ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains. August 3, 2018

The forecast for the August long weekend is for unsettled showery weather on Friday night and Saturday with a lingering chance of lightning storms, before things clear up and dry out Sunday and into next week. Further west and south looks a bit drier throughout the weekend. As of Sunday it looks like a really good week for summer climbing everywhere!

The biggest change reported over the past week has been the amount of melting snow. A lot more glacier ice is now exposed, all the way to 3000 m in places in the Rockies, and thin crevasse bridges and bergschrund crossings exist in many places where snow travel has been simple up until now. Keep your rope tight on snow covered glaciers and consider bringing crampons for places like the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col that are starting to show some ice.

Alpine gullies/couloirs and ice faces are also seeing a lot more rockfall during the warmer parts of the day as the snow disappears, so keep a close on eye on the terrain above you as soon as it goes above freezing. If you are considering an ice face route, make sure you have a good overnight surface freeze, watch for embedded rocks melting out, and plan to be off it really early.

The good news is that high alpine rock objectives are generally in shape and are probably the place to be this next week. Reports from the Valhalla`s, Bugaboos, Rogers Pass, and Rockies all report good dry climbing conditions on any of the regular routes, with the possible exception of morning verglass from recent precip or melting snow, and some lingering snow patches on N aspects above 3000 m in the Rockies.

Check for fire bans and closures before you head out, keep an eye on the sky for afternoon storm buildup and have a great long weekend!

Conrad Janzen
ACMG Mountain Guide