Great corn skiing conditions today in the high country above Lake Louise.
-2C at 5.30 this morning as we left the parking lot. Crossing the ice on the
lake has become quite sketchy as there is a lot of open water along the
edges of the lake. We crossed it in the morning (which made for fast skate
skiing) but there was no way it was going to work when we returned mid-day
and we carried our skies back along the tourist trail.
We found a beefy melt-freeze crust (around 10cm thick in the early AM) which
carried at all elevation levels and inclines on the east and southern
aspects we travelled today. Only the final, steep (to 40 - 48 degrees)
headwall into the Mt. Vic - Mt. Collier saddle showed a very moist,
unconsolidated snowpack, which was only held together by the surface crust.
Given the strong solar radiation we decided to call the saddle our
turn-around point at around 10AM. The remaining 200 vertical meters to the
north summit of Mt. Victoria looked laborious requiring deep boot packing in
a more wintery snowpack.
The "Mouse Trap" to Abbott's pass showed some recent downhill tracks -
unfortunately there is a big crevasse with an evident sag crossing the
entire slope about 2/3 up (see attached image). The Surprise Pass run looked
well-travelled and the snow coverage goes almost to the lake.
Enjoy the spring!
Jorg Wilz
Mountain Guide (ACMG / VDBS / IFMGA)
OnTop ltd.
www.ontopmountaineering.com
+1 403 678 2717 or 1-800-506-7177
DSC_2692 (2).jpg
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DSC_2732.jpg
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