tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51300729305357927432024-03-08T02:56:16.496-07:00Ross's BlogAdventure, where ever it may be found.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-11616368674097434952023-08-07T21:30:00.002-06:002023-08-07T21:41:35.343-06:00Deltaform 2023<div><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Deltaform, July 31st-August 2nd, 2023 - 3424 metres</b></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Synopsis: Deltaform is a tough one to give a star rating. The rock isn't as bad as something like Recondite and some of the bands are actually not bad. Having said that route finding is a big part of it as is lots of scrambling on questionable rock with significant exposure. Having said that it's definitely a feather in the cap and the biv site is one of the best.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paul and I had a week of climbing planned and given the low snow year and warm spring, it looked to be the season for high rock routes. Deltaform is one we'd both been looking at for awhile and the plan was hatched.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With a great looking weather window we booked the 6:30 am parks shuttle for Monday July 31st from the ski hill and Paul organized the bivy permits and we were set. We got an interesting call from parks indicating that they were issueing a second permit for Monday, I'm not sure if they were asking or telling however it's a big mountain and on the bus met the other party John and Ian and it turns out John was a climbing partner of Paul's and it was good to share the mountain.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPbfo5UvKv6u3k3wJOGaF_tRqPueDvM2cwUoKjJ6i48UUSwaEeYeNLVoHRk0mlf_U9zOwWw4fH02qpdCiRUcGeVFIRUpbOlW5itFhjowObytP5qP1Ot6gCS0XiVPrq4yvpgqC5oLE7Ud-OqOXVXgVJMHI4TTlb8GJHce9hVbzhvZWGvcXRp5TesZro5-d/s4000/20230731_090304.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPbfo5UvKv6u3k3wJOGaF_tRqPueDvM2cwUoKjJ6i48UUSwaEeYeNLVoHRk0mlf_U9zOwWw4fH02qpdCiRUcGeVFIRUpbOlW5itFhjowObytP5qP1Ot6gCS0XiVPrq4yvpgqC5oLE7Ud-OqOXVXgVJMHI4TTlb8GJHce9hVbzhvZWGvcXRp5TesZro5-d/w518-h388/20230731_090304.jpg" width="518" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">All 4 of us started the hike into Wenkchemna Pass at 7 am, however the young bucks soon outpaced us. Frankly it was a but unnverbing looking up at Deltaform from the Wenkchemna Pass trail. We were 3 1/2 hours to the pass, pacing ourselves to make sure we didn't burn up too much energy and happy that we were doing it in the cool morning air as you gain roughly 700 metres of elevation. Another 1/2 an hour put us in a good spot to gear up for the first pitch and stash unneeded gear. </span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix9otu--7RZeu2AI2ffQ9K7UBmdxBvgU673VRGLTEAPt7GdTTRmk3AYi0gzHKRoRbqG0FHGeJToAbonCxjOW7C9_U4QZ5eAyTUkfW9PJEqiaN_8E5MQnu89_3yT2n5J9qwVdD15hKeu9JueOV0L8hwcFTP9qrTJvJn_WRgHlLtTFO7Trg6ZRDtQGl-MEAp/s4000/20230731_103601.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="585" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix9otu--7RZeu2AI2ffQ9K7UBmdxBvgU673VRGLTEAPt7GdTTRmk3AYi0gzHKRoRbqG0FHGeJToAbonCxjOW7C9_U4QZ5eAyTUkfW9PJEqiaN_8E5MQnu89_3yT2n5J9qwVdD15hKeu9JueOV0L8hwcFTP9qrTJvJn_WRgHlLtTFO7Trg6ZRDtQGl-MEAp/w438-h585/20230731_103601.jpg" width="438" /></span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">After a quick somewhat exposed traverse in to the bottom of the first 5.6 pitch we caught a view of John and Ian and ducked out of the way for a few minutes until they cleared out. I scored the lead (not sure how) and it was blocky, felt true to the grade and the overnight pack did make it a bit awkward (or that might just be my climbing style). We took a small rack of nuts and cams to #2 and that seemed about right for us. I placed 7 pieces on the way up to the upper rap station on the wall itself so there was enough pro available, I had brought rock shoes but saved them for the final pitch of Deltaform itself.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_RTdNCGm_-VpNjtYaTki5RTuFmZV4ckJ-wsa3d1Js0LncZTKGooDTd15uzS0pYJiJZEXEId_D6vx_f9Bx9CjVrBJ_nfvUnwmo3UZUk7OxrUxRmQPZLvrw_LCIcjx8ijRhsXj2rMCyjCoOHk8m1GQAlmho0mUupRjO0S1mq145tATM_jBtWb6OpsZrhR1E/s4032/Climbing%20Week-72.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="589" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_RTdNCGm_-VpNjtYaTki5RTuFmZV4ckJ-wsa3d1Js0LncZTKGooDTd15uzS0pYJiJZEXEId_D6vx_f9Bx9CjVrBJ_nfvUnwmo3UZUk7OxrUxRmQPZLvrw_LCIcjx8ijRhsXj2rMCyjCoOHk8m1GQAlmho0mUupRjO0S1mq145tATM_jBtWb6OpsZrhR1E/w442-h589/Climbing%20Week-72.jpg" width="442" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I had set up a redirect using a nut at the top however was out of long slings and when I tensioned the rope on the draw the piecet popped. Unfortunately, it slid down to the next piece and jammed the rope solid. First time for that and it meant that Paul had to prussik up the rope to that point, a bit of a cluster to start the day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Above the rap station some would scramble but we left the rope on and Paul lead up to rap anchor up on the ridge. Pretty sraight forward going up from there so we stashed the rope, broke out a ski pole and enjoyed some fun scrambling along ridge, then out in the open making our way up to the upper bands through scree and loose rock. Not bad footing although the pole was helpful.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5d6zOl54fcogx5iN_8AtXnJYRzFPuWIK-hlQMyOpkh2cKIkTqEzpdVB-lYSEDzZKB11itKYwuIr23bw0cxcpvKBZnBA50lWy-qb1B0aTfJCd8QPD8MYHqhssdls-G5Ig9pvMojSbwkNJGVR74kseIrlqWAjQF3_BoyDzmqpR6o2V_A2rs9HtT2MGePoX_/s4000/20230731_135752.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1848" data-original-width="4000" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5d6zOl54fcogx5iN_8AtXnJYRzFPuWIK-hlQMyOpkh2cKIkTqEzpdVB-lYSEDzZKB11itKYwuIr23bw0cxcpvKBZnBA50lWy-qb1B0aTfJCd8QPD8MYHqhssdls-G5Ig9pvMojSbwkNJGVR74kseIrlqWAjQF3_BoyDzmqpR6o2V_A2rs9HtT2MGePoX_/w571-h264/20230731_135752.jpg" width="571" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The two of us dodged back and forth through the bands above, the lighter coloured bands were often pretty good, some quartzite, the black bands were pretty horrible most of the time. Once we made our way up to the upper headwall, we saw the other party on the ridgeline above but thought we'd check out the easier terrain to the right. It didn't take long to realize that was a mistake and we scrambled back to very close to the ridgeline and broke out the rope.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPjJrWAsPCwOVz9pocKkQMcMpyEe3kgMNHYrEWAqGEAuVYz67HF56DUPTb0JujrQTXjRl3Nazpg4IPpepCCNTquRNDTjZpzhKL9C7vWO5y6R9iTWMvmZxe5c_zKSSE922kFqrpNB_2Q--XTVXYrybrkAx49M_04JEEJ5fjdjTTKYzMzncFCFsQf0RHWRe/s4032/Climbing%20Week-67.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="660" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPjJrWAsPCwOVz9pocKkQMcMpyEe3kgMNHYrEWAqGEAuVYz67HF56DUPTb0JujrQTXjRl3Nazpg4IPpepCCNTquRNDTjZpzhKL9C7vWO5y6R9iTWMvmZxe5c_zKSSE922kFqrpNB_2Q--XTVXYrybrkAx49M_04JEEJ5fjdjTTKYzMzncFCFsQf0RHWRe/w495-h660/Climbing%20Week-67.jpg" width="495" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I lead up the first pitch to rap anchor, Paul then fired up the blocky bit and carried on pitching out for one more up to near the top of the black band, 3 roped pitches in all. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdE4-myZdtNo08hgSjIYYAYN1kZCsy4MWY0i255ZSBGywMq1Orjs7Igxq3tStAin_BwjmPiSIfPUDZCliKdmiSejyd2qzfagHdD0tYcedKzUI48ZDxl9pNtQFIIEc-KPeHPMH1rpNiWi81ypTedbQZ8wu_xB5JdHEAT2ap17kyImvVlPxd1OZpWoXN_Ez5/s4000/20230731_170205.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="1848" height="1076" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdE4-myZdtNo08hgSjIYYAYN1kZCsy4MWY0i255ZSBGywMq1Orjs7Igxq3tStAin_BwjmPiSIfPUDZCliKdmiSejyd2qzfagHdD0tYcedKzUI48ZDxl9pNtQFIIEc-KPeHPMH1rpNiWi81ypTedbQZ8wu_xB5JdHEAT2ap17kyImvVlPxd1OZpWoXN_Ez5/w498-h1076/20230731_170205.jpg" width="498" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We then scrambled along the ridges followed by an easy but airy traverse along the ridge crest of Neptuak which carried on in similar fashion to the first large plateau. I actually thought it was all one plateau until we traversed far enough in to realize that it was a two tiered affair and needed to descend to the biv carral.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_bl-Ja_p9oxKN7Rc1pPoMbCSvhKjWCuUxO388MTAnnwPfLSSyNzKW012oxvcab17hQdzyD7exXn-Vl3xM42QJium5qLbb0R8PBF6hCMAtC_Lez2AD2M1U9UCR-pjWx9dwP9HMP0psHaYOCxpxwncblLkgZ0vS_Ab0pafcxc0Wr-urTKKBIsU55FeXKok/s4000/20230731_181751.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1848" data-original-width="4000" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_bl-Ja_p9oxKN7Rc1pPoMbCSvhKjWCuUxO388MTAnnwPfLSSyNzKW012oxvcab17hQdzyD7exXn-Vl3xM42QJium5qLbb0R8PBF6hCMAtC_Lez2AD2M1U9UCR-pjWx9dwP9HMP0psHaYOCxpxwncblLkgZ0vS_Ab0pafcxc0Wr-urTKKBIsU55FeXKok/w618-h286/20230731_181751.jpg" width="618" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When on the edge we could see John and Ian (and thankfully a snow patch) on the far side and John shouted there was an easy way behind and to the right. We took a short stroll and elected to go back to the rap station close to the ridgeline and with a single rap were on the lower plateau and the biv corral. </span></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsl8BLOZwCvhsdC9rB-lWVEerg9oX_2cxu_ytuPba2XYJm5j3da7YV9aIUcqcvymqka0JI9lykBEJF8zbJuBZ5WXS5SJBLsyIqjp4hOm6XwbiIRSn2H9JZJXJof-MekJiKkCqMD5430LjISrwxpAaxaoiZ3Dkr1tyxU0-S9dP8S_0U7Ra2xStluGSJqEaF/s4000/20230731_183503.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="1848" height="1008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsl8BLOZwCvhsdC9rB-lWVEerg9oX_2cxu_ytuPba2XYJm5j3da7YV9aIUcqcvymqka0JI9lykBEJF8zbJuBZ5WXS5SJBLsyIqjp4hOm6XwbiIRSn2H9JZJXJof-MekJiKkCqMD5430LjISrwxpAaxaoiZ3Dkr1tyxU0-S9dP8S_0U7Ra2xStluGSJqEaF/w465-h1008/20230731_183503.jpg" width="465" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It was 7 pm which made for a 12 hour day, obviously we were moving slowly as Mark and Ian had also pitched out a bit but made it in for 5 pm. In many ways it felt like Neptuak was the more difficult of the two ascents of the trip, probably made more difficult with the overnight pack. Needless to say, an absolutely spectacular bivy and pretty close to a full moon.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4tOBgEZBuffOhMNkU9oOEfoyJgLs6b769hXNyKUekxwxjoATR4GHsp7wBXZHTDf-kZdoQE_2ktXz17MxjoMSBNm78xF5r8NX-Y9jvCgkJrmMOfwkaUsZ7rifGiPecm8DmfFAUSfw4SBOzRhxanQPTrl247KUQ4_egdyqfCm6dSy6avyf-OR1OoPRqx9f/s4000/20230731_185129.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1848" data-original-width="4000" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4tOBgEZBuffOhMNkU9oOEfoyJgLs6b769hXNyKUekxwxjoATR4GHsp7wBXZHTDf-kZdoQE_2ktXz17MxjoMSBNm78xF5r8NX-Y9jvCgkJrmMOfwkaUsZ7rifGiPecm8DmfFAUSfw4SBOzRhxanQPTrl247KUQ4_egdyqfCm6dSy6avyf-OR1OoPRqx9f/w587-h271/20230731_185129.jpg" width="587" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Tuesday we were up at 4:30 with plan of moving at 5:30 when had started to get light. We let John and Ian go first as they were faster and comfortable with more soloing. Up from the bivy site they soloed the first pitch on the weakness just to the right of the ridgeline. Paul and I chose to put the rope on and I lead to the rap station at the top, after which it became fairly straight forward. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADsS0TY0z9x8yiuPaKxOSZA7naUVUxVd7tI2wvfmIb69E89OsHs5ri4759nS9_KGzWhGBimL5L2X-PnINoytE7YoFF0-_KtjlAJ6H6iISb8c4O-z8QcmJYCaUBz9B8KEhdyetVRrjQ2FhIJTZyHrAlkLQrhsK4fVHMyvZqnm1UFFaW8r3LKjpvyJliYlX/s4000/20230731_202946.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="1848" height="925" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADsS0TY0z9x8yiuPaKxOSZA7naUVUxVd7tI2wvfmIb69E89OsHs5ri4759nS9_KGzWhGBimL5L2X-PnINoytE7YoFF0-_KtjlAJ6H6iISb8c4O-z8QcmJYCaUBz9B8KEhdyetVRrjQ2FhIJTZyHrAlkLQrhsK4fVHMyvZqnm1UFFaW8r3LKjpvyJliYlX/w428-h925/20230731_202946.jpg" width="428" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This was followed by fairly solid rock and lower angled terrain, definitely a fun section. I generally found the rock better and more enjoyable on Deltaform than Neptuak with the exception of a black band higher up. As we gained elevation it got a bit scrambly with plenty of exposure.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLezl1fsskDI9vqC0kB2YRv5fyveqERjjzH7pgW-fyQ6p3LWF_CmcXQUG9mV2HiHPJf6-Fp-nnFR_x_9FMNJEBU08czw-1iEYHqIMyMtwxdwIJDq-7PW4yao9GPSpi7xanfTvssUnsW4fH49qhhER0sIH9XaJ9k3cL2rbY1N8k_axC8JhCHUekwX-zlpj2/s4032/Climbing%20Week-36.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLezl1fsskDI9vqC0kB2YRv5fyveqERjjzH7pgW-fyQ6p3LWF_CmcXQUG9mV2HiHPJf6-Fp-nnFR_x_9FMNJEBU08czw-1iEYHqIMyMtwxdwIJDq-7PW4yao9GPSpi7xanfTvssUnsW4fH49qhhER0sIH9XaJ9k3cL2rbY1N8k_axC8JhCHUekwX-zlpj2/w436-h582/Climbing%20Week-36.jpg" width="436" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Higher up we were lucky to have team A ahead as they had taken the bowl to the right and reported very loose and somewhat sketchy. We opted to stay closer to the ridge and decided to break out the rope. I lead a fairly straightforward pitch topping out at rap anchors. Paul then lead up onto the black band. There appeared to be a bit of a choice of going on a rib slighty to climbers right or staying as close to the ridge proper. Paul chose the latter and rapping later we found the right easier going and not as loose. One of those pitches you start out kicking the footholds to check them out and by the end you are kicking them to nudge them in further.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjGH4MJFKbKlGEM-qWz_Q14MjXCy8zThNB21dTTpqBssQhKP-bg9n6BiFZug3PEMln3hQfsqZhWw4UM7ibCI5Df2HKcoG9SF9FPOi3bNj_LSeXEHbHJZjgMC4AoMPsjsv7pJ0fQFmmSmxAL5zvLqeQjnQMFXqPHLt_OMUytgN4lVeNRawcfTqKT4WlCx3/s3491/Climbing%20Week-29.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2618" data-original-width="3491" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjGH4MJFKbKlGEM-qWz_Q14MjXCy8zThNB21dTTpqBssQhKP-bg9n6BiFZug3PEMln3hQfsqZhWw4UM7ibCI5Df2HKcoG9SF9FPOi3bNj_LSeXEHbHJZjgMC4AoMPsjsv7pJ0fQFmmSmxAL5zvLqeQjnQMFXqPHLt_OMUytgN4lVeNRawcfTqKT4WlCx3/w543-h408/Climbing%20Week-29.jpg" width="543" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once up we stashed the rope again and scrambled up to the base of the headwall that formed the false summit. The other team was just rapping down and suggested climbing the closest weakness to the ridge itself at about 5.4 with rap anchors on top for a short pitch. I lead, we then scrambled around the false summit to the rap anchors into the notch. The beta from John and Ian was to rug up as it was cooler in the notch and best to leave backs at the top of the rap anchors. We were lucky in the weather was holding steady with sun and very little wind.