Hi all,

We guided and ascent of Mount Columbia over 3 days from April 30th to May 2nd. We skied in and out of the Columbia Icefields via the Athabasca Glacier and camped just East of the Trench for two nights. We had a mix of sun and clouds while skiing in on our first day and mostly clear skies for the remainder of the trip. Temperatures ranged from -2.0C overnight with calm winds to 10.0C during the day with variable light winds.

The snow coverage was thin on the lower Athabasca Glacier, deep spots were in the 70cm range and many bare ice areas were starting to show. We had to walk from the parking area to the toe of the Glacier before putting skis on. We ascended the first icefall on the right side, the second via a snow ramp ¾ of the way across the left side and the third via the usual snow slope. As expected snowpack depth increased with elevation; we measure 150cm at the base of the third icefall and upwards of 300cm on the Columbia icefields.

Despite the warm daytime temperatures, the overall travelling conditions were excellent. Surfaces ranged from hard supportive crust in the AM to 5-10cm of moist corn snow in the PM. We toured up to 3400m on the Southeast shoulder of Columbia and boot packed the last 300m to the summit. Crampons, ice axe and conditions made for secure steps up and down. There were several hard crust in the top 30cm of the snowpack, this helped maintain mostly stable avalanche conditions.

Let’s hope these great ski mountaineering conditions persist, enjoy!

Cheers,

David Lussier
acmg Mountain Guide
&
Kenton Lambert
acmg Apprentice Ski Guide
www.summitmountainguides.com