A stormy week this week for the mountains has changed the overall
conditions somewhat.
Monsoon type rainfall early in the week saturated the snowpack and created
a few full depth slab avalanches on steep glacial ice. As temperatures
cooled, the snow line came down to approximately 2600 metres. The new snow
has accumulated up to approximately 15cm at the higher elevations, and is
also insulating the rain soaked snow so that a crust has not yet formed.
The ACMG alpine training school in the Rockies this week climbed Aberdeen,
Lefroy and Athabasca, and they were reporting good travelling on ridge
crests and packed snow but postholing on open snow slopes. They also
reported sagging crevasse bridges and tricky glacier route finding with the
uncertainty of the bridge strength.
With cool showery weather in the forecast at least through Saturday
evening, the conditions will be slow to improve. However, just one clear
night would likely be enough to create a good strong crust in the rain
soaked layer and snow travel will be good again. Expect some loose
avalanching in the new snow before it settles.
Another concern is rockfall. With more snow melt this week when the rain
was falling, lots more loose rock has been exposed. A party approaching
Abbott's pass earlier in the week was hit by a very large rockfall that
could easily have been much more serious. Pay attention to the temperatures
and try to travel in exposed areas while things are frozen.
Lower elevation rock climbs are in good shape, but the pattern of afternoon
showers and thunderstorms is dictating an early start on a shorter route
that can be finished early, or alternately something that is easy to
retreat from.
The conditions in the Columbias sound similar, with snow lines around 3000
metres.
Brad White
IFMGA/ACMG Mountain Guide
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These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The
ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in
continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information
provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions
Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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