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ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued July 19th, 2012
It is a fine time to be in the mountains. The snowpack has melted, receded and settled to something at least resembling early summer.
Front range alpine rock routes are generally good to go. Alpine rock routes along the divide and anything shady and or above 3000m in the interior will still have snow. An example of this would be the Bugaboos. I assume most routes on Snowpatch and Crescent would be snow free. Lower Kain route and upper NE ridge of Bugaboo would likely have remnant snow. East face of Pigeon would still be soaked. High on the Howser Towers I bet it is still fairly white.
Speaking of the Bugaboos-there is now a webcam view of the spires. The link below shows the view from the Bugaboo Lodge, approximately 1.5 km NE of the climber's parking lot. It is updated every ten minutes and can give you a sense of the current sky conditions and perhaps, more importantly, where the snowline is on the Bugaboo glacier, Pigeon and Snowpatch Spire east face.Thanks to Mountain Guide Peter Macpherson and the good folks at CMH Bugaboo Lodge for this link.
www.cmhinc.com/images/webcam/BUwebcam.jpg
Alpine ridges are very likely to still have cornices and generally some snowy travel in the shade or on big lee slopes.
Even at moderate elevations there is still lots of snow on lee slopes and some avalanche runouts. I climbed the Grand Sentinel yesterday and even in good snow it would have been lonely without an ice axe on the approach slopes.
Glacier travel and snow and ice faces are generally good with well settled coverage. However, bare ice is on it's way in some places. Yesterday the North face of Fay(Rockies) was, to me, shockingly icy.
The bottom line is that rockfall, cornice collapses and snow avalanches from snow melt are still a possibility. The odd LARGE avalanche is still being observed in the Rockies and Columbias alpine. Nights are short so there has been some "way too warm" mornings this week where clever people were saying no to routes like Lefroy west face and Glacier peak. Don't be wandering around on or under the big steep snowy terrain in the heat unless you are certain of what is going on.
Big mixed gully lines like the Grand Central Couloir? Do you really need to ask?
Get out there with your eyes wide open. It does not need to get much better than this.
Larry Stanier
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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_______________________________________________
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.
See http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
See http://informalex.org/subscribe.shtml/unsubscribe to remove your name from
this list.
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