ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued August 19, 2010 Typical mid-August conditions are the norm. Most routes in the Rockies and Columbias are in good shape. Although some alpine rock routes may not be quite as dry and in “perfect” conditions, they are nonetheless good to go. Routes that are not quite there yet, or require more route finding to deal with residual snow include routes such as the normal route on Hungabee or significantly more difficult routes such as the north face routes on Alberta. With the dry weather of the past week and a number of clear nights, the ensuing melt freeze cycle has resulted in excellent snow and ice climbing conditions. Great conditions have been reported from the Columbia Icefields, the Fay area , Mt. Forbes and Lyells as well as the Assiniboine area. If this warm dry spell continues, icier conditions and the associated rock-fall issues that go with it, will be something that needs to be considered. As the ice faces get drier and greyer, rockfall will be more of an issue. In the Interior ranges of the Bugaboos and the Selkirks, the classics such as the Bugaboo NE Ridge, Becky Chouinard, Sir Donald, Swiss Peak etc, are “in”. This is the time to be ticking off these terrific routes. There is a minor change of weather expected this weekend and we are getting to the time of year where a rapid change of weather could put a 48 hour damper on a number of the classic routes. This is it though. The middle of August is usually as good as it gets. Some years are better than others but the window for your special objective is likely taking place between now and the end of the month.
| |||||
