[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Coastal Mountains issued April 28, 2010

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Coastal Mountains issued April 28, 2010 S.COAST AND N.CASCADES RANGES: Cool and unsettled conditions prevailed this past week. Alpine areas received periodic snow flurries resulting in some lingering storm snow over a generally moist snow-pack. A weak ridge of high pressure is forecast to build onto the coastal areas this weekend. Perhaps we will see clear skies, and an overnight freeze. Avalanche activity; was generally limited to cornice failures and surface layers of the snow-pack. However some large avalanches have been reported, including a size 4 avalanche in the Hurley Pass area. The east side of the coast range, such as the Southern Chicotin region, the snow-pack probably still has lingering mid pack weaknesses. On the east side of the Cascades around Leavensworth, multi-pitch rock climbing routes out of Icicle creek drainage have had ascents in the past week,... presumably the snow line is retreating to treeline elevations. CENTRAL COAST REGION: The past week was reported to have drier conditions than South Coast. areas. Avalanche activity; the usual spring cycle will be underway, with wet slides running into valley bottoms. Avalanches and cornice falls have triggered deeper layers in the form of slabs in the drier side of the range, indicating a lingering Persistent Weakness Layer are still a concern on the drier east side slopes of the Coast Range. The alpine snowpack seems to be above average this year, many of the glaciers observed have an increase in crevasses. Ski touring activity is reported to be way up this year, with the number of groups flying in for trips approaching the busy days of the 1980's! NORTH COAST RANGES; Unlike the south Coast, the north coast has below average snowpack this winter. I didn't have much information at this time, but hopefully more info in the coming weeks. WEEKEND OUTLOOK If the skies do start to clear into the weekend, a nice melt-freeze travelling crust may form. The weather forecast seems to change daily, however at this time, Saturday looks like a lovely day for the South and Central coast areas. However, given the uncertain forecast, the safe bet might be rock-climbing in the rain shadow areas such as Pavillion, Skaha, or Leavensworth. Better bring a toque and sweater! Paul Berntsen, 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.

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued April 29th, 2010

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued April 29th, 2010 ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued April 29th, 2010. This is the first ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for 2010. Periodic avalanche bulletins from the Canadian Avalanche Center, Mountain National Parks and Kananaskis country will continue for awhile yet. Last weeks heat wave seems to have had a dramatic effect on the mountain snowpack. Observations are limited as most backcountry ski operations are closed for the winter. However, the limited observations all point to a strong, surface, melt freeze crust throughout the Rockies and Columbia mtns. from that warm period. This melt freeze crust, along with the large scale avalanche cycle that occurred during the heat, has taken most of the sting out of the persistent weak layers from the winter. However, there is no question that some BIG avalanches, releasing deep in the snowpack, will continue to occur with rapid warming from daytime heating or big rains for awhile. The melt freeze crust is presently being buried by snow and this trend is likely to continue given the forecast. As often happens in the spring, it is dumping in the Eastern Rockies and things are much drier along the Divide of the Rockies and in the Columbia mtns. Kananaskis country is reporting 50cms of new snow as of this morning(thursday) and it was still snowing at 10am. The wind is probably blowing and K Country's avalanche forecasters are calling the avalanche danger EXTREME in the alpine and treeline for tomorrow and saturday! Much less snow has fallen along the Rockies Divide (3 cm wednesday night at Lake Louise, 6cm at Sunshine, 10cm at Parkers Ridge) and in the Columbia mtns. In these areas, the few people reporting talk about good "dust on crust" skiing treeline and above. Below treeline, especially in well travelled places like Rogers Pass, it is either skiing in frozen debris, alders and ruts or isothermal wallowing when things warm up. Most valley bottom locati ons have reported rain rather than snow. Alpine climbing conditions WERE pretty good for awhile but we will have to see how much new snow we get through the extended period of grey forecasts. Assume that all cornices are massive and wobbly until you have observed them to be otherwise. >From all reports, it seems glacier travel conditions are pretty good in the Columbia Mountains and along the Rockies Divide from Mt. Robson to the Wapta. The notable exception seems to be Mt. Athabasca North Face area with a very thin snowpack. Lots of talk of bare ice in the steepish Rockies glaciers and ice faces. The wind did blow up high this winter! Ice climbing is almost done but climbable ice persists in some very shady locations for shady climbers. The usual caveats about warm temperatures, weak ice, hanging daggers, cornices, avalanche hazard etc obviously apply even more as we get into spring. Snow line is just above my house in Canmore as of 1pm thursday. The local mountains look more snowy than they have all winter. The scrambling and long rock routes on the east slope of the Rockies will need some much better weather to dry them out. Low elevation cragging will probably work this weekend if you don't mind climbing in down with a heat pack in your chalk bag:) Skiing could be good but I am trying to be a patient grasshopper, waiting for the glory of corn right from the top of a BIG peak. Hopefully that happens SOON! Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA 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.

[MCR] Rockies, Wapta traverse April 23-26

April 23rd skied to Bow Hut. Some spongy water siting on the surface of Bow Lake if you stepped off of the set track. Had to carry skis and step through the creek a half a dozen times on the way to tree line. Some frustrating crust collapses below the hut that left you standing in a bathtub.

24th. A solid freeze overnight and a strong supportive crust everywhere we were -Olive/St Nic col and down to Balfour Hut. Dust on crust hero snow, 5-10 cm deep on the bullet proof crust. Satiny skiing on the Diableret Glacier. Constant moderate-strong westerly winds.

