Jasper Visitor Safety Training trip on the Wapta from Bow Lake to Sherbrooke Lake.

Weather/Snowpack: March 25-26 was clear and warm with visibility deteriorating on the afternoon of March 26 with incoming precipitation and increasing winds. March 27 brought moderate to strong winds and accumulation of up to 10cm new snow over a suncrust on south facing slopes and bringing the total to 40cm on the March 20 crust at high elevations.

No notable recent avalanche activity, except for loose wet avalanches to size 2 on steep south facing slopes below 2500m. Many old avalanche crowns visible from previous warming event. Glacier coverage is generally thin with regular routes probing less than 1.5m in some places.

Day 1 – Bow Lake to Mt Gordon.
Canyon has good travel with no significant debris. Great skiing conditions off of Mt Gordon.

Day 2 – Bow hut to Saint Nicholas Peak to Balfour hut (side trip to Diablaret glacier).
Took the eastern bypass to reach the Olive - Saint Nicholas col to avoid the open crevasses on the western side of St Nicholas and on the western approach to the col. Diablaret glacier has good coverage 2-3m and excellent ski quality.

Day 3 – Balfour hut to Sherbooke Lake
Challenging conditions on Balfour high col with 2-3m on the ice and whiteout conditions. We chose to take the lower route to the nunatak to avoid the overhead serac hazard. Glacier is highly broken with horizontal and vertical overlapping crevasses, though snow bridges were supportive where necessary to cross. Would recommend to experienced glacier travel parties only and good visibility.
Some open crevasses on the descent on Daly glacier, notably on the southwestern flank of the glacier near Lilliput mountain.
Decent out to Sherbrooke lake was on supportive crust with 5cm new snow on top.