[MCR] Kutetl Creek, Selkirk Mountains near Whitewater Ski resort

Spent the day skiing under blue skies in the Kutetl Creek drainage
behind Ymir Peak above the Whitewater Ski resort. We were on a mostly
east aspect and our elevation range was from 2300m down to 1800m. Air
temperatures ranged from about -20C at the lodge in the morning to -12C
just before noon at our lowest elevation. The wind was calm in the
valley and light from the north-east on the ridge tops.

Surface hoar has been growing up to 20mm mostly in the trees below
2000m. Most of it was lying flat on the surface, perhaps wind or the
warmth from the sun knocked it over.

The crust from the most recent warming event was evident, though the new
snow on top had enough carry to keep us from crunching down on it. The
skiing was excellent top to bottom, even off the summit of Half Dome
with only the first few turns in wind-pressed snow. Traveling up was
fast with ski pen being only 10-15cm.

In a snow pit dug below Half Dome at 2250m on a north-east aspect we
found an old buried surface hoar layer down about 80cm. Stability tests
produced no results even on this layer. It did fail with a clean shear
though, when the column was pulled off by hand.

Rider traffic increased throughout the day as two other parties joined
us in the Kutetl drainage. Ymir bowl was looking pretty tracked up by
the time we skied back to the resort. A small slide came out of the
Dog's Leg, probably triggered by a rider. Couldn't tell if it was from
a slough, a slab or a cornice fall.

Enjoy the sun tomorrow, looks like the clouds will be back on
Wednesday. Play Safe.

Craig Hollinger,

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.

[MCR] Rockies, Snowline and Moonlight Falls

My fellow guide, John Freeman, and I guided Moonlight Falls and Snowline today, Jan 31st. Cold this morning, -35 C, and it looks like tonight is loading up to be just as cold (I'll be taking mitts and lots of layers again in the morning). The trail into the climbs is fine and walkable after the last two snowfalls. The climbs are in good shape, a couple of 13 cm screws for the first bit of Snowline is a good thing.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide

http://www.barryblanchard.ca

http://www.yamnuska.com

barryb3@telus.net

1 403 609 4615

cell 1 403 609 1321

[MCR] South Coast, Duffy Lake, Mt Chief Pascal

I skied with a group on the N slopes of Chief Pascal yesterday.

 

We had totally blue sky for most of the day. Air temps where between -16 and -18.  At first there was a strong north wind which blew plumes of snow off the higher peaks, later this calmed to a light easterly. We found a strong temperature gradient in the upper 35cm of the snow pack.

 

Below Tree Line we had 20cm of light snow over  tree bombed icy crude, however the cut blocks provided surprisingly good sking.

 

At Tree Line there was generally 30cm of light (Fist and Four Finger) density snow over thin decomposing rain crust. Here in a protected opening at 6200 feet we dug into the snow and got consistent Moderate Compression Tests which fractured irregularly just above the crust.

At the same location the January 4  Surface Hoar was 90-110cm below the surface.  We got  inconsistent Hard Compression Tests on this layer, but it failed to fracture with a Rotschblock Test and it also failed to perform during an Extended Colum Test.

Skiing was better than good at this elevation! There was lots of evidence of the past avalanche cycle.

 

In the Alpine the snow was very wind effected. Many slopes where scoured to expose a hard icy surface, and there was evidence of recent (<24 hrs) Natural Avalanches failing in cross loaded features. Across the valley on a North aspect slope of Joffre we saw what looked like a Sz 1-2 slab triggered that day by a group of skiers in a cross loaded feature.  We cut a 1500-2000kg cornice nose into NE aspect  gully 300m NW of the summit of Chief Pascal. It only created a Sz 1 sluff as it tumbled through the hard wind effected snow.    

 

Good sking at Tree Line.

 

Dave Sarkany

 SG

[MCR] Rogers Pass Conditiond Jan 23-28

January 23-28

Spent the last 5 days in Rogers Pass on the Assistant Ski Guide Training course. Here is what we found:

The week was generally mild with highs of 0 and lows of -5. Freezing levels remained below 1450m throughout the week. Several weak pulses produced 20cm of snow. Winds were light from the S - SW, but the 27th and 28th saw mod-strong winds from the South at alpine and treeline elevations.

We skied in Connaught Creek, Little Sifton area, the Hermit, McGill Shoulder, Loop Brook, Bonney Glacier, the Illecillewaet and a trip up to the Asulkan hut on the 27th and 28th. 

Warming temps and moderate winds had settled 50cm of storm snow from the previous week, creating upside down conditions and soft slabs in exposed areas at all elevations. Moderate test results within this storm snow were seen throughout the week, with the primary concern being the January 19th layer down 40-60cm. Strong winds from the South over the past 2 days have created hard slabs in the Alpine and exposed treeline areas. Snow depths averaged 250 with variable depths on the glaciers ranging from 160 to 300+cm. 

The deeper surface hoar layers from early and mid January were observed, but were not reactive in tests. They remained a concern as far as smaller avalanches stepping down to these layers, producing larger, more destructive avalanches. Evidence of an earlier avalanche cycle running on these layers and stepping down to the November rain crust at the base of the snowpack were observed throughout the week, with debris seen at the end of runouts in the Asulkan valley. 

We managed our exposure to large overhead hazards and treated all steep slopes at treeline and above with caution. 15cm of new snow on the ground at the Pass this morning (Jan 29).

Jason Billing

Assistant Alpine Guide

[MCR] Avalanche Control, East end of Mt Rundle

Avalanche Control will be occurring on the East end of MT Rundle on Jan 31st between 11am and 1pm.  The road through to the Spray Lakes will be closed during this time as well Grassi Lakes trail will also be closed.

 

No climbing or hiking in this area while the control work is taking place. 

 

Thanks for your co-operation!

 

Mike Koppang

Public Safety Specialist

Kananaskis Country, AB

http://twitter.com/KCPublicSafety

 

 

[MCR] Kananaskis Country - Commonwealth Shoulder

Hello,

I was skiing with 2 friends on The northeast shoulder of Commonwealth peak,
which is southeast of tent ridge, on saturday, January 29th.

Time: started at 10am finished at 5pm
temperature: -12 at 10am, -11 at 5pm
winds: calm all day. north winds were starting to move snow at 5pm as we
left.
Sky: was obscured (could not see mountaintops) for the majority of the day
New snow: 50cm of new snow. VERY low density.
elevation range: 1875m to 2280m
avalanches: we observed only small (o.5 to size 1) loose snow avalanches,
but as I say, viability was not good

Snowpack: above 2200m the 50cm of new snow was sitting on a hard temperature
crust. This crust was so hard that it was difficult to get purchase with
your skis for uptracking. You would instantly sink through the low density
storm snow and rest on the crust.

OF PARTICULAR NOTE: on west aspects above 2100m the storm snow was sitting
on top of a moist snowpack. The storm snow was dry, and the entire rest of
the snowpack to ground was moist. I dug to ground with my hand and could
make a moist snowball out of the depth hoar and facets with one squeeze. on
this west aspect we had numerous whoomps and settlements due to the moist
lower snow. This moist snow was so unconsolidated that I fell through to
ground numerous times.

after discovering this, we stuck to north aspects (where the moinst snow did
not exist) and enjoyed the best snow quality of my life with 50cm on top of
a supportive midpack in very low angled trees/glades.

snow stability was poor and will get worse if the area receives wind.

Very conservative terrain choices and elimination of overhead hazards were
critical to staying safe.

Hope this is useful information.

Cheers,

Neil Warren
ASG, CAA2, DHG

www.alpinethreadworks.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] King Creek

I was climbing in King Creek today with a client, and there was about 30 cm of new snow in the last 24 hours. The snow was continuing all day. There was lots of sluffing happening all day and on the way back in the afternoon one of the gullies avalanched and was big enough to have buried someone. Something to consider when hiking in there thinking that it is an area of lo hazard. We did have avalanche transceivers, shovel and probe and crossed these baths one at a time (quickly).

Marco Delesalle
Mountain Guide
www.greatdividemountaineering.com
www.internationalguidebureau.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] Howsons 29 February 11

We skied Loft Peak today. Cold temperatures and a light easterly wind.
There has been a major avalanche cycle this week, probably from Tuesday
to Thursday with warm weather. The rain crust ends at 1300 m. Above
that, it's avalanche debris on any avalanche terrain and a variety of
facetted snow and wind affected snow elsewhere. The skiing was much
better than expected on sheltered aspects. We are calling the stability
fair/ fair/ good. The glaciers are now well covered with more than 320
cm at 2000 m.

--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
Mountain Guide Smithers, B.C.

_______________________________________________
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] Melt Out, Icefields Parkway, Rockies

Climbed Melt Out today and found it to be in good condition with soft, wet ice. The route was quite snow covered today so multiple sets of gloves were nice to have.

Something to note are the side walls of the gulley that the climb is in. We noticed today that 3 or 4 good sized sluffs had come off the sides and onto the climb sometime during the storm. They weren't big enough to bury a person but they looked like they could knock off a leader while climbing... something to consider when you are thinking about running it out.

The driving on the 93N was full value this morning with anywhere between 20 to 40cms of new storm snow between Lake Louise and Saskatchewan Crossing. Things were better this afternoon as both lanes had been plowed.

Have fun!

Mike Stuart
ACMG Alpine/Assistant Ski Guide
Canadian Alpine Guides

I
_______________________________________________
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] South Coast, Spearhead Range and Duffey Lake area.

 
Information gathered by ACMG Assistant Ski Guide candidates in training during the week of January 24-28 2011.  
 
 
Areas – We started off skiing in the Duffey Lake area and spent the remaining four days in the Blackcomb/Whistler. backcountry.
 
Weather – Generally spring like conditions with warm temperatures, minimal precipitation and moderate to strong southerly winds for most of the week.  Freezing levels hovered around 1700m during the day, cooling near the end of the week. 
 
Snowpack – As a result of the warm and windy weather, widespread thin windslabs were found at alpine and treeline elevations, along with a surface temperature crust below 1900m. These surfaces were being covered by new snow as of the evening of the 28^th, accompanied with moderate to strong Southwest winds. Overall the midpack is strong, but a surface hoar layer buried approximately one metre deep and a rain crust at the bottom of the snowpack may react with added load, warming or large triggers such as cornice failures.  These issues are more of a concern in the Duffey Lake area where the snowpack is shallower and the surface hoar layer is more widespread. 
 
 
Avalanche – Very little avalanche activity throughout the week. No new slab avalanches were observed, natural sluffing to size 2 seen on steep solar aspects.  Steep alpine lines were skied with only minimal sluffing.  However, things may change with the forecasted snow and wind.
 
Ski Quality - Poor below 1600m, Fair above.
 
Thank you to all the candidates for their hard work and input.
 
Sylvain Hebert
ACMG Ski Guide
 

 
   

 

[MCR] Avalanche Control - Kootenay and Yoho

Avalanche control is being conducted on Mt. Bosworth, Mt. Field, and Mt.
Stephen in Yoho at 11am, and Mt. Whymper and Vermillion Slide Paths at 1pm.

No back-country activities in these areas tomorrow Jan 30, 2011.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Aaron Beardmore
Specialist, Visitor Safety Programs
Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay Parks
Box 900, Banff, AB
T1L 1K2
Ph: 403-762-1415
www.parksmountainsafety.ca,
www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca
www.twitter.com/ParksMtnSafety
www.twitter.com/Parcssecuritemt

_______________________________________________
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] Rogers Pass

We skied in Rogers Pass January 24-29. When we left yesterday the primary concern were windslabs in alpine and exposed treeline areas. We went to Lookout Col and observed several natural avalanches yesterday to size 2 that were running out of steep lee zones in the alpine. Cornices were also large in this area.

We also still had significant concerns about deep instabilities in the alpine. We continue to limit exposure to large alpine features, especially if cornices overhang them. Although we felt the probability of a large avalanche occurring was reasonably low, if a large trigger like a cornice fall were to hit a slope and cause a deep layer to fail the consequences of being in the way of the resulting avalanche were enormous and probably unsurvivable.

Probably the best information we can give right now is a synopsis of where large avalanches ran during last week's avalanche cycle. We had mediocre visibility and there is a lot of snow on the old debris but this is what we saw:

Connaught

Looks like all the Cheops paths went big and in some places ran into the forest on the other side of the valley (hitting the normal uptrack). A couple of medium sized trees had been snapped off.

Grizzly slide path did not go big. Frequent Flyer did not look like it went big, although perhaps it went very early in the storm and the debirs is well covered by subsequent snowfalls. If not then this place is disconcerting.

Loop Brook

None of the paths affecting the initial approach up the creek ran big. We observed a size 2 loose snow avalanche off Mt Green that did not run past the top of the fan and did not trigger a slab.

Upvalley no major activity was noted on the Lily or Bonney sides except for large fracture lines below the n face of Bonney that ran onto the glacier. The moraines have not slid.

Asulkan

Big stuff here. A size 4+ off of Mt Jupiter ran into the Mousetrap. A size 4 ran out of the northern half of the Ravens into the Mousetrap (the southern half still seems to be there). A size 3+ ran out of the basin west of Lookout Col but I'm not sure if it made it all the way to the Mousetrap. Only about 10% of the start zone in this basin has released, there is a lot more snow up there. I calculated that there is at least 30,000 tonnes of debris in the Mousetrap from all these avalanches. There is a huge fracture line down to the ice in the Forever Young couloir, not sure how far it ran. No debris in the Tree Triangle.

Illecillewaet

A size 4 ran from the base of Sir Donald's west face, took out the slopes on the moraine below the w face, and ran to valley bottom. It broke a few trees. The east face of Glacier Crest had old thick fracture lines. Otherwise we just saw recent windslab activity to size 2 with about 30 cm thick fracture lines.

Hope that helps.

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

www.facebook.com/alpinism

[MCR] Malignant Mushroom/Wicked Wanda, Ghost Ricer Valley

In the South Ghost yesterday and found Wicked Wanda to be in good shape with soft plastic ice and good gear. The climb is wet on the left side and the belay cave is quickly becoming covered over. We made it bigger but it will take a bit of work from everyone heading in there to keep the bolts from disappearing. It was incredibly windy there yesterday and we needed to tie a pack to the ropes to get them down so we could rappel.

We found Malignant Mushroom to be very affected by the sun and quite rotten. The climbing was positive but the gear required a lot of cleaning/digging and wasn't great in the end anyway. It might be better to leave this climb alone until it cools off and it can start to heal.

The driving was a bit sporty in a few places along the TransAlta road. The ice damn at the blue bridge is getting entertaining with two large holes you want to avoid and an off camber icy turn that wants to push the back end of the truck into a tree. We crept over it without chains and made it without incident but drove very slowly. "Stumpland" requires a high clearance vehicle or you will get high centered as the drifts are quite deep there. Once in the river valley it was straightforward to the South parking area. All driving on snow was quite tricky on the way out as the warm temperatures were turning the things isothermal by late morning.

Have fun!

Mike Stuart
ACMG Alpine/Assistant Ski Guide
Canadian Alpine Guides

_______________________________________________
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] South Coast, Spearhead Range

I was skiing in the Spearhead Range yesterday. Clearing sky, wind pressed snow, and warm temperatures prevailed.

A surface crust below 2000m made skiing tricky. NW (lee) slopes above 2200m held good quality skiing  snow.

The skiers and snow boarders where everywhere in the alpine. Thin, steep, rocky areas mainly on north aspects all got tracked. I did not see any slabs pulled and barely even saw a sluff except for isolated South Aspects which were heating making point releases to Size 2.

I dug a quick test pit at 2250m on a NW asp. The only shear deserving mention was a layer on stellars which produced a clean Moderate result down 25cm. The snow here above this interface was too soft and weak to produce a cohesive slab. Below the snow pack became hard and very strong.

Cornices are big!

There is fun skiing in the high alpine.

 

Dave Sarkany SG

 

 

[MCR] Upper Weeping Wall

Climbed the left side of the Upper Wall yesterday. The route is in good shape with two distinct cruxes, one on the second pitch (physical 5+) and one on the last half of the last pitch (harder/more technical but shorter). Overall there is only about 10 meters of climbing at the guidebook grade.

There are some large daggers on the left side of the route that need to be respected. We were able to use sheltered belays and limited our time around this feature.

The climbing was mostly quite good with the normal sections of funky, technical and hard to protect ice. We were able to walk up to the Upper Wall on old avalanche debris.

Timing is everything on this route and it might be wise to stay away from it if gets cold in the next little while - the daggers will pose a problem once the ice becomes brittle.

The Right Hand line on the Lower Wall was also in good shape, albeit quite wet. Currently this route is on the easier side of the grade.

Have fun!

Mike Stuart
ACMG Alpine/Assistant Ski Guide
Canadian Alpine Guides

_______________________________________________
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, Snivelling Gully

I guided Snivelling Gully today, Jan 26th. The route is in very good
shape. We climbed a variation off of the first big horizontal ledge -
thin ice just climber's right of the bolted rappel anchor (visible in
the picture below as the leftmost white strip).This variation avoids
the deeper gully feature of Snivelling where there is often open
water. I got a couple of good 13 cm screws in the first 10 meters,
then good 16 cm ones. Spring like day up there with wet stains
growing on the rock by 1 pm.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] close call near revelstoke today

A close call just outside Revelstoke Mountain Resort this afternoon. Details still sketchy but sounds like someone jumped over, fell over a cornice, broke a chunk off, started a small slide that stepped down size 2.5 to ground; rumour is an 8 metre (yes: that's metres not centimetres) fracture line. fortunately the event was witnessed by a patroller, ski patrol was engaged in an avalanche training exercise nearby, Revy SAR happened to be in their ready room with radio on, and the survivor is in hospital after being buried for 24 minutes about a metre down.

 

This occurred at about 2400 metres elevation on a N'ly aspect in a steep couloir feature that feeds into a bowl.

 

Still potential for weirdness out there. Be careful out there.

 

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC Canada
karlklassen@telus.net

[MCR] Selkirks

Yesterday we finished a week at Selkirk Lodge just southwest of Rogers Pass. 

There has been well over a meter of snow in the past 10 days or so. This overloaded deep weak layers in the snowpack and as I'm sure most people have heard there was a major avalanche cycle mid-week with avalanches to size 3 in our zone and to size 4 elsewhere. 

Since then things have settled somewhat. We skied almost exclusively at treeline and at that elevation in that zone we found two surface hoar layers down 120-150 cm that were unreactive to our tests, to skiing and to natural loading events. There were some windslab avalanches at treeline over the week after wind events, mostly size 1 with a few size 2s. We were able to ski some steeper terrain on moderate sized slopes with no overhead hazard from alpine terrain.

We made a few brief forays into alpine terrain but we kept to low angled slopes with little or no overhead hazard. This was where we saw evidence of large avalanches with most of them occurring on 35-45 degree slopes. Nearly all of them started around rocks or at the base of cliffs. The deepest fracture lines were perhaps 150-200 cm thick and those large avalanches seemed to have mostly been triggered by another, smaller avalanche that started higher on the slope.

