Good travel and skiing on the Cirque Peak traverse on Saturday, April 22.

A solid freeze allowed for easy travel up the trail toward Helen Lake and up the south ridge of Cirque Peak. Ski crampons were useful at times on the steeper sections of the south ridge. The North Couloir is filled in well. We were able to side slip easily down the top 30m with the help of a rope, before skiing the lower section onto the glacier. One sagging crevasse on the far skiers left to keep in mind. Dry snow on north aspects down to 2400m, and a supportive crust with good corn on south aspects down to treeline at noon. Below treeline the crust was beginning to break down with daytime heating but skiing out the creek to the north of Cirque Peak was straight forward and quick.

Avalanche activity just starting to increase on steep solar slopes due to warming as we drove home around 1pm.

Steve Holeczi and Conrad Janzen
Visitor Safety - Banff, Yoho & Kootenay National Parks