ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Coast Mountains June 20th 2019
The dry alpine rock with warm and sunny weather on the coast is temporarily on hold. Last night in the Sea to Sky Corridor we had a dusting of new snow down to around 1800m, with more towards the north on the Duffey Lake Road with what looked like about 10cm in the alpine (photo attached). Expect increased rockfall as the new snow melts, which will probably one of the biggest hazards this weekend. Cornices lingering from the winter and also still out there and collapsing, which I witnessed a couple of times in the past week.
The winter snowpack has been rapidly melting with the warm and sunny weather over the last few weeks, with creeks further opening up, more rock becoming exposed, and glacier ice now becoming visible in places. All reports and observations including the northern part of the coast mountains suggest that the snow cover is less than normal. Snow travel has been excellent lately; rarely more than boot top and more typically perfect step kicking except at the highest elevations.
In general crevasses are still well bridged and moats are pretty straightforward to cross. It is a good time of year to get on alpine rock routes that have tricky moats to access (once the dry again) as the first pitch seems to be getting longer and harder every year!!
If the sun comes out over the next couple of days as forecast, it should be possible to find some dry rock in the alpine on sunny aspects and at lower elevations. However, north facing rock might take a little longer, especially the further north you go and at higher elevations. The forecast for Sunday and through next week looks unsettled, although it should be possible to find something to climb. Snow/glacier routes such as Wedge Mountain and Mt Garibaldi probably haven’t changed much with the new snow, and are normally possible even in marginal weather with good route-finding and navigation.
Creeks and rivers haven’t reached their peak yet but are definitely high.
Enjoy the sun!!
Alex Geary
ACMG Mountain Guide