| After kind of a disappointing early season trip in November, where we got snowed out of the Rockies, I was determined to go back again later in the season. However, I wanted to avoid the frigid temperatures of Christmastime and January (I was in Europe anyway) and was determined to go back in late February or early March. I wanted to climb with Maurice or Gene again, and though Maurice was busy with his business, Gene was free. So we headed up to Banff for a week's worth of climbing at the end of Feb/beginning of March.
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Gene leading the second pitch of Bourgeau. |
| Day 1: Hafner. We drove the southern route into Cranbrook. We slept by the side of the road in my Honda, and elected not to go to Gibraltar wall the next day, rather head over to Hafner. This proved to be a good choice, as there was lots of short stuff to climb as a warm-up day for things to come. The place was mobbed, however, and it was difficult not feeling a bit jaded by the popularity of ice climbing in the Rockies! |
| Day 2: Bourgeau Right. Neither Gene nor I had ever contemplated Bourgeau Right - considered to be one of the finest WI4s in the range, it is very often threatened by avalanche hazard. However, the last weeks worth of weather made for favorable conditions, so we chose to try for this route. It didnt help that we heard another party talking about it at Mountain Magic - the last thing we wanted was a crowded route. But it ended up working out just fine. Gene and I got an early start and were at the base of the route as the sun first hit it. A bluebird day! I took the first pitch, which was fairly cruxy, and Gene took the second pitch, which was also steep but not as sustained. The remainder of the climb was WI3, and very fun! There are some longer snow slopes between some of the ice steps, but the route is a classic and should not be missed! One the way down we passed the only other party on the route, on their way up. |
| Day 3: Elliot Left Hand. After Bourgeau Right, both Gene and I felt strong and we started talking about hitting Polar Circus. Gene has climbed that route before, but I have not, so it was an objective for me. However, we both agreed that another day climbing would be good before hitting something that big. So we decided on Elliott Left Hand, as a route neither of us had done but something Mike Layton had climbed recently and had said was worth the trip. Elliot Left hand is in the David Thompson, near Kittyhawk. We got another great bluebird day for this route, and it was just really nice to be out.
The first pitch was a low-angled sunny affair that I dispatched quickly. From a bolt anchor at the top of the first pitch, the route enters a deep and dark gully with some small ice steps. It winds upwards for several hundred meters, before finally emerging at the base of the final crux pitch: a full-length pillar of ice that gets no sun. This pillar, as we found it, was very brittle - so brittle that the bottom had been hacked out considerably, making the first 10 meters of the climb overhanging and very pumpy. Gene led this pitch in decent style, and we were soon on our way back down. |
Alex Krawarik leading the fat and sunny first pitch of Elliot Left Hand |
| Day 4: Polar Circus. Scratch that, Murchison. We tried to get an early start for Polar Circus. We were staying at Rampart, so it was not hard. But when we drove up to the base of the route, there were already two cars there. Crap. Climbing behind one party is certainly possible on this route, but climbing behind two parties starts pushing it. You need a fair amount of daylight for the ascent, so anything that slows you down, like waiting for a party to climb the first few pitches, is bad. We turned the car around and headed for Murchison.
Murchison. I'd been up this route before, but Gene handn't, or so he told me. There were no cars at the base of the route, so we approached up the well-beaten path in about an hour. At the base of the route, you typically solo the first 30 meters of WI2 ice. Here we paused to get our jackets on, take a drink, and crampon up. It was 10am, and cold!
We quickly discovered that the ice was incredibly brittle. It was also still very cold. I hummed and hawed about climbing the first pitch, disliking the brittle ice, but finally committed. The pitch was very brittle for the first half, and became more plastic as I climbed into and through a water streak, past a steep step to the first belay. It was so cold I was climbing in my belay jacket. Gene followed in his! As we both hummed and hawed at the belay station, we heard voices, female voices, coming up the trail.
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| We ended up rapping off the first pitch, and met the two girls from Canmore at the base of the route at about noon. They diffinitely had the right idea: Murchison is a cold climb, start late in the day! Gene and I headed down the trail, while we watched the girls climb the route leashless (right). In hindsight now, some years later, I think this duo might have been Sue Nott and Karen McNeill. |
Two chix from Canmore send Murchison leashless. But My Daddy's A Psycho in fat on the left. |
| Day 5: Lots of moderates. I don't remember exactly, but I think the weather was turning a bit. Gene and I wanted to climb more ice, but didnt want to commit to Polar Circus and instead just wanted alot of mileage. So we decided that we could climb Bridal Veil Falls (WI3, 2p), Panther (WI3, 2p) and Snivelling Gully (WI3, 4p) for 8 pitches of moderate ice. This is a great plan and very doable in a day!
Bridal Veil was a new route for me. It starts with a fairly steep pillar, which Gene led in fine style, and continues with another steep curtain, which I led and think is a bit harder than WI3, to the top.
We rapped off and climbed the spectacular Panther Falls next. Panther Falls is simply massive. The first pitch climbs the falls directly up a series of deep grooves, while the second pitch leads out through some lower angled ice steps back to the parking lot. A fun route!
While I have climbed the first two or three pitches of Snivelling Gully before, I have never actually climbed it to the top! So this was also a new route for me. Gene has already climbed it 3 times this season! :) With daylight burning now, I lead the first pitch quickly and efficiently. Gene took the next short pitch and avoided a party rappelling the route. I took the third pitch, which is mostly just walking up low-angled terrain, one one screw. Gene took the fourth, crux, pitch. This pitch features sometimes brittle ice and some steep classic climbing. |
| Day 6: Shades of Beauty. We were rapidly winding down the trip, and wanted to try something new again for the both of us. From Rampart Hostel, its hard to find new things to climb when you've climbed just about everything moderate in the area. But neither of us had climbed Shades of Beauty, which was recommended to us as a great and scenic WI4 over on the other side of Sunwapta Pass. We got an early enough start and got to the base of the route in about an hour from the car. No one else was around. Beauty Creek is pretty far away from the crowds at Hafner, far enough away even from the Cineplex at Panther Falls. Here you are surrounded by the massive peaks that dominate the area: Athabasca, Andromeda, Snowdome, and Kitchner.
We cramponed up at the base of the route, but elected to skip the first rambly WI2 pitch. Gene discovered a bolt holding his crampon together had sheared off, so took pitch two at the far right hand side of the wall for an easy and short step of WI3. It is possible to walk around this step, too, and set up top ropes. In fact, if Shades of Beauty were any closer to the road or to Calgary, it would be mobbed regularly as a great place to toprope moderate ice. The year we did it, the final pitch was the business end of the route, at WI4. (In some other years, before the top pitch fills out, the second pitch is steeper and the hardest of the three.) I led this pitch, which starts out steep and remains sustained for the first half of the pitch to a good rest. The remainder of the pitch was on more plastic ice in a dihedral, which went more easily and soon I was on the top. I brought Gene up, and as we came down the route we met two other Seattle climbers, James and "Dr." Jay. This was a pleasant encounter - Gene has climbed with Jay before and so we hung out with these guys as they prepared to lead the second pitch. But soon enough we headed back down the valley, and for home. |
James and Dr. Jay on Shades of Beauty. |
