I spent my fourth season in the Canadian Rockies trying to tick some of the routes that I had missed previously. The weather was colder than usual when we arrived in Lake Louise (-41 C), but later warmed up to an aggreeable -8 or so.
The first day out we tried the seldomly climbed Selenium Falls, also known as Spray River Falls, near Banff. A three hour approach with serious elevation gain brough us to the base of the three pitch climb. The ice was cold and brittle, and the day was cold. We only made it up 2 of the 3 pitches before we decided to V-thread out of a cave and head home.
We felt that we needed to do some more climbing before we got on something else big, so the next day we drove to Haffner Creek, near Stanley Headwall. There we met a few people, including Jen, leading a WI4. Haffner is a cool practice area, with enough to go around for several parties.
Feeling a little more confident, we decided to try one of the classics that has eluded both Maurice and I for many years, Bow Falls. It was certainly a full conditions day on Bow Falls. The climb was nice, the ice plastic. Here is a shot of Maurice as he sets up a belay for the crux third pitch. The approach was a grunt, breaking trail in both directions.
We took a rest day after Bow Falls. The next day, we hiked up to look at Murchision, and started the "But, My Daddy's a Psycho!" variation. About 4 meters up the first pitch, Maurice's crampon broke! We stashed the ropes, and came back the next day for one of the finest ice climbs I've ever done...
The final day, we hiked up a somewhat nasty avalanche gully to look at Oh Le Tabernacle, but is was very wet and didnt look that fun, so we called it good.
