Just spent 4 days up on the Wapta with a strong team of aspirant guides and candidates training for upcoming exams and courses. We were based out of the Balfour Hut for 3 nights.

Travel
Still early season with about 20cm on the valley bottom approach with lots of rocks and other hazards.

Glacier Conditions
HS on the Glaciers varied from 130cm to 30cm with a couple of locations that were showing bare ice and open crevasses (on the Bow Gl approaching the Nic/Olive and on the Vulture Gl @ 2500m) Ski pen on the glacier was boot top. One group turned around on route to the Balfour high Col due to poor coverage in conjunction with poor visibility, Ni fall Sz 1, and high winds.

Weather
We had approx 20cm of snow with mod-strong westerly winds for the majority of the trip.

Avalanche
We had one Sc entering the Vulture Col ski line. Sz 1.5 wind slab on a crust. Ni Sz 1

Ski quality was good on the toe of the Bow Gl.

Groups planning to ski on the Wapta at this time should have a strong background in glacier navigation, the possibility of falling in a crevasse is high due to extremely variable coverage.

Jeff Mitchell