ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued August 20th, 2009.
During the poor weather last weekend up to 40 cm of snow fell on the high peaks in the Rockies and the Columbias. Most of this snow has settled or melted off of rock routes excepting on north aspects above 3000 metres. With the high pressure finally here, the drying trend will continue. The recent snow had brought some of the ice routes back into shape while temperatures remained cool but now that seasonal warm temperatures are back, rockfall issues in these types of places are likely to be significant again. On the plus side, now that nights are getting longer, and that the sun is starting to get lower in the sky during the day, overnight freezing with clear skies will help snow conditions.
At Rogers Pass, the Tupper and Swiss Peaks groups should be in good shape again. There will likely still be some snow or wetness to negotiate on Sir Donald near the summit ridge but again given the weather forecast, this should improve day by day.
This is time of the year when negotiating crevasses on glaciers can be problematic as some can be gaping and /or bridges are thin. Bergshrunds are also becoming difficult to cross with upper lips in places overhanging the lower one. In the case of the Bugaboo/Snowpatch col, it is in dangerous conditions and is not recommended. This clearly increases the complexity of access to the west side of the Spires.
Most of the recent reports indicate that the classic alpine objectives have come back into condition. This may be the time to enjoy them.
Marc Ledwidge
Mountain Guide