Hello,
Skied up to Balu Pass today. There were a few new small slides that had come off of Cheops within the last 24 hours. Stability tests below Balu Pass gave easy results down 30cm on the well preserved surface hoar. The upper 30cm had settled into a soft slab and ski cutting was able to produce slabs that propagated up to 30m wide and ran fast and far. In this area it seems that the change from unconsolidated storm snow on the surface, which has not been a huge worry up to this point, has changed to a soft slab that now requires treating with care.
Jesse de Montigny
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
ACMG Ski Guide + Assistant Alpine Guide
Thursday, February 4, 2010
[MCR] The Shadow: North Aspect on Mt. Patterson, Can Rockies
Climbed "The Shadow" (left of Riptide) on the North aspect of Mt Patterson on Feb 2 .
The route itself is plastered in ice with makes for aesthetic climbing but, in general the climbing is mostly mixed, challenging to protect and in current conditions goes at M7.
Riptide looks to be in very good shape and likely hasn't seen an ascent this year.
We skied the North facing gully below the route from ~2500m. All-in-all the snowpack seemed very stable although we did avoid the shallow convexities. A light dusting of storm snow (it snowed lightly most of the day yesterday) lies over a gradually stiffening well settled snow pack. In shallow(less than 75cm) areas there was a weak facetted layer near the base but the overlying snow did not seem to have slab properties. The snowpack at TL and BTL (east aspect) was shallow and weak.
Photo attached.
Rob Owens
www.robowensguiding.com
The route itself is plastered in ice with makes for aesthetic climbing but, in general the climbing is mostly mixed, challenging to protect and in current conditions goes at M7.
Riptide looks to be in very good shape and likely hasn't seen an ascent this year.
We skied the North facing gully below the route from ~2500m. All-in-all the snowpack seemed very stable although we did avoid the shallow convexities. A light dusting of storm snow (it snowed lightly most of the day yesterday) lies over a gradually stiffening well settled snow pack. In shallow(less than 75cm) areas there was a weak facetted layer near the base but the overlying snow did not seem to have slab properties. The snowpack at TL and BTL (east aspect) was shallow and weak.
Photo attached.
Rob Owens
www.robowensguiding.com
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
[MCR] Rockies, Chickadee Valley
Skied up Chickadee Valley today to the Chimney Col at 2700 m. Our plan was to go through the col, down the glacier and come out through Boom Lake. Excellent ski conditions on the glacier and moraines, with about 30 cm of low density fluff sitting on a well settled snowpack. Ski penetration was about knee deep near the top. Excellent skiing conditions and Low avalanche danger where we were. This will change immediately as soon as the wind blows, it warms up, or the sun comes out as there is tonnes of snow available for wind transport - its been adding up over the week. But today . . . deep powder skiing on glaciers. A rare thing for the Rockies in February!
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We did not ski down the glacier to Boom Lake, as the light was bad and there was alot of crevasses visible. If you go here, plan on using a rope unless you have perfect visibility as it looked pretty sporty through there. Snow depth on the glacier was >250cm.
Grant Statham
Mountain Guide
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[MCR] Scorcerer Ghost and Rogans Gully
Sorcerer is still in fabulous shape right now with lots of climbing options. Very well traveled but still great pro. Of note however is the large looming cornice sitting above it. Just something to be aware of, especially after the near misses on Polar Circus. Rogans is "holding out"...the little section of thigh thick ice Barry mentioned earlier is still hanging in there, and the rest of the route is in great shape. Sarah Hueniken Alpine Guide |
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
[MCR] Sea of Vapors, Feb 1
Climbed half way up Sea of Vapors with my buddy, Blitz, yesterday, Feb 1. Didn't see any gophers, hoping for a bunch more winter. There is a 'modern' trail blaze marking the short cut trail into the drainage -old timers use to blaze trails by whacking a scar into tree trunks with a wood axe ... this blaze was picked in with an ice pick!
Good trail leading to the route right now. The route is challenging. Postscriptum is thin at the crux with patches of rock showing through and a fragile spooky curtain for the right foot. I don't think that it will support many more ascents, treat it delicately. The bolts that make for the uncomfortable hanging belay at the top of Postscriptum are corroding, as are all of the fixed pins on the Whipper Traverse. We stepped down one meter from the aforementioned bolt belay and drytooled across 2 meters of rock to get to the Sea (I climbed to the top of the Postscriptum ice and placed an overhead screw, and clipped the first rusty piton before climbing back down to the belay, then one meter down to start the traverse). Thin and serious climbing for 10 meters. I placed a couple of 12 cm screws, one 16, two angle pitons, and clipped an old rusty knifeblade. Having a couple of stubbies and 4 x 12 cm screws is nice (I tend to place more gear than many, no one has ever been able to convince me that taking a 60 foot fall is better than taking a 20 foot one). 30 meters out from the Postscriptum belay the Sea becomes a proper green and blue ice climb, and it is getting more water up there and will get fatter yet.
Happy trails,
Barry Blanchard
UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide
1 403 609 4615
cell 1 403 609 1321
Monday, February 1, 2010
[MCR] Polar Circus (Jan 31)
Four of us were team guiding on Polar Circus yesterday. Only trace
amounts of snow along the Icefields Parkway and on the route. The
Weather Network for the Columbia Icefields forecasted up to 10cm of
new snow over the weekend but that never materialized. Our maximum
temperature of -3 C was around 11 a.m. at the base of the final two
pitches. We saw the evidence of the previously reported cornice
failures (huge craters equals good slope test), but all was quiet on
Sunday (Jan 31) due to full cloud cover blocking the solar effect. We
would most likely have changed route objectives if there was no cloud.
Temperature and cloud cover are two factors that now must be
considered on south-facing route with overhead hazard (i.e. avi
slopes, cornices, hanging ice daggers) as the February sun begins to
pack a punch. There is a packed donkey trail through the snow slopes
to turn the Pencil. Good hooks and plastic ice on almost all pitches.
amounts of snow along the Icefields Parkway and on the route. The
Weather Network for the Columbia Icefields forecasted up to 10cm of
new snow over the weekend but that never materialized. Our maximum
temperature of -3 C was around 11 a.m. at the base of the final two
pitches. We saw the evidence of the previously reported cornice
failures (huge craters equals good slope test), but all was quiet on
Sunday (Jan 31) due to full cloud cover blocking the solar effect. We
would most likely have changed route objectives if there was no cloud.
Temperature and cloud cover are two factors that now must be
considered on south-facing route with overhead hazard (i.e. avi
slopes, cornices, hanging ice daggers) as the February sun begins to
pack a punch. There is a packed donkey trail through the snow slopes
to turn the Pencil. Good hooks and plastic ice on almost all pitches.
Sean Isaac
ACMG Alpine 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] Healy Pass
Ski toured Jan 29-31 in the Healy Pass/Egypt Lake/Simpson Pass area.
Found the December 29 surface hoar on all aspects between 2000 m and 2300 m. This layer was down 35 cm and was producing mod-hard compression test results with sudden collapse characteristics. Interestingly, we experienced very frequent whumphing, especially in low angle, open glades. Ski cutting on steeper terrain did not produce any results. We nonetheless treated avalanche terrain below tree line with caution.
The surface hoar layer that was covered on Jan 30 seems well preserved and is now down 5 cm in the Healy Pass area. This layer could become a concern in the future.
Grant Meekins
Alpine Guide, Assistant Ski Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
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