Wapta

Avalanche conditions

• Rapid temperature rise to near or above 0°C or wet surface snow.

2 days on the wapta at the weekend summiting St Nic and Gordon. Unsettled weather for both days brought blue skies, heavy snowfall and intermittent whiteout conditions. No surprise that coverage is lacking somewhat compared to previous years however travel was fast and skiing was great especially down from st nic towards the hut.

Saw one sz 2 Cornice failure on vulture peak NE aspect. Suspect solar trigger. No slab on the slope below.

Low down, travel was great on saturday morning but areas with low snow cover and no compaction were iso with ski pen to ground on the way out on Sunday afternoon. The lake appears to be holding up well but snow bridges over the creek in the canyon are getting thin.