[MCR] Mons Icefield Area - Rockies - Jan. 13-15th

Brian Webster and myself spent the last
3 days ski touring out of the Mons hut at the head of Icefall brook in
the central Rockies. We skied in the alpine on Division peak and Mons peak
 between 2900 m and 2000 m. Here is what we found:

Weather: We had mostly clear
skies with temps warming from -20 to -7 throughout the three days. It snowed
2-3 cm during the night of Sunday the 13th. Winds were calm on the 13th
and 14th and picked up to moderate gusting to strong from the NW today.
We observed a lot of snow being transported in the alpine today.

Avalanche Activity: Sometime
before our arrival there had been a down-flow wind event that caused a
natural avalanche cycle and created widespread wind effect in the lower
alpine. Other than from this, we saw very little avalanche activity in
the area and on our flight in along the divide from Lake Louise. We experienced
one 'whumph' over the three days in a shallow snowpack area near some rocks.

Conditions changed this morning with
the increased NW winds and we noticed several loose snow avalanches and
slabs to size 2 in the Mons area and on our flight back along the Icefields
parkway corridor.

Snowpack: Snow depths generally
ranged from 2-3m, although we noticed some scouring to glacial ice on high
elevation N facing glaciers . We dug several pits on the SW aspect of Division
peak and noted moderate range compression test shears down 30cm at a storm
snow interface and hard range compression test shears down 55cm (likely
at the Jan. 6th interface). 

Travel Conditions: Although there
was extensive wind effect in the lower alpine, we were able to find good
skiing on facetted powder between 2900 m and 2400 m in sheltered SW aspect
bowls. Ski penetration ranged from 10-20 cm. 

We skiied terrain to 40 degrees, but
stuck to supported and/ or smaller slopes. On the 13th and 14th, we rated
the avalanche danger as moderate, and today bumped it up to considerable
due to the rapid wind loading. Our primary avalanche concern was triggering
windslabs in unsupported terrain. 

Beautiful area, and a well stocked and
warm hut!

Ian Jackson
ACMG Aspirant Guide
Visitor Safety Technician
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks
www.parksmountainsafety.ca
www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca
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