Regional Summaries

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.

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.

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.

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.