Avalanche Observations

Colder day on Parker’s ridge, lots of moderate to strong westerly winds and some new snow(up to 15cm on lee aspects at 2300m) by 11:30 with intermittent snow squalls. This continued throughout the day. Wind slabs were starting to form on NE aspects near ridge top. Northern aspects still lack a strong crust. Snow to the road on Parker’s, almost to the road on Athabasca/ Boundary. Very dry looking all the way to the toe of the sask glacier. Silverhorn still looks pretty icy and skyladder is non-existent.

consistent snow for skinning & skiing starts at 1150m on the road to Red Heather. HS 185cm at 1400m on flat ground near the warming hut.

Minimal fresh debris in the trap at the start of the day. We observed many point releases from Mount Victoria starting at ~8am, resulting in significant debris in the trap by the time we exited (~noon). Conditions were good for the ascent and descent of Lefroy. Return travel across Lake Louise was okay, but occasionally punched through the solid surface layer into slush.

Snow was hard and never warmed up to form much spring corn. Still looks like all of the cornices are up on the east side of the bumps.we drove to within 400m of rosseau chute traihead

Still lots of incredible corn skiing to be had in the Rockies, however it comes at a price. In the Chickadee valley, expect to suffer through at least 1km of bushwhacking or serious post holing before putting your skis on. There was a lot of evidence of previous avalanche activity, but given colder temps the day and night before, we felt comfortable with route with an early start. We did not witness or hear any new slides or major cornice collapse. Travel after noon in the lower valleys is getting tricky these days with isothermal snow especially in partially shaded areas. Biggest challenge is definitely getting to and from the point where you can put skis on!

High north still has minimal to no bridging crust and had us wary of the deep persistent problem. Probing showed a poor structure, and quick tests were failing on isolation in the facets anywhere from 50-120cm down. Spring is usually a great time to get after it but beware the norths, despite the great ski quality.

Was able to drive the road to Trophy Meadows till 1500m or so. Active work being done on road 80. Skied and walked until consistent snow at about 1700m. Icy refreeze in the AM. Punch through to ground on wet snow on exit. 70-90cm of snow at tree line. About 5-7cm sitting on thick supportive crust. The new snow had melted and refrozen at least once. Skied well. At 2000m I punched through the crust while boot packing to the ridge in a shallow zone. No melt here. Crust about 30cm thick on top of 40cm of facets and surface hoar. Ridgetops retained large cornices on all aspects

Alpine approach conditions: Drove to ~900m on S900, west facing FSR up Squam Valley, but was just a few patches of snow between that and when the road ended ~ 1050m. Forest above that was mostly 30/70 snow/dirt but a nice overnight freeze made for quick travel booting. Snow on the down was skiable to ~ 1200m in the forest, but on the way up due to the deadfall/steep icy slopes we boot packed to about 1350 before starting skinning. Travel above that was fast, glaciers were well filled and the Callaghan summit block was an easy scramble. The spring ski down was great!

Chucked the skis on the pack and hiked up to the Mt. Myra zone for some Island spring skiing. Snowline is at 800 m. Creeks are melted out and require sketchy dry crossings or wading. Observed ~ 3cm of fresh wind transported snow above 1400 m. Probed 180 cm snow depth at 1700 m. Despite our early start, solar aspects were warming rapidly, with boot top penetration at times. Lots of sun cupping and evidence of prior wet slabs on solar aspects. The two north gullies off the summit col showed evidence of size 2 avalanches with debris up to 1.5 m. The cornices at the top of each gully are still hanging on. We decided to avoid skiing the gullies and enjoyed some corn-ish turns on the NW ridge.

