I have spent the last 4 days getting around the Rogers Pass region.
Overall winds have been light, precip has been in and out every day with new snow slowly accumulating, especially at higher elevations (above at least 1800m), and temps staying relatively cool with no real spikes above freezing. As a result snow quality has stayed quite good on the shady aspects, and traffic seems to be quite diminished right now. Currently above 2000m and higher you can expect some deeper trailbreaking with ski penetration around 30-40cm.
With this being the traditional deepest snowpack time of year, most glaciers are quite well filled in and travel is relatively good. Of note is the debris piles from the large natural avalanche cycle 2 weeks ago, especially in the Loop Brook drainage. There is currently around 5-10m deep of very jumbled avalanche debris filling in the creek right before the feature known as the elephant's trunk. Taking your skis off and walking is your best bet for 15 minutes.
Have fun and be safe out there
Evan Stevens
Mountain Guide
Quick access to Windows Live and your favorite MSN content with Internet Explorer 8.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
[MCR] Monashees, west of the Perry River and east of Craigellachie Ck.
March 31st, 2009.
Just finished 12 days skiing in the Monashees just east of the Craigellachie ck/Gorge ck country. Cool weather and not much snow or wind. Treeline and below we found snow stability on shaded slopes improved steadily over the period. Skied some fine, steep, North facing, treeline and below terrain in the past few days.
Southerly facing slopes have some buried crusts that we didn't observe as the skiing was mostly poor there for over a week and we simply avoided them. These sun affected slopes may be the big question when the next snow hits. Everything, of course, is open to change if and when the next storm hits or the temperatures go way up.
Also, be aware these observations do not apply to the alpine as we simply weren't able to get there.
Larry Stanier
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
[MCR] avalanche incident photo analysis
For some reason the link for the CAC's avalanche incident photo analysis document doesn't work. (See my post of just a few minutes ago). If you paste the URL into your browser it seems to work. Alternatively, go to: www.avalanche.ca click on "I am public" and then click on the link on the left side of the page that says "Avalanche Incident Photo Analysis".
Cheers,
Karl
Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC
[MCR] CAC Avalanche Incident Photo Analysis
The Candian Avalanche Centre is trying out a new way of communicating with backcountry travellers. Using photos of actual recent incidents and terrain, weather, snowpack, and avalanche data, we produced an Avalanche Incident Photo Analysis. This is currently in the form of a PDF document found on the main page of the CAC website at www.avalanche.ca. You can access the document directly by clicking on this link:
http://avalancheinfo.net/Media/200809/200903%20Avalanche%20Incident%20Photo%20Analysis.pdf
While this initiative is in response to the recent rash of snowmobile fatalities, we hope it will be useful to everyone making decisions in avalanche terrain. If you have comments, suggestions, or questions about this initiative, contact Karl Klassen: kklassen@avalanche.ca.
Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC
Monday, March 30, 2009
[MCR] Whistler/Blackcomb backcountry March 29/30
March 29
Skied Spearhead Glacier and Corona.
Sunny skies and cold temps -7 to -13 deg.
Several natural small size 1 loose and soft slab avalanches to 15cm deep observed E, SE & NW aspects in steep (40 deg and greater) terrain.
Crevasses are now generally well bridged with some obvious holes, although the wind event from NE late last week caused some wind ripples that could be confused with crevasses (or more dangerously vice versa).
15cm storm snow on the flats of Spearhead Glacier, height of snow greater than 240cm. Boot to knee deep low density powder on Corona, apparently where all of the snow ended up with the wind, great skiing!
March 30th
Travelled across Flute & Oboe Mountains on the way to Cowboy Ridge, return via Singing Pass trail.
No new avalanches observed.
E & SE aspects of Flute had variable thickness wind and solar crusts that made skiing challenging. The E aspect of Oboe was however much better with no crust and great skiing down to Melody Creek. Cowboy Ridge had a 2-3cm thick sun crust which was not enticing to ski and the skin track from yesterday was slippery. The N facing bowl between Cowboy Ridge and Russet Ridge had no crust and fantastic ski quality (ankle deep).
Snowed very lightly all day, 1-2cm new snow during the day. Temps -4 to -7 deg. Wind light from SW.
Singing Pass trail in good condition, caution drainage ditches last few kms.
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Share your photos with Windows Live Photos – Free. Try it Now!
Skied Spearhead Glacier and Corona.
Sunny skies and cold temps -7 to -13 deg.
Several natural small size 1 loose and soft slab avalanches to 15cm deep observed E, SE & NW aspects in steep (40 deg and greater) terrain.
Crevasses are now generally well bridged with some obvious holes, although the wind event from NE late last week caused some wind ripples that could be confused with crevasses (or more dangerously vice versa).
15cm storm snow on the flats of Spearhead Glacier, height of snow greater than 240cm. Boot to knee deep low density powder on Corona, apparently where all of the snow ended up with the wind, great skiing!
March 30th
Travelled across Flute & Oboe Mountains on the way to Cowboy Ridge, return via Singing Pass trail.
No new avalanches observed.
E & SE aspects of Flute had variable thickness wind and solar crusts that made skiing challenging. The E aspect of Oboe was however much better with no crust and great skiing down to Melody Creek. Cowboy Ridge had a 2-3cm thick sun crust which was not enticing to ski and the skin track from yesterday was slippery. The N facing bowl between Cowboy Ridge and Russet Ridge had no crust and fantastic ski quality (ankle deep).
Snowed very lightly all day, 1-2cm new snow during the day. Temps -4 to -7 deg. Wind light from SW.
Singing Pass trail in good condition, caution drainage ditches last few kms.
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Share your photos with Windows Live Photos – Free. Try it Now!
[MCR] Carlsburg Conditions
Climbed Carlsburg today on the left side. It was in perfect condition. -2, light wind, mix of sun and cloud, old avalanche debris on final approach. First approach pitch worth it as a warm up.
Eric Dumerac
ACMG full Ski Guide, ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide
Communicate, update and plan on Windows Live Messenger. Get started today.
Eric Dumerac
ACMG full Ski Guide, ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide
Communicate, update and plan on Windows Live Messenger. Get started today.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
[MCR] Valkyr Range, Selkirk Mountains
We spent the last 6 days skiing out of the Valkyr Range in southern B.C with Valkyr Adventures. We had excellent ski conditions with about 50cm of new snow through the week, cool temperatures and little wind effect. The new snow bonded well with previous surfaces and we saw little in the way of new avalanche activity. Some sluffing on steep North aspects, and solar triggered sluffing and a couple thin slabs up to size 1.5 on steep South aspects when it got sunny. We started the week very cautiously but were able to step out into steeper terrain as the week progressed. We were conscious of sticking to areas with a thicker snow pack and well supported terrain.
There are still several layers of crusts and facets buried within the top 1m of the snow pack which produced sudden shears in the hard range and showed potential to propagate with a large enough trigger. South aspects seemed the worst for this, while North aspects had fewer layers and showed harder test results overall.
Spring is slowly arriving with melt freeze crusts developing below 1500 meters and isothermal snow developing below 1200m. Sun crust on solar aspects, and good powder skiing on North aspects down to 1500m!
