[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for October 16th, 2008.

ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued October 16th, 2008.

 

We are well into autumn. In the mountains it has been generally COLD the past week. Generally light snow has fallen to and remained at around 2000m along the divide in the Rockies. In the Columbia's there was more snow on average. At 1905 meters on Mt. Fidelity, on the west side of Rogers Pass, there is approx 50 cms of settled snow on the ground. I am going to go out on a limb here and speculate that it may be a bit slippery on Mt. Sir Donald.

 

Glacier travel continues to be the autumn gamble. I would imagine that the odd piece of benign looking glaciated terrain that feels very casual in the early summer would be fairly terrifying right now. Probe, probe and then probe some more.

 

Rock climbs are pretty white around Canmore. Perhaps Yamnuska and other south facing cliffs would be fine with a late start and a FAST!!! team. Otherwise, it has been cold till mid morning and the only heat has been from the radiation. The rock is staying cold without the radiation and this isn't likely to change for awhile.(Spring?) The nights are very long, very cold and probably very lonely up high right now. Bataan? At least you would get warm hiking.

 

The ICE? That is the only useful question right now. Certainly it is likely to be very thin in the dry ranges and below treeline. In the alpine and closer to the divide of the Rockies there is likely to be some "climbable" pitches.

There are 2 big problems to consider if you are dumb enough to October ice climbing.

 

1.Forget the guidebook grades. They will likely be thin, hard and REALLY difficult to protect. Bring rock gear, especially pins and assume any pitches you scope will be way harder than they look. And, Yes, no matter how much you THOUGHT about ice climbing over the summer, you really haven't gotten any better at it yet.

 

2. Nasty little early season avalanches. There has been a sad trend of early season avalanche fatalities over the past few years. There is very little snow in the Rockies, but, I am guessing that any gully with climbable ice right now also has a big drift above to feed it and possibly a big cone at the base. Do not forget that these early season drifts are wild cards. None of us have any clear idea of the snow stability in those isolated drifts right now!  All we do know is that the consequences of going for a ride there are likely to be fatal. Belay, retreat, reconsider. 

 

Skiing? Hah, maybe in some desperate little patch in the Columbias. Patience, a long winter awaits. Check out the new film "The Fine Line" and make some plans. Winter is coming.

 

Larry Stanier

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide  

 

 

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued October 9th, 2008

 

ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued October 9th, 2008.

 

A beautiful, cold day in the mountains. The snow from the past 48hrs varies from 5 to 20cms along the continental divide of the Rockies and throughout the Columbias. There were reports of more significant snow in the columbias over the past weekend also. -10 degrees Celsius at Skoki and -6 in Lake Louise and Canmore this morning. Brrrr!!!

 

No significant wind reported anywhere in the parks today. However, there was signs of drifting so there was probably wind during the storm yesterday.

 

There has just been enough snow and probably enough wind to form scattered slabs in the alpine. With the lack of detailed observations, simplicity may be the best approach for this weekend. Avoid the big fat-looking white places!! Remember that the consequences of an early season ride in an avalanche can be especially nasty. Being buried is bad enough but with all the rocks and trees not padded yet, a world of hurt awaits!!

 

Lots of ice is forming but a wily observer saw nothing climbable in the Bow Headwall, Lake Louise or Rundle area.The alpine is the only hope, but again fresh windslabs and cornices are a concern on the approach slopes and especially in any gullies.

 

Glacier travel is just getting trickier with each little tinkle of snow. There is enough recent storm snow to hide the crevasses again without any meaningful gain in bridging strength.

 

Castle, Louis, Bugaboo spires etc are all freshly snow covered. South faces may be climbable on steep rock in a couple of days but the cool temps mean it will be a slow process and there will be some lovely verglas along the way. North facing rock is guaranteed greasy for at least a few days if not months.

 

It looks like a beautiful weekend to be out in the mountains. Pick your objectives very carefully as the alpine is rough, slippery, white and cold and the nights are getting to be very long.  Still, the right project could be a great last adventure before winter becomes the reality.

 

Larry Stanier

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

 

[MCR] Athabasca AA Col / Icefields

I just spent the past couple of days guiding in the Columbia Icefields.

