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Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and
Columbia Mountains issued Nov. 9th, 2006
The monsoon is over and we are back
into fairly normal, early winter conditions in the snowpacks of the Rockies
and Columbias. There was a large and widespread avalanche cycle earlier in the
week throughout the Columbias and Rockies that only ended with yesterday's
cooler temps. Generally, these cooler temps have helped strengthen the warm, wet
and moist snow of earlier in the week and brought snow to valley bottoms in
all reporting areas. The legacy of this is a raincrust at treeline and above in
the Columbias and in much of the Rockies. This Nov. 7th crust will
be a layer to watch closely over the coming weeks. With more moderate
temperatures and extended precipitation in the forecast, stability is likely to
deteriorate over the weekend in the Columbias and some areas in the Rockies. The
National Parks are producing avalanche bulletins so check their information
before heading out. We are still a long way from good coverage at all
elevations, so ride very conservatively and watch out for all those rocks,
stumps and alders. Snowbridges will still be very weak on the glaciers and
all the snow in the forecast will hide them well in the coming flat
light.
Ice and mixed climbing is still suffering from the
monsoon. Realistically we are starting from scratch after all that warmth.
Assume that almost all the ice is new and doesn't have much real strength
for at least another cold week. It would be
really nice if people would consider staying off the ice in places like Haffner
Ck. and Bear Spirit till it has a chance to fatten up and gain some
strength.
Alpine climbing. Hah, you are
dreaming!
The Canadian Avalanche Centre's public
bulletins should be in full swing on November 13th. Get on their email
list at www.avalanche.ca to
keep current with conditions and the avalanche danger throughout the
winter. This will be the last formal
Mountain Conditions Summary until the spring. Individual ACMG guides will
continue to provide reports throughout the winter, but it has always
been our intention to not duplicate the CAC's excellent services in the
winter.
Thank you very much for listening and for all
the excellent feedback we have received in this first year of weekly
summaries.
Have a really fun and safe winter!
Larry Stanier
Mountain
Guide
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