8812 Bowl

Brenda and I skied up Bruins Ridge and over into 8812 bowl on Saturday.

Balu Peak (Peak 8812)


It was a glorious winters day with a cold wind blowing across the ridge that chilled us to the bone. Is it this cold in January? I think the Okanagan climate is turning us soft. There were a few distinct narrow points along the ridge. I think it broadens out a bit later in the season. That or my memory is going.

Bruins Ridge


There were already several sets of tracks in the bowl. No one had gone all the way up to the pass yet so we made the extra effort to get up there and have a look over onto Bruins North.

Just below Bruins Pass


Four hours up and 15 minutes back down to the valley floor. Crazy.

Brenda


The fantastic light fluffy powder that billowed into our faces helped us to forget the time up to time down ratio. Not quite content with our day (okay one of us was content and the other one was already thinking about poutine in Revelstoke) we climbed back up to Balu Pass and up the other side of 8812 bowl for another run.

Another early season trip where the conditions were just as good as any that we find in midwinter.

Malakwa Gorge

Up to The Gorge on Saturday with Dan, Neal, and a friend of Neal's. We all piled into Dan's truck for the drive up. At about 12k we hit a minor traffic jam caused by a very apologetic couple trying to get up in an AWD Acura with all season tires. She seemed a little spooked and said something about walking back down. We didn't pay much attention at the time but sure enough on the drive down we saw her tracks along the side the of the road for kilometre after kilometre.

In the process of shuffling vehicles around to get passed them, the cable for the release mechanism on Dan's emergency brake snapped with the brakes fully engaged. We all swarmed around under the truck trying to finesse a solution until Dan got bored, grabbed a tire iron, and twisted it around the break cable until it snapped with a loud ka-thunk! Problem solved. Almost. The truck thought that the emergency was still on and we had to tune out the incessant "ding-ding-ding-ding" of the warning chime for the rest of the drive.

It was an odd start to an odd day. The pull-out was packed with cars at 15km and it was very warm. Upon reaching the treeline we saw recent avalanche activity everywhere. There were 60cm crown lines all over the place. There was a buried surface hoar layer that was ridiculously reactive. Digging a quick hasty pit the layer popped out as we cut the back of the column with a ski pole.

Unwilling to venture higher we made a run back down to the road to find the parking lot half empty. After a leisurely lunch we took another short run and called it a day with pints back at The Burner.

Asulkan Cabin

Our traditional first ski outing of the season. Ross, Fred, Steve, Nick, Brenda and myself. Also at the hut (along with 4 rascally poachers) was Team Vancouver from the same weekend last year. It was great to once again share the hut with these guys although their gourmet cuisine did make our own food seem somewhat meagre in comparison.



Poor Brenda developed the first hints of a cold the night before. By the time we were an hour beyond the trailhead she was barely able to place one foot in front of the other. We made (empty) offers to head back with her but she was determined. Her gear was divided up amongst the rest of us and Nick gamely strapped Brenda's pack onto the back of his own. She made it, then spent the next 48 hours flat on her back, trying her best not to be contagious.

We had great visibility this weekend and amongst other things followed Team Vancouver's excellent track up the Youngs Peak headwall and onto the summit. A first for us in November.





There was some great skiing on the lower Seven Steps area behind the Pterodactyl where it was protected from the wind. No surprise that there were still open crevasses and we didn't venture down the final step that leads below the tree triangle.



A super start to the season.

Woolley and Diadem

Ross is secretly trying to climb all 54 peaks over 11,000' in the Canadian Rockies. This is news to Ross. He hasn't yet admitted the fact to himself. So perhaps "secretly" is the wrong word. It's more like he's coyly climbing the 11,000ers. Whatever, we certainly applaud his efforts since now he will look after the logistics and planning for whatever peak has most recently put a bee in his bonnet.

Update July 2019: Google killed Picasa. So the photos in this post don't click through to full size versions. Eat a dick Google. Here are the photos on Google Photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cqFRhcEyJP4SXPS46

Woolley and Diadem are two such peaks. Given how accessible they are are, and how they can both be done in a single push, it was surprising that Ross hadn't dragged us here sooner. They are located on the west side of the Icefields Parkway just north of the Athabasca/Andromeda group. The plan was to do the 4 hour hike in on the first day, bivy, and climb the peaks the next day.

The first order of business was to cross the frigid Sunwapta River, thankfully only knee deep this late in the season, but still shockingly cold. We left our wet running shoes hanging in a tree to await our return.

Sunwapta River


The bivy site is a barren spot but does have a certain stark beauty.

Bivy site


Our goal was to get up both peaks so we planned to take the line of least resistance to the Woolley-Diadem col and proceed from there. There are a few variations to get to the col. It doesn't look like it from the photo but the lower part of the glacier is threatened by serac fall from above so the obvious choice of heading straight up the left hand gully isn't a good one. Ultimately this was the route we followed:

Woolley (L) and Diadem (R)


One route description suggests climbing the toe of rock between the two obvious couloirs on Diadem before traversing left into the couloir adjacent to the glacier. We killed an hour investigating this option before giving it up. It was just a pile of loose shitty rock and in retrospect was a pointless endeavour when climbing the right hand gully and cutting across was so straightforward.

James at the point where we cut across to the left gully


From the col we made our way up the ridge of Woolley, broad at first, but narrowing in a few places where the late summer snow still lingered.



We had some mediocre views of Mount Alberta through the haze of forest fire smoke.

Mount Alberta


A quick lunch on top before retracing our steps back to the col to scramble up Diadem.

Descending Woolley. Diadem in the distance.


Heading up Diadem. Woolley behind.


Standing on the snowy top of Woolley it looked like there was a rocky sub-peak that was just slightly higher. Of course we now we had make our way across and scramble up this little pinnacle of rock to make sure.

James on the Pinnacle/ The first summit of Diadem just behind.


According to my altimeter the pinnacle was 1 metre lower. Doh. Back to the first summit, back to the col, and then back down the gully and across the glacier to the tents.

Descending the left gully. The tents are beside the lake below.


After relaxing in the sun beside the tents we decided to spend another night out.



A fine, fine way for Ross to tick of two more coy 11,000ers.

Eisenhower Tower

Edit June 2017
Google killed Picasa so the photos in this post don't click through to larger versions. Here's the full album if you're interested: https://goo.gl/photos/2LYxjhmyHPHoKgQ6A

Our original plan was to climb the east ridge of Edith Cavell with Brian. That idea got put on hold when a large chunk of the north glacier fell off wreaking havoc and closing access to the mountain for the rest of the season. (The first time I climbed Cavell I think we bivied right behind the outhouses in this photo.) So instead we set our sights on Castle Mountain to climb Eisenhower Tower, the three of us having climbed Brewer Buttress together in 2010.

Castle Mountain: Brewer in green, Eisenhower in red


After hiking up the Rockbound Lake Trail and skirting around ledges we arrived at the broad plateau which girdles the entire mountain. From here the first order of business is to get onto the Dragon's Back, a short crenellated ridge that juts out from the foot of the tower itself. We took a line just to climbers left of the prow and after a few easy 5th class moves we were scrambling along the top of this feature. It's quite spectacular in a few places.

Brian on the Dragons Back


Between the Dragons Back and the Tower is a deep notch with a short but tricky 5.6++ crack. We got the rope out here for the first time. After some grunting and groaning were up the other side just in time for second breakfasts and a good look at the route above where there are two main options.

Eisenhower Tower


I had climbed the left side before so this time we headed to climbers right. We didn't have any route description for this side and just kinda winged it. Unsure whether to keep the rope on or not we left it on and took turns running out it's full 60m length, slinging a few blocks along the way, and then bringing up both seconds at the same time. I think we did about 5 or 6 pitches.

Brian on the route


It felt much less travelled than I remembered the other side being. We came across one fixed anchor after the first pitch and nothing but the odd sling after that. I think there was more continuous climbing on this side but none of it was really exceptional. Nevertheless it's still a fine route to the top of a Rockies landmark.

Le Sommet


We had a good view at both the route we had just come up and also of the route we would be descending (in green) where there is a series of established rap anchors.