25th. A clear cold night. Great travel and tracksetting across the high bench to Balfour High Col. A winter snow pack -without the supportive crust- on the steeper northerly slopes above 9000 feet. More satiny skiing down the Balfour Glacier to 8500 feet (after getting to the Scott Duncan Hut), and a great ski down the southwesterly aspect of the 9500 foot peak at the southern end of the Balfour Gl at 5:30 pm.

26th. - 10 C at 7:00 am. Great travel to Niles Peak and no problem cutting the big east facing slope there on the bulletproof supportive crust with dust on it. Great skiing down to the creek on the Schiesser/Lomas exit. Had to boot pack down through tight trees at the waterfall pitch as it was a waterfall. Skated across Sherbrooke Lake. Had to carry our skis for about 100 meters on the trail down to Wapta Lake, the snow is disappearing fast there.

Overall great conditions once you get onto the icefields. I would take ski crampons as the crust is side slippy on the steeper side slopes.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] South Coast conditions

Two ACMG Ski Guide exams visited several locations in the Cayoosh Summit/Joffre area of the Duffy Lake road, Mystery Creek and the Spearhead traverse between April 16-24. Tours ranged in elevation from ~1300m to ~2500m and all aspects were skied.

The beginning of the week saw weak to non-existant overnight freezes and an isothermal snowpack extending from roadside elevations (~1300m) up to treeline.  During the days, weak surface crusts formed overnight would breakdown quickly and avalanche hazard increased rapidly with daytime heating and solar input.  Weak and newly enlarged cornices (from a major storm event the previous week) were our major concern-- from exposure to the cornices themselves and as triggers for slopes below.

Wednesday, April 22nd saw a major rainfall event with rain extending to 1800/2000m in most locations.  This saturated the upper 50cm of the snowpack and produced many loose snow avalanches on all aspects from below treeline to ridgetop.  A major natural avalanche on Chipmunk Mtn, (sz 4 with a 1-2m deep crownline extending 550m across) occurred during this period.

Thursday and Friday (22nd and 23rd) saw stronger overnight freezes and generally cooler temperatures during the days.  This resulted in the development of a 5-10cm thick crust layer at the snow surface which helped stabilize the snowpack.  However, weak and saturated snow still exists below this crust and when temperatures rise and solar input increases, expect this surface crust to weaken and stability to decrease rapidly.

Cornices remain a major concern, especially when exposed to sun and rising daytime temperature.  The major avalanche that occurred during the rain event also indicates that deep instabilities in the snowpack can "wake up" during periods of higher freezing levels and increased precipitation (rain).

Excellent spring skiing was found, specially after daytime warming softened the surface layers but hard boiler plate skiing was also experienced on North aspects above 2000m. The Singing Pass trail ski out was still passable as of Friday April 23 but is deteriorating quickly at lower elevations.

Thanks to all the candidates for their input.

Sylvain Hebert

ACMG Ski Guide

[MCR] Juan de Fuca Trail

Hi, This past week I hiked the Juan de Fuca trail from Botanical Bay to Mile 13 and thought it worthy to note that the trail has had some improvements made to the existing structures. Although the mud puddles are still big it looks like the wood work like bridges and cat walks have been straightened out and some reinforces. Most old wash outs are fixed. The trail seemed cleaned up (although there are a few new windfalls from this past winter) and it walked considerably better than previous Springs.

 

Dave Sarkany

 SG

[MCR] Frank Mackie Traverse - NW Coast Ranges. Bell 2/Stewart, BC

100417 -100421
Completed the traverse in 3 travel days, and 2 weather days over 80km, Through the Treaty-Knipple-Frank Mackie-Salmon Glaciers. Travel days were generally good weather, mixed in with storms, including a day of rain at 5500' on the Frank Mackie. Travel was fast on A.M. Crusts, and degraded in the PM with heating. Lack of overnight freeze now would be very miserable. Coverage is good up high, but lots of slots open in weird places, were one would not suspect them, and the Salmon is quite open, and lots of recent bridge failures under previous sled tracks from the rain event. Surprisingly little avalanche activity after the rain event.. Low elevation snowpack is going fast, and don't think the exit off the Salmon moraines will be in for much longer. Granduc Rd is a mess of low elev avalanches from the rain event, and lots of bare patches opening. Feels a good month ahead of normal.
Thanks to LFH for the Heli Flight.
Sean Fraser, Lucas Holtzman, Olivia Sofer

Sean Fraser
ACMG Ski Guide
CAA Professional Member
Smithers, BC
250-643-0505

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[MCR] waddington angel glacier image

_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Waddington conditions

Just came out from a quick one week trip to the South side of
Waddington to the Dias Glacier area. Other than the ski quality the
area around the regular base-camp on the Dias is in good shape.

From the limited probing that I did on the Franklin, Finality and
Angel glacier there is well over 3m in the area. Having said this
though, there is widespread evidence of an extreme wind event in the
past few weeks which has stripped much snow off ridge tops and made
snow conditions on north faces, bullet proof!

We managed to be in the area right when most snow surfaces were going
though its first transition into a spring snow cycle. This meant that
we used ski crampons on almost all of our travel however the snow
never really turned into a skiable form of corn snow due to the powder
like conditions underneath. On most days this meant we were rewarded
with a beautiful breakable crust or schmoo for skiing.

