ICE
Ice is finally in. Climbers have reported decent early season conditions on
Twisted Sister, Bourgeau Right & Left (thin), Kidd Falls (thin), R&D.
Hazards: keep in mind that this is early season ice, easy to access, but
probably thin, weak and more serious than
later in the season. As well, while avalanche hazard has been minimal up
until the recent heat wave, snow levels in start zones are approaching or
exceeding threshold levels. The last snowfall, and the fact that the
temperatures have skyrocketed over the past 36 hours, means that avalanche
hazard has increased in some areas. (see below).
SNOW
Rockies
It's been a fantastic early season for skiing, with great reports coming
out of the Wapta, Highwood Pass area, Bow Summit area, Surprise/Saddleback,
and Sunshine/Lake Louise.
There are some imminent concerns, however. To begin with, we have had close
to a week with lots of new snow and intense wind. To make matters worse, the
last 24 hours of chinooking have raised freezing levels to treeline or
higher. On Thursday, isothermal conditions were reported in Highwood Pass
where the temperature was +10 C in the afternoon. The winds and warm
temperatures have been forming stiff slabs on North and East aspects and
easy shears have been reported at the October rain crust (the major layer of
concern right now). A size 2.5 natural avalanche, North aspect, was reported
yesterday above Bow Hut. Of note, the side slopes above the Bow canyons
were covered in low density snow on Tuesday, but on Wednesday isolated slabs
were
reacting to ski cutting. Things are changing rapidly. Fortunately, the
temperatures are forecasted to drop again throughout Friday and by the
weekend should be back to normal. Snow stability may begin to improve later
in the weekend but there is continued precipiatation in the forecast. At the
present time, Parks Canada is rating
the Danger as Considerable at treeline and in the alpine. Hopefully this
year's infamous November Rain Crust won't develop into the monster it's
been in past years.
Interior
Decent early season skiing has been reported from Rogers Pass area, and
approach trails, while a little bony, can be skied in their entirety with a
good pair of rock skis.
On Wednesday (Oct 9) the slide path from Cheops North Face above the turn
up into Ursus Bowl had run around 1pm down to the half fan level in two
narrow lobes. Other than that not much activity reported. HS at 2100 m in
Balu Pass area was reported at about 140 cm, and moderate compression test
results about a metre down above the early season melt/freeze crust.
Coast
Again, some tantalizing reports of skiing have been coming from the coast,
especially the Blackcomb "nearcountry" glaciers, e.g. Blackcomb, Husumi,
Horseman... but limited reports on avalanche hazard.
For detailed avalanche reports, see http://avalanche.ca. Parks Canada has
been issuing reports already for over a week, and CAA bulletins will begin
in just a few days.
Regards,
Tom Wolfe
Larry Stanier
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