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ACMG Mountain Conditions Report Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains issued July 4, 2013
Summer is here at last and what a difference a week makes. Near record temperatures in the mountains have changed conditions rapidly.
At this time of year, with short nights and hot days, I cannot stress enough the importance of early starts no matter what your activity is. An early start will often mitigate most of the hazards associated with heat, from rockfall to avalanches to lightning. Last week parties that started climbing Athabasca at midnight made it up the peak, those that started at 3 AM had to turn around.
OK, we need to talk flood update. Road closures are still with us in some areas:
- Southern portion of the Lake Minnewanka loop (Banff)
- Sunshine road (Banff)
- As of this writing the 1A between Castle Mountain Lookout parking and Baker Creek (Banff) is closed but may reopen today
- All roads in Kananaskis are closed with the exception Highway 40 to Wedge Pond, Highway 68, Highway 546, and a portion of Highway 549.
Access is a bit different for some climbing areas:
- Ghost River: access is reported to be a challenge beyond the bottom of the big hill.
- Grassi Lakes: walk up the hiking trail from below, access from above is not possible due to road closure.
- Sunshine Rock: the parking lot doesn't exist anymore but you can walk in from the Sunshine Road closure gate. Park well off the road. The upside in this area is that it is actually sunshiny now because a bunch of trees were swept away.
- Brewster rock: inaccessible due to a bridge out.
- Mt Louis: the parking area at Fireside is damaged/gone and closed but the Edith Pass trail is open. Park well off the road.
Other than that things are relatively normal for most regular climbing areas. Questions still in my mind are places like Black Feather Canyon. But there have been climbers at Carrot Creek already, although the hike in was reportedly "an adventure".
For the rest of the Rockies and Columbias expect decent early summer conditions:
- Accessible rock climbs in the front ranges are getting visited with no reports of extraordinarily loose rock.
- Alpine conditions along the divide in the Rockies are normal for early summer. With the heat expect weak crevasse bridges, both loose snow and slab avalanches, and cornice falls. It is still early to be tackling many mixed or steep ice routes, and some ridge climbs will be more difficult/dangerous than normal due to cornices. The only trip reports so far have been for non-technical ascents in the Little Yoho and Columbia Icefields areas.
- Normal routes are in shape or coming into shape in the Bugaboos and Rogers Pass. The NW ridge of Sir Donald is reported to be climbable but the west face descent is still snowy and seeing avalanches and rockfall.
The weekend forecast is for some showery weather, especially in the afternoons and wetter the further to the south and east that you go. Areas to the north and west are looking a bit better. Watch out for lightning.
As long as the weather cooperates it will be a great weekend to be in the mountains especially for rock and alpine rock climbing objectives, with the caveat that anything to do with snow needs to be assessed carefully. Mountaineers need to make very early starts and choose objectives appropriate for the amount of snow still out there. Easy glacier climbs are reasonable, if you plan on anything steeper or harder then make sure you nose into them with a lot of caution (and be prepared to turn tail).
Mark Klassen
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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