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Matt Mueller and I enjoyed a slog-alicious day
on the Wapta (Jan 16). We did the so-called "mini" Wapta from Bow Lake to Peyto
Lake. Weather at Bow Lake at 8:15am was -14 C with broken skies and light west
wind. On the Wapta itself the wind was moderate to strong also from the west.
Most of the track to Bow Hut was blown over but trail breaking was easy on stiff
wind crust. Above Bow Hut on the glacier, 1 cm of snow over a stiff crust made
for easy travel. Ski quality down the Peyto Glacier was variable with a
combination of half-decent dust-on-crust turns interspersed with difficult
breakable crust. The Peyto Glacier has good snow coverage down the middle. The
crevasse sections are obvious and easy to avoid. Once off the glacier, we boot
packed up wind scoured moraine past the glaciology station then were able to ski
crusty snow down the moraines to the lake. Good travel on Peyto Lake with
5cm of snow over the ice but once in the trees we floundered in bottomless
facets back up to the highway. All in all, a fine
day of touring but not the place to go if good pow turns are what you
desire.
Sean Isaac
Assistant Alpine Guide
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