What an early snowpack melt means for those exploring the alpine
CBC
Hikers and mountaineers are enjoying an early start to the summer hiking season, scrambling to reach peaks and ridges weeks ahead of schedule.
While it means more time to explore the backcountry snow-free, the shift in season comes with other difficulties.
"I think the trend from year to year is that we're seeing more of these early melts," said Mike Adolf, technical director for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.
He and others in the profession are always monitoring conditions and adjusting to stay safe on excursions.
Early snow melt, Adolf said, means the biggest risk out there right now is rockfall — rocks raining down from above. That and the danger of encountering a glacier crevasse on a familiar route.
"The traditional really good Alpine climbing season was kind of late July and into August," Adolf said.
"Now this is not even feasible anymore."
Instead, climbing prime-time has shifted, Adolf said often conditions are better between May and June.
Except, he said, that's when lingering avalanche risks are still at play.
"Things are just going to continue to be more and more hazardous as the glaciers continue to recede and we have these warmer summers," Adolf said.
The Canadian drought monitor releases conditions across the country once a month. As of May 31, areas of the Rockies near Banff, Jasper, Golden, and Revelstoke were categorised as abnormally dry.
While snow did fall along Alberta's Highway 93 between Lake Louise and Jasper last week, Environment and Climate Change Canada has said much of the region hasn't seen much precipitation and is coming out of a particularly dry spring.
And that's after a dry winter.
The Alpine Club of Canada manages backcountry huts, with many clustered in Alberta and British Columbia's mountainous regions.
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