[MCR] Second Photo of Pipestone Avalanche

Pipestone Bowl is a north facing feature near treeline with moderately
smooth rocky ground cover. Convex roll, lee, approx 35-40 degrees at roll
over.

Estimated dimensions 100m wide 400m long 60-80cm thick.

(Embedded image moved to file: pic02340.gif)

Brad White
Mountain Safety Programs Specialist
Banff, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks
PO Box 900
220 Hawk Ave.
Banff, AB T1L 1K2 403-762-1490 403-760-0556 (cell)

[MCR] West Coast Snow and Avalanche conditions

I just got down from a flight from Squamish over Diamond Head to Harrison Lake.

Summary:
 
I can't make a call on the hazard rating because I havn't been in the snow yet but the avalanche hazard is greater the further east one travels in the coast mountains. In Garibaldi Park there is enough snow to produce dangerous avalanches at treeline. Flat faces with smooth ground surfaces and wind loaded features are much more likely to slide. Stay away from glaciers.
 
 
Some more details for those of you that are heading out there in the near future:
 
It was clear today with some nasty looking weather looming to the west. There was snow down to 2500ft in the west and as low as 1500ft to the east. It was -4 at 6500' at 10:30am over Garibaldi.
 
It is hard to tell from the air but if there is 100cm in Whistler and 150cm at Diamond Head then there was probably about 60-80cm over the Chehalis and Golden Ears Park in the alpine.
 
There was a little sluffing due to the sun as we were flying and evidence (especially out east) of small avalanche cycle to size 2 that occurred last Tuesday late in the storm. The slides were mostly NW aspect starting in isolated areas at and just above treeline. It looked like very few areas had reached the snow threshhold needed to produce avalanches and the places that did slide were on flat rocky faces and cross loaded gullies. Most of the peaks in the Chehalis and Pitt area are no higher than 7000 feet. The slides ran from ridge top (usually above treeline) to at most 4000ft asl. I didn't see any slides in Garibaldi.
 
Glaciers were riddled with crevasses covered with sagging weak shallow bridges.
 
Cheers,
Conny Amelunxen
ACMG MG
 
 
 
 

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[MCR] JNP, Mt Edith Cavell region and Astoria trails closed Oct 15-Feb 15

See attached for further information, closure map, and contact info.

Mount Edith Cavell region and Astoria trails are closed Oct 15-Feb 15 for
Caribou protection. This includes Cavell hostel and Cavell road. Access to
and from the Tonquin valley and ACC Wates Gibson Hut is through Portal
creek trail.

In addition, vehicle traffic will not be allowed on Cavell road until
sometime in July 2010 due to road paving.

(See attached file: ENGLISH FINAL_Fact Sheet, Caribou area restrictions,
Nov 09 .pdf)

Garth Lemke
Public Safety Specialist JNP,
ACMG assistant ski

[MCR] Selkirk Mountains- Rogers Pass - Balu Pass Nov.8 2009

Well I finally recovered enough from the flu bug to wander up Connaught creek today with Greg Johnson. We aimed our early season sites on Balu Pass.

 

Happy to say a couple from Revy made the early start and put a nice track in up the valley saving us old guys (well me anyway) from laboring up the drainage – they were breaking what looked to be 15-20cms in the valley bottom, that had accumulated over the older tracks – I am not sure if anyone was up there yesterday (Sat.) but there was definitely traffic on Friday. The temps were cool with light winds and snow showers off and on all day.

 

Once you broke out of the trees, the total depth of snow down low looked to be around 50cms and was composed of 20-30cms recent storm snow over a strong rain crust. We did notice one reasonably recent small dry avalanche that had run fast and far (to valley bottom) off the steep North facing slopes of Cheops – it looked to be a result of wind loading at the high ridge crests (things looked windier in the high alpine that what we experienced during the day)

 

At the Base of the headwall just below Balu Pass we took a minute to check out the bonding of the recent storm snow to the aforementioned crust which was now down 60-100cms from the surface. Compression tests yielded hard results just above the crust with a clean shear but it didn’t seem to want to leap off the crust for sure – hand shears nearby also produced a clean shear on the crust but my impression was that it was stuck reasonably well – though I was not keen to test my theory on some steep convex roll!

 

We continued above the Pass (elevation 2070m.) and up the ridge that ascends North, towards 8812 Pk., and noticed that the crust had disappeared – so from this limited observation (and Greg’s conversation with the local Avalanche forecasters) it appears that the crust peters out around 2000m and is likely not an issue above that elevation.

 

The snowpack felt well settled adding some confidence that we would not sink into the rocks if we stayed away from scoured ridges – the ski quality was actually quite good – okay it was great and everyone out there was having fun (we saw the aforementioned couple and another group of 3).

 

Keep in mind of course that all those rocks that were visible not to long ago are now just buried – we stuck to lower angled terrain not so much as to limit avalanche risk as to keep from having to edge to hard and dig into something close to the surface.

 

It felt great to get out for a walk in the mountains – but I definitely still feel as though I need a bit more time and info to gain some confidence in the snowpack – though I have to say it appears to be off to a good start.

 

Remember if all else fails – LEAN BACK,

 

Cheers,

 

Scott Davis

ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide

 

[MCR] Bow Falls

Yo! Just an update on Jorg's post from a few days back.