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZy1ypZY_CgBiNSE1SROjmiwji1K8qIWOp9BFfAG_Gbe78MKsksSMejXaFXCohDoiGNHRGF3jxDs-OQnyaCJOkB4cI5E8l1sYQI-TaEqPo49tMVvUi0RUg1ePBYiW7pwLEfYm-jfA-tFNJsqb2CwpQyi7P5VNaXeRwTp3lfr-79SzPOaKRoJ72eW5joi_n/s4032/Climbing%20Week-08.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZy1ypZY_CgBiNSE1SROjmiwji1K8qIWOp9BFfAG_Gbe78MKsksSMejXaFXCohDoiGNHRGF3jxDs-OQnyaCJOkB4cI5E8l1sYQI-TaEqPo49tMVvUi0RUg1ePBYiW7pwLEfYm-jfA-tFNJsqb2CwpQyi7P5VNaXeRwTp3lfr-79SzPOaKRoJ72eW5joi_n/w546-h409/Climbing%20Week-08.jpg" width="546" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We then rapped the 15 metres to the notch and left a light 30 metre rope to belay back. We then pulled the 60 metre climbing rope and I lead the top pitch. The bolt is perfectly placed and truth is it's a fun pitch that gets easier as you go and has decent protection, having placed 3 pieces on the way up. Having said that I was happy to have the rock shoes for the first few moves of the pitch.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmGRKGAzEvQ-1GGo4rDET31AuU1LJgX2ZN0Wux-be0Az80gz-eh_9OyMUMfzpWeJ7QQhgoX3hHBAjeUbELQoMtCIrLdzPQw_BhesamkBHp4I6g2BaSMIdLXVolRM36rj5IpMDYnTF0L6llTxBU0NW-U5377VsSIQy4odFO9M7WkXzFsjHOI615EagDUEz/s4032/Climbing%20Week-24.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="728" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmGRKGAzEvQ-1GGo4rDET31AuU1LJgX2ZN0Wux-be0Az80gz-eh_9OyMUMfzpWeJ7QQhgoX3hHBAjeUbELQoMtCIrLdzPQw_BhesamkBHp4I6g2BaSMIdLXVolRM36rj5IpMDYnTF0L6llTxBU0NW-U5377VsSIQy4odFO9M7WkXzFsjHOI615EagDUEz/w546-h728/Climbing%20Week-24.jpg" width="546" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It was a great to hit the summit, we arrived at 11:30 and didn't spend long. The summit register was soaking wet and not terribly useful. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuPAaY_lBa6UO5SVpf9g3nu_thhp5hlkVwy4FjgXKcsWhBKbYkkM7IX3jFqZ3nWG2rxlE9wAiqMc7FvTaiKozlBoNwt9Xhlcp8iUlrFWvWeM3Q0dZeiKOtE9TlZN1HfCCLHQ8qdic0tbQBlJPYkBiB6LhSkXSCVr_UGKWGMUZowgqGX21ErBRGWCHI7zc/s4032/Climbing%20Week-18.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuPAaY_lBa6UO5SVpf9g3nu_thhp5hlkVwy4FjgXKcsWhBKbYkkM7IX3jFqZ3nWG2rxlE9wAiqMc7FvTaiKozlBoNwt9Xhlcp8iUlrFWvWeM3Q0dZeiKOtE9TlZN1HfCCLHQ8qdic0tbQBlJPYkBiB6LhSkXSCVr_UGKWGMUZowgqGX21ErBRGWCHI7zc/w558-h419/Climbing%20Week-18.jpg" width="558" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We rapped down and then climbed back up to the false summit. Funky chimney like move to go climbers left to right on the lower block then up and step over to the false summit itself. A couple of somewhat real moves and we're back at the rap anchors and packs, we choose to stop for a snack and to enjoy the place.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1vOkp_W6NiFUf64IkXMSFc3BPM7pC6BpfmmT4KLkyWYXEnD0-Pr_-AA3LRBEsXXOsfIqYZIhjtXziitVrE7LMpPPdjK3S-RfORsUsM3YLdTTSON3rFlF5vNKtavKmm7C3brfBBvUCnmGz_Jt8ohDq5URd8FvLdhIyQRHRCvTL6dIq5ywEG0WJ6zdf4IO/s4032/Climbing%20Week-19.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="716" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1vOkp_W6NiFUf64IkXMSFc3BPM7pC6BpfmmT4KLkyWYXEnD0-Pr_-AA3LRBEsXXOsfIqYZIhjtXziitVrE7LMpPPdjK3S-RfORsUsM3YLdTTSON3rFlF5vNKtavKmm7C3brfBBvUCnmGz_Jt8ohDq5URd8FvLdhIyQRHRCvTL6dIq5ywEG0WJ6zdf4IO/w537-h716/Climbing%20Week-19.jpg" width="537" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We then retraced our steps around to the front of the false summit and rapped down. After rapping off the false summit scrambled and rapped down 6 more following ridge and taking every station available. On the entire way down we felt 4 stations required fresh tat, the rest were good to go. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidebi9RC87arDhehLmi-ti-5XVsU7li_Z_E5xt428J_zZD9U8qeXXeyVmUSCC31Y5_e6Q6LrhyY_OxyGQBuQFTOrcs6EIuCJjsRHqG6so52jcIGRbCE1-_plJQ__eiLignpF2sUysulGWvNMzfEdaPQxZjYclvgDavoSR87qe9cjYBUMPbkf5Qruu_9FX6/s4000/20230801_144644.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="1848" height="1177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidebi9RC87arDhehLmi-ti-5XVsU7li_Z_E5xt428J_zZD9U8qeXXeyVmUSCC31Y5_e6Q6LrhyY_OxyGQBuQFTOrcs6EIuCJjsRHqG6so52jcIGRbCE1-_plJQ__eiLignpF2sUysulGWvNMzfEdaPQxZjYclvgDavoSR87qe9cjYBUMPbkf5Qruu_9FX6/w545-h1177/20230801_144644.jpg" width="545" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Paul and I then scrambled down to the final rap down the initial headwall. The day proved to be 10 1/2 hours and we made it back to the biv site at 4 pm. We had brought an extra supper just in case and given the hour, the last bus back to the ski hill being at 7:30 pm, the great weather and fantastic biv site Paul and I spent the late afternoon chilling in the glow of getting to the top. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowUX_XS3Vv3THZMpaQ9whlVoOlyBiKxu1NE2LRQwHbBy0qCVg3BOzxmtmDjNU77zFvI4P2WwfpJ_dCOloHUrUWboutzKBtmj5syqOeQW8bpxr_TgvaNPn1XamTSS6pdJpN7QzeRPfjy8Ixny5fUxqIE0D7hDIrxywDuCVjRaeOhA0adoeVZeqcWM-V3Ng/s4000/20230801_162500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1848" data-original-width="4000" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowUX_XS3Vv3THZMpaQ9whlVoOlyBiKxu1NE2LRQwHbBy0qCVg3BOzxmtmDjNU77zFvI4P2WwfpJ_dCOloHUrUWboutzKBtmj5syqOeQW8bpxr_TgvaNPn1XamTSS6pdJpN7QzeRPfjy8Ixny5fUxqIE0D7hDIrxywDuCVjRaeOhA0adoeVZeqcWM-V3Ng/w607-h281/20230801_162500.jpg" width="607" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Wednesday we set the alarm for 5:30 and got up to a slow breakfast in the biv sacks enjoying watching the sun come up, then and started moving at 6:30. We traversed left of the first band quite aways to gain an obvious scree slope up to the upper plateau. The inital traverse gets better as you go and the way is obvious, along with the ever present exposure. Above is the scramble around the summit of Neptuak which was fairly straight forward. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5OHgbkugJTLifIKFI2dKedm91u6gjhXBRFU5UqCxWEnLWyx1dGIX1ikwKr1E9drmzLBCNhlMelHnlCY3XKCxvtVzDOEskDIzie1Z1xKl_3gRbhFiPofB2EX4QT7JtkNdbeDGGaqf0uDuEp-eLDdMqGFy-zCsYVnJG1nVLMRxFTCnEGSNGHqqhMSnp6-q/s4000/20230802_052954.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1848" data-original-width="4000" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5OHgbkugJTLifIKFI2dKedm91u6gjhXBRFU5UqCxWEnLWyx1dGIX1ikwKr1E9drmzLBCNhlMelHnlCY3XKCxvtVzDOEskDIzie1Z1xKl_3gRbhFiPofB2EX4QT7JtkNdbeDGGaqf0uDuEp-eLDdMqGFy-zCsYVnJG1nVLMRxFTCnEGSNGHqqhMSnp6-q/w607-h281/20230802_052954.jpg" width="607" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once on top we traversed out on a ridge looking for the upper rap station at the top of the black band. There are several choices of ridge along the way but where the traffic goes is pretty obvious, just keep heading towards Wenchemna pass. Then 4 raps followed by a fair amount of down scrambling on questionable holds and significant exposure. Then on to the tedious scree/boulder descent to the top of the lower black band. Odd that this sectiton seemed easier going on the way up, fatigue may be part of the reason. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yju8uzfqwOKg-IElC5NUBTsA_RfKWSBAOBYmFACiS4vKmOfpAHOkxoNXEBIenNmKDVVrAYV3QJzm4O-l392_kuLLf9-bLtRniN11AcsogHT4nd5V5sNErR0a9uUSvFJ-EaLTSIvxq3-_Qnie6-Pd9Zf9aN_83GnIPBxqHFCwEm7j2pKhjh9n4TEm-hfj/s4000/20230802_075138.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="1848" height="976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yju8uzfqwOKg-IElC5NUBTsA_RfKWSBAOBYmFACiS4vKmOfpAHOkxoNXEBIenNmKDVVrAYV3QJzm4O-l392_kuLLf9-bLtRniN11AcsogHT4nd5V5sNErR0a9uUSvFJ-EaLTSIvxq3-_Qnie6-Pd9Zf9aN_83GnIPBxqHFCwEm7j2pKhjh9n4TEm-hfj/w451-h976/20230802_075138.jpg" width="451" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once on the lower ridge followed it along quite aways passing a questionable rap station to the very end. A bit of down climbing and cairn lead us to the upper rap station from the initial 5.6 pitch. Two raps down and we chose to use the lower of the two rap stations in the wall itself. The first rap down ends up being free hanging and I would have looked considerably more granceful had I clipped the pack to the rap line to stay upright. Once at the bottom and thankfully the ropes pulled, we traversed out to the ridgeline climbers left to where we stashed some gear on the way in. We arrived back at Wenchemna pass at 11:30 at the pass and changed to hiking mode, had some lunch and took it easy back to Moraine Lake arriving just before 3 and bus back to the car at the ski hill. The bus actually works out pretty well, departing both directions every 20 minutes.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTnJTG1weyMA7ECXJsG2roXLrVlgx8mifOU29orMMmo1Sad6xK3PLFzYpDl68k0fhEqZEiHJtdjNg9rQRW167uCCPAmKmzLbhmeUOb-LnBEk18jwWJTmsDdGOkrmMVvvmCsGDAdMm06h7Mh29owSs3kSkhdcC1VfVtm1BnXwfdXMn3shAKz_fiAowlzrw/s4000/20230802_135348.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1848" data-original-width="4000" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTnJTG1weyMA7ECXJsG2roXLrVlgx8mifOU29orMMmo1Sad6xK3PLFzYpDl68k0fhEqZEiHJtdjNg9rQRW167uCCPAmKmzLbhmeUOb-LnBEk18jwWJTmsDdGOkrmMVvvmCsGDAdMm06h7Mh29owSs3kSkhdcC1VfVtm1BnXwfdXMn3shAKz_fiAowlzrw/w633-h292/20230802_135348.jpg" width="633" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Great, great trip. I used all the skill sets I have and a few that are work in progress. Slow and steady, it was great to do it with a strong partner on the same page. Thanks for a great trip Paul, the highligh of the summer!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><br />Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-62583958502935255482023-05-23T14:22:00.005-06:002023-06-11T17:40:18.164-06:00The Haute Route 2023<p> </p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>The Haute Route, Chamonix to Zermatt April 2023</b></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 5 out of 5 stars. There are lots of alternative European traverses however the Haute Route certainly doesn't dissapoint. A tremendous experience with the huts, the skiing and the opportunity to bag some peaks. Obviously with a high traverse weather will make a big diffference.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDzWdhUpuFm5E4M1ufJSNJm6TOsXwLmEcbf7JgrZIdeD0v4cjLTXEPyPUqVbeCIpSGX4o1enCmrkpahwWYgb7qNXGI9nHgQVvtfJa0MEv72ZFKSNt2T1KDdbtm646QVKtUCf_aP1vbyHcHfv9fSpKjgnDJG4tfmgTSufrk9AWx25yZMHZldrAbLEUwg/s4032/PXL_20230421_060838637.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDzWdhUpuFm5E4M1ufJSNJm6TOsXwLmEcbf7JgrZIdeD0v4cjLTXEPyPUqVbeCIpSGX4o1enCmrkpahwWYgb7qNXGI9nHgQVvtfJa0MEv72ZFKSNt2T1KDdbtm646QVKtUCf_aP1vbyHcHfv9fSpKjgnDJG4tfmgTSufrk9AWx25yZMHZldrAbLEUwg/w494-h370/PXL_20230421_060838637.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mid April 2023, Paul, Chimene, Gary and I set off to
Chamonix to give the Haute Route a go self guided. None of us had much
experience ski touring in the European Alps and we were keen to give it an
attempt. We originally planned to leave a couple of weeks before however after
a dry snow year it proved to be in the middle of a rather large storm cycle with
high avalanche hazard and poor visibility, so we delayed the trip for 2 weeks.
In addition, we booked two weeks in Europe to have some flexibility in dates. I
was a bit of a late addition to the team and thus got out of most of the
organizing, thanks to Gary and Paul for doing most of the heavy lifting. We
landed in Geneva early on Wednesday April 12</span><sup style="font-family: arial;">th</sup><span style="font-family: arial;">, breathed a sigh of
relief on having all of our gear arrived and caught a prearranged shuttle to
Chamonix (thanks Paul) which was only a little more than an hour away. After a
day to get our legs under us, Fridays weather looked to be sunny with an added
bonus of 20 cm of fresh snow. We decided on the classic warm up and skied a
version of the Vallee Blanche which was a great introduction. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXQxDrzVyOy-WAZEsSK4QA6faonEebktqNq-BR7i_loOjBVYvA7WHMzz-ulSOd0E2hmgm0psvt3HvY-rF7rphLOu1bNzKJV0j_Ssn5hHAmQwS4LnJmnmFUyrmUCJh3ZmvFGCTxk3UVi1NlX6UmFmAnMikMSy2VQvTfvE3awLQBLbJSzyh0BNgD_DtwQ/s2048/IMG_7497.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXQxDrzVyOy-WAZEsSK4QA6faonEebktqNq-BR7i_loOjBVYvA7WHMzz-ulSOd0E2hmgm0psvt3HvY-rF7rphLOu1bNzKJV0j_Ssn5hHAmQwS4LnJmnmFUyrmUCJh3ZmvFGCTxk3UVi1NlX6UmFmAnMikMSy2VQvTfvE3awLQBLbJSzyh0BNgD_DtwQ/w468-h351/IMG_7497.jpeg" width="468" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal">The day started with
a delay due to the snow and a fantastic gondola ride up to the Aiguille du Midi
(3842 metres). We wandered around the viewing area and then took the airy hike
down to the start of skiing. The whole thing was a complete mind bend. Some
parties roped up for the hike however we were good with crampons and a firm
grasp on the rope alongside the trail. The skiing was darn good, and the day
ends with a cog train back to Chamonix. A great experience and had us all
chomping at the bit to get going on the haute route itself. Fortunately, a
weather window appeared to start on Sunday so we (by that I mean Gary and Paul)
changed, made, and cancelled hut reservations and were good to go.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ghf9eC5-RCFUnEEo7JZ17DdDqE1xqogiJXMSInsk7GliYIacAU-PX07wDoHRxDWsoMWVSKs_6aPr-6_86mKgbn-A4BicBoiFw4IZYY1JTZ2_AFeCxfHNytykw3GHG58UnWE8amXsElxrDXo1nf2nKUOOjz1RoW-U4hmJV6NZuqfGLkSqlhofTjMrJQ/s2048/IMG_7538.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ghf9eC5-RCFUnEEo7JZ17DdDqE1xqogiJXMSInsk7GliYIacAU-PX07wDoHRxDWsoMWVSKs_6aPr-6_86mKgbn-A4BicBoiFw4IZYY1JTZ2_AFeCxfHNytykw3GHG58UnWE8amXsElxrDXo1nf2nKUOOjz1RoW-U4hmJV6NZuqfGLkSqlhofTjMrJQ/w461-h346/IMG_7538.jpeg" width="461" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Sunday April 16<sup>th </sup>2023</p></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Paul sorted out the bus stop and we arrived at 7:30 am
however being Sunday it took a bit to get to the Grande Montet ski area. There
was about 20 cm of fresh snow on the hills which slowed things down a bit.
Apparently, the top lift burned down so we took the second gondola to the right,
the Bouchard Lift. We
got to the top right around 10 am and the weather was cool and windy enough I
ducked into the gondola station to dress up a bit. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4dLE8udCzpSzYGz_orSigobJBmtJeQtPiv3KAwsDYYWs8qgrHUt6kTEhF-9Y5DPAOeXUEKNe-kcl5We9BMw0sIIrusDL_RGrj_LXh3dbXG4hiSVJskq-c1uFM1Vu4EYZ5PT_wnlenkli75E5wbvvn0kiKWMXB8Ad9-sL02pFLGoVVLeaOiUsDb-kww/s2049/IMG_2580.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="1537" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4dLE8udCzpSzYGz_orSigobJBmtJeQtPiv3KAwsDYYWs8qgrHUt6kTEhF-9Y5DPAOeXUEKNe-kcl5We9BMw0sIIrusDL_RGrj_LXh3dbXG4hiSVJskq-c1uFM1Vu4EYZ5PT_wnlenkli75E5wbvvn0kiKWMXB8Ad9-sL02pFLGoVVLeaOiUsDb-kww/w331-h441/IMG_2580.jpeg" width="331" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Staying high skiers right and high as possible, around the
corner fairly quickly leads to an obvious spot to skin up. As we were skinning
up Paul met an old buddy Paul who happened to be a guide taking a crew up. Good
guy and provided a fair amount of beta. We were skiing up and further skiers
right at 10:30 and hit a bit of a col in ½ an hour with the Col de Passon
pretty much right in front. It was windy enough to duck behind the shack to
deskin. Some tracks were heading hard right however latter figured out those
must have been going to the Argentierre Hut. I traversed far right, and we had
some good snow however it would have been simpler and faster to descend
straight down from the col. We met guide Paul with two English clients Rob and
Joe at the bottom and stopped for a snack. About then it socked in and the 7 of
us went to the far side of the valley and worked skiers left to keep elevation
while the valley fell away. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk2Bx20m8IO_2TKU4sqUCDlMAPSS6maGdVlE9gRUhVuF5FiF8G2Pphsdfw88gZOVmYTSFWWZ2qKyXHOqbngCJGhtPDd9DFML5tInME4v7hToHTF8Dc54cfGNSnXHoQYLoFsr5Of2j4voaBblD4cM8Vof-WiDrmpuYoHu9P-zhbAmh3matnhh36djDoQ/s2048/IMG_7623%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk2Bx20m8IO_2TKU4sqUCDlMAPSS6maGdVlE9gRUhVuF5FiF8G2Pphsdfw88gZOVmYTSFWWZ2qKyXHOqbngCJGhtPDd9DFML5tInME4v7hToHTF8Dc54cfGNSnXHoQYLoFsr5Of2j4voaBblD4cM8Vof-WiDrmpuYoHu9P-zhbAmh3matnhh36djDoQ/w448-h336/IMG_7623%20(1).jpeg" width="448" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">1:00 pm put the skis on the pack for a short boot back
through a rock band. From here it’s roughly a 650-metre climb, guide Paul told
clients 3 hours which I thought was way too long however proved to be spot on.
The four of us then skinned up through the pea soup on a solid track with
voices around us. A couple of fast parties passed and higher up two parties
bailed and skied down which frankly worried me more than carrying on up. The
down skiers messed up the up track in a couple of spots and it took spreading
out to find the up track in the pea soup. Finally, the 100 metres of boot
packing became obvious and with a few parties ahead we plunged on. Great steps
in solid snow ending in scramble up a short rocky ridge, to avoid the
increasingly powdery snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was the
only one of our party without a helmet and about here I realized that was a bit
of an error on my part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point,
Paul the guide yelled up out of the thick mist below, “Go to the Albert
Premiere Hut!”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He evidently assumed it
would be cloudy at the col and beyond, in which case it would have been
problematic to find our way to the Trient Hut given the visibility and the time
of day. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHRp4mkpYxQJ8kLAY0qU9FE46mtabImpqqQqeiKzqOlBweABDWQZpszfUddvbUDL8tZaWwRzdxdErstjmC1bdjN7VbTMkNGOLR8cQS1ql8GARyYEFqZEXPTpmnEuH-0HoQ1_i2wbB5EE-s4XO2kjOIvf9vViJvLavV63UcxPLo7iL7GUV3XqOGDLr6Q/s2048/IMG_7627.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHRp4mkpYxQJ8kLAY0qU9FE46mtabImpqqQqeiKzqOlBweABDWQZpszfUddvbUDL8tZaWwRzdxdErstjmC1bdjN7VbTMkNGOLR8cQS1ql8GARyYEFqZEXPTpmnEuH-0HoQ1_i2wbB5EE-s4XO2kjOIvf9vViJvLavV63UcxPLo7iL7GUV3XqOGDLr6Q/w357-h476/IMG_7627.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We popped out at the top of the col at 4:00 pm to roughly 15 people on top and, happily,
much clearer skies ahead. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKwB7Pd69YDEAMolnRuH_sRyG1L_Cfc0YAM3XAFVWB9Ou3JKjrlQFmZgrGu2tXsrxedIpGDTqEuUj6aPmRp2XrFQcvn2nRhvnYRgMskg6UFSub5uaQqCP2ng2jo1RC8gSShC5ij7DMnsTVx3w-dJQVcz2kIBESsMvj6tffnscaseyM82DEklOzqj_BA/s2048/IMG_7630.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKwB7Pd69YDEAMolnRuH_sRyG1L_Cfc0YAM3XAFVWB9Ou3JKjrlQFmZgrGu2tXsrxedIpGDTqEuUj6aPmRp2XrFQcvn2nRhvnYRgMskg6UFSub5uaQqCP2ng2jo1RC8gSShC5ij7DMnsTVx3w-dJQVcz2kIBESsMvj6tffnscaseyM82DEklOzqj_BA/w457-h343/IMG_7630.jpeg" width="457" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">We met a French family that offered goat cheese and
pastry which was a delicious pick me up. We had reservations at the Trient Hut
however there was some discussion about going to the Albert Premier Hut which
would be a bit closer. The French family was heading to the Trient and gave us
great beta (although indicated it would be 2 hours which was a bit off) so, spirits
raised by blue skies ahead, we decided to carry on there. We were using Gaiai
along with public gpx tracks and had maps and compass for back up but basically
followed their tracks, catching up along the way. Great skiing on fresh powder
on the downs and good up tracks, mostly clear with some high cloud coming and
going. There were crevasses about however the track followed relatively benign terrain
so we left the ropes in the pack, although had harnesses on throughout the
tour. Beautiful terrain although the route isn’t terribly obvious. 7 pm saw us
approaching the fairly short Col de Tour which was great fun with skis on the
pack using crampons and ice axe. From there it was roughly 5 km of slightly
downhill and the Trient Hut (3170 metre elevation) was hidden to the right. A
short climb at the end of the day didn’t feel all that short and we arrived
just as the sun was getting low roughly 8:30 pm.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtghphi_hAxlz9voakr1OYz9Ck6G_AUjeSzKmiOtRvQ7zunY2kWUzdwLrOOqpy9a46r7LzHB5Gc8rhLFzZco4Sk0amBOBsveUTsQbO3B9c9kOczaPrPN2wrgA2lOXivxZekZLtO8vfSRo6wJdDP5763yeY57MvFfJP5H1ZqHP7YoglA-9aGPG1Xyw8hw/s2048/IMG_7668.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtghphi_hAxlz9voakr1OYz9Ck6G_AUjeSzKmiOtRvQ7zunY2kWUzdwLrOOqpy9a46r7LzHB5Gc8rhLFzZco4Sk0amBOBsveUTsQbO3B9c9kOczaPrPN2wrgA2lOXivxZekZLtO8vfSRo6wJdDP5763yeY57MvFfJP5H1ZqHP7YoglA-9aGPG1Xyw8hw/w345-h460/IMG_7668.jpeg" width="345" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The folks at the hut were very understanding of our late
