Preamble:
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Just got back from a weekend at the Bow Hut! I enjoyed the company of many
and diverse fellow mountain lovers, including 3 1/2 month-old Iris! Seeing
her made me miss Rohan, who is with Deb visiting relatives in Ontario right
now...
The snow:
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We climbed Gordon and enjoyed many laps on the "Onion Skin"/lower glacier
above the hut.
There is plenty of snow on the glacier -- HS (snow depth to ground/ice) is
80 - 150 cm on the lower glacier, and ranging from 60 to 200+ cm up high,
depending on wind exposure.
Ski quality was in the fair and occasionally poor range, with poor
visibility--but nobody was complaining! It was great to be out.
Hazards:
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There has been a fair bit of recent snowfall--probably about 30 cm in the
past 4 or 5 days--and strong winds from the SW and W. Temperatures have also
been warm--Saturday morning it was 7 Celsius at the hut, and this morning it
was 0 Celsius. All of this amounts to a perfect recipe for wind slabs and
increased avalanche hazard (not to mention so-so skiing), so we kept to the
lower angled terrain. The lower glacier above the hut has the perfect aspect
for wind-loading, and we were not interested in checking out the steeper
pitches. We did not see any evidence of recent natural avalanche activity,
however.
Although there is generally good snow coverage, especially for this early in
the season, we roped up from the bottom of the glacier on our way up to
Gordon. I know that many people travel un-roped on the Wapta, but this
doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea to do so, especially early season
with unpredictable coverage and thinner bridging.
Some beta:
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If you choose to go there in the next while be prepared to carry your skis
at least as far as the creek before the final gully (30 minutes or so from
the hut!) No post-holing though, the trail is in good shape almost to the
hut. If you're unfamiliar with the summer trail, be sure to get the beta (a
couple of hints: first canyon, take the stairs on the right and look for the
sign after 100 m or so that points you over a HUGE chockstone bridge; second
canyon, look for the obvious trail up and left just before entering the
canyon).
Regards,
Tom Wolfe
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