We did mange to bag the false summit of the NW peak of Waddington in
our short stay. In my 15 years of skiing in the area I have never seen
the Angle glacier in such difficult conditions. The Seracs have become
very active and personally are almost a bit much for a ski route. The
attached photo is from our flight into the area on the evening of the
14th, however when we climbed up there two days later there had been a
serac fall from high on the glacier in the center. This large icefall
did not cause any real avalanche, but it did leave a 2-3m deep trench
down the entire glacier and left debris field 30-40m wide.

Also of note the NW summit of Waddington was also in difficult
conditions with mostly blue ice and two near vertical steps just below
the summit. Defiantly not skiable as it usually is at this time of the
year. Ski and boot crampons were a must for our whole route up from
the Dias as would be a few more ice screws and a real ice axe and
crampons for the NW summit.

With a forecast of warming temps and poor weather we headed out a few
days earlier than planed. I'd bet with the warm temps there would be
bit of an avalanche cycle going right now until the temps cooled off
again.

Craig McGee, Mountain guide.
Whistler BC
craigskibum@yahoo.com

_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Coast Mountains, Hope Creek, Large Avalanche

I just got this from Backcountry Snowcats and figured I  would post it because it is the first large spring avalanche I have heard of on the coast. The slope was about 700m wide, 600m vertical, 35-40deg with almost no transition to the flat of the lake at the base. It is west facing and the crown was at approximately 2200m with the runout and lake at 1400m

With this came reports of large slides off the North face of Mt Currie.

Be carefull out there! Watch the temperatures and the influence of the sun and rain on the slopes around you. This happened this morning with rapid rain loading.

Conny Amelunxen
MG

11:23am

It shook the lodge for minutes like a earthquake. When the rain stopped and the clouds reviled... this is what we found!!!

It emptied the lakes, sent chunks of 2 ft thick lake ice to the far side of the meadow, buried 15ft high trees and has changed the course of Hope Cr by 100's of meters. We found dead birds in the debris. The crown was aprox were the sun turns to shadow 1 m stepping down to 2 m in places.

Has anyone hear of other events today?

safe and sound

Reg and Kathy

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[MCR] Singing Pass Trail

The Singing Pass trail is still in very passable form. Harmony Creek bridge is melting out and usable. Lots of expectable forest debris on mid third of trail. Ditches on road are much like they where through the winter, some are still crossable. Near the village the road has a few dirt patches of no more than 15m across.

 

Dave Sarkany SG

[MCR] North Blue River, Cariboos

North Blue River Cariboo Mtns.

Warm weekend with numerous wet loose avalanches all aspects except high N facing alpine . Also observed a na sz 2.5 slab avalanche south aspect starting at 2000m and a large 3.5 slab avalanche east aspect starting at 2300m. The larger avalanche ran down into below treeline onto a lake and was most likely cornice triggered.. Previous storm snow is still converting to a solid melt freeze crust, overnight recovery is just enough to tighten things up for a few hours travel. Snowpack heights average 230cm at 1220m, 320 cm at 1500m and over 400 cm at TL. Ski quality good on steeper S aspects when the crust turns to buttery corn, more polar aspects have yet to build a supportable crust above treeline. Still some hard windslab in ALP from previous storm. 

Looks like the heat is bringing the dormant PWL's to life in the Cariboos! Oh and watch out for the train engines (cornices) hanging above you! Saw some cornices travelling on previously slid surfaces for an entire runout, intact.

Note of Caution: All waterways (creeks and rivers) in the mountains are rising very fast with high daytime temperatures and only superficial freezing at night.

Dana Foster-Ludwig

Ski Guide

www.snowymountain.ca

[MCR] South Coast Spearhead Traverse

Did a lap through the Spearhead Traverse over the last 4 days.  

The snow from yesterday made for very good skiing this morning in the higher alpine, but this all turned to mashed potatoes later (except on true north aspects above 1800m).

Earlier in the trip ski crampons where useful for cutting trail on all S aspects in the AM, and N aspects maintained good snow for skiing. Cornices are really big.

Great traverse conditions, barely saw any recent  avalanche activity - Accept for a fairly recent size 3+ that appeared to start from Benvolio’s  summit cornice. It took out a slab (where the traverse line crosses) and then spilled over a large portion of the Fitzsimmons ice fall and stopped ¾ km further down the lower Fitz Gl.

 

Dave Sarkany

SG

[MCR] Pantheon Range, Coast Mountains, April 11-17th, 2010

Just back from an excellent week of ski touring in the Pantheon Range of the Coast Mountains!  We had an entire week of clear, sunny weather which put this area into full spring skiing mode...a strong snowpack, good melt-freeze cycles and excellent travel conditions early in the day.  

 

Between 2.5 and 3m of snow at treeline and up to 4.5m of snow in the alpine provided good travel on the glaciers.  Digging in the upper 2m of the snowpack did not show any evidence of weak layers left over from the winter (however some persistent layers have been reported in nearby terrain) and large cornice failures were only triggering small slabs in the most recent storm snow 30-40cm down.  All the avalanches we observed were related to daytime heating and were either loose snow avalanches on steep solar aspects, or the result of cornice failures during the heat of the day. 

 

We were able to get into some fairly steep terrain with confidence and observed other parties also pushing into serious terrain with only minor surface sluffing.  Starting early and getting out of the hazardous terrain before the heat of the day caught up to us worked well for both travel conditions and to minimize the avalanche hazard.

 

A really fun week in a great location for spring skiing and mountaineering!
 