entry and the place was probably only at 40% capacity with several teams
turning around. Best hut supper of the trip with all the soup, salad and all
the lasagne you could eat, with an apple tart for dessert. The hut is under
construction so no door on the rooms and the guy who runs it is a bit grumpy,
but we were still darn happy to be there. Everyone was able to leave gear on
the breakfast table and surrounding area but not much really dried out. We also
learned a valuable lesson in the morning as there was limited and shared meat, cheese and hot
water for thermoses and we were a bit slow and missed out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JF1cvINqui9OaBxCa3Wb_yl7DPNFLdc4jXDQfmhTeRrR2KUtvA1VbipCwVndY5_0P1XqC5UJRUE6ghSyzG3qfsvKiyqvdR0Pe2kjvTh9qFNgF3SEWD6posq-vLs6X-ta4_TlzgcyQ5jGCJWQ-zyswkFJLYBL1lXTji7h-zhs3ROBjwRlFwbyL190bw/s2049/IMG_2599.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2049" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JF1cvINqui9OaBxCa3Wb_yl7DPNFLdc4jXDQfmhTeRrR2KUtvA1VbipCwVndY5_0P1XqC5UJRUE6ghSyzG3qfsvKiyqvdR0Pe2kjvTh9qFNgF3SEWD6posq-vLs6X-ta4_TlzgcyQ5jGCJWQ-zyswkFJLYBL1lXTji7h-zhs3ROBjwRlFwbyL190bw/w483-h362/IMG_2599.jpeg" width="483" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Monday, April 17<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was 9.1km to Champex, most of it downhill. We were out
the door at 8:15 am in great visibility. The French family were going the same
way and were out the door before us, however the route is pretty
straightforward. There was a 15 minute ski down to the Col DesEcandes, which
was an obvious boot pack up on the right. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJc-jXVUwmU7p48yKKXeils5IPWuuYS3RX63gseYWLVsIpr6yEcE7lA7fNKTDx2az8KAmzN2kqkGvRiqaZS1Ig3rjRicuagogyb25AEoiAcVpDZ8fdDecPeUebZA97M9ei5-TuBkDkqb0JAqtkx3MU-kIzu-e9K2iNWWIV7HHseyCkkSIJvTrylUr1aA/s2048/IMG_2611.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJc-jXVUwmU7p48yKKXeils5IPWuuYS3RX63gseYWLVsIpr6yEcE7lA7fNKTDx2az8KAmzN2kqkGvRiqaZS1Ig3rjRicuagogyb25AEoiAcVpDZ8fdDecPeUebZA97M9ei5-TuBkDkqb0JAqtkx3MU-kIzu-e9K2iNWWIV7HHseyCkkSIJvTrylUr1aA/w448-h336/IMG_2611.jpeg" width="448" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was a little steeper than
yesterdays climbs however there was a rope to pull on should you feel the need
and it was good fun. I used the one pole, one ice axe and crampon technique and
managed to poke yet another hole in my ski pants. After the col, we enjoyed
several hundred metres of excellent boot top powder, followed by some
semi-suppoprtive crust then boilerplate as we hit treeline then descended into
the Champex ski hill and road. Along the way we passed a few parties skinning
up for a run. We got to the bottom at 10:15 and met the French family who were
once again great help. The next bus wasn’t until 1:00 pm so we walked the 10
minutes into town and stopped for tea and pastry’s part way. Luckily the bus
stop was right in front of a grocery store in town and across from public rest
rooms. Champex is a beautiful town although we were definitely in shoulder season.
We bought snacks at the grocery store and loaded up on water given the price
difference when it gets helicoptered into the huts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7Vpa4CSkPsdI0ac5Q7lCh9mn29OZQC_zt5qaMspanJSzRWz99wr2p3dFtjKl9mfXnTFdFlJYq0sdeFM74-rtwH6dAj1GNFtAtW94IzuCiir8g2V0WGp9IqBIGfj6iALBAtFirTDpnmuPHlApgX8NMWbQCYNJA14DNLXOkdFXJTMIP5qYu5q_Lq2FvA/s2048/IMG_7707.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="575" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7Vpa4CSkPsdI0ac5Q7lCh9mn29OZQC_zt5qaMspanJSzRWz99wr2p3dFtjKl9mfXnTFdFlJYq0sdeFM74-rtwH6dAj1GNFtAtW94IzuCiir8g2V0WGp9IqBIGfj6iALBAtFirTDpnmuPHlApgX8NMWbQCYNJA14DNLXOkdFXJTMIP5qYu5q_Lq2FvA/w431-h575/IMG_7707.jpeg" width="431" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>When the bus arrived (and took credit cards) it was a
glorious drive down to Orsieres where we were originally going to spend the
night. Gary had been lobbying hard to go to Verbier and spend the night at the
Cabane Mt Fort and it was a good call. We caught the first of two trains to La
Chable stop and right next to the station was the Verbier lift. We arrived at
the La Chable train station at roughly 3:00 pm and it struck me it would help
to have the schedules sorted out in advance to make sure you caught the last
lift up to the Hut. Using my modest, rusty French it took a few tries to get
the fact that 21 CHF would get you a single lift and lots of skinning up to the
hut or 52 CHF would get you to the Col des Gentiane and allow you to ski a
couple hundred metres of groomers down to the hut. Needless to say, we took
door #2 and arrived at Cabane du Fort at 4:30 pm. It’s a neat, well-run hut
that services lift skiers during the day and tourers overnight. It wasn’t
really busy, but we had a room for just the four of us and hot showers. The hut
was a little lower at 2457 metres, so the next day would be a bit more
climbing. We had supper with guide Paul and his two clients, they were leaving
very early the next morning to make it all the way to the Dix hut so that’s the
last we would see of them.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLok5YDqQvRfObFzwDbtB13FU-HTJSJQgWIQVBCOZfdN3HVrZ0h9GfJ8qC8r-k1JteDzqPfCpzmJ6U6VLccMdbP_i2kBOfIJJRGli8zuQiXcj3Ksa5ldWQeuDNCFWGOC_LcvSH2oQI7fwFkX3jg2VuC615KT2RBBP2-J3o35Zq9bFcSmzpTdTIpxXEQ/s2048/IMG_7711.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLok5YDqQvRfObFzwDbtB13FU-HTJSJQgWIQVBCOZfdN3HVrZ0h9GfJ8qC8r-k1JteDzqPfCpzmJ6U6VLccMdbP_i2kBOfIJJRGli8zuQiXcj3Ksa5ldWQeuDNCFWGOC_LcvSH2oQI7fwFkX3jg2VuC615KT2RBBP2-J3o35Zq9bFcSmzpTdTIpxXEQ/w410-h308/IMG_7711.jpeg" width="410" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tuesday, April 18<sup>th</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tuesday morning, we were out the door at 7:30 after a better
breakfast “experience” and I stuffed two pieces of bread from breakfast into my
pack as a bit of a lunch. The day starts off skinning up a groomed track that
almost goes all the way to the col. We were warned ski crampons might be
helpful for the last bit however at the end of the day they weren’t necessary.