Sunday -- Athabasca via AA Col - about 10 cm new snow with strong SW winds
throughout the day. This brings the total storm snow to 12-15 cm since
Friday. Good travel. The schrund is easily crossed but still thinly
bridged, and we belayed over it going up and down (good ice screws with a
little digging). Storm snow was bonding well to the old surface -- the
moist snow Jordy described in his last post is now a frozen/facetted
breakable temperature crust under the storm snow that made for good steps
approaching the col and good, secure plunge stepping descending.
Windloading and some cracking in the storm snow at ridgetops. Lots of
sluffing could be heard throughout the day from Andromeda's gullies. +5 C
at the trailhead at 5:45am, freezing level at about 2800m, cooling off
towards evening. Strong downflow winds noted as we descended.

Monday -- Wilcox Pk - Cold, clear night, -2C at the campground at 5am and
a dusting of new snow to valley bottom. This made for slippery hiking this
morning. Things melted fairly quickly when the sun finally came out
mid-morning and by the early afternoon the rock was mostly dry. Still
moderate to strong SW winds as well as some sluffing off of Snowdome and
Andromeda's N faces. Cold with a mix of sun and cloud throughout the day.
3C at the campground at 2pm but felt warm in sheltered areas in the sun.

Regards,
Tom Wolfe
ACMG AAG/ASG
_______________________________________________
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.
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[MCR] Lake O'Hara

0 degrees celsius, calm and 2cms snow overnight at 2000m around Lake O'Hara. Peaks are snowcovered from 2500m up but nothing looks really plastered except the big slopes like Lefroy, Glacier and the West face of Hungabee. Grassi ridge is still dry. No signs of any recent avalanche activity visible but it was a bit cloudy and grey for really confident observations. No really fat water ice anywhere in sight but lots of thin dribbles everywhere above 2800m.

 

Conditions around Lake Louise appear to be similar.

 

Buses have stopped running so if you like a long walk it could be a wonderful wilderness experience at O'Hara by wednesday when the lodge is completely shut down.

 

Larry Stanier

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

laristan@telus.net

[MCR] Icefields Conditions October 1-3

Myself and four other mountain guides were at the Columbia Icefields for the past 3 days with a large group of university students.  In addition to practicing on the North Glacier of Athabasca, we climbed A2 (via the Boundary Glacier) and Athabasca (via the AA Col).  Travel conditions were excellent.  Above 2600m there is 10-30 cm of newer snow over a carrying crust, and a further 30 cm of snow to the summer ice.  The latest snow is generally moist due to this week’s warm temps, and it is bonding well to the crust, but we still avoided the ‘Normal’ ramp route on Athabasca in light of the recent natural and older climber triggered activity on the ramp.  Plus 6 degrees most mornings at the Icefields campground meant not much of a freeze up high, but still good travel conditions.  No new avalanche activity, however there was a number of large serac falls from the south sides of Andromeda and Snowdome. 

 

We wore crampons from the AA Glacier to the summit of Athabasca, with rain turning to snow and poor visibility on Oct 3^rd.  Good steps in the snow gullies leading to the Athabasca side of the AA Col, and no slab formation noted.  We found good ice for anchors under about 40 cm of snow when descending from the AA Col.

 

Jordy Shepherd

Mountain Guide

[MCR] Rockies: Narao

Up the lefthand Narao gully today. Below 2700 m conditions are mostly hard summer neve, above that elevation there is about 35 cm of recent snow overlying the neve. This new snow was held together by a few thin crusts on this NE aspect, with some hot temps this snow would fall apart quite rapidly. Although it was warmer than we hoped (minimal overnight freeze) it seemed cold enough with no rockfall or avalanches noted.

From below, this gully looks like it has a rockband in the middle but one can connect the couloir the entire way via a hidden finger of snow.

A fun 2 hour climb with a 3 hour approach and a 4 hour descent!

Erica Roles

Asst Rock Guide

Mark Klassen

Mountain Guide

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary issued October 2nd , 2008

ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued October 2nd, 2008

 

It has been a lovely week in the Mountains. The warm weather has helped settle the snow a bit in most places, but winter still rules above 3000m's.

 

Glacier travel is mostly pretty good but as is often the case in the fall, crevasse are poorly bridged and may be difficult to read, especially in shady places.

 

Rock climbing is still good on the east slope of the Rockies and lower elevations in the Columbias. Above 2800m expect snow anywhere shady and maybe some verglas after the heat wave.

 

Alpine ice could be coming around quite nicely. Cooler temps for the weekend could help tighten up some of the water ice and keep the rockfall fairly quiet. 

 

Classic alpine routes such as Victoria, Sir Donald, Edith Cavell and everything in the Bugaboos would take a fairly solid and speedy team to do them comfortably in a day. The snow will slow people down and the days are getting mighty short. It would be a long cold night in an unplanned bivy in early October.

 

Larry Stanier

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide