Wapta

Attempted Wapta traverse. Turned around below Balfour High Col due to warm stormy conditions and poor visibility. Strong winds over the last few days lead to significant wind transport. Temperatures increased to near zero on March 13th depth of new snow was challenging to determine with the strong winds. Natural avalanches noted off steeper terrain, but loudy conditions limited observations. A pit on the moraines above Balfour Hut (2500m), NW aspect, 30 deg, HS 340+ cm, showed two CTE 4 SP shears in the storm snow down 15 cm and 26 cm and a CTH 26 SP down 60 cm on decomposing surface hoar. On the bright side, lots of practice with whiteout navigation this week!!