Cheers, Conrad JanzenIFMGA Mountain Guide
www.conradjanzenguiding.com
Friday, March 27, 2009
[MCR] Aster Lake Region - Kananaskis
Spent the last 3 days in the Aster Lake region of Kananaskis with Arian S. and Nate S.
Wednesday began with an intense snow storm that abated in the late morning. We found good skiing on a west aspect at tree line where up to 20cm of snow covered the previous sun crust. The bond at this interface was generally good, but this old sun crust did make for occasionally challenging trail breaking, especially on SE and S aspects below tree line. Overall, travel conditions were easy with ski penetration of 10 to 20cm. It seems the warming event earlier this month has consolidated the snowpack and there is now a strong midpack allowing for more comfortable travel conditions. A soft wind slab had formed in alpine areas, but at this stage it does not seem reactive to skiing in moderate angled terrain.
Thursday dawned clear and cold (-23 celcius) and we skied up to Warrior Col and hiked to the summit of Warrior Mountain via the south ridge. The snowpack at tree line and in the alpine measured from 180cm to over 250cm in depth. There is a variably distributed soft wind slab in alpine areas, but again it does not seem reactive in moderate terrain. We also noted that the basal layers do not seem as weak in this region as they are in other areas of the Rockies (perhaps due to greater snow depth). There is still concern in shallow snow pack locations especially in lee areas and/or where a wind slab exists.
From a distance the north face of Mt. Joffre appears fairly well covered, however we were never close enough to evaluate the presence (or absence) of a wind slab. The snow texture has the look of wind effect and there is certainly concern given the steep, smooth, icy nature that this face typically shows. Today's strong westerly winds could have changed everything by now (see below) .
Today was an overcast day with light snow falling. Of special note was the moderate to strong westerly winds. Every ridge-top showed intense transport of snow and many of the previous days tracks were blown in. The avalanche hazard in the alpine and open areas at tree line is likely increasing.
Play safe out there.
Jeremy Mackenzie
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Make your Messenger window look the way you want. Express Yourself!
Wednesday began with an intense snow storm that abated in the late morning. We found good skiing on a west aspect at tree line where up to 20cm of snow covered the previous sun crust. The bond at this interface was generally good, but this old sun crust did make for occasionally challenging trail breaking, especially on SE and S aspects below tree line. Overall, travel conditions were easy with ski penetration of 10 to 20cm. It seems the warming event earlier this month has consolidated the snowpack and there is now a strong midpack allowing for more comfortable travel conditions. A soft wind slab had formed in alpine areas, but at this stage it does not seem reactive to skiing in moderate angled terrain.
Thursday dawned clear and cold (-23 celcius) and we skied up to Warrior Col and hiked to the summit of Warrior Mountain via the south ridge. The snowpack at tree line and in the alpine measured from 180cm to over 250cm in depth. There is a variably distributed soft wind slab in alpine areas, but again it does not seem reactive in moderate terrain. We also noted that the basal layers do not seem as weak in this region as they are in other areas of the Rockies (perhaps due to greater snow depth). There is still concern in shallow snow pack locations especially in lee areas and/or where a wind slab exists.
From a distance the north face of Mt. Joffre appears fairly well covered, however we were never close enough to evaluate the presence (or absence) of a wind slab. The snow texture has the look of wind effect and there is certainly concern given the steep, smooth, icy nature that this face typically shows. Today's strong westerly winds could have changed everything by now (see below) .
Today was an overcast day with light snow falling. Of special note was the moderate to strong westerly winds. Every ridge-top showed intense transport of snow and many of the previous days tracks were blown in. The avalanche hazard in the alpine and open areas at tree line is likely increasing.
Play safe out there.
Jeremy Mackenzie
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Make your Messenger window look the way you want. Express Yourself!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
[MCR] Coast Range: Garibaldi Neve Traverse
Just did the Neve traverse yesterday, and overall conditions are pretty good. We did not stop long enough for snow obs, wx obs, etc...so here are just some general obs on conditions.
Last weeks avalanche cycle was quite extensive across the traverse, most major slopes had visible wide crowns of ~1m. Lots of debris in drainage bottoms. Now about 20-30cms filling in the old slide paths. Made me feel better about crossing certain slopes, like dropping into Ring Creek under the Gargoyles and going down to Garibaldi Lake as all of the paths had slid. Temps stayed quite cool, and we didn't really experience any wet/heavy snow the whole day.
The only real snow bridges/crevasses encountered were crossing under Garibaldi towards the sharks fin, but the one bridge we had to cross was quite fat, and things were quite well filled in.
On the trail out from the lake, things still have good coverage. Snow conditions got quite horrible around the 4-5km mark, and serious injury seemed quite possible on the death cookie covered trail. No rocks until the last km of trail, and then icy pine needles and rocks to the bottom.
Evan Stevens
Mountain Guide
evan_stevens@hotmail.com
Quick access to Windows Live and your favorite MSN content with Internet Explorer 8.
Last weeks avalanche cycle was quite extensive across the traverse, most major slopes had visible wide crowns of ~1m. Lots of debris in drainage bottoms. Now about 20-30cms filling in the old slide paths. Made me feel better about crossing certain slopes, like dropping into Ring Creek under the Gargoyles and going down to Garibaldi Lake as all of the paths had slid. Temps stayed quite cool, and we didn't really experience any wet/heavy snow the whole day.
The only real snow bridges/crevasses encountered were crossing under Garibaldi towards the sharks fin, but the one bridge we had to cross was quite fat, and things were quite well filled in.
On the trail out from the lake, things still have good coverage. Snow conditions got quite horrible around the 4-5km mark, and serious injury seemed quite possible on the death cookie covered trail. No rocks until the last km of trail, and then icy pine needles and rocks to the bottom.
Evan Stevens
Mountain Guide
evan_stevens@hotmail.com
Quick access to Windows Live and your favorite MSN content with Internet Explorer 8.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
[MCR] Rockies: Vermillion Pass - Assiniboine traverse
Just returned from repeating another classic Chic Scott ski traverse over the past 6 days. Starting at Vermillion Pass we travelled through Shadow Lake Lodge, Egypt Lake shelter, Sunshine Village, Police Meadows cabin and finished last night with an outstanding meal and a comfy bed at Assiniboine Lodge.
Travel conditions were overall good. It was a bit punchy below 1800 m climbing out of Vermillion Pass but as soon as we got to 2000 m it was fast travelling on a firm mid-pack and low ski penetration (helped by a packed trail from Shadow Lake to Egypt Lake via Pharaoh Creek). Things were supportive all the way to Citadel Pass but things immediately changed at that point and it was poor going down the pass to the Simpson River, even above 2000 m. Lots of punching through to the basal facets. In the valley bottom, travelling to Police Meadows, things improved a bit especially the next morning when it was colder. From Og Lake to Assiniboine things were fast and easy again.
Regular whumpfing along the route, especially in flat areas. There was some recent avalanche activity in the storm snow north of Sunshine on lee alpine slopes. South of Sunshine there has been a recent avalanche cycle on alpine west aspects, probably temperature/solar triggered on March 22/23, slabs failing near the ground and running to middle of the runouts, up to small size 3.
