-7 this morning and dry all day in Canmore, +2 with light but steady rainfall at the Haffner Creek trailhead. The rain has saturated the previously recrystallized snow causing it to loose whatever little cohesion it had. Consequently the snow started to slough off the relatively benign sidewalls above the canyon and came roaring down hitting one of the usually heavily frequented belay spots. In volume far from being capable of burying someone but given the weight certainly enough to pummel and injure a belayer or causing major inconvenience to a lead climber……enough to make us pull out early today. It also made me think that there are quite a few ice climbs (Louise Falls, Weeping Wall…..) exposed to slopes or side walls that we don’t commonly consider as avalanche terrain but which could pose quite a risk for a climbing party in the current conditions until things cool down substantially.
Conditions-wise the usual ice flows are phat and fun to climb, most of the curtains that are part of the mixed climbs are becoming thin and short requiring quite a stretch to finish the routes.
Cheers,
Jorg Wilz
Mountain Guide (ACMG / VDBS / IFMGA)
OnTop ltd.
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