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Thursday, May 21, 2009

[MCR] Jasper Winter Update 2 - Wednesday May 20, 2009

A bit more snow yesterday (May 20) in Jasper Park with another couple of
centimeters on the ground at Morro slabs in the morning. Cool temperatures
and intermittent flurries made for almost no improvement during the day even
during the brief breaks in the cloud. Snow was noted on the face of Morro
Peak which is almost always dry and Hidden Valley from a distance also had
snow on the routes (as of 5PM).

South facing scrambles like Esplanade and Mount Greenoch were still
blanketed in white with the snow line on that side of the valley being only
perhaps 100m above the valley floor. Elsewhere the snow in the valley floor
is gone but just above the valley variable amounts remain. The Eastern
slopes looked pasted. Great for photography.

Couldn't see much of the main ranges in cloud but expect more snow there.
Saw a few point release sluffs in the new snow in the Victoria Cross Ranges
and elsewhere but in actual fact observations were very limited. Noted new
cornices on a few ridges in the Victoria Cross Range.

Forecast for today is high temperatures in the single digits so I am not
expecting any kind of big improvement for the weekend. Anything involving
elevation of any kind will have new snow on it. Mount Colin looks very cold
and snowy this morning. I suspect that even some of the cragging will be
less than stellar for a couple of days. Hiking will likely be in mud and
snow for a bit yet too.

Cyril Shokoples
Mountain Guide
Rescue Dynamics
5109 - 17A Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA T6L 1K5
http://www.rescuedynamics.ca
http://www.rescuedynamics.com

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