The most activity we saw had occurred in the Assiniboine area, with slab avalanches failing deep on most aspects in the alpine. Andre Renner at Assiniboine reported remotely triggering an avalanche from a flat area 300 m away, this happened a couple of days ago.
On the flight out Bryant Creek today there has been a recent wet, loose snow cycle on southwest facing paths, again running to middle of the runout and up to small size 3.
Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
[MCR] jasper snow
Up for a jaunt yesterday morning at Maligne Lake. Went up the Lovatt
scout trail just south of the Bald Hills fire road.
fortunately there was an old track or I would have turned
around...The snowpack below treeline barely supports weight and if
you break through it is tough getting back to the surface.
Climbing out of this valley there are some low angle S facing glades
that easily lead to top where the back of the main south peak of the
Bald Hills can be regained.
scout trail just south of the Bald Hills fire road.
fortunately there was an old track or I would have turned
around...The snowpack below treeline barely supports weight and if
you break through it is tough getting back to the surface.
Climbing out of this valley there are some low angle S facing glades
that easily lead to top where the back of the main south peak of the
Bald Hills can be regained.
I was awed by how everything was subsiding (whoompfing) widespread
everywhere. I was glad I wasn't anywhere near anything steep enough
to slide. Once the sun is out even though it was cool (-7) the
snowpack on the south side was very touchy, This seemed the case in
many alpine areas where the wind had hit and they were shallow.
Skiing down below treeline you could not really ski off the beaten
track. Come to a stop, sink to ground
the upper pack is barely supportive, facetts to ground after that.
Snowpack at treeline was about 1 metre. Foot penetration was about 60-80cm.
Great views of Maligne area!
Peter Amann
Peter Amann
Mountain Guide
_______________________________________________
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.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Monday, March 23, 2009
[MCR] Mt. Field conditions
Skied from the ski mountaineers summit of Mt. Field yesterday. Mainly sunny, 6 deg. @ parking lot and -5 on summit, Light to Mod wind from NE, 1-2cm of new snow. 5 hours to the top with good traveling conditions- slower on the ski out road with heavier moist snow- Needed glop stopper on up-track. No whumphing or cracking. N slopes had good preserved powder down to TL with boot top ski pen. Solar aspects had moist snow on all elevations, from upper snowpack to mid pack- beginning to be isothermal at lower elevations and seemed usntable and probably ready to slide with a trigger in the right terrain. OF NOTE: Variable conditions and results observed. In deeper snow areas snowpack seemed homogeneous with tests producing No Results or Hard RP(resistant planar) results. However wind affected and shallow areas seemed very suspect and the transition between safer terrain and suspect terrain was very abrupt. These produced Easy SP (sudden planar) results 15-20down and Mod RP 30-50dn. At TL there is an isolated lower density layer 40 or so down below a firmer pencil layer that could be a cause for concern in unsupported and steeper terr. Numerous resistance tests probing with ski pole, hand shears, compression test and careful terrain selection were used in this transitional time to gain confidence in order to ski from the summit. It seem it would be very easy still for one to hit a shallow, wind or sun affected pocket which could potentially trigger an avalanche.
Wdspr Na aval to Sz 1.5 on solar aspects of
Eric Dumerac
Ski Guide
Make your Messenger window look the way you want. Express Yourself!
[MCR] Wapta Traverse March 17-22
No shortage of wind or whiteout on this trip, five days in my bright sunglasses and only one in my dark ones! Consistent new snow through the week.
March 17th we skied into the Peyto hut, of note were several whumpfing settlements as I crossed a runout zone on an east aspect, 6700 feet, 1 km east of Cauldron Lake.
Day tripped from Peyto Hut on the 18th, a size 2.5 slab off of the East Face of Mt Baker, 10,000 feet (extreme terraine) and a heavy wind loaded look kept us away from the ridgelines -we skied down from a high point 150 meters below Baker col on one run not wanting to go all the way to the col.
Got lucky with the visibility on March 21st (the day for my dark glasses) and traveled over the Balfour High Col via the upper bench. The upper bench looks like the way to go right now as it keeps one on shallower slopes with little concern for the well bridged crevasses. No evidence of avalanches running onto the bench. Boot top trail breaking for us. Lots of wind effect above 9000 feet then fields of undisturbed surface hoar on the icefield leading to the Scott Duncan hut. 4 cms of new snow, calm winds, at the hut Saturday nignt.
Light wind out of the east Sunday morning. Skied out the Schiesser/Lomas exit on a supportive sun crust from Niles Peak. Some cornice activated slabs to size 2, then a number of slabs to 2.5 out on all aspects -evidence of the recent cycle. One of the east facing gulleys off of Mt Ogden ran to within 50 meters of Sherbrooke Lake, fast and far?
Happy trails
Barry Blanchard
UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
[MCR] Observations from the Esplanade
Spent a bit of time at the GAH Vista Hut this week and had a good
opportunity to observe the conditions leading up to the avalanche cycle that
occurred Friday afternoon and overnight into Saturday.
opportunity to observe the conditions leading up to the avalanche cycle that
occurred Friday afternoon and overnight into Saturday.
Wednesday: We flew in on the 18th with a break in the weather that gave
broken skies in the morning and a temperature of -12C upon reaching the hut.
Surprisingly little activity seen on the flight this morning despite the
good visibility. However it was obvious that things were quite stacked up at
ridge lines and start zones especially on the North and East aspects due to
the recent storm activity.
>From the onset we avoided exposure to overhead hazard on these aspects
believing them to hold the potential to produce slides that would run a
considerable distance.
It began to snow in the afternoon. 10 cm of snow fell and temps only climbed
as high as -6C with Calm winds. The resulting poor visibility and the above
limitations kept us skiing on South aspects to just above treeline and
sheltered East aspects immediately below the hut between 2400 and 1900m. In
the end this small piece of the tenure was the terrain we skied for the
entire trip. Skiing was excellent but required a considerable amount of care
to manage the hazards inherent with these locations.
The South aspects which presented two dominant crust layers proved to be of
the greatest concern for us:
The first of these was buried down 25-30 cm and would produce easy shears in
the decomposing fragments of precipitation particles (the broken arms and
remaining parts of snow flakes) above the 2 cm crust.
This layer was created previous to the 12th of March during a cold and dry
period with some sunny skies and temperatures as low as -25C. The cold temps
produced sugary facet crystals that do not adhere to each other. The Sun
produced the crust in areas that were reasonably steep and solar : SE- SW.
The crust becomes thicker with steepness of the slope (less reflection and
more heat absorption) and with aspects turned closer to South where the peak
of solar heating occurs.
We found that the 25-30 cm of snow on this layer to be soft with a limited
amount of cohesion however it would fail in soft chunks when cut from above
and below with a ski in the up track.
Of greater concern for us was the next deeper crust: the March 1 interface.
This was found to be 50- 65 cm deep and to be covered by the faceted snow
discussed above.
Produced during a mild period at the end of February this crust is now
beginning to degrade becoming several laminar layers instead of one clearly
defined crust. The main concern here however is the faceted snow that
overlies it.
Tests produced easy to moderate results that failed with a sudden collapse a
few cm above the crust. We experienced several settlements on these slopes
that can be attributed to the failure of this layer. The likely mechanism
for these events was the failure or cracking of the March 12 crust that
protected the deeper low density snow with the addition of a skier's weight.
The resulting whumph occurred as the faceted snow above the lower crust
collapsed under the slab above it. The character of these settlements on
this day were minor in nature this day. Generally they occurred often and
locally with the weight of one or two skiers that were close together.
We were concerned with the potential for this layer to propagate and
potentially create significant avalanches so we limited our exposure to
larger open slopes (where the magnitude of a failure would be greater) and
kept a good deal of time between each skier on the slopes we did ski to
minimize both the potential for triggering and involvement should things
slide. We chose slopes that were well supported and treated any convex rolls
with additional respect.
We experienced only minor results with ski-cutting on the March 12 crust in
steeper locations but even these results had us concerned with the potential
of a creating a small slide on the upper crust that could step down to the
deeper crust by focusing increased load on the weaker layer.
A third layer was also observed 75-90 cm deep as an interface with faceted
crystals (that were created during a sustained dry and cold period in the
middle of February) below firmer layers of more settled snow. Buried on Feb
22 these facets remain weaker than the snow that covers them. In most
locations we felt that the above mentioned crusts would prevent any
triggering on this layer. However these facets were found to be alarmingly
close to the surface in some areas that had been scoured by the wind.
Thursday: On the 19th with continued snow, -9C, and minimal wind, we now
found the march 12 layer down 35- 40 cm and the March 1 layer down 60-75 cm.
Temperatures increased from -9C in the AM to 3C for a brief period in the
afternoon with snow and imbedded fog all day except some brief windows of
clearing in the late afternoon.
We continued to experience settlements that increased in magnitude and
decreased in frequency as the day progressed. By the end of the day it took
2 or three people or more within 20 m of each other to produce these events.
We interpreted this to indicate that it may require more load to trigger an
avalanche but that the potential for larger propagation was increasing.
This day we explored a bit more below the hut(2150m) into more sun sheltered
Eastern glades and trees as low as 1900m. Here we found unsupported features
such as the mushrooms on boulders to fail easily as a soft slab. This
occurred on the March 12 interface mentioned above presenting here as
decomposing fragments overlying faceted crystals.
The Feb 22 layer was also evident buried 70- 80cm producing moderate results
that failed with a sudden planar character: a pop with the block moving
easily forward on the snow beneath the failure. As with the March 12 layer,
there were faceted crystals at this interface.
Neighboring huts reported two significant skier triggered events this day
both on North aspects in steep and unsupported terrain below 2000m, 50 -80cm
Deep that likely correspond to the March 1 or Feb 22 layers.
Friday: On the 20th we awoke to another 7cm of snow and a period of
reasonable visibility. We could see no wind at ridge top and the temperature
was a bit warmer than the previous morning at -7. The forecast called for
periods of snow and the winds to turn to the SW rising to 30 gusting to 50.
By the time we left the hut it began to snow and by the time we reached
ridge top we found winds to be out of the south east gusting to moderate
speeds.
1330 hrs: the winds had increased significantly and temperatures were above
zero degrees at 2000m. We began to notice the wind creating slab much more
rapidly with the warming.
1500 hrs: we could hear large avalanches coming down from the the large N
facing cliffs and slopes south of the hut.
1630 hrs: the temperatures had dropped but the wind and intensity of snow
increased covering our tracks in between laps.
Saturday: On the morning of the 21 we awoke to clear skies and -10C. The
winds had shifted in the night and had blown strong out of the West in our
Drainage. In open areas all evidence of our tracks had been erased and the
snow surface was wavy with wind affect.
A significant cycle to size 3.5 had occurred in open areas on all aspects,
many avalanches running full path: ridge top to valley bottom. Some observed
on the flight out crossed creeks or were channeled downstream a significant
distance. Many of these events had large chunks of failed cornice visible in
the debris. Most of these events started above tree line however in steep
locations on both north and south aspects there were large slides below
treeline in open areas that had seen increased loading with the wind.
In the end we had great skiing and were lucky that a steady stream of new
snow allowed us to heavily use the areas that we were comfortable with
instead of taking large risks in the name of a few good turns. Special
thanks to our great crew of skiers (and rider!) for a great few days in the
storm.
Tim Haggarty
ACMG Ski Guide and Assistant Alpine Guide
Paul Harwood
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
_______________________________________________
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.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
[MCR] (no subject)
I finished a couple of weeks of work in the S Chilcotin Mountains yesterday pm. Basically the snowpack was like an eastern Rocky Mountains pack until the last snow fall – thin, faceted and very weak. Then it snowed close to a meter and the region experienced a huge avalanche cycle.
Yesterday, when the storm ended, the mountains showed avalanches size 2 – 4 on all aspects running full path. Almost all mountain sides where cut with fracture lines that where 1-3 m deep.
I skied only slopes less than start zone angle and stayed very very well away from overhead hazards. Slopes where still sliding mid day yesterday (a self guided ski touring party reported a size 4 they probably triggered)
This is not like a coastal snow pack at all. The stability and the hazard is not likely to improve quickly. Avalanches can be remotely started from way below, like valley bottom. And lots of snow will move, I did not see small avalanches. There are lots of slopes primed to slide. But the ski quality is good to excellent...
Dave Sarkany
Ski Guide
Saturday, March 21, 2009
[MCR] Coast: Brandywine March 21st
The skies cleared today and there was evidence of a large natural cycle over the past 72hrs with widespread avalanches up to size 4. Many step fractures were observed, some likely going down to the December 6th crust and facets, and some down to the ground. Many of these crowns appeared over 200cm deep.
We observed a large group of snowmobilers in this area highmarking on large steep (>40 deg) convoluted slopes with no results. Although this behaviour seemed reckless (the number of snowmobile avalanche involvements recently is alarming!), along with snow profiles today this indicated that the storm snow is rapidly gaining strength.
With 150cm of recent storm snow accompanied by strong winds from the SE through SW, the december 6th crust and facets are now buried far enough down that skier (or snowmobile) triggering is unlikey. However, with forecast sunny weather this week warming the recently developed huge cornices, it is possible these could still trigger large avalanches. There are still layers reactive within the storm snow, some to skier triggering as indicated today by a size 2.5 skier accidental avalanche.
Be safe out there and give the snow some time to settle before attacking the more aggresive lines.
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Windows Live just got better. Find out more!
We observed a large group of snowmobilers in this area highmarking on large steep (>40 deg) convoluted slopes with no results. Although this behaviour seemed reckless (the number of snowmobile avalanche involvements recently is alarming!), along with snow profiles today this indicated that the storm snow is rapidly gaining strength.
With 150cm of recent storm snow accompanied by strong winds from the SE through SW, the december 6th crust and facets are now buried far enough down that skier (or snowmobile) triggering is unlikey. However, with forecast sunny weather this week warming the recently developed huge cornices, it is possible these could still trigger large avalanches. There are still layers reactive within the storm snow, some to skier triggering as indicated today by a size 2.5 skier accidental avalanche.
