Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Interior Ranges. August 19th,
2005
Winter paid a brief visit with snowfall above 3000m on August 16th and 17th and
a generally cold day with North winds on August 18th. Snow fall amounts varied
over the area with 15cms on Assiniboine and Edith Cavell being the highest
observed. Less snowfall was observed in the Lake Louise group, Columbia
icefields, Bugaboos and Rogers Pass but expect conditions to be a little snowy
and icy in the alpine for a couple of days on anything but steep south aspects.
There are no reports of slab avalanches but lots of loose snow avalanches large
enough to push climbers around ran during the storm. With the forecasted warm
temperatures and sunny skies another short cycle of loose wet snow avalanches
should be expected. Somewhere in the alpine, I am sure enough snow fell with
the right winds to create localized windslabs that could be triggered by
climbers or possibly daytime heating. There is no current information from Mt.
Robson but it seems a very likely place to have a slightly higher slab
avalanche hazard.
If the current forecast of sunny skies and warm temperatures is correct,
conditions will improve somewhat over the weekend. With careful route selection
alpinists should be able to get in some good safe climbing over the next few
days. Be aware that the alpine may be going from cold and snowy to warm and
sunny in a relatively short time span and there will be more rockfall, verglas,
snowed up rock, balled up crampons and avalanche hazard than last weekend.
Bon Cours
Larry Stanier
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