General Observations: ACMG Apprentice Alpine Training Course - June 27th to July 1st
Rockies: Columbia Icefields - Mt. Athabasca area
Objectives:
June 27: Parker's Ridge
June 28: North Tongue Athabasca Glacier
June 29 and 30: A2 S Ridge via North Tongue & Boundary Glacier, N Face Bypass up to N Ridge descending N ridge, AA Col area down regular Athabasca descent
July 1: David Thompson Corridor
Weather:
- Freezing Level averaging 3000m dropping to 2500m on June 30th
- Suspect up to 30cm of storm snow over June 27-29th which settled rapidly with warm temperatures on the 29th
- Another large system moved in on the afternoon of June 30th with freezing levels dropping to 2500m.
- We saw ongoing heavy precip through the night and all day on July 1st. Estimating 2-3mm/hour for the last 24 hours, this will no doubt add significant amounts of snow in the upper elevations.
Avalanche obs:
- Numerous Loose Wet avalanches on all aspects, up to Size 1.5
- on June 29th noted a Slab Avalanche approximately 24 hours old, triggered by a point release on Little Athabasca, Size 2.5, up to 1m deep, 150m wide, stepped down to ice
Notable Observations:
- surface snow is generally supportive, with isolated areas of 4F - F snow down 1 metre
- snow travel on Boundary glacier was variable with foot penetration ranging from supportive to waist deep in the morning
- bergschrunds on N Face Bypass and AA col were easily passed with avalanche debris bridging the bergschrund on the AA col
- constant reminder that the glacier is moving with evidence of ice fall and audible settlements on steeper glacial features
- bear closures along the David Thompson Corridor complicated venue selection and camping options