2020/2021 CANADIAN ROCKIES THREAD

[grinch]

Mammaries. May 28/'12. Raining and cold in revy. LL and the Parkway must be getting a good dump. Git sum and be aware of the hordes Canadian rockers

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[mntlion]

highwood pass is just about clear of snow. Ride up, climb up, ski down

[teamdirt]

After changing plans multiple times while driving out Friday night Due to visibly to much alpine snow in K-country in the last few days to LL area being to socked in we ended up on the ice fields parkway and it was contrary to a big dump. Micro centimetre of new with a weak freeze...thanks to an early start and a cloudy morning We were still able to make a summit And Had a fun Shredable descent on Bow Summit. Still touring from the road in places up there but quickly melting....

[crashidy]

Two deceased on mt. Andromeda this morning apparently

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[teamdirt]

Two deceased on mt. Andromeda this morning apparently

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The forecasted deeper freeze Friday night didn’t happen as strongly as planned so I imagine that bridging layer never redeveloped Saturday night and progressively the snowpack got heavier and more saturated till releasing on that early season depth hoar... there would be almost no freeze the night before based on the 7:45am time of incident...

Parker ridge upper telemetry reporting no freeze Saturday night at 2300m

We had talked Sunday as our ski day but all agreed it was to risky with the rapid warming...

[grinch]

Two deceased on mt. Andromeda this morning apparently

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Uggh! RIP. Skyladder? Usually a thin sheet on that at the best of times

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[teamdirt]

Uggh! RIP. Skyladder? Usually a thin sheet on that at the best of times

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No news where on Andromeda or what recreational activity they were doing as of yet.

[weibo]

One of our local papers is reporting they were part of a group of 9 and that the group was climbing with the plan to ski Skyladder. Not confirmed at all as that is the only outlet reporting that as the activity.

[grinch]

9 on sky ladder seems like about 7 too many. If true, this crowding on 50+ degree ski mountaineering objectives might need a bit of focus and education. It wasnt that long ago that sky ladder may have not had a winter descent

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[Mike Rogers]

I was up on the Columbia yesterday.

We were on the Athabasca glacier before 3:30 and you could see a couple of headlights near the start of the climbing portion of skyladder. I would be surprised if a group of 9 was up there. We saw that a couple of large groups were going up Andromeda by the south ridge. Perhaps the media outlet had some incomplete information?

I didn't hear about the slide until i returned to the parking lot, but it was very sad and surprising news.

I hope the victims friends and family have the support they need.

[weibo]

Thanks for the first hand information. I would guess there was some confusion on the party sizes.

[teamdirt]

Based on the pics in the incident report It’s hard to say what really happened and how many people were up there...interested to hear more info.

Looking at the tracks looks like Some people already summited and 2 people skied down and realized the slope slid then turned around and booted back up?

Mike Rogers- curious how was the freeze the night before. Parks Canada is calling it a wet slab avalanche meaning it didn’t refreeze overnight.

[Mike Rogers]

It didn't freeze at valley level, but things seemed pretty solid at elevation. We didn't dig though.

The athabasca glacier was rock hard. The upper icefield had some wind trasnport, but otherwise there was no ski penetration, and boot penetration was less than 5 cm. So it wasn't a crust on isothermic mush. It was very cold at 2900m before the sun came up, but I don't know when at night the cold moved in. It might have been late. People who camped up high complained about a cold night.

Once the sun came out, it got hot fast. From 7AM to 9Am, I went from wearing a down jacket to wishing I was in shorts an a tee. The surface snow became wet immediately, but under the surface the integrity of the snow held. We still had minimal boot penetration. We spend almost the entire day on pretty flat terrain though, so aspect wasn't a factor.

There were some wet releases near exposed rocks on the Mount Columbia summit ramp sometime around 9:30. It wasn't a slab, and it wasn't big, but it was enough to make you not want to be on an exposed slope. I don't know if the released were triggered only by the strong May sun or a weaker-than-we-realized freeze was also to blame.

There were strong winds Saturday night. There seemed to be enough snow to move around. I assumed that the slide was from a pocket of windslab before seeing Park's report.

[crashidy]

I'd be curious to know what was up with the upper set of tracks on that Andromeda face. Did a group start to ski and bail? Or are they old tracks before the slide?

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[teamdirt]

I'd be curious to know what was up with the upper set of tracks on that Andromeda face. Did a group start to ski and bail? Or are they old tracks before the slide?

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On slope observation by m. Rogers r Stong winds Sat night with fresh snow from previous days transportable. . Those boot tracks and ski tracks wouldn’t be there and look so fresh with that observation is what my spider senses tingle....

Very weird tracks-not enough info, confusing day for many up there....


There was an initial report of 10 plucked by Heli off the face..that info has since disappeared....perhaps multiple groups with similar objectives.

[m-ruta]

As I understand it based on first hand reports, the first party of the day (a group of two) climbed up, summitted and prepared to ski down. While they were on the summit ridge somewhere, the accident party was following their bootpack and triggered the slab, with the reported tragic results.

Eventually the first party skied to within view of the crown, said how about frickin' no and ascended back out, taking an alternate route off the peak. They were not aware there was another party on route so they saw no reason to risk continuing to initiate a rescue. The way the face rolls, you wouldn't be able to see much, if any of the deposition zone from above and there would have been no way to tell that the release wasn't natural.

I've heard nothing to indicate there were more than a handful of people on the route. The guys in the first party are blisteringly fast and started early. There wasn't much room between them and the accident party and the slide itself would have wiped out a lower group if there was one.

[teamdirt]

Thanks Matt for the update! Appreciate it!

It’s as Crazy as I suspected!

[m-ruta]

Thanks Matt for the update! Appreciate it!

It’s as Crazy as I suspected!

I wasn't there and didn't press for details, but that's the story as I know it. Shitty luck hitting a landmine like that.

Tough year for big ice faces. Bonding sucks, there's no real transition layer on N through W aspects.

[Zeedashbo]

Damn. Not a fun place to be when shit hits the fan

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[Huskier]

Random question for you all. Shuswap lake. Nice place? Worth living near? Supplies accessable?

[Gcooker]

Random question for you all. Shuswap lake. Nice place? Worth living near? Supplies accessable?

Yup, yup and yup.
Cold, clean, and all you need within an hour in any direction.

Edit - definitely not in the Rockies… and sucks super bad

[Shorty_J]

Random question for you all. Shuswap lake. Nice place? Worth living near? Supplies accessable?

Very popular in summer. Kind of a ghost town in the winter but you can still find all necessary supplies.

I personally find it nice to visit but also feel like I couldn't live there.

YMMV


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[grinch]

Isnt salmon arm popilation over 25k now? Maybe that includes surrounding area? It doesnt really feel that big. Good life there i think. 1 hr ish to Revy, kamloops or vernon. Nice options if you want to escape a rainy day or find some snow

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[Shorty_J]

Isnt salmon arm popilation over 25k now? Maybe that includes surrounding area? It doesnt really feel that big. Good life there i think. 1 hr ish to Revy, kamloops or vernon. Nice options if you want to escape a rainy day or find some snow

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No idea of official population but I'd bet it varies by a factor of 10 from summer to winter.

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[gramboh]

Haven't spent any time in town, just houseboating and various cabins but it's a lovely area of the province. I heard there is some pretty sweet mountain bike trails developing in the area and it's close to Revy/Rogers for skiing and striking distance to Vernon/Kamloops for more mountain biking.

Summer could be a bit painful with the houseboat party crowd around? Not sure.