Be safe out there and give the snow some time to settle before attacking the more aggresive lines.
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Windows Live just got better. Find out more!
[MCR] Adamant Range, March 21, 2009
Just got back from a week of skiing at Fairy Meadows with Felix Camire and the ACC group. We got about 110cm of new snow through the week which meant less time up high than normal, but fantastic ski quality!
Snow depth on the Gothic and Granite Glaciers was generally above 3.5m with a few wind swept locations around 260cm. More shallow spots on moraines and ridges than I remember from previous years, but 270cm at the hut.
We traveled fairly cautiously all week especially as the snowfall amounts increased. We stayed off steep South aspects due to a buried sun crust which produced some impressive settlements. North aspects in the alpine seemed better with the major concern being wind loading and then the large amounts of new snow later in the week. We also found a few open glades in the trees where a buried surface hoar layer down 60-80cm was still reactive to ski cutting.
This morning was quite impressive as we observed numerous avalanches up to size 3.5+ both from the hut area and on the flight out. Many were running on steep South aspects as the day heated up, but some triggered large releases on North aspects sympathetically. We also saw some large slides on steep North aspects failing after being wind loaded overnight.
From what we saw it is definitely time to tread cautiously until things settle out a bit. Fortunately there were plenty of face shots to be had on lower angle terrain while we watched the avalanche show.
IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.conradjanzenguiding.com
Monday, March 16, 2009
[MCR] Curtain Call
Climbed Curtain Call yesterday, March 15. Good trail leading up to the climb, once you are in the trees. We took skis, saved on some post holing on the flats where the trail drifts in and becomes harder to follow. Left the skis in the trees. The climb is challenging, as per usual, only two? other ascents recently. The line seems to be up the centre of the first pillar aiming for a large window/cave in the middle of everything. Climb into the window and up through a cave and out onto the left pillar for some endurance climbing, then up onto the half way ledge and a two bolt belay. We did the first in one long 70 meterish pitch, but a belay can be made in the cave. We climbed the second pillar via its left side and traverse into its centre, slightly harder overall than the first pitch. Walking behind the pillar and checking out the right side would be a good idea, we didn't because it was raining water over there (all of this could, of course, change if the water moves to the centre or right!).
Great climb,
happy trails
Barry Blanchard
UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
Sunday, March 15, 2009
[MCR] Coast - Callaghan Country
I went for a tour near the Callaghan Country lodge today, more specifically we skied 2 laps in the North Shoulder/Journeyman area. Great skiing, average knee deep and greater in places forced us to pick steeper treed lines over 30 degrees to make turns.
Avalanche Activity
- Numerous small size 1 soft slabs observed on North aspects 5000 to 7000 ft from last night or yesterday. Alpine not observed.
Weather & Snowpack
- Average of 40cm low density storm snow over the past few days, mostly unconsolidated and not forming a slab.
- Mostly obscured skies with some breaks of blue.
- Temps at the lodge ranged from 0 to 1 deg from 11am to 3pm.
- Light snow started mid morning, 10cm on the roof of my car at the end of the day.
- Wind light from the North.
- Ski penetration av. 40cm.
- Height of Snow 245cm at the lodge (4500ft) at 3pm.
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Windows Live just got better. Find out more!
Avalanche Activity
- Numerous small size 1 soft slabs observed on North aspects 5000 to 7000 ft from last night or yesterday. Alpine not observed.
Weather & Snowpack
- Average of 40cm low density storm snow over the past few days, mostly unconsolidated and not forming a slab.
- Mostly obscured skies with some breaks of blue.
- Temps at the lodge ranged from 0 to 1 deg from 11am to 3pm.
- Light snow started mid morning, 10cm on the roof of my car at the end of the day.
- Wind light from the North.
- Ski penetration av. 40cm.
- Height of Snow 245cm at the lodge (4500ft) at 3pm.
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Windows Live just got better. Find out more!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
[MCR] King Creek
Hello,
Mike Stuart and I just spent the day at King Creek with the Mountain Skills Semester. The ice is in it's usual shape but of note was the 2 slides in the paths on the approach that had slid with in the past 24 hours. One of them crossed the approach trail and could easily have buried a person if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most likely the cause was from the past strong winds and warm temperatures forming new slabs higher up. I would use caution in wind effected areas in the same general area.
Happy climbing!
Jesse de Montigny
ACMG Ski guide
ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide
Messenger has tons of new features that make chatting more fun. Click here to learn more.
Mike Stuart and I just spent the day at King Creek with the Mountain Skills Semester. The ice is in it's usual shape but of note was the 2 slides in the paths on the approach that had slid with in the past 24 hours. One of them crossed the approach trail and could easily have buried a person if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most likely the cause was from the past strong winds and warm temperatures forming new slabs higher up. I would use caution in wind effected areas in the same general area.
Happy climbing!
Jesse de Montigny
ACMG Ski guide
ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide
Messenger has tons of new features that make chatting more fun. Click here to learn more.
[MCR] Nemesis
Climbed Nemesis yesterday. The firmest approach trail has been set in an inappropriate place. This trail cuts to climber's right -West- through the valley bottom timber to below Suffer Machine then traverse large avalanche prone slopes to the base of Nemesis. A case of someone setting a track on snowshoes and then everybody else following, at least one party on bootsoles (do yourself a favor and rent snowshoes). A better approach would follow ski tracks up the climber's left -East- side of the valley. Perhaps future parties, especially those on skis, could approach there.
The route is in standard Nemesis shape, not as hard as it gets, nor as easy. We climbed the route in one 73 meter pitch (my second had to climb up on the ice for 3 meters so I could get to the bolts having placed all my 16 screws on lead), and a second pitch of 65 meters.
Gusty moderate to strong winds all day and we could here the westerlies revving up on the ridgelines. Lots of faceted snow being redistributed by the wind.
Happy trails
Barry Blanchard
UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
Monday, March 9, 2009
[MCR] MCGill Shoulder
Went to McGill Shoulder in Rogers Pass today. We did a profile on a
West aspect at about 2150m just below the ridgecrest. Total snow depth
at our profile site was 170cm. There's about 20cm of low density snow
on a thin melt-freeze crust which has a thin layer of sugary facets or
feathery surface hoar (couldn't tell for sure). This is the March 6
layer being talked about in the GNP avalanche bulletin. About 40cm
below the surface is another, thicker melt-freeze crust with a
prominent layer of sugary faceted snow under it. This is the March 1
layer. in tests, both these layers "dropped", and indicatations are
both these layers are skier-triggerable and will likely propagate (a
slab avalanche is likely).
West aspect at about 2150m just below the ridgecrest. Total snow depth
at our profile site was 170cm. There's about 20cm of low density snow
on a thin melt-freeze crust which has a thin layer of sugary facets or
feathery surface hoar (couldn't tell for sure). This is the March 6
layer being talked about in the GNP avalanche bulletin. About 40cm
below the surface is another, thicker melt-freeze crust with a
prominent layer of sugary faceted snow under it. This is the March 1
layer. in tests, both these layers "dropped", and indicatations are
both these layers are skier-triggerable and will likely propagate (a
slab avalanche is likely).
For those in the know: 20 down ECTP12 SC and 40 down ECTP16 SC.
The remaining 130cm of the snowpack consists entirely of sugary,
faceted grains which gradually get weaker the deeper you go.
This profile looked more like something you'd see in the Rockies than
in the Selkirks...
There are many (up and down) tracks in the slopes around and below our
profile site and no sign of any avalanches. Go figure.
The profile essentially confirmed what we already knew. We followed
the plan we had already made in the morning, that is: We stayed off
the steep lines and skied down the ridge a ways before heading down to
Bostock Creek on moderate to low angle slopes that were well supported.
Skiing was better on low angle slopes where we didn't feel the crusts as much.
Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC
----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
_______________________________________________
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.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
[MCR] Coast: Musical Bumps March 7-8
I spent the last 2 days skiing the backside of Flute and Oboe Mountain, camping at the Flute/Oboe Col.
Avalanche activity
1 natural size 1 slab observed near the Flute/Oboe Col., suspected to have run during the wind event Saturday morning, 1890m elevation, NE aspect, 20 to 40cm deep, 20m wide, 10m long, failed under a windrow. Closer inspection showed the slab had failed on 5mm surface hoar lying down at 40cm deep mixed with facets, possibly stepped down from a shear within the storm snow at 20cm deep (fracture line had been covered by blown snow). No other avalanche activity observed.
Snowpack
Variable snow surface from supportable windslab, to sun crust, to good skiing on creamy powder 5cm deep in sheltered areas. 185cm probed on the SE face of Flute at 2000m elevation.
Weather
Cold temps, overnight low -17, steady at -15 this morning. Wind on Saturday moderate from the SW, switching to light gusting moderate from the North this morning (Sunday).
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Windows Live Hotmail just got better. Find out more!
Avalanche activity
1 natural size 1 slab observed near the Flute/Oboe Col., suspected to have run during the wind event Saturday morning, 1890m elevation, NE aspect, 20 to 40cm deep, 20m wide, 10m long, failed under a windrow. Closer inspection showed the slab had failed on 5mm surface hoar lying down at 40cm deep mixed with facets, possibly stepped down from a shear within the storm snow at 20cm deep (fracture line had been covered by blown snow). No other avalanche activity observed.
Snowpack
Variable snow surface from supportable windslab, to sun crust, to good skiing on creamy powder 5cm deep in sheltered areas. 185cm probed on the SE face of Flute at 2000m elevation.
Weather
Cold temps, overnight low -17, steady at -15 this morning. Wind on Saturday moderate from the SW, switching to light gusting moderate from the North this morning (Sunday).
Alex Geary
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Windows Live Hotmail just got better. Find out more!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
[MCR] Bow/Peyto Area
Just spent the past 5 days (March 2-6th) in the Bow/Peyto area on the Wapta with
Convective flurries at the start of the week and an overnight storm on the 4/5th gave us up to 20cm of new snow over the 5 days. We found snow coverage on average in the 2m range (similar to Garths previous post) but we did find a number of low snow areas that convinced us to keep the rope on more than we normally would for this time of year. In some areas between Bow and Peyto hut(s) we found only 40-50cm of snow on the glacier and even some bare ice.
On Friday as we left Bow hut winds had picked up and our previous days tracks had already disappeared and a wind affected snow surface was all that remained. Plumes of snow were seen extended well beyond ridgelines as winds were certainly increasing at higher elevations.
Throughout the week conditions were generally cloudy but when we could see, we saw little recent avalanche activity.
Public Safety Program
Kananaskis Country
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
[MCR] climbing and skiing
March 3 we climbed Twisted in Field. The direct start looks thin, melted out, and detached enough to give a miss. Right hand ramp is great. The 2nd, crux, pitch has some detachment in the first third of the pitch, then some spooky detachment in the last third of the pitch (the crux). Might be possible to move around right to more bonded ice there. The last pitch is huge.
March 4 we climbed Murchison Falls. Good track in, lots of ice lenses and crusts overlying the ice. Huge roofs of ice topping the climb, kind of similar to what usually sits on top of Wicked Wanda but on a larger scale. I've done the route over a dozen times since the early 80s and can't recall seeing roofs like this before. We got through by traversing in from climber's right to finish in the centre and on the left.
March 5 walked all the way up to Spray River Falls but substantial sloughs coming off of the rock walls spooked us and we scampered away to Tokkum Creek.
March 6, ski touring on the Observation Peak side of Bow Summit. Broke through to the facettes and ground occasionally while track setting up through the forest (that is getting old for early March!). Sun crust in the glades, lots of wind effect above tree line. A variable ski down hill, much better ski quality below tree line.
Happy trails,
Barry Blanchard
UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
Thursday, March 5, 2009
[MCR] Steep Creek, Musical Bumps - South Coast Mountains
Steep Creek:
Sledded and skied to the lake yesterday. Looks like a few have driven right to the lake.
Many natural avalanche deposits, some within the previous 12 hours- to size 3.
We skied to the Col W and above the cabin (and lake) and then down into the next drainage.(5300’-6700’) There is not much snow here, maybe 150cm.
The two things that stood out in regards to stability was: (1) the number of fairly fresh fracture lines with deposits, and (2) how in locations where there was no previous avalanche activity I could quite easily push a ski pole, with big basket, all the way through the snow pack till I hit an icy layer near ground.
A friend who was up in this area on Sunday compared that days warming effect and subsequent avalanches to a wet dog, fresh out of a lake, shaking water off – everything was sliding.
To state the obvious, with a bit more snow, wind and or heating the area will see more avalanche activity particularly on slopes that have not slid yet. Lots of Surface Hoar to 10mm.
Musical Bump:
Was working in here today. Super windy from the NW. Stayed in the trees for comfort and quality. Very good skiing on SE aspect, tree protected, locations. Even NW treed aspects where still skiable, but won’t be soon...
The wind was moving lots of snow. In the lower, more protected areas only very soft slabs formed. I could not ski cut any slabs avalanches, but did make a couple Sz 1 point releases in newly re-deposited snow. I saw no new natural avalanches but I would bet that by tomorrow AM some S aspects in the Alpine and high Treeline will be primed to slide.
I guided clients out the Singing Pass trail on Feb 27th. It was in good shape, but with so little snow. There are two big, mean, nasty ditches near the end of the road just above the Village. They are flagged, but with beer so close it is tempting to forget about speed...
Dave Sarkany
ACMG Ski Guide
[MCR] Selkirks: Northern Valhallas
Finishing off another week in the Kootenays, this time in the north end of the Valhallas.
Over the week we've seen a significant wind event, a significant warming event with freezing levels to near mountain top and in the past 3 days over 40 cm of new snow.
The avalanches we've seen have been loose snow and releasing in extreme terrain and stopped at the top of the lower angled slopes below, size 1-2, failing in surface layers, windloading, warm temps and snowfall being the triggers. An exception to this was one large size 2 that started in steep skiable terrain at a treeline elevation halfway down a large avalanche track that ran into the top of the runout - temperature triggered.
