Mt James-Turner alpine climb
Quick reportnickawbrown · Jan 24, 2026 · Spearhead
Quick report
- Weather
- cold, sunny
- Ride Type
- denseTrees, openTrees, alpineSlopes
- Riding Quality
- terrible
- Snow Conditions
- hard, crusty, windAffected
23-25 January traveled from Blackcomb to summit James-Turner and back. Snowpack conditions were pretty heinous below treeline, but afforded decently fast travel above. We made liberal use of our ski crampons going both uphill and downhill. Alpine climbing conditions were fortunately excellent on the N face of JT; firm, bootable snow that afforded a fast and safe ascent and descent down the south side. Temps were overall quite chilly. Thankfully it wasn't very windy!
Snowpack
- Obs Type
- summary
- Site Aspect
- N, S, NE, SW
- Site Elevation
- 1800
- Ski Penetration
- 0
- Foot Penetration
- 10
- Site Elevation Band
- alp, tln, btl
- Surface Conditions
- surfaceHoar, crust
Travel from Blackcomb to James-Turner spanned all of the worst snow types: breakable crust and refrozen avi debris and tree bombs. Extensive surface hoar observed at treeline throughout the meadows below Decker Lake.