[MCR] Louise Falls Jan 2/09

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Temps on Tuesday were  -8 and the ice on Louise Falls was great. 

Today was a different story  -20 all day.

Definitely more tension to things, the ice is talking back. 

Just as my second got to the top of the pillar, the whole right side curtain came crashing down onto the party climbing below us, there was no where to hide. 

Miraculously no one was injured.  A near miss! 

 

Pillar was 4+ on right side, walk off trail has many forks branching off too early, stay the course until you're past the cliff.

 

Choose your routes carefully, get there early, and protect your belayer!

Louise Falls  Jan 2/09

 

 

Trevor Carter
ASG/ARG

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[MCR] Coastal Ice

I wrote about a week ago regarding the ice conditions on on the South Coast. For the  most part nothing has changed. I have attached that last message below. I did however have a view from the other side of the car, so here are a few other things I saw on the drive down:

The climb above Gott Creek is still in and fat. It is called Boxing day.
Duffie's Delight and the Tube are not in.
Serindipity is not there at all.
Loose Lady looked like it was there and touching down, but very stiff, no lower spray cone yet.
Suncatcher on the Bridge river looks in and fun.

A big heads up though. There is a very unstable snowpack out there. As you go north on the Duffy Lake Road two things happen, there is less snow and there is a more developed facet layer. It is very likely that this unstable layer still exists in the deeper snowpack up high or the  25cm snowpack found around the townsite of Lillooet. Expect avalanches to trigger easily with any load, and don't climb in any obvious avalanche paths (often identifiable on the Duffy Lake road with a yellow number marker). If you are not leashed into a well placed tool a tiny little slope could slide and knock you off your feet, then burry your belayer.


Conny Amelunxen
MG IFMGA/ACMG




Written on Dec 26.

Entropy looked in (was climbed a week ago)
Psycho Pillar was thin, unprotectable, but looked like a great mixed climb on TR
The climb on the cliffs across from Gott creek was in and looked fat
Rambles were fat, Shreddie non existant
Carlsberg looked climbable and some steps on it made it easier looking than normal in the sense of climbing....protecting it looked epic if possible
Syncronicity looks really fat at the top but thin where you get on it at the top of the gully
there is a great looking Grade 3 gully on the south facing wall near at the fish hatchery lillooet

The Bridge River Canyon is the driest I have seen it in several years.
Capricon looked fat
couldn't see silk degrees
Gift and Theft aren't even starting to form
Shriek of the Sheep curtain doesn't touch down but the lower pitches are in
Nightn Gail was just a bunch of ribbons.

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[MCR] Present snowpack hazard

The present snow pack is the product of extended cooling on a shallow
early season snow pack. The primary culprit being a very weak faceted
layer of snow currently 60-100cm beneath the surface which is sitting on a
well developed crust from early December.

Looking at terrain with a conventional eye will only provide a partial
picture to the hazard that exists. The present threat goes well beyond the
familiar start zones and new snow instability people are typically looking
for when assessing hazard on the coast. Areas peppered with small trees,
boulders and bushes, many of which are buried just below the surface and
thus go unnoticed, represent the many countless micro super weak zones and
potential start zones in the present snow pack.

It is suspected that these super weak zones might be major players in
recently reported avalanche involvements over the past couple days. Be
aware that conventional avalanche control methods may expose none or only
part of the problem. It is important to realize that the protected tree
runs we conventional defer to when the hazard is high might posses the
same snowpack issues which are of concern on larger slopes. Differing to
lower angle terrain might be the first and best consideration to avoiding
the hazard. Avoid passing beneath large hazardous slopes and all features
steep and large enough to entrain enough snow to burry or injure a person.

It must be stressed above all else that there is still limited snow load
and the snow in many areas has as of yet little slab characteristic
overlaying the problem layer in the snowpack, expect it to come to life
again and again as we progress through the many storm cycles still to come
this winter.