We heard two whumpfs this week, both on south aspects at 2000 m. So we stayed away from south aspects.
The snowpack is a typical complex March one: three surface hoar and/or facet layers in the top meter or so, several buried suncrusts on solar aspects and buried windslabs in open treeline and alpine areas. But so far around here it has been unreactive to skiers. That seems to be an exception, many of our nearest neighbours have been reporting skier triggered avalanches on a variety of layers. We were cautious in windloaded areas, limited exposure to overhead hazard and stayed in areas that have had regular skier traffic over the winter.
Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
[MCR] Wapta classic Mar 1-4
Quick note on Wapta classic traverse conditions.
Mar 1st (Sun): Into bow hut. Good travel across lake with no skins made it
a quick x-country ski. Well packed trail all the way to bow hut.
Mar 2nd (Mon): Bow hut to Balfour hut. 220cm avg height of snow on glacier.
A couple of spots at the glacier tongue were in 150cm range but quickly
jumped into 2m range. Challenging ski quality down balfour side with
breakable surface crust for the top half. Generally light winds at the col
and well beaten path up Mt Olive.
Mar 3rd (Tues): Balfour hut to Scott Duncan. The route next to the black
cliff (climbers L option) ramp is well filled in with average 260cm height
of snow. Test pit on flats before the cliff, N aspect, 2700m, was a
moderate 19 compression test resistant planar down 40cm at storm snow
interface. At top of ramp/cliff, a sizeable crevasse nearly runs the entire
left to right distance. Several small and highly suspect bridges cross this
gap. Ended up taking the fattest looking one to climbers right, next to an
ice chunk the size of a camper trailer (obviously icefall from above).
Winds were light Easterly on Balfour hut side then switched to light
Southerly on Scott Duncan side. Scott Duncan side was good ski quality as
winds had not affected it yet. Height on snow was average 3m on this side.
Mar 4th (Wed): Scott Duncan out Sherbrook lake (skiers right of witches hat
route). 4cm ski penetration across the flats to the witches hat with light
South winds. Became crusty below 2200m below treeline. Track out is fast
and icy at the bottom.
Temps remained in the -4 to -10 range the entire time with a light dusting
of new snow. No new natural avalanche activity was noted over the trip and
couple times visibility was excellent.
Icefields area received 17cm Wednesday night with Moderate winds so not
sure if this made it to the Wapta area. Was bit of an upslope storm.
Hope this helps the next crew going in.
cheers
Garth Lemke
Public Safety Specialist
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Spécialiste, Sécurité publique
Guide de ski auxiliaire, Association des guides de montagne canadiens
Jasper National Park of Canada | Parc national du Canada Jasper
Parks Canada | Parcs Canada
P.O. Box 10, Jasper AB T0E 1E0 | C.P. 10, Jasper (Alberta) T0E 1E0
Garth.Lemke@pc.gc.ca
Telephone | Téléphone 780-852-6158
Facsimile | Télécopieur 780-852-6135
Cellular Phone | Téléphone cellulaire 780-852-8811
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
www.pc.gc.ca/jasper
Think GREEN! Please don't print this email unless you really need to.
Soyez ÉCOLO! N'imprimez ce courriel que si vous devez vraiment le faire.
_______________________________________________
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.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Mar 1st (Sun): Into bow hut. Good travel across lake with no skins made it
a quick x-country ski. Well packed trail all the way to bow hut.
Mar 2nd (Mon): Bow hut to Balfour hut. 220cm avg height of snow on glacier.
A couple of spots at the glacier tongue were in 150cm range but quickly
jumped into 2m range. Challenging ski quality down balfour side with
breakable surface crust for the top half. Generally light winds at the col
and well beaten path up Mt Olive.
Mar 3rd (Tues): Balfour hut to Scott Duncan. The route next to the black
cliff (climbers L option) ramp is well filled in with average 260cm height
of snow. Test pit on flats before the cliff, N aspect, 2700m, was a
moderate 19 compression test resistant planar down 40cm at storm snow
interface. At top of ramp/cliff, a sizeable crevasse nearly runs the entire
left to right distance. Several small and highly suspect bridges cross this
gap. Ended up taking the fattest looking one to climbers right, next to an
ice chunk the size of a camper trailer (obviously icefall from above).
Winds were light Easterly on Balfour hut side then switched to light
Southerly on Scott Duncan side. Scott Duncan side was good ski quality as
winds had not affected it yet. Height on snow was average 3m on this side.
Mar 4th (Wed): Scott Duncan out Sherbrook lake (skiers right of witches hat
route). 4cm ski penetration across the flats to the witches hat with light
South winds. Became crusty below 2200m below treeline. Track out is fast
and icy at the bottom.
Temps remained in the -4 to -10 range the entire time with a light dusting
of new snow. No new natural avalanche activity was noted over the trip and
couple times visibility was excellent.
Icefields area received 17cm Wednesday night with Moderate winds so not
sure if this made it to the Wapta area. Was bit of an upslope storm.
Hope this helps the next crew going in.
cheers
Garth Lemke
Public Safety Specialist
ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
Spécialiste, Sécurité publique
Guide de ski auxiliaire, Association des guides de montagne canadiens
Jasper National Park of Canada | Parc national du Canada Jasper
Parks Canada | Parcs Canada
P.O. Box 10, Jasper AB T0E 1E0 | C.P. 10, Jasper (Alberta) T0E 1E0
Garth.Lemke@pc.gc.ca
Telephone | Téléphone 780-852-6158
Facsimile | Télécopieur 780-852-6135
Cellular Phone | Téléphone cellulaire 780-852-8811
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
www.pc.gc.ca/jasper
Think GREEN! Please don't print this email unless you really need to.
Soyez ÉCOLO! N'imprimez ce courriel que si vous devez vraiment le faire.
_______________________________________________
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.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
[MCR] PWLs waking up
I thought I'd add to Eric's very apt recent post to the MCR regarding recent events and the snowpack on the coast. I've been watching the snowpack across the west since late fall and have recently been guiding and instructing trips and courses in a variety of regions. The persistent weak layers that Eric refers to in his post are widespread throughout the western mountains of Canada and, from what I can tell, they also exist in many areas south of the border. In recent days, there have been numerous avalanches initiated by natural and human triggers in various areas around the province. While the ones Eric reported on the coast are certainly dramatic, I've also heard about and seen slides triggered on the February and January layers in the interior and the rockies. In one case, near Rogers Pass, it's suspected that a large natural avalanche stepped down to one of the December layers or perhaps even the November layer. In the Rockies, a large avalanche released at or near ground in the November layer. This is all eerily reminiscent of last year when the layering in the snowpack was very similar to what we are seeing this season. Even the dates of this year's persistent weak layers are almost identical to last year. In 2008, between February 26 and the end of March over 1000 natural and human triggered avalanches size 2 or larger were reported, including numerous close calls and a couple of fatals. I suspect there were many that went unreported. Last year, PWLs were known or suspected as the failure layer in almost every avalanche fatality.