On our wayout the Saskatchewan glacier vally was 80 percent walking. No freeze below 2400m. Windward slopes on the Columbia icefield are quite shallow. Snow depths: Top of Kitchener 10cm Top of Snowdome 10 cm Kitchener to Snowdome 150cm Top of Studfields 0 cm Sw rib down North Twin towards South Twin 0 to 100cm Standard route towards the base of Twins 240cm plus Camping site at top of Saskatchewan glacier at 2500m 280cm plus Toe of Saskatchewan glacier 0 plus. Notable creveases: top of north Twin. Across the east side of main peak of Studfields. We tryed to go from North Twin to South twin but found very thin snow pack on the icy. Would recommend coming into South Twin low. South twin was quite icy. Good freezes above 2700m the last 4 nights. Breakable crust on steep south aspects and wind affect everywhere else. Easy travel only used ski crampons for 15minutes. We avoided the Athabasca headwall do to low snowpack and weak freezes and general creveasse risk. Quite a few parties taking the Saskatchewan approach. Overall many areas with thin snow. I would always skin with the rope on and avoid unroped travel once surface crusts breakdown and snow becomes soft. No new avalanches up high but numerous recent wet loose and wet slabs avalanches visible down the 93 N.

Weak crust above mushy snow on French Haig Robertson today. Recent size 2 off the sunny slopes below Robertson, sunny steep terrain was seeing frequent smaller releases. Travel conditions were ok in the morning, leaving the trail on the exit in the afternoon was a recipe for wallowing.

Great day out in the Ramp peak area. Started very early before 6am to reach the top of Quartzite before noon. Noted the usual cornice collapse happening across the valley on south east aspects, and later on south aspects. No signs of weakening on the aspects we were on or travelling under. Once back to treeline, snow quality had deteriorated significantly, creating challenging conditions for the descent. Found one slab avalanche that had started to propagate but not released down the slope. We skirted around this area. Highly recommend for spring corn but coverage down in the valley is rapidly thinning. Still able to keep skis on nearly the whole way save for a couple of small dirt patches.

No overnight freeze Thursday night so even over 2000m, things were ready to move. Slow, but heavy. Even gentler slopes were happy to shed the top few centimetres If you waited to led those slide out, the snow below skied decently, actually

Tap teams did the icefall traverse between April 25-May 1st. Weather: The week started with a high pressure system that brought good overnight recovery’s and light to moderate West winds. Freezing levels hovered about 2500m. Convective activity at the start of the week brought trace amounts of snow with gusty winds. Cooler temps followed with excellent recovery and good visibility. Another small system came through with 5-10cm of new snow. The following day the cloud cover kept the snow surface dry until mid day when the sun poked out. May 1st dawn sunny with a solid recovery and freeIng levels rising to 2800m by end of day. For most of the week the freezing levels hovered around 2200m and winds staying in the moderate range at ridge top from the NW. Avalanche conditions: Early in the week with afternoon warming solar triggered wet loose avalanches to size 2 were observed in steep alpine terrain as well as a size 3 wet slab from steep East facing alpine bowl. Activity decreased with cooling temps. However the lower elevation bands still produced several small wet loose from steep features below freezing levels. This was followed by 2 slightly stormier days with observed snow transport at ridge top and little to no avalanche activity. The final day the sun and freezing levels were rising and we observed several size 2 wet loose/slab out of steep SE bowls in the last 12 hours. Ski lines: Mons Le schwa Division Twilight Christian Shallow end Corona bowl Crampon Col La clytte Lens peak Mt Kemmel Vitamin P Espresso shots Diamond glacier Tempest glacier Snowpack: On April 27, 5-10 cm of graupel fell on predominately Melt-Freeze Crusts with the exception of high polar and an isothermal snowpack below 2100m. Cloud cover and moderate-strong winds preserved these conditions mid-week before solar input had its effect on April 30, but with a strong evening recovery. By course wrap-up on May 1, a melt-freeze cycle was in full effect with the exception of preserved snow on the highest polar aspects. Most glaciers have a 3+ metre snowpack, with the exception of high points along the Lyell Icefield and the west side of Mons Peak. Crevasses remain well-bridged with only the slot in the Zen Glacier having recently grown. Widespread glide cracks can be found on steep rock slabs below glaciers.

Cornice collapse/fall at 8am from the climber’s left wall about 100m from the top.

