[MCR] Rockies - Wapta Traverse

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Just to add a few things to what Barry reported on the Wapta:

I guided the Wapta Traverse, Peyto Lake to Sherbrook Lake, for the ACC last week (Sat to Friday). The way up to Peyto is in good shape. We had to take our skis off once to cross the creek at the head of lake. We skinned up to the base of the moraine and then boot packed up to the flats above the research station. From there you can ski all the way down to the toe of the glacier. About 1.6m of snow there. Strong snowpack all the way to Peyto.

There is more than 3m of snow on the upper sections of the glaciers on the Wapta and the crevasses are well covered/bridged.

The Balfour high col is in good shape and most people are taking the upper ramp this year. There have been a few seracs that have come down in the last few days.

We also skied a few lines on the Balfour glacier. Coverage is also good there with around 3m of snow on the ice.

We took the Niles ramp exit and there was a size 2 cornice triggered avalanche on the lower ramp. It covered the tracks from the last few days. It was very fresh, most likely came down on Thursday mid-day (see photo) when it was warm and the sun came out. There are still lots of overhead hazard (cornices and slabs) on the ramp and by mount Niles. There is also a breakable crust that starts at around treeline, all the way down to Sherbrooke Lake. Lots of fun!

Félix Camiré
ACMG Hiking & Ski Guide
elgato.ca

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110327/da081ec4/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: IMG_7671.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 86998 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20110327/da081ec4/attachment-0001.jpe>