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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

[MCR] Replicant, Banff, AB

Today, myself and Paul Masiar climbed the Replicant. We apologize for not leaving a note on our car saying which route we were climbing... a very good idea to do : )

We enjoyed the warm temperatures, but the winds steadily increased today. By the time we were rappelling our ropes and jackets were caught in some serious updrafts. The wind picked up to very strong gusts taking our ropes and throwing them up the route. We had fairly consistent spindrift on the last pitch. On the descent we observed a sz 1.5 avalanche: 5-10cm deep, 50m wide by 150m long on 45+ยบ terrain on a planar rocky bed surface, just from wind loading taking lots of rocks down with it. Even though it hasn't snowed for awhile, and there isn't much snow underfoot, there is still snow available for transport in these windy conditions.

We found the route to be very dry (perhaps the inversions of the past week have been sublimating the ice). On the first pitch there are many hooks, the ice has lots of air in it and seems to be delaminating from the rock in places. I didn't take comfort in many of my screw placements.
On the second pitch we found dry and brittle conditions. Better screw placements with a few hooks. The route is outfitted with abolocovs and the approach trail is in great condition for a steep approach trail. : )

Thanks to Paul, Eric and the International Guides Bureau for a great day out.

 jen olson

acmg/ifmga mountain guide

[MCR] Pond Inlet, Nunavut communications info

Forgot to mention that Pond Inlet got cell phone service as of a couple months ago.  We tested it successfully from the southern shore of Bylot Island / Sirmilik National Park.  The provider is Bell, and my Telus iPhone 4 did not work on their sytem, so it's worth looking into compatibility before you head up there.  I successfully used a SPOT messenger, Globalstar and Iridium satellite phones, as well as GPS.  Lots of communication methods available, giving the false impression that it is not a remote part of the world!
 
Jordy Shepherd
Mountain Guide

[MCR] Sirmilik National Park, Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Nunavut Dec 1-5

I was in Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Nunavut last week (Dec 1-5).  The weather has been unseasonably warm in the Arctic, with the sea ice only just forming within the past couple weeks to allow safe travel.  We received about 25 cm of low density snow in the 5 day period, with variable winds from calm to moderate, SW and W. 
 
We travelled with Inuit by snowmobile for an overnight trip, across Eclipse Sound to Bylot Island, spending a night on the edge of Sirmilik National Park.  The weather was quite good on the overnight trip, with temperatures between -15 and -25 deg C, and generally calm wind.  This time of year, there is no direct sunlight at this latitude, with only dusk/dawn conditions from about 10:30am to 2:pm. 
 
We didn't travel into any avalanche terrain.  Windward slopes are stripped pretty bare, with the main concern being slab formation on lee N and E aspects.  Visibility was limited due to some low cloud/light snow and limited daylight.
 
I am presently in Arctic Bay, a Nunavut community to the west of Pond Inlet.  The temperature has dropped to a constant -30 deg C and the sky is totally clear. 
 
Jordy Shepherd
Mountain Guide
 
 
 

Monday, December 6, 2010

[MCR] Evening Ridge area / West Kootenays / South Selkirks

Some more observations from another AST course yesterday.
 
7:20am in Nelson (550m)  -3.5C
8:00am at Evening Ridge Parking (1500m)  -16.5C (Yikes!)
 
At noon at ~1600m it was -6C and clear with thick valley fog.  On a low angle southerly aspect the tree bombs started firing left, right and centre.  Definitely the biggest hazard of the day.  The 15cm surface layer from the last storm was very low density but we saw it densify enough over the day to produce small soft slab avalanches with tree bomb triggers on a west aspect.  We didn't get very high, but It would have been interesting to see what the temps were at higher elevations with the inversion.
 
Warmer temps earlier in the week have settled out the midpack nicely and it carries a skier much better than it did last Sunday.  Some less consolidated snow still exist beneath the early Nov. rain crust but this crust is starting to break down.
 
Of note was a significant surface hoar layer with crystals in the 3-6mm range but some up to 10mm!  This could be problematic if the forecasted warm snow amounts to much.
 
Cheers,
Shaun King  ACMG / UIAGM Mountain Guide
Mountain Sense Guiding & Instruction

[MCR] Roger's Pass - Connaught Drainage

Spent the day on Dec 4th playing around on the West shoulder of Cheops. Things are quite thin - the early season snowpack is still very prevalent. I was finding less than 90cm in sheltered spots at treeline. We encountered pencil hard windslabs right on the crest proper. There was between 0-30cm of low density snow sitting on top of this. Made for some sporty up track building as we hugged the ridge to avoid any bigger (possible) windslabs. On our descent we explored a little further and found (in that area) that the windslabs were confined to the ridge. We did have some minor cracking with the windslab in areas where the snpk was thin (30-40cm) around rock outcrops. Across the valley we could see a number of point releases to size 1 on solar aspects, as well as what looked like a thin slab release (S aspect) from a mid-slope rocky area around 2300-2400m. A guess at size was 1.5 but it appeared it ran a fair ways, maybe 150m.

The snowpack in the alpine has facetted quite a bit. Very much a Rocky's snowpack - thin coverage and cool temps promoting the crystallization. In many spots the pack did not carry skier weight as well as it did just a few days earlier. Also there was surface hoar growth again - now 2 layers with variable distribution. That other one was buried with the last snowfall. We didn't find it widespread, so it will take diligent looking to figure out where it lurks.

Still, good fun with early season exploring. Lots of smiles again with the folks I ran into. Quite busy, upwards of 50+ people in Connaught on Sat, possibly more on Sunday with the clear day. We encountered no wind & a valley fog up to 2000m.

Trail in good shape (yes, still early season and a rock hop here & there is in order) and another fine day of stretching the legs.

Loks like some decent precip in the forecast which will change things by next weekend. Tread carefully!

Dave Healey, 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.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.

[MCR] King Creek Avalanches

While walking in and out of King Creek in Kananaskis Country yesterday, Dec 5, I observed the debris of several size 1.0 - 1.5 loose snow avalanches that had occurred during the day. These point releases came out of south facing gullies above the creek and ran approximately 100 meters down to the trail, leaving 150 cm of debris. The slides ran to ground in 30 cm of highly faceted snow. Temperatures during the day in the creek bottom varied from -19°C to -15°C, but the temperatures at higher elevations were much higher. At 10 00 on the same day, Nakiska ridgetop was reporting 1°C.

Ice climbers should be careful in their route selection. Be especially wary of south facing climbs in gully features that have start zones in the alpine.

Grant Meekins
ACMG Mountain Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

Sunday, December 5, 2010

[MCR] Rockies, Rogan's Gully

My fellow guide, Jason Billing, and I guided Rogan's Gully today, Dec 5th. The route is in good shape. There is one section, 4 meters, of dry tooling in the Narrows where there is no ice, felt like 5.5.

Happy trails,

Barry Blanchard
Mountain Guide
www.barryblanchard.ca
www.yamnuska.com




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