Spent a couple nights south of Geronimo Peak. April 30th, toured to Wolverine Pass. The snow was rock hard early morning, then really nice & slushy early afternoon, then very heavy. Saw and heard lots of avalanche activity. Mostly seems to be going on sunny slopes, start zones on cliffs. May 1st, the rain earlier made for a challenging exit as the snow was very reactive on steep slopes. Saw triple the amount of avalanche debris in Geronimo bowl compared to when we skinned in on April 29.

A group of 6 ACC members spent the week from April 19 - April 26, 2025 on the Eclipse Glacier between Donjek and Badham Mountains. Temperatures ranged from -10 to -26°C. We had about 10-15cm of snow fall throughout the week, with generally a couple cm each day coming down with light - moderate North West to South West winds. Visibility varied throughout the week - some mornings we started out with clear skies and had clouds rolling in on us midday, obscuring visibility and had us skiing or walking home in whiteout conditions (with compass in hand). Other mornings we woke up to low vis and had a slow start, with the clouds clearing late morning - early afternoon and bringing sunny and warm conditions. Throughout the week we saw evidence of several Wind Slab avalanches, size 1- 2 in lee features (N - E), down 20-50cm, as well as several Persistent Slab avalanches size 2-3 on NW - E slopes down 50-150cm. We also saw evidence of several serac/ice fall. Wind exposed slopes (SW-SE) were generally wind scoured, with exposed ice to ridgetop on many slopes. Lower angle slopes held snow well, whereas slopes above 30° were shallow and we found 10-25cm of wind-pressed snow over a 1-2cm crust and facets/depth hoar NW - NE slopes were generally wind-loaded, with 5-10cm of new snow, and 20-50cm of Wind Slab in immediate lee features, and a PWL consisting of facets (2mm) and surface hoar (3mm) down 110cm. We dug a Test Pit on a NE slope just below ridgetop at 3190m, and found a Persistent Weak Layer, with CTH30 (RP) down 110cm (HS 460+, 25° slope angle). At the start of the trip we practiced Companion Rescue/Transceiver searching, and Crevasse Rescue including building snow anchors and 3:1, 5:1, 6:1 mechanical advantage systems, to ensure we would be able to rescue each other in the event of a crevasse fall or avalanche. We roped up for all non-avalanche terrain glacier travel, belayed across 2 bergschrunds, put boot crampons on for bootpacking, short pitched one steep section of exposed rock and roped up for ridge travel to protect against crevasse fall.

Got some pow high up 2600m but mainly crusty icy 3rd tap from the elbow and it broke (very hard to shift, no propagation) 3-5cm top crust broke easily

Attempted the Mike Wynn Circuit April 29th. Poor overnight refreeze to about 2200-2300m so the tree ascent was heinous. Above 2300m the surface crust was just supportive to skis and travel improved the higher we climbed. Around the 2400-2500m elevation the crust was supportive but mid pack was still moist. The day was a mixed bag of weather with poor visibility up high with strong gusts and convective flurries. We turned around at the final slope to the col due to lack of visibility and the potential for building windslabs in the alpine. Lots of old natural avalanche activity in the area - even some natural logging done by a much larger avalanche, pouring over the first moraine feature. Beautiful terrain - just save it for a good refreeze and clear skies!

Excellent travel conditions in the backcountry. Beautiful corn on south facing slopes, firm but could still hold an edge on north facing slopes. Little active avalanche activity on the weekend, but lots of evidence of wet loose avalanches in the previous days.

We stayed away from avalanche terrain. Spring conditions, it would not be the right time of day to be out in avi terrain anyways (too warm and rapid rising temps).

Traveled on a variety of aspects and elevations today. Low elevation forest travel is unsurprisingly bad - Cornice Ridge up track is kind of worst of all worlds, too much snow for sneakers, too little for good skinning. Expect it to take significantly more time than usual. There was a firm crust across all aspects above about 1000m in the morning. Softened significantly on south and east faces through the day, but not north or west, where it remained very firm well into the afternoon. Heads up for bears out there! We spotted some tracks crossing from Polywood area over to Zymacord and down the Zym trees ridge. We heard a very large cornice fall or rock fall a few ridges north of us around 1030am but observed no activity directly. There are quite a few newish cornice fall avalanches to size 2 in the Shames area - they aren’t triggering anything, but the cornices themselves remain huge in many places.