We were amongst several parties on the ascent however by the time we hit the
col we had some space to ourselves (code for most parties passed us). As usual,
sun and a beautiful view greeting us as we transitioned for a short ski down.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBJ1epmeH4as7m5oZF2AEsMQHrGedxHkl8va--2hm6mQVN86wLLeEgC94TwIliE1eVvhgbOtj7vHRnjjngjz4YhNQOD7aAoO6gg31B6RHYtz5csjgFxQ3jYMcrhDNbIgnSUzkQvx2HfqqhMIGKhVdLGMkuhdEtCwxmQFXmrCVALlfNnn9SBsnpFJ6Iw/s2048/IMG_2640.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBJ1epmeH4as7m5oZF2AEsMQHrGedxHkl8va--2hm6mQVN86wLLeEgC94TwIliE1eVvhgbOtj7vHRnjjngjz4YhNQOD7aAoO6gg31B6RHYtz5csjgFxQ3jYMcrhDNbIgnSUzkQvx2HfqqhMIGKhVdLGMkuhdEtCwxmQFXmrCVALlfNnn9SBsnpFJ6Iw/w419-h314/IMG_2640.jpeg" width="419" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdn6KgZPoM2HmHyOZAc2qnAhg0QtTwOz9ieZsFD1WM8U6Hgz0cOXUW14_jChD3gPuMo7JxkyMf2SHY4_almKEBQwLC8PiYtOpw5VovV_bGzUTwtTKabdOAPIGfL5JifhZ88Oxf2e2CkROIHhQAdolFZvNLZTp0sb4dNyMMMpD2B1X6V1PsgZN0dRz0sA/s2048/IMG_7725.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdn6KgZPoM2HmHyOZAc2qnAhg0QtTwOz9ieZsFD1WM8U6Hgz0cOXUW14_jChD3gPuMo7JxkyMf2SHY4_almKEBQwLC8PiYtOpw5VovV_bGzUTwtTKabdOAPIGfL5JifhZ88Oxf2e2CkROIHhQAdolFZvNLZTp0sb4dNyMMMpD2B1X6V1PsgZN0dRz0sA/w428-h321/IMG_7725.jpeg" width="428" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>During the climb up to Rosablanche (3336 metres) on the way to the Prafleuri
hut, the sun came out in earnest, and it got hot. We all had ample sunscreen,
but I was envious when I noticed a couple of guides using zinc to protect their
nose and lips. It was possible to skin up to a col and leave our bags as it was
just roughly 20 metres of boot cramponing up to the peak. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65IEBd_LksLodGHevb7jcFpmJTdNW2_GN1kBwxykVdnCEzZiWDyEOlKggaXJkMBa6fjLOGbY9nG3rhZbudRdr4keb_ByBVgtwURw12M4G2Ijh2Qe8rqsHt7AOCY1XiCyI49djgjCoOFOiN82zn24Co4ZW5RmLzf6sVgrc4VA5Xn8-Z3tXq-SNEgQM4A/s2012/IMG_2651.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2012" data-original-width="1564" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65IEBd_LksLodGHevb7jcFpmJTdNW2_GN1kBwxykVdnCEzZiWDyEOlKggaXJkMBa6fjLOGbY9nG3rhZbudRdr4keb_ByBVgtwURw12M4G2Ijh2Qe8rqsHt7AOCY1XiCyI49djgjCoOFOiN82zn24Co4ZW5RmLzf6sVgrc4VA5Xn8-Z3tXq-SNEgQM4A/w313-h402/IMG_2651.jpeg" width="313" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Here we caught up to
a number of parties however here was lots of room for everyone. It’s not
necessary to climb Rosablanche (3336 metres) to get to the hut however it’s
only roughly an hour up and down from the top of the mandatory climb and if the
weather is good the views are fantastic! Skiing down to the hut, we were
fortunate to have some light powder that made the descent a lot of fun. We
arrived at the Prafleuri Hut (2647 metres) at 1:30 after a 11.2 km, 1033 metres
gained day at 1:30 pm for our first “proper” sunny deck haute route experience.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNCNpCwcoX0lxo12VlmW7h89_ZTgoN5kYIZQ9kKn9LKk8crOiKQPWTpLInrtBqPWNn8kgvBPNCiU3e9Mwr3vcGVK19uQZIbbi_R8RztGCAx5HTFs4wUNLHDFoYUiZman2EcdO8x1qVJMy-TSrFcsIpMvsyVOfHmJCxBfaGB2Hv5OiZnIAledsHVuj3mQ/s4032/PXL_20230418_115606652.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNCNpCwcoX0lxo12VlmW7h89_ZTgoN5kYIZQ9kKn9LKk8crOiKQPWTpLInrtBqPWNn8kgvBPNCiU3e9Mwr3vcGVK19uQZIbbi_R8RztGCAx5HTFs4wUNLHDFoYUiZman2EcdO8x1qVJMy-TSrFcsIpMvsyVOfHmJCxBfaGB2Hv5OiZnIAledsHVuj3mQ/w434-h326/PXL_20230418_115606652.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcC553S8PodC84Mmv1eP6JWHw4ce4rvZpjIq55CcU5nuDgEEJlKBDnBvsGze8B2CI64pnVcuyfQLM-VjuMMDcOzDWEhpEVk9fN-u7lACz9q-xmez0wjxfnrrcARr5GAgqzqQYUkdmWo5ZNc-AntFiwVPe4U1l2sFsgJVKw_2IeZy2cxAwEnoKeuOcxRw/s4032/IMG_0528.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcC553S8PodC84Mmv1eP6JWHw4ce4rvZpjIq55CcU5nuDgEEJlKBDnBvsGze8B2CI64pnVcuyfQLM-VjuMMDcOzDWEhpEVk9fN-u7lACz9q-xmez0wjxfnrrcARr5GAgqzqQYUkdmWo5ZNc-AntFiwVPe4U1l2sFsgJVKw_2IeZy2cxAwEnoKeuOcxRw/w433-h325/IMG_0528.jpeg" width="433" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Prafleuri Hut is a private hut, so our Austrian Alpine
Club membership didn’t get us a discount, however it was my favourite hut. Very
well organized, lockers for gear once they were dried out in the sun, plentiful
wifi and we had a room for just the four of us. It was also our first rosti and
beer on the deck in the sun which was a great way to celebrate being in the
European mountains (as opposed to cliff bars in a snowbank back in Canada). We
were a bit slow to realize we had to get going earlier in the day however the
pattern was set for the next couple of huts, roughly 6-hour ski days followed
by rosti and beer, followed by an afternoon nap, 6:30 for supper and early to
bed. It was here that we started to meet people who would be carrying on to Dix
and Vignette huts on the same schedule as us; an American couple, a group of Spanish
(sorry Catalans) in their skimo gear and a smattering of English. We shared a
table for supper with a French group that included someone who booked the haute
route for a travel agency and had to check it out for himself, nice job! Supper
was simple but abundant and seconds were available for the asking.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXJ4thrcesPNX8fnsY1On2DnNyoT-KR03QidG2XpggQxoOpBYLr92Pp4xrEiz6poN8tCPUy1THPn71L5tW1Osxez3wJAlhDbkc6TsoBR_ik5Is42fhsMv3PTXUY0fIoo0wWt_bdLu4HreU71tvTafuYeIJ7tTCBf_LIDw88Vzyc9CeyKly2sEODv4iQ/s2048/IMG_7776.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXJ4thrcesPNX8fnsY1On2DnNyoT-KR03QidG2XpggQxoOpBYLr92Pp4xrEiz6poN8tCPUy1THPn71L5tW1Osxez3wJAlhDbkc6TsoBR_ik5Is42fhsMv3PTXUY0fIoo0wWt_bdLu4HreU71tvTafuYeIJ7tTCBf_LIDw88Vzyc9CeyKly2sEODv4iQ/w415-h312/IMG_7776.jpeg" width="415" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">As with all the huts, crocs are readily available. I brought
a super lightweight pair of socks for hut wear along with a cotton t-shirt and
light weight pants however not everyone did, and it became evident that we (or
I rather) packed heavier than the average European, especially those on guided
trips. Personal choice, Gary and I also had a cheap and lightweight pair of
shoes ($15 Walmart specials) at the bottom of our pack for Zermatt (and we
thought Orsieres at the outset). I sure appreciated them in Zermatt as we
didn’t forward any gear however the other half of our team was fine strolling
around in ski boots, once again personal choice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Wednesday, April 19<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPz2e4G3AZ3lcxztuTDPugnIpk6ZQLqPO6_w_ImyOOvK532XbZjZrSyv_G6vS3uyMf44T118BoMstv82_f4ALWUqV09cctqyBGsBNK9MpJ6T4TdmPTHONRoH8lKCGxhM-aSdW_fO5JkGs3te40-N5Shq2yfl6ihtIKa2BeIn8CwGsOuqfPP_Dha3vI7A/s2048/IMG_7794.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPz2e4G3AZ3lcxztuTDPugnIpk6ZQLqPO6_w_ImyOOvK532XbZjZrSyv_G6vS3uyMf44T118BoMstv82_f4ALWUqV09cctqyBGsBNK9MpJ6T4TdmPTHONRoH8lKCGxhM-aSdW_fO5JkGs3te40-N5Shq2yfl6ihtIKa2BeIn8CwGsOuqfPP_Dha3vI7A/w328-h438/IMG_7794.jpeg" width="328" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><sup><br /></sup></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once again out the door at roughly 7:30 am, moving to the
Dix Hut. As is often the case, the day started with a roughly 200 metre climb
to a spectacular col that we could see most of the rest of the route from. One
of the advantages of the Haute Route is we didn’t do much trail breaking and the
climbs were solid. Once we had climbed the col, the beta we had was to stay as
high as possible traversing above the lake. My sense is that this was good
advice, though condition dependent, and there were some teams that descended
further including the Spaniards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot
of the time the down was more physically demanding than the up, as we initially
(and gingerly) crossed several hard frozen soft snow avalanches that had come
down the previous day from the steep gullies above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point we were passed by a guided
English party that weren’t all that strong on their skis and were using a ton
of energy getting around. We did traverse some big country on the high route. I
wouldn’t want to do this portion much later in the day on a sunny day. We chose
to skin up at a bit of a col as the track continued to traverse to the start of
the climbing in earnest and afterwards realized we would have been better to
skin up at the bottom of the steeper climbing. The track up started with a
steeper section of 30 metres but then kicked back a bit for a pleasant climb up
to the hut. Except for the heat, we baked on the way up and all of us got a bit
sluggish. This is where we realized we need to get going earlier in the
day. There’s a bit of a steeper climb on the last bit to the hut that was
southwest facing, and it was pretty sloppy as we made our way. In the end it
was an 11.8km, 685 metre day and if I remember correctly, we spent 5 ½ hours on
skis, what I’d call a “pleasant” day if it wasn’t for the heat.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DidQLFsWVUnOhJLa2zA0mT9pmtgWHhwF_XLSTUlxXhJ5aqAdTRZ6f0RHu4aP1YnVv50WsD4g9yn8YLHkAtJBxEV5Momd6Em_G4UC6BMxxOvEK5v9EuwB__Npj87P5V-AauSARM0I_zY1WScp-dOc5ToS4BiEWImEAzAdpHO-4fKqStdC5-O74O6DlA/s2048/IMG_7828%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DidQLFsWVUnOhJLa2zA0mT9pmtgWHhwF_XLSTUlxXhJ5aqAdTRZ6f0RHu4aP1YnVv50WsD4g9yn8YLHkAtJBxEV5Momd6Em_G4UC6BMxxOvEK5v9EuwB__Npj87P5V-AauSARM0I_zY1WScp-dOc5ToS4BiEWImEAzAdpHO-4fKqStdC5-O74O6DlA/w406-h305/IMG_7828%20(1).jpeg" width="406" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Having said that the Dix Hut (2928 metres) was in a
spectacular setting. A little bigger than the Praflueri but well organized with
wifi and a great deck for the Rosti and beer while gear dried in the sun. There
weren’t any lockers however lots of bins to organize gear. We had a great chat
with a couple of Germans that were doing a short 3-day tour from Arolla and met
several teams that spent two night at Dix and climbed some of the surrounding
peaks. After a nap we shared our supper table with an Austrian guided party.