Large, naturally triggered avalanche activity has tapered off but at the end of the week we still were avoiding steep alpine terrain as we had very limited information on what layer the large avalanches were failing on and how sensitive the instability was. Of note was that with probing on the Justice Glacier at 2100 m we felt a 50 cm thick facetted crust at the base of the snowpack and this was of concern to us.

The skiing was really good, with the best quality being found in the forest. Alpine areas have had a lot of wind effect.

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

www.facebook.com/alpinism

[MCR] Fitzsimmons Range 110122

Hope folks on the Coast are enjoying the sunshine.

 

Out with an AST1 group yesterday in the Musical Bumps and had a chance to look at the current condition of the mid-January crust and early January surface hoar layer.

 

At 1800m we found the crust to be heavily laminated and breaking down, with up to 20cm of storm snow over top.

 

Of interest were very consistent "pops" on two buried surface hoar layers. One down 54cm and the other 84. Both failed as "moderate" compression test results and slid easily on the surface hoar. The upper layer consisted of well-preserved 2-3mm surface hoar; the lower layer was well-preserved 3-8mm surface hoar and showed more willingness to slide after the pop.

 

Currently the crust seems to be providing a very strong bridge at 1800m, but both of the layers below appear quite weak. We did note a significant natural slab avalanche at slightly higher elevation on the north side of Helm Ridge in Garibaldi Park, date of failure unknown. It appears that a cornice failed, producing a wide (600m?) crown that also stepped down further as the slide progressed.

 

This would appear to support local bulletin cautions regarding travel near or below the large cornices that have formed in the backcountry.

 

M. Sulkers

CAA Professional Member

ACMG Wilderness Guide

[MCR] InterCoastal Range ~ Duffey Lake (Steep Creek)

Hoping this finds Everyone keeping well.
 
It was a brilliant day to be in the mountains. Strong winds at ridgetop elevations were moving snow onto lee aspects from, at least, midday onward. The clouds never really cleared lee of the Coast Mountain crest (east of the Blowdown Creek area).
 
I didn't observe any new natural avalanches today but there was one impressive previously explosive-controlled slab avalanche on Blowdown Peak that dug deep into early-season layering and propagated widely in a west-northwest, steep, and rocky start zone. Without a doubt, this slide travelled quite some distance. 
 
The January 4th 'surface-hoar' (a weak snow crystal) is buried approximately 50-60cm, from the surface, in open below-treeline locations. This layer of 'surface-hoar' is still quite evident in the snowpack and is continuing to be monitored by professionals who currently have low confidence in the strength of this layer. The mid-January crust, that is quite thick around the immediate Whistler area, is quite thin near the Coastal Divide. This crust is down approximately 5-8cm below-treeline and disappears as you reach treeline elevations.
 
In exposed (open) treeline locations, the recent winds have made the snow surface 'slabby'. Both harder and softer slabs exist in alpine-like terrain at treeline as well as above. Sheltered east-facing treeline locations today had the best snow and skiing quality.
 
The cornices above Darkside Lake (head of Steep Creek) are absolutely huge. Be cautious if you find yourself traveling below slopes that are exposed to these major hazards/potential avalanche triggers.
 
The crust was supportive and carried nicely on skis all the way out along the logging road to the highway.
 
Wishing you all safe ski-touring and a good end to January.
 
Best regards,
Dale Marcoux
ACMG Ski Guide
 
 

[MCR] Hellroaring Creek, South Purcells

I spent today with members of the Kimberley Search and Rescue avalanche team learning about avalanche safety and doing some skiing. This area is located at the boundary between the Kootenay Boundary and South Columbia CAC public avalanche bulletin regions. Here's a summary of our observations.

Weather: Clear skies in the morning, with thin clouds moving in for the afternoon. Light NW winds, temps ranged from -3 to -7.

Avalanche Activity: No recent avalanches were observed however there was evidence of a widespread avalanche cycle at all elevations during the large storm of mid-January. Below treeline the fracture lines were still quite obvious but in the alpine most of the start zones have already been reloaded with the fracture lines hard to discern. We skied the lower track and runout of one path that had avalanched during the storm and it was good skiing on the debris since it was covered in about 50cm of storm snow.

Snowpack: We did not find the mid-January rain crusts at the elevations we were skiing (1750m-2200m). A test profile was done at 2100m in a south-facing treeline glade. We found a generally well-settled and strong 215cm snowpack. Compression tests resulted in an easy shear down 15cm within the yesterday's storm snow, and hard, resistant shears down 45cm within the mid-January storm snow. A drop-kick on the shovel produced a shear down 120cm, failing in faceted snow mixed with decomposing 3mm surface hoar - we were able to get this layer to reluctantly react again with deep tap tests. A deteriorating crust was discernible about 25 cm from the ground. Today's clear skies allowed the sun to moisten and form a thin surface crust in open, steep, south facing areas.

A great day out with good quality skiing, with the added bonus of being able to access the area in style with Kimberley SAR's new winter emergency response vehicle, a 1974 Tucker Sno Cat!

Jeff Volp
ACMG Ski Guide
CAA Professional Member
Kimberley, BC

[MCR] special public avalanche warning

The Public Avalanche Warning Service at the Canadian Avalanche Centre has issued a Special Public Avalanche  Warning for most of the interior of BC. The Mountain National Parks and Kananaskis Country are also in on this warning.

 

You can see the text of the warning here: http://www.avalanche.ca/resources/cac/attachments/Secial%20Warning%20Jan%2020%202011

 

In short: deeply buried weak layers in the snowpack are overloaded by recent snowfall and windloading. Natural, explosive, and human triggered avalanches with crowns of 100 – 400 cm releasing on a variety of persistent weak layers and even the ground are being reported. Weather is forecast to improve over the next few days. Natural activity is expected to slow down or even stop but human triggering of large, destructive, un-survivable avalanches is expected to continue for several days at least. Don't let good weather and a lack of natural avalanche activity fool you into thinking it's ok to go into larger, steeper, or more aggressive terrain. It is recommended you stay out of avalanche terrain entirely in all alpine areas. At lower elevations stay on small, simple slopes and stay well away from runout zones.

 

Check here for photos of recent events:

 

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/library/avalanche-image-galleries/Avalanches2010-2011

 

Check here for a map of the areas of concern:

 

http://www.avalanche.ca/spaw/2011-01-21

 

Be very careful this weekend and into early next week if you are venturing into the backcountry.

 

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke, BC Canada
karlklassen@telus.net

[MCR] Rockies, Lake Louise Area, Louise Falls WI4.