We aimed to ski the Boundary Glacier Circuit this morning. As we reached Boundary Lake, we experienced multiple whumpfs in the basal facets with propagation (visible wave and shooting cracks) up to 100 m. These continued as we ascended towards the toe of the glacier at 2300 m. At that location, the snowpack consisted of 3 cm of new snow over 5 cm of poorly crystallized melt freeze crust. Below this, the snow was isothermal moist facets. Foot penetration was to ground or your crotch, whichever happens first! Given the solar facing overhead hazard when climbing the Boundary Glacier, we listened to what the mountains were saying and turned tail. Observed a new- looking deep slab out of extreme terrain high on the east face of Mt Stutfield and a loose snow avalanche in motion on the same feature while driving home.

No freeze below 2200m and partial above. Good travel on bow lake. Bow canyon was isothermic at the end of the day and a few snow bridges collapsed but travel is still easy just have to take your skis off a couple times. West aspects were isothermic in the afternoon below 2400m. A few cm of convective flurries turned to glue when the sun came out. Above 2400m true north shaded still had some powder. Lots of small rockfall and small cornices collapsed heard throughtout day. Lots of wet loose avalanches from the end of day Saturday.mostly size 1 to 2 but didn't note any slabs. Better freezes forecasted for the rest of the week but start at dawn or with a head lamp and expect variable freeze down low.

Spent the last three nights touring at the Coq! We did two days at Zoa (Friday and Sunday) and Saturday up at Nak/Thar. Snow is getting pretty lean at the highway there’s about a 300m bootpack up the pipeline before you hit enough snow to put your skis on for Zoa. Thar, on the other hand, was a different story. Travel was very tough on the way up through the willows and just as challenging on the way down (wouldn’t recommend it, haha). Snow depths ranged from 80cm in the trees to 250 cm in the alpine depending on aspect. Really fun skiing once you're above the treeline. Go out and get after it! P.S. I did spot some bear prints on the NE side of Zoa Ridge.

Nice day to finish off our seasonn. Near the dropped pin we felt several whumps and shooting cracks. South slopes are getting enough sun that there are some bare patches here and there. Overall, conditions were okay and a half but pretty good for spring skiing.

Back from a summit bagging trip on the Wapta. Peyto approach was great on Thursday with fast travel conditions all the way to the hut. With the warm weather over the weekend I expect this approach will be a little more challenging but still doable. We exited out via Bow lake early Sunday morning and with a poor refreeze overnight found travel becoming increasingly difficult with loss of elevation. Coverage on the glaciers seems great with averages around 250cms. High north and north east aspects held good snow all weekend and solar slopes provided great skiing in the early afternoons. We skied Thompson and Gordon on Friday, both skied very well, with Thompson skiable from the summit which seems rare. On Saturday we skied the north east face of Rhonda and the headed over to Habel where we were able to skin to within 50m of the summit. The summit tower was "reasonably navigable" with crampons and a tool. On the return trip from Habels summit a member of our party triggered a cornice failure from the rocks which ripped out a skiers skin track from the day prior. Aside from that we saw very little in the way of avalanche activity over the weekend, mostly point release and small cornice failure on steep rocky solar slopes. Another thing of note... The ravens will destroy your tents! A great trip with ~75other people up there over the weekend.

Snow was frozen at valley floor in the AM. Observed 20+ dry loose avalanches up to s1 above freezing level on steep easterly aspect as well as many old wet loose on solar aspects. Skied the Col with no reactivity on some great corn snow.

Skied up to the sled turn around point on Crystal ridge and enjoyed sunny corn skiing from 2000m down to about 1500m where the snow got isothermal. Sled compacted snow stayed supportive all day. We were able to drive to 1100m (4km) on Crystal logging road in a pick up truck with only a couple of short wet/muddy sections. Consistent snow coverage on the road all the way to the base of the sled ski zone. Probed 150-170cm of snow at 2000m.

