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We spent the last three days traversing from Bow Lake to the Little Yoho Valley and then out via Takakkaw Falls today. Here is what we found:
Bow - Yoho: On the 24th, we had a perfect spring day with a good freeze (`-10 at the parking lot at 0730), light winds and good visibility. We did most of our distance this day, traversing from Bow Lake over to the Little Yoho Valley. Snowpack depths on the glacier ranged from 80 cms in scoured areas to 3m+ in thicker areas. We kept the rope on for most of the glaciated areas and were happy to have it due to the variable snow depths. 10-20 cms of new snow with little to no wind effect lay on the surface making for excellent ski quality but deeper trail-breaking than is often encountered on the windswept Wapta. The temperatures stayed cool this day and our only avalanche concern was isolated windslabs in extreme alpine terrain. We rated the danger Low in the alpine for the 24th. Little Yoho Valley: We attempted to ski up to Presidents Pass on the morning of the 25th, but turned around due to poor visibility. Snowpack depths on this glacier were variable from 60 cms - 3m+ with a generally weak snowpack. Because of this, we were cautious with travelling unroped on this glacier as there are many open crevasses here in the summer. Light snow and poor visibility kept us at lower elevations for the rest of the trip. We suspected windslab development in the alpine with moderate to strong West winds at ridgetop. On the ski out this AM, there was a few cms of fresh snow down to ~1500m, but the temperatures were rising steadily... Ian Jackson, Steve Holeczi &Tim Haggarty ACMG Mountain Guides
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