Cheers, Conrad Janzen
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.conradjanzenguiding.com

[MCR] More Wapta

Skied in the Wapta area April 12-16.  Peyto-Bow-Balfour-Bow and out to Bow Lake. The morraines climbing up to Peyto glacier were still mostly  covered in hard packed snow. Boot packing was the easiest way to climb up. We saw lots of slab avalanches from the storm about a week ago on various aspects all over between the Peyto and Balfour Hut area. Some released naturally, some were triggered by cornice or serac fall. We also noted many point releases on sunny aspects that step down to deeper layers and released decent size slab avalanches. On thinner spots around morrainal features some 'whumpf' sounds confirmed the  still unstable layering of the snowpack. Again I had to turn away from Balfour High Col. Still large open and some barely covered cravesses, serac and cornice fall, and still the potential of skier triggering the deeper unstable layers was beyond our risk tolerance, even though it was a blue bird day and other un-guided parties decided to take the risk (or were not aware of it). See picture in previous Wapta posting. Enjoy the spring Thomas Exner Mountain Guide, IFMGA, ACMG www.ontopmountaineering.com (403) 678 2717

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[MCR] Rockies, Kid Goat, Twilight Zone.

Guided Twilight Zone today, April 18. The route is dry. Found a tick, and the first crocuses of the year.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.yamnuska.com

www.barryblanchard.ca

[MCR] Rockies, Easy Street, Mt Yamnuska

Guided Easy Street on Mt Yamnuska today, April 17. Definitely spring up there, warm even at 8 am when we started the approach. The mountain is largely dry, we only saw small patches of snow in King's Chimney and the Right Side of the Tongue. Walking down the backside from the top of the Unnamed route area was dry, no snow. 

Lots of folks up there enjoying the fine day today.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

[MCR] Rockies, Nemesis

Climbed Nemesis yesterday, April 15, in the fine company of fellow Mountain Guides, Tim Auger and James Blench (I was the youngest member of the team ... that doesn't happen much anymore!). We skied up to bellow the climb and then cramponed on a hard slide surface. A size 3 avalanche ran over the climb during last week's storm. The slab started on the steep glacial terrain below the North Face of Mt Stanley and cleaned out many, or all, of the ledges that it ran over. Some of the slope below the climb ran to ground. We felt little avalanche threat on the way up as there was a supportive sun crust holding the valley bottom, and the skier's left side of it (the sunny side) together.

The climb was in great shape. There was some water weeping from the edges of the lower pitches when we rappeled at 3 pm.

Didn't see any snow moving on the sunny side of the valley as we skied out, but there was a big chunk of an ice pillar that broke off and exploded into the snow slope in the Suffer Machine area. None of the snow moved where the pillar hit it.

Sloppy slow skiing all the way to the car, which was a god sent for three middle aged mountain guides on old skinny skis and leather climbing boots.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

[MCR] Rockies, Yamnuska and front ranges. april 14th, 2010

Moist snow still on the backside and on the low angle ledges all over the face of Yamnuska as of 2pm today. Likely to be some verglas for a day or two, especially on the backside. Shady places like the last pitch of Belfry looked wintry. The dry stone felt pretty good though after a bit of sun.

The front ranges you see from Yam still looked very snowy at the treeline and above. Given the forecast of sun and warmish temps, wet avalanches and rockfall will likely be a bit of a concern in those hills for a few days. If the weather forecast is correct, I would work hard to avoid being in the fall line of any front range snow in the heat of the day through the weekend.

Larry Stanier
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
laristan@telus.net

_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Rockies: Cirque Peak

Up the S ridge of Cirque Pk and down the N couloir/glacier today.

The S ridge is mostly wind scoured, there was one patch of snow high on the ridge that was deeper and we tread carefully there but it was fairly short and not really loaded. If there was a slab there though it would be an unfortunate place to go for a ride.

A few bits of slab in the couloir but it was mostly soft. The glacier was breakable wind crust. Exit via the Cirque/Observation valley was uneventful with sun crust in the right places.

No whumpfs and several recent large avalanches on steep lee/crossloaded slopes seemed to have run a few days ago with nothing in the past 24 hrs. Large cornices with some activity off them. If the next few days are as hot as they are forecast to be I suspect things will rock and roll again, so we're going to be biking and rock climbing for the next few days.

Ski quality varied from wind crust to sun crust to shale to isothermal bits in S facing lower elevation trees to sticky wet glop. Between the 3 of us we had 4 powder turns. Nice views though.

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

www.alpinism.com

[MCR] Wapta conditions.

I just returned from 6 days on the Wapta. Things have certainly
changed again and not for the better as we thought "could" happen
leaving on April 4th. Travelling up Peyto was good, probably the
best day was on April 4th.

April 5th at about 1100hrs noted the slab come out on Trappeur peak
while hanging around the hut doing some skills stuff. Later that day
did a quick profile under Thompson and still found instabilities
down about 70cm on an old facet or SH interface. This was on the easy
side of a moderate compression. Also some instabilities in the newer
storm snow.

Climbed Rhonda south on the 6th. The ridge was generally scoured but
loading on the lee side which was variable, not slabbed yet.
The summit ridge was quite windblown and rimed and I thought quite
well covered and without many exposed rocks. Still good skiing down
the ramp and over to Bow hut, not much wind affect.

On April 7th headed over to Balfour hut. A few cm of new snow at Bow
that morning, strong winds picking up and continued most of the day.
It seems like 20-30cm of new snow blown in on the Vulture glacier,
little to no visibility for rest of day. moderate to strong winds
continued with snowfall overnight and all day on the 8th.