Old news, but likely still relevant.

Thought it worth mentioning that if your headed out to Louise Falls anytime soon, might be wise to stick to the lake shore trail on the approach and return. We tried to short cut across the lake but the heaves in the ice have flooded a huge section of the middle of the lake leaving at least 15 to 20 cm’s of slushy nastiness that tried to fill our boots at every step. Couldn’t seem to escape!

 

We only played around on the 1^st pitch top-roping under the protection of the big roof on the climbers right, out of the small cave. Brittle but fun. Left side was the usual wet line to the cave. Lot’s of hangfire/daggars on the right side, but looked pretty reasonable up the climbers left to get to the cave. The pillar looked pretty beat/hooked out (as usual) from what we could see from the bottom. Looked like the difficulties would be pretty short lived

 

Hope it saves a few people the soakers that we got!

 

Have fun out there!

 

Mike.

 

Mike Trehearne

ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide

www.yamnuska.com

m_trehearne@hotmail.com

[MCR] Rockies, King Creek

I guided in King Creek today, Jan 19th. All the ice is in great shape. The creek has over-run the approach trail in a couple of places forcing some detours. Also of note is that as of 2 pm, when we were walking out, none of the avalanche gullies that runout into the creek had slid since the last, big, storm. I was keeping an eye on them on the way in, doubly so on the way out as  the sun was coming onto the south facing ones. These avalanche tracks are narrow enough that you would have a chance of running out of the way, if you saw a slide coming. Keep an eye on them, look up, especially with the afternoon sun.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard

Mountain Guide

www.barryblanchard.ca

www.yamnuska.com

[MCR] Goat Range, Selkirk Mountains near Meadow Creek BC

Just got back from four days of cat skiing in the Lardeau drainage near
Meadow Creek.

Wow what a storm! Most notable of this one was the 80cm dump of storm
snow. It was quite warm but the freezing level stayed just below our
tenure. Even though, the snow was very heavy near the bottom of the
runs at 1500m.

We skied most runs between 2300m and 1800m to stay out of the schmoo.
Because the storm started out cold then warmed up, the new snow had an
upside down feature with denser snow above less dense snow. Made for
challenging skiing with the skis diving into the softer layer. On
Sunday the snow became reactive with small soft slabs sliding down
between the ski tracks. These didn't propagate or run very far. We saw
one small natural avalanche that came off a steep bluff. Hand shears
produced moderate planar results down 40cm and this layer continued to
be reactive with more snow Sunday night. We stayed in the trees and
avoided any steep, open terrain.

I'd expect the conditions were less stable in the alpine but the poor
visibility limited our observations. By the time I left, the settled
snow depth was a good 2m.

With the current cooling trend, I'm hoping the snow will dry out instead
of forming a melt/freeze crust. But, I can only hope...

Play safe,

Craig Hollinger,
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.

[MCR] Rockies - Mistaya Lodge - large avalanche cycle

A beautiful day for observations with the ACC / The North Face winter
leadership course today revealed some eye opening avalanche activity. Had a
large cycle of natural avalanche activity in the last 12 to 24 hours where
we saw numerous (more than 20) avalanches from Size 1 to Size 3.5 on all
aspects at elevations from 2000 to 2600m (many size 2.0 to 2.5). Slope
angles ranged from 30 to 55 degrees. Crowns were typically 100 to 150 cm
with some up to 200 cm. Several avalanches observed were in unusual
locations.

Winds and cooling temperatures immediately preceded this wide spread cycle.
Several step down avalanches were observed on East aspects where the bed
surface was ground or the November rain crust.

The Size 3.5 natural avalanche off of the Baker Glacier (Sabretooth run) ran
from 2700m down to 2280m. It hit the lake below, blasted the ice out of the
lake and piled everything up on the opposite shore (quite a devastating
sight!)

We had well over 100 cm of storm snow in the storm which ended a day ago.
The storm snow has now settled out to 75 cm. The day before in our study
plot at the lodge we had foot penetration of 135 cm whereas it is now only
65 cm. Similarly we found ski penetration went from mid thigh to boot top or
less in open areas. There was a lot of wind affect in all open areas at and
above treeline (limited observations below treeline). Plenty of slab
formation with wind still transporting snow throughout the day.

Dave Birnie ACMG SG
Mistaya Lodge

Cyril Shokoples ACMG MG
Rescue Dynamics

And the crew of the ACC / TNF course

_______________________________________________
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] Rogers Pass Conditions

Hello,

So touring at the pass today proved to give obvious good skiing
conditions on grizzly shoulder and there were only a handful of skiers
out touring. We were surprised to not have super deep trail breaking
conditions though...maybe 35 cms or so and fast skiing. Some
widespread wind effect was apparent in the alpine but not at treeline
and below.

We did not see any natural activity today but plenty of past activity
from the recent storm. Temps were cooler hovering around -5 to
-8 at treeline. The sun did feel like it could have an impact on
steeper south facing slopes but thankfully did not. There was a thin
soft skiable crust to about 1450 metres and the tree bombs were set up
and difficult to ski in tighter trees at around that elevation. Lots
of old bed surfaces were refilled in as well and had not yet slid.

Stability test at 2200 metres(south asp. 30 incline) produced moderate
resistant planar results in the storm snow( down 25cm; F+ soft slab)
and an easy sudden collapse at the storm snow interface(down
approximate 1 metre). Storm snow settling to 1F resistance at lower
half. Ski tests cutting steep rolls did not get results.

Despite no new natural activity observed where we were skiing there
was a report of a size 4.5 natural avalanche today west of Rogers pass
that ran across the highway on a slide path that didn't before reach
the road taking out 100 year old trees leaving behind a few metres of
debris.

ski safe,

Greg Franson

Ski Guide

.
_______________________________________________
The Informalex: The World's Biggest Guides' Meeting
http://informalex.org

_______________________________________________
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] unusual, large avalanches

I just came out of the field and am working in the CAC Public Avalanche Warning Service office this week. Today we received several reports of unexpected, unusual, large, and destructive avalanches that ran in the last 24 hours. These occurred after major precipitation and winds had ended and as/after temperatures cooled off. Several size 3 – 3.5 and one size 4.5 that dammed the Illecillewaet River east of Revelstoke: http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/revelstoketimesreview/news/114169389.html

 

We are not yet certain about what is causing these avalanches and whether this kind of activity is likely to continue. However, it might be wise to be wary for the next few days until we see if this is a short term problem or something that might be longer lived. If/when we figure out what's happening we'll put information and advice in the CAC avalanche forecasts at: http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/bulletins/latest

 

I must stress that several of these avalanches surprised professionals, some of whom are very senior practitioners with many, many years of experience.

