Headed out yesterday to ski the Grand Daddy (couloir above West Nile) but unfortunately got turned around at tree line due to high temps and winds. We then had a rather comical ski down through oatmeal like snow in the trees. Beware that the Bow River has melted out and has very few snow bridges. For us this meant a very cold river crossing in the morning (read crossing in barefeet (or being piggy backed in my case)). As we discovered on the way back, however, there is at least one snow bridge left, but probably not for long.
After being turned around yesterday we were pretty pumped to get out in the sun today and got up early to head for Mt. Cathedral. With the cold overnight temps and the amazing weather today we ended up having an incredible day. Although the day did involve another creek crossing, this time it had less water and we were able to cross with our boots on. I did end up with one very soggy foot but luckily it was on our way home. After the creek crossing we toured up through the trees and into a bowl with incredible views. We then braved the boot pack and toured very quickly along under some cliff bands. We did see some natural activity coming down the chutes due to the warm sun, however, as far as we saw there were only small slides involving the storm snow and no slabs. We then headed up onto the glacier and up along the ridge for more spectacular views. We turned around about 100m below the summit in order to ensure a safe trip down (we were concerned about solar warming). Although the original plan was to head down a north facing key hole chute we aborted this plan due to wind slabs in the chute. Both of these were tough calls to make but as one guy in the group said "the mountains will always be there and I want to be around to enjoy them." We then had a great ski down the way we came up and were happy to find the isothermal snow in the trees not as bad as we'd feared (although sporty nonetheless).
All in all, a great weekend of spring skiing in the Rockies!
unfortunately my camera battery died - hopefully pictures of today to follow.
