Typical late spring conditions prevail in the Rockies and Columbias.
WEATHER
The Rockies have been drier than the Columbias over the past week, with showery weather prevalent in the western ranges for much of the week. Areas of the front ranges of the Rockies were mostly dry after a some heavy rainfalls last weekend.
It feels like the last week has been a blur and hard to believe the weekend is already upon us. Once again, good weather refuses to coincide with outdoor activities this weekend with plenty of rain in the last 24 hours and more forecasted thru the weekend. That said, our best window for decent weather may be Saturday. Overnight freezing levels look to drop to around 1800-2000m and "unsettled" may be the best word to describe the predicted weather pattern. Still, this afternoon the sun appeared for a couple hours and made for some pleasant parking-lot standing.
WEATHER
After a week of great weather, the weather is forecast to start deteriorating this evening with a wet weekend to look forward to across western Canada. Freezing levels will drop a bit, from 3000 m currently to around 2000 m. This could provide up to 15 cm of fresh snow, way up high in the alpine.
EAST SLOPES CONDITIONS
Apart from this coming storm, the Eastern slopes of the Rockies are drying out nicely and many of the scrambles and ridge traverses are coming into shape. Expect some snow patches on high N aspects and check for ticks when you get home.
As access slowly opens and we see more people getting back into the Rocky and Columbia Mountains, the biggest thing of note is the large amount of snow remaining compared to recent years.
Alpine climbing season seems to be upon us.
Conditions
In general very little mountain travel has happened lately, as we know from reasons beyond mountain conditions. However as of late more and more people seem to be returning to the mountains - where available.
Welcome back to the ACMG Mountain Conditions Summaries.
After the big storm at the start of February, the snowpack in the Central Rockies has been on a gradually improving trend with really good skiing and climbing conditions. Many longer ice routes are in great shape, the avalanche hazard has been in the Moderate to Low range, and a lot of climbing routes have had the start zones above them “clean out” or avalanche during the Feb 1st storm.
Things are slowing changing in a couple of ways right now and the avalanche hazard is forecast to rise slightly over the weekend on many ice routes and couloirs.
All weather forecasts point towards a weekend with heavy precipitation, warming temperatures and strong winds. Can you say "Rising Avalanche Hazard"?
The ACMG is piloting conditions summaries for ice climbers in the Rockies to try and convey more specific avalanche information.
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.
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