[MCR] Wapta Traverse

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Just finished a 4 Day Wapta Traverse Peyto Lake to Sherbrook Lake today. 

 

Thu: Peyto Hut approach. Trail down to the lake is well tracked and carries
when frozen in the morning, but beware of stepping off it
..There are about
20cm of snow left on the lake ice currently. The hut approach via the
moraine traveled well and we had to take off our skis only three times to
make it past some rocky islands. The snow coverage on the glacier is meager
(meaning even worse than normal!). I ended up roping on as soon as the route
on the glacier swings left in order to traverse the more or less flat
glacier.

 

Fri: Climbed Mt. Rhonda (formerly Rhonda South) and Mt. Gordon, then Bow
Hut. The 5-10 cm of fresh snow we had from localized snow showers overnight
did wonders for the skiing quality, especially on the northerly aspects of
Gordon where wind protected. I had crossed the Wapta from Bow Hut to Peyto
Lake in early September last year and there was not a speck of snow left.
Given the low coverage and uneven distribution on the glacier this season, I
stayed roped up in places where I had never used a rope before. 

 

Sat: Balfour Hut, High Col, Mt. Balfour to Scott Duncan Hut: Good track to
the Balfour High Col, which requires traversing several crevasse bridges.
The seracs seem to look more threatening every year. No sign of previous
travel on the summit slope to Mt. Balfour (a previous party approached the
south ridge earlier by a less threatening slope, which is not a bad idea). A
quick shear test revealed and moderate shear on small facets (recrystalized
snow) 10 cm down on the interface of the recent snow, however the 10cm slab
wasn’t cohesive enough to where it was an issue (yet!). Surprising and more
concerning was the existence of decomposing surface hoar 3-5 mm in size
about 50cm down which came out as a clean shear but only very hard (on this
wind-exposed, southerly aspect). The bulletin had mentioned this layer and I
could imagine it being more of an issue in shady and wind protected
locations.

 

Sun: Ski out via Sherbrook Lake felt more like early May than early March.
We used the “conventional exit” straight down the valley but I believe the
Schiesser Lomas offers easier travel once you hit the tree line, even if one
has reason to feel good about going straight down from a stability point of
view. The trail from the lake back to the highway made the Whistler luge
competition look like kid’s play

. 

 

Sounds like there is finally some real snow in the forecast so this might
all be yesterday’s news!

 


Let’s hope winter is not over yet!

 

Jorg Wilz

Mountain Guide (ACMG/IFMGA)

    

OnTop ltd.
www.ontopmountaineering.com
1-800 506 7177 or (001) 403 678 2717

 

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