Keith Reid
ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Whistler BC
keith@reid.bc.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] Howsons 1 Jan 09

While people in southern B.C. are trembling in their boots, it looks
like the Howsons are setting up for their usual deep and stable
snowpack. I have not been around much yet, but there are few signs of
instability, and the few ski tests I have done did not produce anything.
There are 170 cm at the lodge and 270 cm at 1300 m. There is quite a bit
of wind effect, but so far I have not seen it produce propagation,
whumpfs or slides. Overall coverage is very good, with creeks now
drifting in, and the skiing quality is compromised only by deep ski
penetration.

--
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] Monahsee Mtns. - Perry River - Dec.27-30-08

Spent a few days in this area which is close to the popular Gorge Road so I thought I would pass on what I saw for people heading out over the holidays.

 

The Dec.24^th layer was buried over 60cms, by two successive low density snow falls of 20 and 45cms. before a layer of freezing rain coated the surface of the snow on the afternoon of Dec.27^th. This crust varied from 2mm. to close to shin bruising 10mm. thick and was quickly buried by another 20cms. of snow overnight.

 

Continued snow improved the skiing and by the time I left on the evening of Dec.30^th we had accumulated 50-60cms of snow over the 27^th crust and close to a 100cms. over the Dec. 24^th facets. During my time there all the snow above and below the crust remained fairly unsettled and seemed to lack the stiffness (slab properties) to produce any avalanches and we saw very minimal natural activity. Regardless we approached the terrain by limiting our exposure to larger open steep features.

 

We were waiting for things to stiffen up and it now sounds as though that is definitely the case and I suspect things would be significantly more touchy than the previous few days.

 

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

 

[MCR] Selkirkirk Mountains - Corbin Pass - Dec.31-08

I was up Corbin Pass (just west of Rogers Pass) yesterday.

 

Mid-day a blustery squall blew through with 2 cm./hr snowfall and strong gusty westerly winds. I stayed well below treeline and still you could see wind affect in exposed openings – this was forming soft slabs that I am sure would be quite a bit more significant at Treeline and above elevations.

 

Snowpack was @ 80cms, at the car and closer to 150 cms. once you climb above the road. Generally 40-60cm. of snow over the old facetted interface from Christmas and where the wind got at things there were soft slabs up to 20cms thick.

 

Looks like the long awaited slab has begun to form over this older weak surface – so I would be leary playing with anything that has been stiffened by yesterday wind events as this seemed to be the once ingredient of a slab avalanche that we have been missing since this layer began to be buried. In other words things changed out there yesterday.

 

Play safe and enjoy many New Years to come,

 

 

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

[MCR] Extremely unusual conditions

Hi everyone,
 
It seem like many reports of avalanche involvements, close calls and even fatal accidents are increasingly indicating the serious consequences related to the unstable and avalanche prone snowpack affecting southern BC this year.
 
I have been skiing in the southern coast mountain over the last few weeks with a group of several other experienced guides. As in many other parts of southern BC the snowpack here is thin, weak and abnormally avalanche prone due to a small layer of soft facetted crystals poorly bonded to an early December rain crust below it. Due to a steady westerly flow and accompanied precipitation there is now between 50 to 100cm of recent snow forming a denser slab just above this weak layer in our area. As many other coastal or southern interior areas we have observed many natural avalanches up to size 3 on this weak layer. Our guiding team has not seen such dangerous conditions in this area before and there fore we are using extreme caution while out in the field. We think these very unusual conditions will deteriorate through the holidays and persist for most of the winter.
 
In the field, we have been skiing on very low angled terrain(less than 20 degrees) while trying to eliminate any exposure to potential surrounding avalanche terrain. Even with all our experience based precautions, we have been able to remotely trigger numerous avalanches, purposely or not, from a safe distance on nearby terrain. These conditions are increasingly challenging but we still feel its possible to enjoy the backcountry during the holidays. We recommend using extreme caution while in the backcountry and minimizing (if not eliminating) your exposure to potential avalanche terrain.
 
The canadian avalanche association has already issued several warnings recommending recreationists, experienced or not, to stay well away from any avalanche terrain. We strongly support their warnings and hope this message is helpful to anyone planning a trip in the backcountry.
 
Happy Holidays!
 
David Lussier
Mountain Guide
ACMG/IFMGA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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