[MCR] K Country to Columbia Icefields

April 15-21 was a great time to be ski touring in the Rockies. Two groups from the Thompson Rivers University Ski Guide Exam found good conditions from Kananaskis to the Columbia Icefields. 

Primary concerns at the end of the week were:

- Large cornices. We witnessed cornice failures due to wind loading and expect a cycle of cornice falls to occur in the next warming event.

- Crevasses. Although coverage on the glaciers is generally good, we travelled on rope as much as was practical, taking it off only where we had good visibility and a good knowledge of the terrain.

- Windslabs near ridges, on both west aspects (from the easterly winds early in the week) and east aspects (from more recent west winds), and in cross-loaded areas.

Avalanche Activity was limited to a few thin hard windslabs observed April 16-17. These were on alpine west aspects, size 1 - 2, formed by "upslope" easterly winds. We wonder if  those windslabs linger due to the cold temperatures. Later in the week a large cornice fall was observed on an east face during a wind event.

Weather over the week was mixed sun and cloud with 10-20 cm of snow later in the week (depending on location), moderate-strong ridgetop winds, and mostly colder than seasonal temperatures. The exception was Thursday April 18 when the freezing level jumped up to 2400 m in the afternoon.

Highlights of the week included ski descents off Mt Whymper N Face, Cathedral N Couloir, Collier N Face and White Pyramid, in addition to an extended Pat Sheehan Traverse that started/finished on the Athabasca Glacier.

Marc Piché, Mountain Guide

Mark Klassen, Mountain Guide

6 Ski Guide candidates

TRU Ski Guide Exam

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