Routes


A couple of notes on the descent for anyone interested. The first anchor can be found by scrambling down below the crest of the plateau as in this picture where Brian (the lowest figure) is standing at the anchor.

First rap anchor


A bit of scrambling and another rap brings you to rap #3 (?) which is placed behind a fin of rock with an awkward start. If you rap to the end of the ropes here (we had a 60m) you end up in a tenuous spot to pull the ropes with some tricky downclimbing below. Instead, there is an intermediate 2 bolt anchor several meters to climbers right that looks like a much better option.

After some scrambling you end up at a "funnel" where all of the scree collects from the amphitheatre above. We made our way to the bottom of the scree and then followed an exposed but easy ledge to skiers left which placed us right at the top of P1.

Finally, rather than retracing our steps across the Dragons Back, we rapped down the east side of the notch which separates the Dragons Back from the tower. A 60m rope isn't quite long enough to reach the ground with one rappel. There is an intermediate anchor about 2/3 of the way down that is easy to miss.

In the end we somehow turned this into a 12 hour day which was a good 4 or 5 hours longer than we had anticipated.

Mount Huber

After another 4:30AM start we reached Wiwaxy Gap in the half-light and began making our way across the Huber Ledges.

Huber Ledges in Winter


Plenty of cairns, even a few bolts on a steep pitch, but we didn't bother with the rope. The general guideline here was up and left, rinse, repeat, until we hit the lower glacier.

Brian on the Huber Ledges


We put the rope on to cross the lower glacier to a rock band, scrambled over the rock band, and then put the crampons back on for the upper glacier. It was a cold morning and our crampons hardly scratched the surface of the snow that still lay in the shadow of Mount Victoria. Across the glacier we went and into the sun at the Huber-Victoria col.

Huber-Victoria Col


From the col the guide books ("Suspected" and "11,000ers") describe two routes to the summit, one far left and one far right, but the beaten track basically split the difference right up the middle so this was the obvious way to go.

Huber route seen from Victoria


Once above the 'schrund we dispensed with the rope and made our way up the steep snow slope to the ridge.

Ross on the Ridge


On the ridge proper the softening snow gave way to hard ice with the change in aspect. Another 50 metres or so of careful steps and we met up with a guided group on the summit by 9:30AM.

On top


We lounged around in the sun and took in magnificent views all around before retracing our steps back down the ridge, belaying this time to keep the fun factor high on the icy ridge.

Brian at the anchor


Back across the two glaciers, across the rock band, and down through the Huber Ledges with a rappel at the one steep pitch.

Huber Ledges


It all seems so uneventful as I write this up! But once again a wonderful day in the mountains on one of the classic 11,000 foot peaks of the Rockies.

Mount Victoria

After climbing Odaray we set out the next afternoon for the Abbott Pass Hut with the intention of climbing the south summit of Mount Victoria the next day. All of us had climbed to the North Summit a couple of years ago, and Ross and I had previously climbed the SW Face to the South Summit, but none of use had ever climbed the classic SE Ridge from Abbot Pass.

The hike up from Lake O'Hara is notorious for the awful and ever-shifting scree. It was pretty foul but thankfully some long ribbons of old snow helped make progress a little less painful.



The hut is perched on a windy and desolate col at a location which in many ways witnessed the very birth of Canadian mountaineering over 100 years ago. You can almost feel the history here.



Away by 4:30 the next morning to pick our way up the initial part of the route in the eerie pools of light cast by our headlamps. We made a few blunders in the dark but found our way from cairn to cairn without too much trouble. The sun came up to cast a warm red glow over everything and help with the route finding.



The crampons were on for one small section but mainly we just scrambled our way over bare rock until reaching the well-known feature called The Sickle. This is a narrow snow covered dip in the ridge that required some careful downclimbing on the hard snow. It was a spectacular setting.



After The Sickle the route switched back and forth between snowy arete and easy scrambling over bare rock with a couple of short technical parts thrown into the mix.





It was wonderful stuff. On top by 9:00AM for the obligatory U2 album cover photo.



The weather crapped out on the way down. We got drenched a couple of times from horizontal rain but thankfully managed to reach the hut before the worst of it hit. We sat around eating hot soup as the rain lashed at the windows. It cleared just early enough for us to bolt back down to Lake O'Hara in time for dinner.

