Banff Yoho Kootenay

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.