glaciers are starting to look a bit more as they should for this time of year. Most glacier toes are down to bare ice and many more crevasses have started to open in the past few weeks.
Some alpine faces such as Mt. Matiers north face, Joffre's NE face, Slalok, Wedge, Garibaldi and many others, have now lost some of their winter snow and are starting to show bare ice in places.
>From a report last week the troublesome Slesse pocket Glacier is still half there and quite dangerous at the moment. It may be best to wait a few more weeks till the rest hopefully falls off.
With the forecasted high pressure arriving this weekend and a return to warmer temps most of this new snow should melt off by Sunday and we should be back to great alpine conditions soon. In the meantime you may want to be a bit cautious on glaciers were the new snow has lightly hidden some crevasses and where the snow may have built up to deeper amounts and may cause some small avalanches when it warms up.
Have fun out there!
Craig McGee, ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
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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.
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