 

Stay safe out there.

 

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide

Revelstoke, BC

[MCR] Red man Soars - 2nd pitch (Jan 16/11)

I guided Red Man Soars Yesterday.  From the drainage where we left our skis I  busted a trail, the going was tough at times, but now there is a good trail.  There was a party few days ago who skied all the way in to the first ice, but that would have been too tough for my guest.  The gullies and head walls all cleaned off in the last storm, however there wasn't as much snow there as the rest of K-country.

The 1st pitch (rock pitch) was in great shape, with few cm of snow on it which made a bit harder.   The Ice near the top at the bulge took 13 cm screws.   The 2nd pitch (this photo)  is not in and looked a bit too desperate for me to try it.  My guest ended up climbing the 1st pitch twice because one of his crampons fell off near the top below the ice, l lowered him back down and he climb it again.

When we arrived at the car it was 0 degrees.

Marco Delesalle

 Mountain Guide

www.greatdividemountaineering.com

www.internationalguidebureau.com

Red man  Soars - 2nd pitch (Jan 16/11)

 

[MCR] Whitewater backcountry, near Nelson / West Kootenays / Selkirks

Just back from an AST 1 course in the Whitewater area backcountry today...

 

About 10cm of new snow fell overnight followed by rain today to ridgetop (~2100m where we were).  By 1pm, -1C temps were already forming a weak 2cm thick rain crust that will make for particularly challenging skiing when it freezes solid.  

 

We found resistant, moderate shears at storm snow interfaces down 25cm and 45cm on north and south aspects in a 220 - 240cm snowpack.  We also found the Jan. 3 surface hoar layer down 80cm giving hard, sudden shears with crystals up to 12mm near ridgetop!  We did not see or hear any activity but visibility was severely limited.

 

Reports from yesterday at Kootenay Pass were that hail pellets had penetrated the top 10cm providing challenging skiing from ridgetop down to ~1800m where the rain crust began in earnest.

 

Today off the Kaslo / New Denver Hwy a party reported that most open slopes above 35 degrees had slid below treeline.

 

Just learning now of a fatality in Kokanee Park.

 

Wish I had better news. 

 

Stay safe,

Shaun King  ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide

Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction

www.mountainsense.ca 

[MCR] Technical Acronym - correction

Hello folks,

I made the mistake of using technical short hand....in the post for the North Blue - Cariboos

BTL -below treeline

TL -tree line

SH - surface hoar ( in this case buried surface hoar crystals)

Dana Foster Ludwig

Ski Guide

CAA prof.member

Snowy Mountain Alpine Tours and chalets

Blue River - Clearwater BC

P 250 674 2988

www.snowymountain.ca

[MCR] North Blue- Cariboos

North Blue River - Cariboos

Wow! The big storm of the winter (maybe), dropped over 140 cm of snow at 1224m and around 200 cm at tree line elevations. For the majority of three days it snowed between 2-3 cm an hour.

Total snowpack height at TL is well over 3.0 m and 2.4m at 1224m. 

There were several mid-storm shears producing natural loose avalanches at all elevations and aspects up to size 2.5 and running full path. There were some isolated full storm snow slabs releasing naturally at the interface from Jan 11th on both TL features and along the creek banks. This interface has spotty SH which is sitting on a denser layer and is now buried over 1.0m or more.

The majority of the storm was very calm at tree line and below tree line but I would expect the ALP certainly had some wind, especially at ridgelines.

The air temperatures remained constant between -10.0c to -14.5c during the majority of the storm. Then yesterday (Jan15th) the air temps rose in a few hours from -14.0 to -.08 which also produced a few mm of rain between 1000m and possibly up to 1600m. This dramatically changed the storm snow loading properties. There is now a rain crust in this elevation band that is anywhere from 2 cm to a few mm thick (skin).

There was a very strong inversion yesterday with the warm moist air trapping all that cold air in the valley bottoms.

We had very limited obs from the alpine, however yesterday during a brief window of visibility we did not see any huge slabs in the start zones but tons of full path loose sluffs to size 2.5. 

Our biggest concern is the spotty buried surface hoar layer at the storm snow interface from Jan 8th to Jan 11th. I was able to remote trigger the full storm snow slab in skiable tree line glades, these would run fast and far until the slope angle changed.

Leaving the North Blue yesterday we stayed well away from any avalanche path run outs and below treeline steep short slopes and terrain traps.

Foot pen is over 100 cm and trail breaking is silly but we are suckers for punishment.

So, find a nice place to tree ski, set in a track and get your laps in until the snowpack gains some equilibrium. The face shots are amazing!

Dana Foster Ludwig

Ski  Guide

CAA Prof. Member

Snowy Mountain Alpine Tours and chalets

Blue River - Clearwater BC

P 250 674 2988

www.snowymountain.ca

[MCR] A little good news from the Monashee Mountains, West of the Perry River, NE of the Gorge ski touring area, January 15th, 2011

If only to add a discordant voice to the steady stream of avalanche bad news, here is some good news from a very small corner of the Monashees.

I have been cat skiing for the past week just across Craigallechie ck from the "Gorge" ski touring area and the "Queest" snowmobiling area. Between 1500 and 1900 m elevation we have been skiing steep terrain with increasing confidence throughout the week on everything but steep south facing terrain. Much of this terrain we have skied fairly steadily all winter but, in the past 3 days we have been exploring previously unskied terrain up to 50 degrees between those elevations. Today we had almost no sloughing, no cracking and certainly no signs of any avalanche activity. (Other than closed highways and the CBC)

We simply haven't had time to get into our steep south facing terrain to look at a suncrust with a thin weak layer above it from early december. It is now down approx 1m so we won't be taking those tests lightly.

This information really does only apply to our specific terrain. It does make me think that I would have gone ski touring at the Gorge with my eyes wide open, but at least optimistic for safe skiing on challenging terrain. The forecast for warming temperatures and more snow means we may be skiing very different terrain tomorrow.

So, don't hang up your skis just yet, conditions are appalling in many places right now but in some places, skiing is still a pretty good idea.

Larry Stanier
ACMG 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] Icefields parkway closed Sunday

65 cm of storm snow will keep the Icefields Parkway closed from Jasper
to Lake Louise Sunday. Expected opening is noon Sunday with moderate
confidence.

