ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains. August 23rd, 2018

The long dry smoky session of great alpine rock conditions may be coming to at least a temporary end Friday. Most forecasts throughout the region show some rain and cool temperatures coming. Maybe a bummer for some climber's plans but hopefully it provides great relief for the vast majority of sentient beings in the region.

Conditions really haven't changed much for a few weeks. As of today, melt generated rockfall is still the primary concern in the alpine. Lots of bare ice, open crevasses and big bergschrunds on the glaciers. A few remnant cornices and you would have had to travel pretty far and go to a fairly dumb place to be caught in an avalanche.

It is of course impossible to estimate accurately from the forecasts how much snow will fall and at what elevations but at the very least it should mean some greasy rock and periods of flat light for most regions over the weekend. It would take a lot of snow to create a generalized avalanche hazard at this point but if you do get up high in the next few days be wary of more melt/runoff generated rockfall and small localized windslabs on smooth terrain that could knock you off your feet.

Autumn is in the air and it has been cold in the alpine mornings this week. Digging multiple layers out of the dark depths of my pack has been a daily ritual that I haven't had to bother with for quite awhile. The nights are slowly getting longer and colder so being caught out in shorts and a t-shirt has gone from embarrassing to dangerous. Don't bother waxing your skis yet but do locate your long lost long johns.

Larry Stanier
ACMG Mountain Guide