We stretched our legs going over to the Diaberlet glacier but barely
got out of the flats as another wave of weather hit by mid day.
Significant subsidences in Balfour pass. We turned around just above
the pass due to the poor light and changing conditions.

Came out to Bow again on the morning of the 9th. -15 at Balfour hut
with a stiff northwesterly wind.Visibility still generally poor but
signs of newer activity on Olive were noted. A size 2 slab had pulled
out on the Bow head wall as well. the slopes above Bow were quite
wind affected with whales of soft slab getting stiffer the higher you
got. The slope below the hut was not wind affected when we came down.
The canyon was generally good with little wind affect, but still some
isolated small slabs in the canyon walls.

Didn't see much of Mt Balfour in the 2 days we were there, and it
wouldn't have mattered much. I would suspect the full traverse would
be quite scary right now and "definitely" not recommended.

Peter

Peter Amann
Mountain Guide
pamann@incentre.net

[MCR] Avalanche Control Mount Stephen/Bosworth Sat. April 10

Weather permitting, Parks Canada will be conducting avalanche control on Mount Stephen and Mount Bosworth on Saturday April 10th, at approximately 10:00AM.  

No climbing or any other activity on Mount Stephen or Mount Bosworth on April 10th.

Thanks

Stephen Holeczi

Public Safety Specialist

Banff/Yoho/Kootenay National Parks

[MCR] Spray road avalanche control.

Avalanche control will be occurring on the Spray lakes road near the east end of Rundle on Saturday April 10th. Anticipated closure times will be from 1pm till 2pm.

Mike Koppang SG
Kananaskis Public Safety

_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Duffy Lake Area

Just got back from some amazing powder skiing in the Duffy.  Avalanche conditions were extremely touchy to say the least.  At 6am I woke up to check the weather station and only 5 new cms of snow had fallen, by the time I got to Cayoosh Summit at 8:20am there were at least 20cms in the parking lot, and overall it was 20cms in 3 hours, with 25cm in 24 hours on the road and close to 40cm up high.  As we skinned up in the trees every steep roll remotely triggered small 10cm deep slides.  This all quickly settled out and we poked our heads up to treeline and saw an abundance of wind affected surfaces in the treeline and alpine with a few size 2 and greater naturals that had occurred during the storm.  I am definitely going to give the open slopes a day or two to settle down from this intense loading (both snowfall and wind) event.  The road was wet and plowed by the time we left.  Safe travels. 

Evan Stevens
Mountain Guide
evan_stevens@hotmail.com
evanstevens.blogspot.com

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[MCR] Cerise Creek

Spent the last 3 days skiing up in Cerise Creek.  On the coast right now we are in a period of big storms, with below seasonable temps (freezing level at 1200-1400m and below the whole time), and periods of intense winds from the SW-SE.  HS above treeline is regularly 3m+ (longer then my probe), with close to 1.5m still at road elevations.  The glaciers are quite well filled in, even after looking very dismal at the end of last summer.  Avalanche activity seems to be limited to direct action during and just after storm cycles in wind loaded locations, with all but the north high elevation aspects having multiple crust layers.  A skier accidental was witnessed on the Anniversary glacier 4 days ago, and I suspect it was on a new snow/old crust interface, as the slope had a slight solar aspect to it, especially this time of year.  We found plenty of amazing cold powder skiing on all north facing aspects above 5,000' near Keith's Hut.

If you are planning on visiting Keith's Hut, a few friendly reminders. Bring your own TP, and plan on burning it thoroughly either in the wood stove or by hand.  There has been big piles of half burned teepee left in the outhouse.  Don't expect much firewood.  All that is left was a few huge burls/knots, and is really hard to chop, and there is not much left!  Please do some shoveling and leave the place cleaner than when you found it as well!  This place is heavily used.  Also, bring a newspaper in if you want to start a fire, instead of tearing pages out of books, magazines and log books left in the hut. 

Have fun out there.

Evan Stevens
Mountain Guide
evan_stevens@hotmail.com
evanstevens.blogspot.com

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[MCR] Rockies: Nemesis, Stanley Headwall (April 7)

Nemesis is in prime shape right now with a hooking path up the entire
route. Having said that, it looks like everything is to change
tomorrow with a weather forecast of snow, rain, wind and warm
temperatures. Parks Canada is forecasting the avalanche hazard to go
to HIGH with this storm so it will be a while before I would want to
head back up to the Stanley Headwall.

Hanging daggers on the left side of Nemesis threaten the first two
pitches to the halfway ledge. They are worth considering if it gets
really warm. They get direct sun for about an hour mid-morning.

The lower portion of the trail is well packed and could be walked, but
once you hit treeline it would be post-holing. We skied the whole way.

My client saw a large Grizzly yesterday digging by the side of the
road across from the Stanley parking lot so we decided to carry bear
spray. No sign of the bruin today, but they are definitely awake and
hungry.

Sean Isaac
ACMG Alpine 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.

[MCR] Southern Selkirks, Remote triggering potential

Hi All,

We spent the last couple of days (April 5th/6th) ski touring tree line and alpine terrain on southerly aspects near Gimli and Presley peaks in Valhalla provincial park of the Southern Selkirks.

Given the time of year, we were very pleased to find excellent powder skiing on southerly aspects above 1800m with up to 20cm of new light density snow in past two days. This new snow combined with the previous storm snow made for 30cm to 60cm of recent storm snow, consolidating into a stiffening slab, and overlying a 4cm thick pencil resistance crust above the said elevation. On Monday (April 5th), we saw significant wind transport in the alpine with consistent moderate easterly winds loading westerly aspects and cross loading undulating southerly terrain.