Garth Lemke
ACMG ass ski
Public Safety JNP
_______________________________________________
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] Avalanche Control East End of Rundle

Avalanche control will be occurring on Sunday (Jan 16th) on the east end of Mt Rundle between the hours of 11:00-12:00.  No activities will be permitted in this area at this time and the highway will be temporarily closed.  Grassi Lakes trail will also be closed while the control work will be taking place. 

 

Currently Kananaskis Country has received up to 50cm of snow at treeline elevations with warming temperatures and moderate SW winds.  As a result of these weather events a natural avalanche cycle is ongoing at this time.  Avalanche danger levels are likely to remain elevated for the next while.  Watch the avalanche bulletin for updates at www.albertaparks.ca/avalanche.

 

Mike Koppang

Public Safety Specialist

Kananaskis Country, AB

http://twitter.com/KCPublicSafety

 

 

[MCR] Icefall Lodge, Rockies

92 cm of snow in the last 3 days is producing a widespread natural cycle. Temperatures have warmed to -4 at 1900m and the snow continues. With 100cm of snow last week and 92 this week, the snow pack has almost doubled in the past 10 days. It is now sitting at 225cm. This storm started out cold and there has been very little settlement in the storm snow. No cracking or other signs of instability were observed until this afternoon.
We observed a size 3 natural today at 4 pm. It started at a south facing ridge line feature and ran full path taking out small trees. Suspect the January 4th facet layer or the recent storm snow. Numerous other avalanches were heard during the afternoon.
Larry Dolecki
Mountain Guide
www.icefall.ca

_______________________________________________
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] Maligne canyon crawl, Jasper

Completed Maligne canyon through route yesterday. -30 in the canyon.
Pool of open water a few corners up from the queen iceclimb. Enter
through the locked gate to bypass. All ice shelves still in place
which means either they will drop naturally or someone will be
standing on one when it does resulting in unexpected swim/fall. Climb
out at end very brittle with cold temps.

Garth Lemke
_______________________________________________
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] Icefield parkway closed

50cm of storm snow has closed the Icefield Parkway from Jasper to Lake
Louise. Natural avalanche cycle occurring.

Explosive control will take place on the Jasper section with
anticipated opening for 1500hrs. Fair confidence.

Garth Lemke
Ass. Ski guide
Public Safety JNP
_______________________________________________
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] Avalanche conditions Banff/Yoho/Kootenay Parks

Avalanche control is planned for tomorrow Jan.15 along the Sunshine
Ski Village road tomorrow. No climbing or any other activities along
the road tomorrow including Bourgeau Left or Right.

A natural avalanche cycle is currently under way in
Banff/Yoho/Kootenay National Parks, and we have an average 40cm of new
storm snow, moderate to strong West winds, and warming temperatures.
60-80cm of new snow has been reported North of Bow Summit on Hwy 93.
The storm is still going strong and will have elevated hazard for the
forseeable future.

There have been many accidents on the TCH and all mountain roads are
in horrendous driving condition. Hwy.93 North is currently closed
from Lake Louise until 3PM tomorrow (low confidence)

Steve Holeczi
Visitor Safety Specialist
Banff/Yoho/Kootenay National Parks
_______________________________________________
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] Mistaya Lodge, Rockies - storm update January 14

In the past 48 hours we have recorded 60 cm of low density storm snow at 2000m at Mistaya Lodge near the Wapta Icefield. The snowpack is now 165 cm deep, with a 63% increase in snowpack depth as a result of this two day storm. And it is still snowing this morning, with calm wind at the lodge.
Temperatures have moderated to a daytime high of -6 and overnight low of -13.
Limited observations yesterday (Jan 13) due to poor visibility. Good ski quality with no signs of slab development at our 2300 m treeline high point.
In sheltered areas below treeline the January 12 surface hoar is 3 mm and was producing sudden planar shears but was not reactive to skiers.
The deeper persistent weak layers may start to wake up with this rapid loading.
With 39cm of the storm snow falling in the past 12 hours since we were last out skiing, rising temperatures and humidity, and possible wind at treeline and above, we are calling avalanche danger HIGH at all elevations today (January 14).

Jordy Shepherd
Mountain Guide

Terry Palechuk
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.

[MCR] Selkirks - Norther Valhallas

The snow continues to pile up, with another 30cm+ in the last 2 days.  Around noon today the winds starting kicking into mod-high gear from the W-SW and by 2pm a few naturals on crossloaded aspects (N and S) had already been observed in alpine and treeline locations of size 1 to 2.  We had a skier triggered avalanche size 2 as well today with a self guided group that the person skied out of on a small opening in the trees with a 38 degree start zone at 2200m, N asp down 55cms to a buried preserved stellar layer (from Jan 6th) that has produced a number of naturals in our region from the last week.  We are at our highest temps since last week now, with -3 at 5pm at 1760m, so it seems like the warm and windy storm has arrived.  Anticipating a sizable natural cycle out there so stay safe, as some deeper buried facet layers might become reactive with even more load.

Evan Stevens
Mountain Guide
Valhalla Mountain Touring
www.vmt.ca
evanstevens@gmail.com

[MCR] Parks Canada Data Logger info for Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks

We had a glitch in our programming, and the raw data from our data-loggers
that is posted at:

http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/pre-trip-planning/weather/real-time-weather-dataloggers

was actually data from 2010. (So no, it was not really +2.0 at Bow Summit
on the 12th of January.) The problem has now been fixed, and the data
posted should be accurate. Unfortunately, we have a phone line issue right
now so we are not getting Sunshine or Vermilion data, but we hope to have
this fixed soon.

In addition we have developed three new graphic pages that combine the
snowfall and wind stations into one page. There will be one for Sunshine,
Vermilion and Bow Summit See the Bow Summit example here:

http://www.avalanche.ca/feeds/parks_wx/data/Bow_Summit.jpeg

There will soon be a link to these pages on the CAA weather page.

Enjoy the powder, safely!

Brad White
Mountain Safety Programs Specialist
Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks
PO Box 900 220 Hawk Ave.
Banff, AB T1L 1K2

_______________________________________________
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] Five mile creek, Whitewater Backcountry, Southern Selkirks

Hi all,

I had a great day ski touring guiding in the WH2O backcountry today. Due to the ongoing storm, moderate to strong west winds and "High" avalanche hazard forecast we opted to ski in well protected trees at tree line.