 

Had a good day up on Bow Falls yesterday, despite some fairly nasty conditions. Temps were good within a degree or two of -5* all day. Winds aloft and in the surrounding area were reasonably calm all day, but we got a pretty good pummeling from the downdrafts (moderate to strong gusts all day) being sent down off the Wapta Icefields that sit right above the falls. Lot's and lot's of spindrift, my hood came off all day, and the gore-tex froze solid a few times. The ice isn't in the greatest shape right now, and it felt like it definitely slowed us down a bit on the way up. Lot's of aerated sections through the first pitch but still easy enough to get descent full length screws. Had to really clean to get a good anchor at the top of the first pitch. The second pitch, a line just right of  the middle of the falls, was pretty delicate, with very thin sections of delaminated ice covered over with a thin skin or shell, the "good" ice underneath, being no more than about 10cm's thick. Lot's of delicate cleaning to get through it, and maybe one or two good screws on the pitch. On the top out on the right side I also ran into a small patch of hanging snow, that if starts to tighten up with a bit more wind would probably want to pop out of there, just a heads up. Topping out on the left hand side looked like it would be a better option if you could weave a line into it. The line we did would probably be solid WI4+.

 

Lot's a folks out climbing the short single pitch stuff down and right of the falls too yesterday, looks like the place to be for early season ice cragging - looked like a lot of cool stuff to do, and like Jorg said probably plenty for the WI3 - 5 climbers, be a fun day out!

 

That's it for now, guess it's game on - have fun and be safe!

 

Ciao.

 

Mike Trehearne

ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide.

m_trehearne@hotmail.com

[MCR] ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 5th, 2009

ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued November 5th, 2009 This may be the last ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for 2009. Kananaskis Country, Banff/Kootenay/Yoho and Jasper park have begun producing public avalanche bulletins for the winter. The Canadian Avalanche Center is planning to have a public message for this weekend, check their bulletin page. MCR reports from independent guides will continue as always throughout the winter. Thanks to all the ACMG members who have fed us enough information to allow us to produce the summaries. Summaries will begin again in spring after the Canadian Avalanche Center has produced their final bulletin. Recently in the Rockies, at least 2 parties of skiers/snowboarders have been involved in avalanches they have triggered in gullies and one ice climbing party was overrun by a natural avalanche. For more information and some photos that clearly illustrates the current situation, go to www.avalanche.ca, click discussion and then Central Rockies 10/31/2009 and Close call-Ranger Creek. A Chinook is blowing like hell across the East slope of the Rockies at the moment. Nakiska ridgetop recorded SSW winds of 134kmh, gusts of 177kmh and a temperature of +2c at 4pm. That "breeze" is going to blow most of the snow well onto the prairies. What gets left in the lee will be hard wind slabs and crisp new cornices. Some of these will form over and on most of the few available ice climbs. Assume that getting caught in a slide in November will feel like a serious ass kicking, if you are lucky. If You can be sure your route and all the terrain above it is either snow or avalanche terrain free,ice climbing is possible in the Rockies. There are reports of decent early season ice along the east slope from the Ghost River,the Jasper area and scattered along the Banff-Jasper highway. Obviously, most routes will be thin,"fresh" and probably way harder than the guidebook description. Getting decent gear and anchors may well be a battle. A rock rack with a fistful of pins should be part of your standard early season ice gear. Skiing in the Rockies would be a very bad idea for awhile yet. With the current snow pack, warm temps and high winds, anywhere that has enough snow to even consider skiing is probably either a fat wind slab or a poorly bridged crevasse. Rock climbing in the sun and out of the wind on the East Face of Tunnel mountain was good for awhile today, but that didn't last long. Skiing in Columbia's is still very marginal. Here are some recent snow observations- Rogers Pass summit 1330m 25cms Mt. Fidelity, west side of Glacier Park, North of highway. 1905m 83cms. CMH Gothics Lodge, Selkirk's, Goldstream River,700m 14cms. Estimate of 70cms or less at treeline. Mustang Lodge, Monashees, west of Perry River, NE of Gorge creek. 1700m 105cms. Now picture that much snow on the Selkirk's undergrowth/jungle, quartzite blocks, cedar stumps, alder and gaping crevasses. Not a pretty picture. Some decent and reasonably safe turns could probably be found above treeline on non glaciated terrain near the Selkirk's and Purcell's divide but it will be very, very hard work to get there. We have almost no real observations from which to assess the current avalanche hazard, especially in the Columbia's. Therefore, the only reasonable approach is to confine yourself to simple terrain. Downhill skiing below treeline would be scary, crappy and quite possibly would result in season ending injuries. Hopefully, the weather forecast is correct and more snow and cooler temperatures are on the way. However, the avalanche hazard is very likely to increase greatly over the weekend, especially in the Columbia mountains. Patience and prudence are the key words for the weekend. Live to play another day and all that. Have a fine, safe winter! Larry Stanier ACMG/IFMGA Mountain 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] Early Season Avalanche Conditions

The Canadian Avalanche Centre is winding up for the season and information this time of year is sparse and difficult to get. If you've been out for a ski, climb, walk, drive or heard of stories from people who have, we'd love to hear about it. You can send information to: forecaster@avalanche.ca or call the forecasting office at 250-837-2141 ext. 230

 

We welcome any information no matter what your level of training or experience. Informal reports and stories are often just as helpful as technical data.

 

The MCR summary later this evening will provide more detail and we'll be issuing an early season report for a number of regions tomorrow with a bit of a weather outlook for the weekend as well. Check out our bulletins at http://www.avalanche.ca/CAC_Bulletin_Regions

 

There's been a number of close calls (skiing. boarding, and ice-climbing) already this fall so keep your head up out there.

 

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke