[MCR] Wapta Icefield November 12-17

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

I spent the past 6 days on the Wapta, based out of Bow Hut with Grant Meekins and 11 Mountain Skills Semester students. We toured and climbed Mt.Olive, Mt.Gordon, the "little Crowfoot" area and Mt.Rhonda. Though it is still quite early in the season for the Wapta, we found reasonable conditions for ski mountaineering.

During the week we had temperatures from -12 to -2, winds were generally moderate from the west and southwest, and we received 30cm of snow (mainly earlier in the week). 

Earlier in the week we saw several loose snow avalanches in steep, un-skiable terrain on Northeast aspects. The most notable avalanche of the week was a natural, slab avalanche size 2.5 that occurred on the East face of Saint Nicholas peak. This happened during the day on Nov 13, it was triggered by wind loading and failed to the ground. This avalanche initiated in skiable terrain around 38 degrees.

The coverage on the glacier was extremely variable. We spent a lot of time with the rope on, chose conservative routes and probed a lot. The high points, or crests of the convex rolls had as little as 60cm, more sheltered/wind loaded features had a much as 170cm. There were even small sections of bare ice! Definitely not the time of year to be wandering around unroped without careful evaluation with the rope on, and plenty of probing to be certain!

On the ski out today we found supportive snow all the way back to the car, with the main theme being shallow snowpack and buried hazards! Lots of slow skiing and many scratches to the ski bases. There are still some small sections of open water in the long canyon, but easily negotiated. It seemed like an obvious choice not to ski across the thin skin of ice that is now on Bow Lake.

Our primary concerns throughout the week were:
-Windslabs on North to East aspects in the alpine, especially steep terrain near ridge crests.
-Variable coverage on the glaciers.
-Buried early season hazards.

All in all, it is REALLY early  up on the Wapta, but worth the trip if you are willing to pull back on the reigns and use good judgement.

Jason Billing (Alpine Guide/Apprentice Ski Guide)
Grant Meekins (Mountain Guide)

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures



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