For the most part, all of this new snow seemed to be bonding reasonably well to the crust at treeline and below with stability test showed moderate to hard (resistant) shears. In the alpine things are different. Most of the shear results on that layer were in the moderate range with sudden collapse characteristics. Of note at the interface was a thin (1cm thick) softer faceted layer just above the previously mentioned crust.

Today (April 6th), while skiing a lower angled bench on a west aspect in the alpine we started noticing some cracking and whumpfing in the upper snowpack. One of these whumpf remotely triggered a slab avalanche 100m away in nearby steeper terrain. This size 2 avalanche was 30 to 70cm deep (on the crust), about 80m wide and 100m long. Luckily our terrain choice lead us to be safe at that moment but had we been more exposed/closer the steeper terrain things could have been worse.

Up until now this layer had been more of a concern on northerly aspects. Given the significant recent snowfall, wind transport and poor bond with the underlying crust in the alpine, this layer deserve more respect on southerly aspects too. With a weather forecast promising more snow in the next few days this layer will get deeper and could reach critical load, it is bound to become more reactive naturally and to skier traffic. I believe it is time to avoid exposure to any avalanche terrain in the alpine for the next little while. Cool temps and continued precipitation will likely keep fantastic skiing options in the trees.

Be safe and enjoy a great Spring!

Perhaps winter is finally getting here...

David Lussier
IFMGA-ACMG-CAA
www.summitmountainguides.com

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[MCR] Valkyr Lodge, Southern Selkirks, March 29-April 5, 2010

Spent the last week enjoying good winter skiing conditions at Valkyr Lodge near Burton, in the southern Selkirks.  We got about 20cm of new snow throughout the week which was sticking fairly well to the surfaces below.  Good powder skiing on N aspects as low as 1500m, and good skiing in the new snow on solar aspects until the sun came out and cooked things on Sunday.

 

In the Valkyr Range, the deeper surface hoar layers were harder to find and bonding better than in most other areas I have skied recently.  We did a lot of digging and in general the test results on surface hoar were inconsistent and were we could find the surface hoar layers we got either hard shears or no results at treeline and below.  This allowed us to get into a bit more aggressive ski terrain during the week although we stuck to terrain that had good planar/concave shapes and limited our exposure to bigger slopes throughout the week.  I doubt that these results will translate well into the surrounding ranges...but it was nice to ski around with a bit more confidence after a month and a half of feeling a like a target.

 

No new avalanches other than sluffing after the storm on Saturday, and solar triggered sluffing during the heat of the day.

 

Cheers, Conrad Janzen
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.conradjanzenguiding.com

[MCR] Rockies, Coire Dubh, Doors of Perception, Bow Valley snow line, April 5th, 2010

Climbed the Coire Dubh ice and finished up "Doors of Perception". Not much to add to Barry's post except that it is DRY after you leave the bowl of Coirie Dubh. The upper pitches are pure rock(well, moss, choss, gravel and rock).

It was very clear from the views that it is still very wintery above treeline in the Bow Valley. Yamnuska trails, all routes and the backside are almost completely dry, but when you go west and higher expect some snow.

Larry Stanier
ACMG/IFMGA 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.

[MCR] This House of Sky, The Ghost, Canadian Rockies (April )

This House of Sky, The Ghost, Canadian Rockies (April )

This House of Steps, err... I mean Sky, is still clinging to its winter facade--as long as you are not opposed to a staircase up the ice. The ice is only seeing a little sun in the morning so it is still blue for the most part (and brittle if you don't swing at the pock-marks). Of course, there is exposed choss perched on ledges above the gully, but there is no snow to melt and lubricate said choss, so rock fall was not really a concern despite the balmy temperatures this afternoon. We descended after doing the little steep pillar/curtain in the upper bowl (which also is in good shape with cold, blue ice and sinker hooks and steps).

We parked at the new bridge across from GBU since the sign there stated that the track beyond the bridge is only open from December 1 to March 31. Other cars drove further, but it seems like a bad idea to mess with the fragile access to the North Ghost. 

Finally, there was some discussion and confusion this year on Gravsports.com about the photo on page 132 of Joe Josephson's Waterfall Ice guidebook stating "The final pitches of This House of Sky". People were right to be confused as this photo is not THOS but in fact looks to be R&D. Darn guidebook authors....

Sean Isaac

ACMG Alpine Guide

[MCR] Mt. Hector

Today a friend & I climbed Mt. Hector to about 3100m (below the final
steep section where the crags start) and turned back mainly out of
concern for avalanche hazard on the steep upper pitches.

The snowpack in this area is as scary as reported elsewhere in the
Rockies and Hector cannot be recommended as a destination now or in
the foreseeable future. On non-solar slopes 20-40cm of wind affected
storm snow overlies a windcrust which overlies weak, large facet
crystals. We experienced frequent whoomfing and shooting cracks
between treeline at 2200m and about 2700m (the toe of the glacier).
Solar aspects had wind hammered storm snow seemingly well bonded to a
bulletproof crust below.

The snow depths were variable and shallow, ranging from 0-150cm below
the glacier and from 0-250cm on the glacier. Average snow depth above
2800m was about 250cm.

The N facing slopes that threaten the route as you exit the approach
gulley/waterfall at treeline have not avalanched and look ripe &
windloaded with a large cornice overhead. The N-NE facing slopes off
Hector's NW outlier peak that threaten the route between the moraine
and the glacier showed evidence of widespread avalanche & cornice
activity to size 3.0 in the past 72hrs.

