[MCR] Accident on Guinness

There was a fatal accident on Guinness today. There are still at least 8
screws and draws on the third pitch and a rope stashed near the top of the
second pitch ( I did not see it). We did not have time to retrieve this
gear as we were responding to a second incident at the same time. If
anyone is climbing there in the next few days and you feel like returning
this gear to the owners, please drop it off at one of the warden offices
attention my name. The owners will be appreciative.

Thank you,

Marc Ledwidge
Manager, Mountain Safety Programs
Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks
220 Hawk Avenue
Box 900, Banff, AB
T1L 1K2
Ph: 403-762-1401

_______________________________________________
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] Selkirks March 22-27

We've still been skiing in the Selkirks the past several days.

March 22-24 was in the Valkyr Range, about halfway between Nakusp and
Nelson. Before we got there, there had been some recent significant
events in the surrounding mountains. A Sr 2.5 on an alpine lee aspect,
probably on the Feb 26 surface hoar; and a partial burial (one hand
showing) in a size 2 on a treeline SE aspect, probably on the March 8
surface hoar (dug out in minutes). This second avalanche was
interesting in that I'm pretty sure that slope had run previously, on
the Feb 26 surface hoar.

We tread carefully whenever we were close to large open features
(basically staying away), but we did travel over steep terrain in the
trees (30-35+ degrees, both up and down) with no whumpfs or cracking.
We dug at about 1800 m in the trees and just got broken results on the
two surface hoar layers. There was a wind event on Sunday and Monday
morning and after that we saw a size 2 slab out of steep lee terrain
in the alpine (probably storm snow) and we ski cut a couple of size 1
windslabs in the storm snow on steep rolls at treeline. On our flight
out on Monday afternoon we did not see any other activity.

March 26-27 was in Rogers Pass, Bonney Moraines the first day and Balu
Pass the second day. Although there had been wind on the weekend and
continued moderate winds overnight Wednesday, there was minimal wind
effect in these areas although Balu was a bit punchy at the top.
Obvious wind effect elsewhere in the Connaught drainage. Path 6 off
Cheops (the last major bowl feature before Balu Pass) has run
recently, size 3 to the valley bottom.

Excellent skiing everywhere we went!

Mark Klassen
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] Mt. Hector

Mike Stuart and I climbed Mt. Hector today.  The slopes below the waterfall have seen a fair amount of old activity.  The moraines on the approach are in their usual moonscape condition with thin snowpack but reasonable travelling.  The glacier coverage ranges from 70 cm to 225 cm and the average depth in the trough of the glacier is about 200cm.  On the upper slopes towards the summit block the coverage is almost nil with lots of bare ice and some open crevasses.  Boot crampons proved useful.  Ski quality on the glacier was very good.

 

Marc Ledwidge

Mountain Guide

[MCR] Selkirks - Rogers Pass

We've been skiing in Rogers Pass for the past 4 days, with one more
day to go tomorrow.

We've been in Bonney Trees, Dome Glacier, Mushroom People, Little
Sifton-Hermit Traverse, Illecillewaet glacier and Lookout Col.

The Feb 26 surface hoar has been observed down 75 cm and March 8
surface hoar down 30-40. We have observed variable shears on these
layers.

We remotely triggered a size 1 slab in the Hermit area yesterday, SE
aspect at 2200m, 35 cm thick. Suspected failure layer was March 8
surface hoar on a crust. Other than that we haven't seen any recent
avalanches although there have been reports of a couple of other size
1-2 slabs.

Weather has been mixed sun and intense flurries with poor visibility
at times. Typical March.

Mark Klassen
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] Bear Spirit and Super Bock

HI all,

 

Bear Spirit (yesterday) ice and mixed crag has lots of great ice, not too wet, and most mixed lines except for a couple in the middle are still in good condition.

-------

Super Bock(today), on Mt. Stephen, is in great shape. Truly one of the best WI5 routes in the range and in my opinion the best route in all the Field area. It has nice plastic ice throughout, again not too wet, and deserves a good solid WI5.

 

As with many ice routes this time of year, I wouldn’t want to be on this one with the temperatures above freezing as there is overhead hazard. It is a good idea to check the forecasted temps, take a thermometer to check in on the progression of warming throughout the day, and get off the route as early in the day as possible.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Rob Owens

ACMG Alpine guide

[MCR] Ice Climbing, Lake Louise & Field - Cool Spring / Masseys / Louise Falls

For any of you guys out there that haven't put the ice tools away quite yet...

Spent yesterday on Cool Spring and Masseys in Field, and then up Louise Falls today.

There's still a bit of a trail broken up to Cool Spring. We walked up sporadic patches of old avi debris in the gulley on the way up, but the amount of debris underfoot left me thinking that it probably hasn't totally cleaned itself out up above.
There's a great line that goes right up the middle that has managed to stay dry, but it's a bit techy and a bit of a jaunt between good screws. The left and right sides are both chandeliered and super wet. Could be a bit easier right now than what the guidebook has it at.

Massey's has got a bunch of really good lines left and the the ice is still in great shape. On the first pitch, there's a WI3 line on the very far left side and just about the whole rest of the way across is one giant WI4 pegboard. There's also some refrigerator size blocks laying at the base on the right side of the route, and a few more still hanging right overhead that look ready to fall off.
 
Louise Falls is in good shape too, the daggers hanging over the right side of the route are still pretty spooky, but you can still pick a pretty good line up the left to avoid them, and then cut back over to the right for the belay at the base of the pillar. Not too, many hooks on the pillar - you have to actually do a bit of swinging and good ice the rest of the way up.

 Enjoy what's left of the season! 


 
Mike Trehearne
ARG

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[MCR] Polar Circus and Hydrophobia

Hello

 

Climbed Polar Circus on Saturday.  Busy route with 5 people on it before 530AM!  Good to see people getting early starts on big south facing routes.  Route itself is in ok shape.  Some of the bottom pitches will be melting out soon and the last pitch was difficult for the grade as extensive cleaning was required.  Snow slope felt ok crossing it in the shade both on the way up and down.  It would be a different story if it was baking in the sun...

 

Climbed Hydro yesterday.  Drive in through Waiparous was nice and frozen all the way, easy in a normal truck.  Route has seen a bit of traffic and is quite hooky, felt classic grade 5.  The road was melting a bit on the way out at 3pm causing some of the deeper ruts to become problematic.  Could be an issue in upcoming days if it stays warm and sunny.

 

Spent last week around Assiniboine trying to climb the peak but the late February surface hoar shut us down.  We found this layer up to 2800 metres in the area, and gave it major respect in our terrain choices.

 

Stay safe and have fun!

 

Cheers

 

 

Mike Stuart
Alpine Guide