ACMG Mountain Conditions Summary for the Rockies and Columbia Mountains. October 7, 2022

Yet another beautiful weekend for mountain travel lies ahead in the Rockies and Columbia Mountains. All the ranges are extremely dry with the precipitation from a couple's weeks ago having melted off everything but the highest North faces. Glacier travel is mostly back to early September conditions.

Cool overnight temperatures continue to hold most of the rock in place on steep alpine ice faces...but there is a lot of exposed rock after a hot finish to the summer, and quite a bit of uncertainly around when rockfall might occur on a warm afternoon. Use caution in this terrain or wait until things cool down later in the week.

Alpine rock and rock climbing routes in the sun remain a great bet for the weekend with dry conditions right to the summits which is not always the case in October. The huckleberry season is also prime for the hike up!

A bit of a weather system comes through late Monday that may result in some snow at higher elevations, before a high pressure builds in again for the rest of the week. Temperatures will rebound, but should stay a bit cooler later in the week.

As always, sunset comes early, the nights are long, and overnight temps are cool by now...so start early, bring good headlamps and pack spare clothing to deal with this.

Enjoy a great Thanksgiving weekend in the mountains!

Conrad Janzen
ACMG Mountain Guide