[MCR] Mt Collier North Glacier, Rockies, April 14, 2014

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Parks Visitor Safety did a trip to the North Glacier/North Peak of Mt Collier today.

Weather: 
Clear skies and another solid overnight freeze (-9'C at 0630 at the parking lot, and -8'C at the summit). Light northwest winds at ridgetop kept things cool for most of the day even on South aspects. +8'C at the Lake O'hara parking lot at 1430.

Avalanche activity: 
No new avalanche activity observed in the area we skied.  A few moist sluffs observed on steep south aspects on the drive home.

Ski conditions: 
A supportive melt-freeze crust up to 2300m on all aspects. Ski crampons were useful. Above this 5-10cm of recent snow sits on top of a firm base on North aspects with wind effect in exposed areas. Minimal sluffing in steep terrain while skiing. Good corn skiing on SW aspects on the descent. The melt freeze crust remained supportive all day, even at lower elevations.

Glacier coverage: 
Bare ice is still showing on the toe, near the top, and in several other sections of the glacier. Other areas have only 10-20cm of recent snow covering the glacier ice. We ascended the NE Ridge to the North Summit rather than climb the ice below the summit. Steel crampons, a good ice axe and ice screws are all useful. The central glacier ski lines are very thinly covered halfway down and we had to traverse off to the side at this point to avoid skiing 5-10cm of powder over glacier ice.  Because of the thin snow cover on the glacier and the amount of bare glacier ice I don't think I would recommend the route at this time.

We rated the avalanche danger as low at all elevations with our primary concerns being cornice failures and wet loose avalanches from daytime heating in the late afternoon. Excellent spring travel conditions!

 
Conrad Janzen
ACMG  Mountain Guide
Visitor Safety, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks
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