So far, the storm has brought 15 to 25cm of light density snow that is bonding poorly to the January 12th surface hoar layer. We observed widespread cracking and sluffing on anything steeper than 30 degrees or where the wind had created a very soft slab. We did not see any deeper layers reacting to this new load today however we heard some large avalanches across the valley on steeper north facing avalanche paths with alpine start zones.

The local weather is calling for 20 to 30 cm of new snow every day for the next few days with rising freezing level and strong southwesterly ridge top winds, chances are that we will see some of the deeper previously buried weak layers become active again. If so, there could potentially be a climax avalanche cycle with avalanches running full path and beyond the historical boundaries.  Given the current snow pack and weather forecast,  the ski resort looks appealing for the next few days.

Enjoy the storm and be safe!

Cheers,

David Lussier
ACMG-IFMGA Mountain Guide
www.summitmountainguides.com

[MCR] North Rockies (Pine Pass and Table river head (tumbler)

Spent a few field days in the North Rockies. On Saturday January 8th went to Powder King to do some snow measurements. We dug a pit 50 meters from the snow stake at the top of the T-bar. (1520m)Snow depth was 160cm. We found some storm instabilities in the top 30cm, but the snowpack below that was well consolidated with no other persistent weak layers. A few crusts were found about 40cm from the ground but we had no significant compression tests down that low.

We did not get into the alpine where there was obviously more wind affect so conditions would most likely be different. I would suspect some wind slabs in exposed terrain. Snow depths found at the ski hill were: top 160cm, mid mountain 120-130cm, base 90-100cm...did quite a bit of probing!

Probing at Azouzetta lake we found 80cm. There was about 60cm roadside 6km north of Pine pass.

Following day January 9th we did some profile work in the head of the Table river. Snowpack was 153cm at treeline (1475m) 120cm valley bottom (1100 metres) Some storm snow instabilities were noted in the top 20cm, on the hard side of moderate compression tests. No other deeper significant instabilities were noted.

We did see one Size 1-1.5 slab on a NE aspect, at about 1600 metres elevation.( crown was 20-30cm)  Some other minor isolated sluffing was noted but in general there was little activity in this region.

Both the pine pass and Tumbler regions usually get a lot of snow, though both have eluded the last week and a half of snowfall which much of BC has seen.  (with a total of about 10-15cm over the last week period.)

In general things look quite thin for this time of year in the two areas we observed. Still a lot of alders in the side paths.
However it is still early January!

Peter Amann
Mountain Guide

Peter Amann
pamann@incentre.net

[MCR] Mistaya Lodge, Rockies January 11

Myself and Terry Palechuk are at Mistaya Lodge this week with a Thompson Rivers University ski touring group.  Mistaya Lodge is located about 7 km northwest of Peyto Hut.  http://www.mistayalodge.com/ 

 

Yesterday (January 11) one group toured up the Baker glacier (aka Wildcat Glacier) to the Baker-Trapper Col, reaching an elevation of 2800m, and was able to look down onto the Peyto Glacier and Peyto Hut on the Wapta Icefield.  Our second group toured up on the SW facing slopes above the lodge to treeline.  Stunning views with a clear sky.

 

The morning temperature of -29 warmed to -20 by mid-day.  We observed no new natural avalanche activity.  We observed several old slab avalanches from the tail end of the last storm (around January 7th) to size 2.5, mainly initiating from steep rocky areas on lee (NE facing) slopes at around 2400m elevation.   The recent storm brought about 25 cm of new snow to the Wildcat basin.

 

The December 27th surface hoar/facet layer is producing moderate clean shears down approximately 50cm, and the December 9th surface hoar is inconsistently reactive, with hard results.  No whumpfing or cracking.  There has been moderate southwest wind working the snow surface and transporting snow above 2200m in the alpine.  At 2000m there is a 100cm snowpack, and we probed 160cm at 2700m on the Wildcat/Baker Glacier.

 

Ski quality is generally good in the trees down to 2000m as well as in the alpine with a surprisingly supportive mid-snowpack.

 

At 08:00 today (January 12) temperatures have warmed to -20 with 2 cm of new snow overnight, and more forecast over the next 4 days.

 

Jordy Shepherd

Mountain Guide

 

Terry Palechuk

Ski Guide

 

[MCR] Sandon & London Ridge, Goat Range, South Selkirks

Here is some field info after teaching AST 1 and 2 courses from Jan. 6-10 in the New Denver area:

 

Jan. 7 (light rain and overcast at 7:30am in New Denver). Up white Creek in Sandon as the storm was winding down we were getting isolated whumpfing with large loads (several skiers) and able to trigger small unsupported features down 25-30 cm on the Jan. 4 surface hoar, which was quite large in one clearcut near valley bottom.   

 

Jan. 8 (-1C and overcast at 7:30am in New Denver). At 6100ft. on a NE aspect (Sandon, Cable Bowl) we had easy compression test results with a progressive compression fracture character on the Jan 4 storm snow interface and could not locate the surface in an open glade.  A facet layer down 50-60cm gave hard results with a resistant planar character.  Good ski quality up high, but alders were still poking out below about 5500ft.  The new storm snow did allow us to ski the tighter forest right down to valley bottom without too much trouble.

 

Jan. 9 (-6C and overcast at 7am in New Denver).  25-30cm deep trail breaking to the London Ridge area.  Visibility opened up in the alpine and we saw numerous crown lines from a cycle that occurred during the last storm (25-35cm deep with up to 10cm new load on bed surfaces).  Most slabs did not run full path but one size 2-2.5 on a steep, east aspect at ridgetop (7400ft) caught our eye.  Light to moderate wind transport had occurred at ridgetop from a southwesterly flow.  Many layers were visible in the snowpack on a south aspect at 5700ft but the storm snow down 30cm (giving easy, resistant shears but no result on an Extended Column Test) and a faceted crust down 65-80cm (giving hard, variable results) seemed the most active. 

 

Jan. 10 (-11C and clear at 8am in New Denver).  Back at London Ridge (great skiing) we found 2 more size 2s on south and east aspects that failed on the Jan. 4 layer during the last storm.  At 6000 ft. on a SE aspect we had moderate, variable fracture character results on the storm interface down 35cm and hard results on a thick crust layer down ~100cm (in a 170cm snow pack) which gave some sudden planar and some broken fracture characters (Extended Column Test No result).  HS 200cm at our high point of 6700cm on a somewhat lee slope.

 

Excellent ski quality, but we were avoiding larger, steep, open slopes, convexities and unsupported features and employing safe travel practices to minimize our exposure.

 

 

Cheers,

Shaun King  ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide

Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction

www.mountainsense.ca