[MCR] Peyto to Sherbrooke April 8-13

April 8th some size 1-2 solar sloughs off of the east face of Peyto peak

The size 2 skier triggered slab of April 8th (reported by Conrad
Janzen on the MCR, April 9th) spooked me out enough, when I spied it
in the field on the morning of the 9th, we didn't ski into the Baker
Col as planned, but kept our skiing that day to shallower slopes of
the upper Peyto Glacier and below ridgeline.

April 11th got a settlement (whumpf) 50 meters shy of the ridgeline
on the Diableret Glacier and went no higher.

April 12th we could see the tin foil like sheen of sun crusts on all
the southern aspects above treeline in the Little Yoho. Strong
southerly winds began to blow the night, blew over one of our guy's
tele ski (no brake) that went for a wee ski for about 100m below the
hut -stick them in good!

13th strong south winds and sub zero temps until the head of the
Niles glacier, then moist snow sitting on a crust. East face of Mt
Niles spitting size 1 solar sloughs as of 10am, none running over the
bench above the ski track, but spooky to see the cornices up there in
the sun. Looked like a solar cycle had run on the West to SW aspects
late in the day on the 12th, even a size 1.5 slab out on the SW face
of the little peak between Niles and Daly. Moist snow all the way out
and a couple inches of water between the snow and ice on Sherbrooke
Lake, the old ski track was supportive. Several full path size 3
avalanches off of the East side of Mt Ogden, and a number of upper
half path slabs on the West side of the valley (not running as far on
that side). Trail down to Wapta Lake was only icy and fast on the
steepest switchback.

Given the wind I suspect that much of the traverse will be a bit
hammered now, but it is snowing in Banff as I type.

Happy trails

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
_______________________________________________
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] Jervis Inlet

Just got back from a week up in the Jervis Inlet and North beyond the Clendinning Park areas.  Over the week we saw about 50cms new snow bonding well in the alpine with little to no wind effect as a result of convective activity.  Temps were remaining cold early in the week with ridge top sitting at -10 to -5 through the day yielding good skiing on the Norths. We skied the alpine as Good stability.  A few days of clear weather and a fine corn cycle should be kicking in.

Treeline areas we found a surface hoar layer with about 30-40cms of 4F snow sitting on a thin (5cm) melt freeze crust. This was easily reactive to skiing and was releasing with little effort on any mod-steep terrain at all.  We skied this elevation like is was poor on one of the days.  As the freezing levels came up though it started to gain strength and become less reactive as the days went on.

Spring arrived on Thursday where we saw a spike in the freezing levels with straight Norths getting cooked up to 2100m.  I would assume nothing but crusts at this elevation and below now until we get a new snow fall.

Cliff Umpleby

[MCR] Wapta/Little Yoho Valley

I spent the past 6 days with Kristina Metzlaff and a group of students
from the College of the Rockies MAST program. We started at Peyto Lake and
exited today via Yoho Pass into Emerald Lake after staying a couple of
days in Little Yoho valley.

Much of what we did overlapped with the Ass't Ski Exam so I'll not repeat
what was already reported.

Weather
-------
Today things instantly changed from winter to spring: hot, calm winds, and
clear skies with intense sun.

Avalanches
----------
A widespread cycle on all solar aspects (E-S-W) was observed in the
alpine today as we left.

Of note, the recent NW winds and significant snowfall from the spring
squalls (up to 50 cm as of yesterday) has created conditions for slab
avalanches on solar aspects as was observed this afternoon on the Yoho (?)
slidepath, which ran size 3 slab avalanche full path (this is the big
slidepath immediately above the south west end of Emerald Lake) at about
noon time.

Snowpack
--------
Below treeline the snow was close to isothermal (wet and sloppy) on most
aspects by early afternoon.

The Feb 25 surface hoar (down 40-100 cm) is still very scary and affected
our route selection greatly in the alpine. For example, we chose to avoid
going over Isolated Col and opted for the Whaleback Trail instead to
access Little Yoho.

With the widespread meltdown on solar aspects and the worrisome surface
hoar instability on alpine non-solar aspects, today was a good day to go
home.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
_______________________________________________
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] Wapta Icefields April 5 to 11

We traveled in 3 different groups across the Wapta to the Little Yoho Valley.  One group went via Peyto Lake, one group via Bow Lake and the other via Sherbrooke Lake.

Weather
There was overall cool weather and significant solar radiation throughout the week.  Springtime squalls came and went leaving anywhere from 5 to 40cm of accumulation in the alpine.  Average temps ranged from -21° in the alpine overnight to -1° in the daytime. Moderate SW and NW winds have redistributed new snow at higher elevations.  Yesterday was the warmest day of the week resulting in sun crust forming on most solar aspects.

Snowpack
South and West aspects: mix of weak facets and crusts. 5-10cm of new snow lies on a melt freeze crust with facets below. 
North and East aspects: the February 26 surface hoar exists at different elevations.  This surface hoar is still hard to predict with significant whomphs with skier traffic occurring mainly from areas with shallow snow pack. Stability tests (compression tests) showed significant weakness on the surface hoar ranging in depth from 80cm to 100cm.

Avalanche Activity
Widespread sloughing out of steep unsupported features under daytime warming on S and W aspects (Occasionally stepping down into slab avalanches).  Natural cornice falls have resulted in the triggering of large slab avalanches.  We triggered a Size 3 avalanche from a distance of 20m away at the west saddle of Isolated Peak triggering the whole slope below.  This occurred on an N aspect at 8870ft, on 25°slope, and released 70cm to 1m deep. The avalanche cleaned all the winter snow away to the bare ice of the glacier.  We had widespread whumphing in flat shallow rocky areas and low angled terrain.

Confidence remains low as to the predictability of the surface hoar layer.

Travel Conditions
Travel is fast and easy. Trails down low are hard and fast in the morning, and trail breaking in the alpine varies from 5-30cm ski pen depending on aspect and elevation.  Ski crampons are starting to be needed on south aspects in earlier parts of the days.  Travel in shallow areas is more trying as the snowpack is weak and less supportive.

Ski quality
Good skiing can be found on N and E aspects for the fresh boot top powder or on South aspects where spring corn can be found if timed right.   If not timed right this can be breakable crust.

ACMG ASG Exam

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[MCR] Howsons 11 April 08

The slack weather of the last two weeks ended today with 6 mm of water
equivalent at the lodge, and more forecast. So far, the new snow sits on
solid crusts and what slides is not very much. We heard and saw numerous
size 1 to 2.5 natural avalanches off the rock faces of Hut Cliffs. Ski
cutting of moist new snow at treeline and below released 10 cm thick
slabs that ran slowly. In the alpine, there is strong wind effect from
the South. Temperatures were -4 degrees at 2200 m and -2 degrees at 1650
m in the pm. With more precipitation, the storm snow will likely stiffen
and slabs will propagate more easily. The stability has become worse and
the danger higher.

--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
IFMGA/ UIAGM Mountain Guide - Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada
tel. 250-847-3351/ fax 250-847-2854
info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.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] Jasper - Winston Churchill Traverse

Skied the Winston Churchill traverse April 6-8. The main observation is that things are thin out that way. Less than 100 cm below 1700 m, carries about half the time. About 130 cm at treeline but it carries a skier well there with a few crusts helping out near the surface (foot penetration to ground about half the time though). On the ice it averaged only about 220 cm although the crevasses seemed to be bridged OK. Lots of big cornices around, with evidence of some recent cornice falls.

Below treeline sunny slopes were isothermal on the way out on the 8th and we triggered a couple of small slides on steep slopes. Other than that we saw only one recent avalanche, a size 2 on a steep slope below a cliff band, SW alpine aspect. Looked like a crossloaded windslab running on a crust, probably triggered by solar radiation.

A few hot days and you could be walking to get to the snow in this area.

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

[MCR] Dolomite Peak and Wapta Icefields, April 6 - 9th, 2008

Did a couple of tours in the last few days around Dolomite Peak and between the Bow and Peyto Huts. 

 

Travel Conditions:

Travel has been great.  Trails down low are hard and fast in the morning, and trail breaking in the alpine varies from 5-20cm depending on aspect and elevation.

 

Weather:

Some spring squalls in the last few days left up to 30cm of new snow on the divide with little wind.  This has settled out nicely into boot top powder on N and NE aspects in the alpine and great skiing!  Yesterdays heat resulted in sun crust forming on most solar aspects. 

 

Avalanches:

There was a fairly large avalanche (size 2) remotely triggered by a group in a safe spot on a ridge, between Mt Rhonda and Mt Baker on April 8th.  It was a N aspect at about 2700m and failed on the Feb surface hoar down 80cm, on a convex roll just below the ridge.  This is similar to 5-6 other slides in the past couple weeks on similar terrain throughout the Wapta Icefields area, so something to keep in mind as you travel.

 

Daytime heating was producing quite a few wet snow avalanches in the afternoon on S and W aspects, some of which were also pulling out fairy significant slabs on the way down.

 

Spring conditions are arriving, but we were still quite leary of steeper terrain features in the alpine which may have the Feb surface hoar layer lingering, and timed our travel to stay away from solar triggered slides as the day warmed up.

Cheers, Conrad Janzen
IFMGA Mountain Guide
403.678.8336(cell)// 403.760.0887(home)

A person should have wings to carry them where their dreams go, but sometimes a pair of skis makes a good substitute. -Hans Gmoser-

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