If anything, this year is weirder and more complex than last. Experienced practitioners with 30+ years of experience have never seen anything like the layering in this year's snowpack and many of us are waiting for the other (next?) shoe to drop. Usually, avalanches in the Coast ranges or the Rockies have little or no relevance to the interior ranges. This year, however, I think the recent incidents reported on the Coast and in the Rockies are directly relevant to what we might expect here in the interior. On the coast, the PWLs have received more load and warmer weather than the interior. Given that the layering on the coast is similar to what we have inland, I wonder if the slides Eric reported might be a premonition of things to come in the interior as load increases and spring arrives. In the Rockies, the snowpack is generally shallower and weaker than what we see in the interior. This year, however, I have seen many areas where the interior ranges snowpack is highly variable in distribution and depth. I wonder if shallow areas in the interior might react similarly to what happened in the Rockies last week. In my opinion, in a winter like this, it's wise to keep an eye on conditions farther afield than you might normally--my nearest neighbour in a PWL winter may not be geographically close by--it could be a place hundreds of kilometres away where the snowpack is similar. To me, the incidents in the coast and rockies lately are directly relevant to decisions I am now making in Rogers Pass, for example.
As Eric mentions in his report, the PWLs have been largely dormant in the recent dry spell and this has produced high confidence in people who may not realize that a) even when PWLs are dormant, the occasional large and highly destructive avalanche is common and, b) dormant weak layers often wake up, become more sensitive to triggering, and sometimes fully reactivate when stressed by weather factors. The most common weather factors that prod a dormant PWL are solar radiation, loading by wind or new snow, rain, and warm temperatures. Even if these factors do not trigger a deeply buried PWL directly, they often trigger cornice failures or smaller surface avalanches, which then step down to the deep PWLs.
While skiing in the Rogers Pass area last weekend, I saw direct evidence of what I think is an underestimation of the potential of this year's snowpack. The Pass had been more or less skied out during the PWL dormancy in the dry spell. Last week the region received a moderate snowfall, winds, warming temperatures, and some solar radiation during sunny breaks, which resulted in a pretty decent avalanche cycle. Natural activity died out pretty quickly (just not enough load or slab to sustain a major natural cycle) but skier triggering of smaller slides continued right through the weekend. Within 24 hours of the end of natural activity, people more or less jumped right back onto many of the very aggressive lines that had been skied during the drought. This might be reasonable if a path has slid or if you have a complete history of the snowpack and avalanche activity on a given slope but it's kinda out there if you are just repeating what you did earlier in a period of low hazard or if you are blindly following others who might know even less than you.
Even if you are not going to shred the gnar on the steepest lines, it's worth thinking carefully about what you are exposing yourself to. In my attempt to go into Asulkan Hut Friday, I found there was no debris in Asulkan Brook below the Mount Abbott slidepaths and saw no sign of any significant avalanche activity on the slopes above. With warm temps, sun beating on the slopes above, and big cornices on the ridge high above, I decided not to take the route everyone else was taking up the creek but rather broke a high trail through the trees above the trimline. At the Mousetrap, I decided to turn back given the variety of issues in the snowpack at different elevations and the sun hammering the start zones of the Ravens slidepath. In the meantime, numerous other parties walked up and skied down the valley using no safety measures and travelling the same route(s) that had been set (and were probably reasonable) during the drought. I saw a similar approach to terrain in other popular locations such as McGill and Connaught. Talking to folks on the trail, the most common reasoning was: "There's been at least 100 people through there in the last day or two and nothing has happened, so it's obviously okay."
We have been in a "low probability of triggering/high consequence if caught" situation for a couple of weeks--no one got killed so confidence is high. Recently, there's been a number of close calls and some serious injury accidents across the province--nothing dramatic enough to make the top of the evening news--so confidence has not waned the way it might of we were seeing bigger storms or more newsworthy accidents. We are now in a situation where many professionals feel the snowpack is in balance and just waiting for the next change in weather and/or a human trigger to set off something disastrous. Is it likely to happen? No. At least not until there's more weather factors in the mix. Is it survivable if you are caught? No.
I admit to getting old and I'm certainly more conservative now than I was even 10 years ago. I'm not trying to convince anyone to stay home. I do think, though, that people should make informed decisions about risk, especially if they are taking other, less experienced people with them into the mountains. What I saw in Rogers Pass last week disturbed me deeply, not because I'm against people taking risks but because I don't think everyone in the groups I saw was making fully informed decisions.
Here's some things I'm doing to hedge my bets this winter:
- Get local information from credible sources about what the concerns are and where/when they are most likely to be sensitive to triggering.
- Don't trust information from snowpack observations, the pack is too complex and many of the layers buried too deeply.
- Do not assume that just because you (or others) have done something before with no problem that it's appropriate to do it again this year or this week. We are seeing numerous avalanches taking out 100 year old timber this season so there's a combination of factors at play that no living person has experienced.
- Look up--all the time--and reduce exposure to large slopes that show little or no sign of significant avalanche activity, more so when the weather might be stressing the snowpack.
- Travel on smaller terrain features with little or no convexity.
- Travel on lower angled slopes that are well supported.
- Give yourself a little more margin for error than you normally might: in avalanche terrain use routes, travel techniques, and group management practices that minimize exposure time, reduce the number of people exposed, and maximize the use of safer terrain.
- Beware of warm day/blue sky syndrome: we tend to underestimate hazard and make more aggressive decisions when the weather is good.
- Timing is key: a few days can make a huge difference. Give the snowpack more time to adjust after weather changes than you normally might.
- If there is any doubt about the snowpack, there are three things that are of critical importance: terrain, terrain, terrain.
- Be prepared to wait for a better winter before tackling more aggressive lines or trips.
There's lots of places where the hazards and risks are manageable. Assess your motivation, carefully think your decisions through, and consult with credible, experienced, practitioners if you think you may not have the training or knowledge to make a fully informed decision.
Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
[MCR] PWL waking up
This has been an unusual season with several persistent weak layers on the coast. The long dry spell may have lured many into skiing like it is a normal snowpack. With the recent storm cycles there is now 2.5 metres over the 081206 facet/crust layer, over a metre on the 090127 surface hoar layer, and about 60 to 80 cm over the 090122 facet/surface hoar layer. The last week has seen 3 significant natural avalanche cycles up to size 3 mostly in the storm snow and down into the 090222 facet/surface hoar interface.
Today there was a significant skiier remotely triggered avalanche occurence. A ski party was regrouping at a col and 5 metres away a size 2.5 avalanche released in 35 degree terrain on a NE aspect at 2000 metres elevation. It failed down 80 cm on the 090222 facet/surface hoar interface. This simultaneously triggered 2 other avalanches one of which went to size 3. The size 3 had three step fractures which released on the 090222 facet/surface hoar interface down 80 cm, the 090127 surface hoar interface down over 100 cm, and the 081206 facet/crust interface down 260 cm. This large avalanche ran down over tracks on low angle terrain that had been previously skiied. There were also several whumphs in low angle terrain both before and after this.
This is not a normal coastal snowpack year.
Let's all be carefull out there.
Eric Ridington
Association of Canadian Mountain Guides - Ski Guide
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)