This is the last weekly MCR summary for the season. We have moved into winter and regular avalanche bulletins are being posted by Kananaskis Country and the National Parks. Look for the Avalanche Canada bulletins to start on November 22.
Conditions for winter mountain activities are slowly improving and all areas should see some snow in the coming week.
We're now well into November. Ski resorts have fired up the lifts, climbers are scratching up frozen icicles and splitboarders and ski tourers are staring each other down at Bow Summit and Highwood Pass.
At the risk of crying "wolf" a few too many times: it's winter time and avalanche season is upon us.
WEATHER
It was another wintery week in the Rockies and Columbia mountains, with overnight lows into the negative teens and daytime highs generally below freezing until today when it warmed into the low single digits above treeline.
Having a 6yr old as a roommate is surprisingly enlightening and I am always finding aspects in both our lives that parallel mountain pursuits. For example, my son is desperately eager to grow up, forever rushing to the next clue that he’s getting bigger. I continually find myself admonishing him to slow down and enjoy the moment, which for him is childhood.
It is early winter in the Rockies and Columbias. The days are short, there is some (but not a lot) of snow, ice climbing is scratchy and only the true believers feel rock climbing may still be possible.
WEATHER
It was cold for the last week of October (-19 in Banff last Monday). Coming up expect some snow to start on Sunday before it becomes more of a mix of sun and cloud for most areas getting towards mid-week.
Alpine conditions are currently changing in the Rockies and Columbia's as a strong Westerly storm moves through the region today (Friday). Ridge top winds in the Rockies are in the strong to extreme range and accompanied by a few cm's of new snow, with a slightly lower wind speeds and more snow in the Columbia's. It is certainly winter in the alpine!
This past week saw a return to more seasonal temperatures, albeit a bit on the cool side still with small but steady accumulations of snowfall in the high alpine. Treeline temps have been hovering around freezing give or take a few degrees but the alpine has remained cold and wintery.
Shoulder season…
Lots of precipitation and cool temperatures will be bringing us through the weekend and well into this time of year known as “the shoulder season”. What this may mean for those not hiding indoors but wanting to venture into the mountains is as follows.
In case you haven't stuck your head outside recently, it's been a cold week throughout western Canada. With overnight lows dipping into the -20 C range on the icefield parkway below treeline that means that winter really has set in in the alpine.
It feels like we skipped October and fast-forwarded straight into November! Current and forecast weather are pretty cool for the foreseeable future, and the weekend looks like a mixed bag in terms of precipitation, depending on where you are. It will be quite a bit wetter the farther west and north you go. The Bow Valley will get a bit of a break this weekend with Sunday shaping up to be pretty nice.
Winter is knocking hard at the door this weekend with a significant storm watch. An arctic front will push cold air through through the Rockies and will be mixing with a low in Washington to produce colder than usual temperatures and locally 20-30cm in alpine regions in the Waterton, Kananasaskis, Canmore and Banff regions. Temperatures will go below zero for the next few days and most objectives both rock and alpine will most likely be shut down until the weather settles.