We spent the day filming in King Creek yesterday in what looked like mid-winter conditions.

In the valley bottom there were only 5-10cms of storm snow sitting on 50cm of settled snow, but above treeline things appeared very well loaded everywhere, with plenty of ridgeline cornices catching the April sun and strong SW winds up high throughout the day.

All the ice in King Creek is still fat and excellent and looks like it'll hang in for at least a few weeks more.

The trail in is still good, with all the snow/log crossings intact, although things got pretty punchy by the afternoon. Most of the canyon is starting to catch the sun at some point now, though, so we were very aware of all the hanging snow and ice still plastering the winter's worth of freeze-thawed rock up high. By noon, the sun was initiating frequent cascades of ice/snow/rockfall that had us sticking under cover around the climbs and moving quickly on the way out. Likewise, although the solar gullies looked mostly scrubbed out, the polar couloirs are still plump and ripe to ridgetop and getting some sun on the start zones/cornices.

Carl Johnston
ACMG Alpine & Rock Guide
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures