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I guided an attempt on the North Face of Mt Cromwell yesterday, April 18th. Decent travel on snowshoes (skis would be better) over the frozen Sunwapta River and into Woolley Creek. Felt like -20 C in the creek bed. Every so often my snowshoes would break through the temperature/sun crust and fall into a well of facetted snow, a reminder that I was still in the Rockies.
There is a recent size 2 slab out on the upper slopes between Cromwell and Mt Engelhard (see photo below). It looked to be triggered by a cornice, same elevation and aspect as the Elzinga/Miller Route. A large threatening cornice is sitting on top of the Elzinga/Miller right now. We decided that the Robinson/Arbic route would be a less exposed and safer route right now and headed that way.
A snow feature broke off of the wall as I was doing the first in the gully that starts the route. A couple of cinder block sized chunks bounced out over me and a soft ball sized piece whacked me in the helmet, thankfully with no more force than a "from-the-elbow" smack when one is conducting a shove compression test. This was followed by two minutes of weighty spindrift. It was enough communication for us, I scampered back to the anchor and we ran away.
It will be an interesting spring in the alpine given the cornices and snow features that are hanging onto many of the walls.
Happy trails, Barry Blanchard Mountain Guide www.barryblanchard.ca www.yamnuska.com
 Size 2 slab visible on the right
The cornice on top of the Elzinga/Miller | 