One whoomf as we crested the moraine at ~2500m resulted in a large (sz
3.0) remote avalanche (crown 7m below our track) that ran far. Crown
was ~100m wide, 20 to 60cm thick, NE aspect, steep, convex and
windloaded. Impressive.

Skiing was good on the glacier, albeit worrying with the shallow
snowpack and recent storm snow and wind likely concealing crevasses.
Below the glacier -- well, bring your rock skis and your 6th sense if
you're dumb enough to go after reading this. Nasty skiing.

Temps ranged from -1 to -12C with moderate W winds and broken cloudy
skies. Solar aspects were softening later in the afternoon but the
snow below treeline was still supportive and almost skiable.

No evidence of natural avalanche activity today.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
ASG/AAG
_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Intercoastal Range ~ Duffey Lake area

A few observations from the Duffey Lake area in a drainage immediatley south of Cayoosh Mountain:
 
The skies opened today and it was a pleasant day to be in the high places while turning the legs over.
 
The snow turned moist quickly once the sun began heating things up. Dry snow is still accessible on true north-facing terrain with good powder that's 20-25cm deep. At open below treeline locations on north aspects, this powder snow is sitting on a crust located 25-30cm below the surface. Tests showed a clean, 'sudden' result where this recent storm snow rests on the crust. Fortunately, the snow at these particular below treeline locations was still quite soft so the hazard is a little lower. As you climb to treeline, and just above, the snow (and hazard) changes.
 
A party of recreational tourers skier-triggered a healthy size 2 slab avalanche (large enough to bury a person) today on an east (with a little north-facing bias) aspect at an elevation where the treeline thins and the alpine begins. I strongly suspect that this slab ran on a crust. The interesting thing about the terrain, from which the slab was triggered, was that the avalanche began much lower in the start zone on a large convex feature. Essentially, the very strong winds that we recently had relocated much of that snow lower into avalanche start zone locations than usual. As such, it seems that it may be possible to trigger an avalanche from lower down. The slide ran from an adjacent steep cross-loaded slope into a gully-like feature that they were attempting to ski. It was triggered where the gully met the cross-loaded slope.
 
Cornices continue to be a significant overhead hazard and so, too, are large sun-baked slopes.
 
On the drive home to Whistler, the clouds were thickening to the west and wind speeds in the mountains had begun to increase. The next system approaches!
 
'So foul a sky clears not without a storm.'
                                          ~ 'Yep', Shakespeare....
 
Hoping this finds Everyone keeping well and enjoying the Spring touring season....
 
Best regards,
Dale Marcoux
ACMG Asst. Ski Guide

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[MCR] Rockies: Wapta, again

Back to the flattish Wapta this week, seems to be the place to be. Did a Bow-Bow-Peyto trip this time.

Still winter up there, lots of wind, poor visibility and temps in the -10 range in the mornings. A few cm's of snow to add to the storm load of last week.

Another group reported an avalanche off the E face of Olive on Friday, sounded like a size 2.

Other avalanches we saw that had occurred in the week since I had been in the area: 

- several large ones off steep east faces and below cornices in the Bow Lake area on the drive up

- big one off the E Face of the Onionskin, cornice fall

- small one at the end of the Bow canyon (not on the regular access route), probable remote skier triggered

- big one off the south face of Peyto Peak on a cross loaded roll with part of the fracture approaching 2m in depth but most of it thinner

- big one off the summer access to Caldron Lake that ran into the trees below the waterfalls

And on our exit today we saw a big cornice fall off the S face of Peyto, with minimal weather inputs to trigger it. Must have been some solar warming through the mist and clouds.

Experienced folk still doing the Wapta Reverse (Bow-Balfour-Bow) whenever there is a new weather input and/or poor visibility.

Good skiing on low angled terrain up there.

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

www.alpinism.com

[MCR] Rockies, King Creek, Magic touch

Guided Magic Touch in King Creek today, April 3rd. A mild winter's day with temperatures below freezing until we left at 2 pm. The climb is in good shape and can be led in one 50-55 meter pitch, as we did today.

The road into Whiteman Falls is dry at the barricade and if I was heading that way I'd ride my bike.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

[MCR] Hydrophobia-April 4

I guided Hydrophobia today in the Ghost. The cloud cover plus the wind kept things quite cold. The ice was dry and pleasant to climb. I did drive to the end ( I do have a 4x4 Tacoma) and it stayed cold enough that the ground was not too soft in the afternoon when I drove out.

All the best,
Marco Delesalle
IFMGA/ACMG Mountain Guide
www.greatdividemountaineering.com

_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] Kananaskis Country Avalanche Conditions

Kananaskis Country Avalanche Conditions
 
The Kananaskis region is currently experiencing somewhat unusual avalanche conditions. The snowpack this season has several persistent weak layers of buried surface hoar which continue to be reactive in stability tests and are responsible for a number of avalanches. In addition, the snowpack above these persistent weak layers has sufficient density to allow for wide propagation if an avalanche is initiated. Although it is currently slightly more difficult to trigger an avalanche (as compared to last week), the likelihood of generating a large and destructive avalanche is high. It is expected that the persistent weak layers will remain a problem for the rest of the ski season. It is not a normal spring snowpack.
 
For more information please check the Kananaskis Country Avalanche Bulletin at
http://tpr.alberta.ca/parks/kananaskis/backcountryreport.asp
 
Play safe!

