Regional Summaries

It has been really hot the past couple of days and conditions are changing fast on anything snowy or mixed.

In the Columbias, many regular routes like Sir Donald are dry, and Mt. Rogers had great conditions reported on the glacier. The Bugaboos still has good snow coverage on the Bugaboo/Snowpatch Col but melting fast. In the Rockies it is a mixed bag. One recent report from Lake O’hara found some routes in great shape like Mt. Victoria, but routes like Lefroy and Hungabee were decidedly out of shape.

Summer has finally arrived in the Columbia and Rocky Mountains! The drastically warmer temperatures, coupled with significant rainfall to mountain top last week, have rapidly changed conditions with noticeable differences from day to day.

While many higher elevation rock climbing objectives on sunny aspects are coming into shape, the shady aspects still need some time to dry out.

Summer is finally arriving in the coming week, with heat warnings in effect for the interior ranges and west slopes of the Rockies starting this weekend. As a result we can expect mountain hazards related to warming to increase, especially water levels on streams and rivers.

Welcome back to the Mountain Conditions Summaries. It feels almost like summer today but it has been a long cool spring and in the Valleys and the Mountains it really feels more like early May than late May.

Skiing is still possible and even reasonable at times on the Icefields and in most Alpine features. Snow and ice climbing conditions are also potentially good. The caveat being that as always in the spring you need a cold, clear night to get the kind of freeze you can trust.