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ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies
and Columbia Mountains issued July 24th, 2008.
Summer has finally arrived in the alpine. The past
week has seen dramatic changes in snow cover, depth and character. It is
possible that some cold, weak snow exists above 3350m on places like the North
Face of Mt. Robson or Clemenceau. Everywhere else, however, the winters snow has
been through some very dramatic melting recently and with a cold, clear night it
could be an excellent travelling surface. With rain, daytime heat or a poor
freeze it can still suck like few other things can.
Ice is starting to appear in lots of places. This
obviously makes for more difficult travel in some places. More importantly, if
the heat stays on, we may soon be into the "modern" summer issue of nasty
rockfall events. Assume that there is potential for BIG rockfall events
anywhere ice faces are melting away. A couple of classic examples are the
Bugaboo-Snowpatch col and the West Face of Mt. Lefroy. The BIG
rockfall/avalanche that was reported from the South Howser Tower on the 22nd was
a "bit" of an anomoly but I have no doubt there is more to come. This beast
came very close to plowing over the bivy sites in East Ck. These sites are also
potentially within reach of icefall. I never did sleep well there. Perhaps
a new bivy site would be a REALLY good idea.
Most Rockies East slope alpine rock routes are
in fine shape(ie snow free) and people are getting out on some alpine rock
routes along the divide such as Temple's East Ridge and the Greenwood/Jones on
the North Face.
Glacier travel is generally excellent. Crampons are
probably needed for any sloping ice for the next few weeks(hopefully!!). Snow
bridges are well settled now and their strength will be completely dependent on
the temperature and thickness of the bridge. Remember, a short
avalanche probe is often a useful tool on a snow covered, crevassed
glacier.
Throughout the Rockies and Columbia mountains,
conditions are fairly similar. A couple of dry days and most classic summer
routes could be as good as they get.
At the same time, there is no question
that some routes, such as the West ridge of Hungabee and probably the East
Face of Pigeon are still buried in snow. Have a good look around and be very
conscious of what is above you when the heat or the rain gets turned on.
To quote my 1974 edition of the Alpine Guide to
Southwestern British Columbia-
"As an instructive generalization, novices in the
mountains are afraid of falling, while experienced climbers are afraid of things
falling on them"
Larry Stanier
Mountain Guide
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