We had enjoyed an absolute classic mountaineering route in great conditions.

Pics on Google Photos: https://goo.gl/photos/pmBjtUCEnLRUWN2J8

Grassi Ridge

Update August 2017:
Google killed Picasa Web Albums so the photos in this post don't click through to larger versions. Here's the album if you're interested: https://goo.gl/photos/SY7tQmBmgNTY3LUR9

Ross and I once climbed Grassi Ridge about 10 years ago. I was a far better rock climber back then but apparently had much less common sense. That day I think we set a record for the most dumb stories ever to come from a single climb. Many are still told to this day among our small circle of friends.

There was the great "ease yourself gently onto that dodgy piton" story. You can guess how that one goes. There was the "diabolical double rope predicament", wherein the second, who was tied into two ropes with each one somehow going in the opposite direction, was completely unable to move up or down as the unwitting belayer pulled tighter and tighter from 50 meters above. And of course there was the unforgettable "Andrew gets off route and has an epic meltdown as it begins to snow" story. That one chaffs to this day since this particular lapse in judgement on my part caused us to miss the best climbing on the whole route.

Grassi Ridge in December 2011


So, back on Grassi Ridge again, seeking a redemption of some sort. Brenda and I formed one rope team and Ross and Brian the other. On our first time here we only had Dougherty's "Suspected Alpine Climbs" which by modern standards would probably be considered a little thin on detail. This time we were armed with multiple topos from various Internet sources, some of which I gleefully noted had skull and crossbones or big "Off Route!" warnings at meltdown central.

We got to the base of the climb just before a guided party arrived. I suppose the guide should remain nameless since I'm about to bad mouth him. I'll just refer to him as a well known ice climber with the initials S.I. No one will ever figure that out.

Expecting S.I.'s group to be much faster than us we urged them to go ahead. Unfortunately this exposed the leader of the party that followed (ie: me) to an annoying stream of route and gear suggestions shouted down by S.I. from the next pitch above.

"The station is 5 metres above you!!".

"You're almost there! It's to the left!!"

"Easy climbing duuuuuude!!".

This in turn confused his clients because they thought, not unreasonably, that he was yelling instructions to them. So they started shouting. It turned into a bizarre early morning shout-fest in the mountains!

Thankfully it came to an end after a few pitches as they slowly moved out of earshot leaving us to enjoy the rest of the climb in relative peace. And what a great climb this is.





A big change from 10 years ago is the proliferation of bolts on the route; there are bolts at the crux moves and at every belay station whereas I don't think there were any bolts when we did it the first time. In fact there are even intermediate belay stations probably placed there by guides in order to more easily watch their clients. I'm no arch traditionalist but I think a something is lost when this happens.

An oddly negative post about what was actually a very positive day. We even got a new a story to add to our ever growing list of tall tales.

Mount Odaray SE Ridge

I helped organize a mountaineering camp for the ACC at Lake O'Hara this summer. Great weather, great people, and overall a great trip. On our first day I climbed Mount Odaray with Ross and Brian.



Most of this route is a fine general mountaineering sort of climb. We crossed the glacier without much trouble and made our way to a rocky step that bars access to the ridge. We used the rope here for a short 5.4 section where there was some fixed gear left by the guides who operate out of O'Hara Lodge (thanks Larry).



Once onto the broad ridge we made our way up some tedious scree and scrambled over the occasional rocky outcrop.



Eventually we reached a false summit to gaze across a cleft to a dark and ominous steep wall that blocked the way to the top. It looked horrible. Thankfully we'd been warned about this part in advance and had been told that it looked worse that it was. Glad for this advice we eased our way down into the notch and peered upwards at the other side. It was a steep gully that seemed to be made up of 4 inch children's blocks piled one on top of another and all angled slightly downwards with terrific exposure on either side. Let's just say that it provided us with a slow and very mindful 20 meters of climbing.



A jog back to the ridge and then to the summit where we spent a good hour taking in the magnificent views. Look at these tourists.



A fine day in the mountains as they say.