ACMG MOUNTAIN CONDITIONS REPORT SUMMARY FOR THE ROCKIES AND COLUMBIA MOUNTAINS ISSUED AUGUST 12, 2016

After a very long spell of unsettled weather and electricity the current forecast is calling for mainly dry conditions with the chance of afternoon showers.

In the Rockies many of the ice faces are starting to look very dry and out of shape with rockfall being the major concern. Glacier travel is a mixed bag depending on the overnight freeze, and recent reports have ranged from great travel with good snow pack coverage, to relentless post holing along glacier flats. The firn line in the Columbia Icefields is around 2700m.

Rock routes are in regular summer conditions and some of the bigger routes such as the Greenwood/Jones on Mt. Temple have been climbed. One observation is that from all the recent wet weather, there are more large loose boulders than usual hanging around on routes.

The Bugaboos are jam packed with people and rockfall down features like the Snowpatch/Bugaboo col is gaining in frequency and size as the summer goes on. So far good travel has been noted on the glaciers and most routes are getting climbed. In Rogers Pass most routes are in normal summer condition and great snow travel on glaciers with solid snow bridges over crevasses has been reported as of yesterday in the Asulkan area.

It will be a good week to get out with the main hazards being rockfall and potentially weak snow bridges over crevasses.

Steve Holeczi