[MCR] Wapta conditions and close call on Mt. Balfour

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Myself and Lisa Paulson skiied from Bow to Sherbrooke on Feb. 4-6th.  We 
circumnavigated Gordon via the West slopes, attempted to summit Balfour, 
and then skiied out via the benches below Mt. Niles.  Here are a few 
observations:

We found good travel conditions with variable snow depths on the glaciers 
ranging from 25cm on scoured areas above bow hut to 3m +. 
Ski pen was 5-10cm which made for good gliding on the low angled terrain.
Mild alpine temperatures with light winds and clear weather dominated.
The Balfour high col was in good shape.  We took the high bench, but the 
crevasse on the normal route looked well filled in (see picture)
The only recent  natural avalanche activity we saw was wet loose snow 
avalanches from steep, rocky south aspects in the late afternoon sun.

We had a close call on the summit slope of Mt. Balfour on Sunday, Feb. 
5th.  We remote triggered a size 2 avalanche on a steep south aspect at 
3000m elevation.  The avalanche was a windslab on facets, and took one of 
us for a short ride (see picture).  Luckily, no one was injured.  This 
incident shows that there may still be some lingering instabilities in the 
high alpine that may take a little longer to heal.  After all, it's still 
early February in a Rockies snowpack that has seen a lot of wind this 
season. 

Stay safe out there.



Ian Jackson
Visitor Safety Technician
Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks
www.parksmountainsafety.ca
www.parcsecuritemontagne.ca
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