Access update: new gate at 2km up the FSR. The first 2km require radio call outs. Don’t venture up with out a radio that you can plug into the frequency as outlined on the sign at the start of the road. Not open every day so check with the flagging crew at the mamquam/pump house junction or call before. We had to wait for some machinery on the road - not fast travel but the road until the gate is in good condition. Beyond that the old road is bumpy and loose - high clearance recommended. Snow: We were able to drive to the road washout and start skinning with only a few on and offs. Creeks still mostly covered in Ray Basin, however, most skiable terrain has slid so much that it’s bare or thin or a bit of an ice ditch. Despite more snow and coverage on the road + basin, the lines on Anif were really thin and variable. We ended up doing some silly turns in the corn as redemption and passed on the objective.

« Skied » Wilson from the north on April 26th No snow until above the water fall /cliff band you have to bypass Above that good travel in the morning isothermal snow in the evening The creek can still be crossed back and forth on some avalanche debris up high but some of the bridges are becoming thin and worrisome in the afternoon Lot’s of dead fall in the forest down low made for hard bushwhacking Cornices on the ridge can be easily bypassed on climbers right by staying close to rocks. No open crevasses to navigate, probed between 130 and 250. Crusty snow on the glacier

We skiied the East face of Columnar around 16:00. On our way up we observed some size 0.5 sluffs/cornice failure (we didnt see the initiation but observed the actual slide). We skiied around some old avalanche debris going down the East face of Columnar. When we reached the previously observed sluffs/cornice failires, we saw 1 or 2 more size 2 wet loose slides. We suspect these were skiier triggered by another party. We had to ski/traverse a little lower as a result. The snow on the return journey was very wet and heavy and travel on flatter sections was hard.

Skied Aussie & Matier NW face. Beware of big cornice overhanging Matier NW face - looks primed to rip at any moment. Conditions were great. Solid refreeze overnight, slightly colder than expected temps. Solar aspects were cooked by early afternoon, high north faces remained firm.

Both Avalanches were seen today while exiting the Scott Duncan Hut. Likely occurred Fri Apr 25. Niles Shoulder One sz 2.5 East 2500m Cornice Triggered in the heat and pulled moist slab to ground. Daly steep face Few sz 2 West 2800m Temp triggered, propagating across thick to thin areas and down to ground Dry powder found NW-NE aspects above 2600m on Friday.

Did the 5040-Adder traverse as a day trip. Overnight freeze caused the snow to be very firm in the morning. Sun exposed aspects softened by 9am and all aspects by noon. Air temps to ~20degrees in the afternoon. Snow was isothermal. Many smaller skier caused wet slides while skiing and skinning on steeper slopes. Snow depth at Adder-Jacks Col (1000m) 1.8m Snow depth at 5040 North aspect 1150m 3.5m

Snow Peak, April 26, 2025. Had perfect melt/freeze conditions on Snow Peak today, thankfully timed it right this time. I attempted it early May many years ago and triggered a fresh windslab avalanche near the summit, today was much more "as expected". Started at 6am and had an excellent freeze all the way up. We decided on boot crampons straight up the face instead of side-hilling with ski crampons or post holing on foot and avoiding the cornices on the ridge, it was the right choice. The snow softened during the rapid warming at 10am and provided excellent corn snow for the descent, could ski wide open. The most surprising part of the day was that we only saw 1 other party of 3 XC skiers, nobody else. I believe some folks did the FHR but we didn't encounter anyone. We took the shortcut steep line from the pass down to the flats and it worked out well, although the moist surface was beginning to wet slide on the E steep east aspects. Returned to the car at 12:30 and it was full nuclear by that time with natural slides happening all over. Highly recommended during melt/freeze conditions like today and yesterday. 19.5 KM 975m gain in 6.5 hours.

Awesome day up on Sparrowhawk. It was mixed snow/dirt from the road up to about 1950 m. After that we were able to skin. Good refreeze which meant ski crampons were very helpful. There was snow to the summit but it’s melting quickly. South facing slopes were getting soft by 10:30 or so.

Climbed and skied Mt Aberdeen by the north glacier. The trail up to saddleback pass still has lots of snow. Fantastic conditions on the glacier. Exited using Surprise Pass, it was choppy and firm but manageable. I’ve included some other general terrain photos to help people with their spring planning.

Rode the Forester drainage up to the Catamount Glacier, still lots of snow up above the glacier, we ran out of probe at 320cm and still didn't tag bottom even in the snow pit. Dug a 130cm deep pit and did some compaction tests, snow was sturdy and didn't get any propagation or fracturing until pried the side of the column and it clean sheared at the bottom of the pit. Riding was mediocre, snow was well set up, and the weather couldn't have been better. Great day for touring around. Towards the end of the day sun soak faces and cornices were starting to let go making for some smaller slides in the class 1-1.5 range, predominantly in the couloirs. Beautiful day over all

trust our anchors if you dare! plenty of snow left to spare ;)

A solid overnight freeze made for quick travel up to Bow Hut. The snow/ice bridges in the canyon were still holding (although a few are getting slim). No obvious loose wet debris from yesterday below the Vulture/St. Nicholas wall. Conditions were refrozen on the glacier access ramp, becoming ~5cm dry powder on the glacier. Consistently probed >2m snow depth on the Mount Gordon approach. Several other parties were heading in the same direction. The north descent provided excellent skiing. Snow was becoming mashed potatoes at Bow Hut by ~1pm, however the previously skied tracks remained supportive down to, and through, the canyon. Return travel across Bow lake was not an issue with ~1-2cm ski penetration at 2pm.

The Jasper field team circumnavigated the nunatak below the north face of Mount Athabasca, navigating through crevassed terrain and steep alpine slopes. Travel below 2500 m was supportive and spring-like. Above this elevation, snow remained cool with 10–20 cm of soft snow requiring moderate to heavy trailbreaking. Trailbreaking conditions eventually transitioned to wind-affected snow where we observed isolated cracking and whumphing on wind-loaded features. Continued wind transport was visible along ridgetops throughout the day. Glacier coverage varied significantly, ranging from 85 cm to over 300 cm depending on terrain features. No significant new avalanche activity was observed in the surrounding alpine terrain or along the Icefields Parkway.

Broke into the drainage around noon & saw three wet avalanches within ten minutes. We turnt around and played it safe. Saw another pretty big avalanche in a chute on our way out & heard a couple more. All avalanches were started around exposed rocks directly facing the sun. Also saw a tonne of previous avalanches most likely from yesterday. Only got the one pic that sort of shows ones from yesterday. West face.

We Start at 5 am , bulletproof all the way to parking lot. Fast travel condition, we reach the top of the line by 8:30 We cut some cornice and rappel into the line. Snow was in prime condition so lots a sluff management to do. Pretty rocky at the crux but we managed to keep our board and ski on. Then the choke is about 1 snowboard wide. Easy on the board but look not that fun on ski. About 1/2 way down the line there is still an ice waterfall but we just rode over it. If anyone thinking of going I would recommended to bootpack down the crux!

FHR was fun this morning. Good conditions, nice powder on the Robertson Glacier. Ski out was fast.

A good overnight-recovery (aka yesterday’s moist snow froze hard overnight) gave us an awesome morning trip into the Barnes area today. We found dry snow without wind affect above 2000 m on north facing slopes, and saw widespread pinwheeling on steeper sunny slopes. Those sun-facing slopes had a moist surface by midday, with 20 cm of soft snow over a supportive-to-boots crust. That crust was not breaking down on SE asp. (Likely was on steep full south-through-west, but not tested), but we headed home as the day warmed up. Light SW at ridgetop, only a few clouds. HS (full snow depth) 180 cm at 2000 m. Access on the Flathead FSR was full-snow after the first 50m, although (as you’d expect), the staging area is looking pretty farmyard !