Jeremy Mackenzie
Kananaskis Country Public Safety

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[MCR] South Coast conditions

Here is a summary of the conditions observed by the Assistant Ski Guide exam this past week:

Dates: 27 March – 02 April

Region: Duffey Lake & Blackcomb backcountry

Weather was generally unsettled and overcast with moderate to strong winds from the south and south west accompanied by moderate to heavy precipitation resulting in 60-80cm of storm snow. Freezing levels fluctuated between valley bottom and 2,000 metres producing a fairly widespread temperature crust on east, south and west aspects up to 2,000 m.

Cornices were one of the main concerns of the week and this was reinforced by a size 2.5 that we remotely triggered in the Blackcomb backcountry.

Despite significant amounts of precip and wind transport, stability was fair to good throughout the week with very little avalanche activity and although storm snow was a 'concern' it was generally bonding well to old surfaces with stability tests producing moderate to hard resistant results.

Earlier in the week, isothermal conditions were encountered below 1400m and did not inspire confidence on open or exposed slopes. By week's end, ski quality on north aspects was excellent above 1500m. .

Ski crampons were essential on southerly aspects earlier in the week and ski pen was up to 30-40 in the alpine and lee aspects..

Cover on glaciers was generally good with snow depth ranging from 250cm to 300cm +.

Sylvain Hebert
ACMG Ski Guide

[MCR] Rockies, Coirre Dubh and environs

A great day guiding in the Coirre Dubh amphitheatre today, April 2. We climbed the ice of Coirre Dubh -the first pitch is getting marginal and will not be long for this world once the sun pounds again. Having said that we had good frozen conditions and no rockfall. From the top of the ice we climbed the first 7 pitches of "Doors of Perception". Classic alpinism today -big boots, no crampons, and gloved hands -great fun. We did dry tool the "burly" start to the 7th pitch. From the top of that pitch we traversed 150 meters right to finish up the huge right facing corner, at a more moderate difficulty. This exit was originally shown to me by my fellow guide, Grant Meekins, thusly we climbed "Coirre Doors of Meekins". A fine outing.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

[MCR] Ghost River rock and the Sorcerer

Good conditions in the ghost right now. A LOT of snow and ice is gone and the stone is DRY. There is probably some snow and ice in some gullies( eg the Phantom Crag/Bonanza descent gully) and in the shade but the walls look great. Most of the dirt slopes above the cliffs are dry. When it warms up the rock climbing will be good in a hurry.

Sorcerer was in REALLY good shape today and it stayed cool and breezy all day. I imagine it will disappear fast if and when it heats up. One small droopy cornice on top and no hanging death daggers as of 2pm. Lots of melted out Abalakov's and our screws were melting a bit in the am sun. As dangerous places go though, it felt good to be there today:)

Roads are in good shape too. Lots of potholes and a couple of big puddles on the main road. The big hill is good and there are currently no real river crossings to get to the Silver Tongue Devil crossing/parking.

Snowpack tests generally showed there to be no snowpack. Yippee!

Larry Stanier
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
laristan@telus.net

_______________________________________________
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.

[MCR] rockies, Healy Pass area

Guided a ski tour to the Healy Pass area today, April 1 (no, I'm not foolin'). 100 meters of boot packing to the top of a 2520 m unamed peak 2 km NE of Healy Pass. We had some large whumpfs and settlements on the broad, flat ridge that we skinned up to the peak. One of these settlements remotely triggered a 1.5 meter deep cornice that I think was formed during the March 28/29th storm. The cornice was on the NE aspect of the ridge we were ascending. The cornice was 35 meters away from us and failed  about 70 meters wide, it triggered a slab on the slope below that stepped down 50 centimetres and ran for about 80 meters. Lots of fridge and deep freeze sized blocks in the debris, and it looked to be about a size 2. We skied 4 laps on the shallow west facing slopes of the ridge ( at the most, 25 degrees for short sections). Good skiing with 30 cms of new snow.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

[MCR] Have a safe Easter

We are very busy here at the CAC and I don't have time to do an in-depth update. I do want to remind people that even though avalanches are much harder to trigger now than they were even a week ago and we are seeing far less slides in recent days, there are still signs that the weak layers we've been talking about since February are still capable of producing very large, destructive avalanches.

 

Our February/March avalanche photo gallery is at:

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/avalanche-image-galleries/feb-march-2010

 

Take a  look at the two most recent photos the gallery:

http://www.avalanche.ca/uploads/gallery/2/MPS-1.jpg

http://www.avalanche.ca/uploads/gallery/2/MPS-4.jpg

 

While isolated incidents, these are indicative of the potential that still exists out there.

 

Please be careful if you are considering going into the following mountains this weekend:

·         North Rockies (north and east of Prince George to the Alberta border.

·         Columbia Mountains south of highway 16 to the US border, between Quesnel, Williams Lake, Kamloops, and Osyoos on the west and Valemount, Blue River, Golden, and Cranbrook on the east.

·         South Chilcotin Mountains north of Pemberton and east of the South Coast Mountain divide.

 

In these areas, the advice provided here: http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/researchandarticles/PWLpaper0910 is applicable.

 

The CAC Avalanche Forecasts at: http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/bulletins/regions provide information that is updated daily to help you make informed decisions if you plan to go into the mountains.

 

Have a great Easter weekend and Easter holidays but play safe.

 

Please send this on or repost in other venues freely.

 

Karl Klassen

Mountain Guide

Public Avalanche Bulletins Manager

Canadian Avalanche Centre

kklassen@avalanche.ca