Gary wowed the ladies with his German, until he didn’t and it got a bit quiet.
Hmm. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgRvcyysKmMu_5NHua4BaX_2TbN4WmKPRBMb33O9ftsH-eWPutQYZgvjy01tPic62-nl97z1tqdzIfFb6dP9QcHyJxT31QI2P73lMn5ITxjU7PcnqtWqozYuvYZZbMTglLMPyXx46G9tyDPdE0FHSAjJdf1MNXTGxsJ0tIj7ShHxU4ujs7TBjFLxAkA/s2049/IMG_2666.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2049" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgRvcyysKmMu_5NHua4BaX_2TbN4WmKPRBMb33O9ftsH-eWPutQYZgvjy01tPic62-nl97z1tqdzIfFb6dP9QcHyJxT31QI2P73lMn5ITxjU7PcnqtWqozYuvYZZbMTglLMPyXx46G9tyDPdE0FHSAjJdf1MNXTGxsJ0tIj7ShHxU4ujs7TBjFLxAkA/w426-h320/IMG_2666.jpeg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Supper was typical hearty fare of sausage, potatoes, and
salad and lots to eat including desert. As with all of the huts, credit cards
were accepted, and you usually pay in the evening after supper. I was
originally a bit concerned about continental breakfasts not being big enough in
the mornings and some of us bought bars from home (and bought Mars bars at the
huts) however there was usually all the bread and jam you could eat and muesli
or porridge. Given the not huge days and Rosti’s early afternoon we didn’t go
hungry, although I was one of the ones that always had a Mars bar in my bag for
emergency munchies. We shared a bunk room (with our group name on masking tape
in front of our bunks) however with everyone in the same boat it was
surprisingly quiet. Before the trip some of us who are part of the enlarged
prostate club were a bit concerned about hitting the toilet in the middle of
the night and considered bringing a pee bottle. In the end it wasn’t necessary
although in this hut in particular a run to the washroom in the middle of the
night involved descending 3 flights of stairs with blinding lights coming on as
you got close to them. Water for hand washing was sparse in the last three huts
of the trip. One hut had bottles of melted water, one had a dribble of water
next to a bottle of hand sanitizer and one had very little of anything. I
didn’t bring any hand sanitizer, but a small bottle might not be a bad idea.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thursday, April 20<sup>th</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We finally got the picture and were up at 5:00 am and would
have been out the door quite efficiently except the weather started to change.
If the weather is good the plan was to go over the top on the way to the
Vignette Hut with possible bagging the Pigne d’Arolla which at 3,796 metres
would be a feather in our cap. The descent to the Vignette hut is a bit gnarly
and the scene of a fairly significant accident. I was originally of the damn
the torpedoes let’s give it a go mentality however Paul proved to be the voice
of reason as there was a fun and safer route going down through the Pas de
Chevre and around the bottom towards Arolla and up. In the end, after my
morning constitutional, we agreed with Paul. I found an interested picture of
the choice on fatmap: </span><a href="https://fatmap.com/routeid/23526/dix-hut-to-vignettes-hut" style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://fatmap.com/routeid/23526/dix-hut-to-vignettes-hut</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpiiK7zqB2IqrOP4LeuVOvRUOr-a7Q5RecOLRqtwfWW5SJSNQYCjRLV6s4RrixLX6S_ivvw4MWYUWpYaPindiTg00MqJwpPs4R1fEvwCQGQBYQ-JbOT3Q7Ovu713vzeuDn9AwY1jXgDjy_ZwhDS9d6a28NXXduSIe0NRf9vaS9fKiojaQmI4JbbrSow/s2048/IMG_7830.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpiiK7zqB2IqrOP4LeuVOvRUOr-a7Q5RecOLRqtwfWW5SJSNQYCjRLV6s4RrixLX6S_ivvw4MWYUWpYaPindiTg00MqJwpPs4R1fEvwCQGQBYQ-JbOT3Q7Ovu713vzeuDn9AwY1jXgDjy_ZwhDS9d6a28NXXduSIe0NRf9vaS9fKiojaQmI4JbbrSow/w396-h297/IMG_7830.jpeg" width="396" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">After the discussion we were out the door at 6:30 for a ski
down and across to the start of the Pas de Chevre. Some parties went up and
over and a number followed us and given I didn’t have a helmet and there is a
snow with a bit of ice to climb up to the ladders I was keen to be ahead of the
crowd. The climb up to the ladders was straight forward with crampons and an
axe. I debated taking the crampons off for the ladders but left them on and
that was the right call as there was some icy snow at the top to navigate.
Great fun and beautiful views down to Arolla from the top, where we arrived at
8 am. Shortly thereafter joined by the two Germans and the Spanish team among
others.</span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdfZcpOgN8h8O_l4dhKUP3SiZLenRlI-fl0h1YwV6IeoHRdhXE4NnkZJk1IHJnGCV2PadMoytKzmd6S1qGe2yUTxjGvq6hjP0LiFJk37JDvnomWf5tLQ-m5jiu1_mha6EAwXy4RNSRYoueFFs62FKm2EvynQkLgW5t3yudYz2xZptcSJ7aVLcpYim7yg/s3585/IMG_0580.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2751" data-original-width="3585" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdfZcpOgN8h8O_l4dhKUP3SiZLenRlI-fl0h1YwV6IeoHRdhXE4NnkZJk1IHJnGCV2PadMoytKzmd6S1qGe2yUTxjGvq6hjP0LiFJk37JDvnomWf5tLQ-m5jiu1_mha6EAwXy4RNSRYoueFFs62FKm2EvynQkLgW5t3yudYz2xZptcSJ7aVLcpYim7yg/w392-h301/IMG_0580.jpeg" width="392" /></a></div><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">The ski down was very s</span><span style="font-family: arial;">traight forward as you could see the
uppermost ski lift and a groomed road to the right of it. Once on the road
there was an obvious track up the moraine with the choice of taking it or
carrying on down the road further to get around the moraine. We went past the
track up the moraine before stopping for a debate and then heading back to it.
As we were heading back the Spanish team passed us having made the opposite
decision. Our way stayed high and traversed two moraines and a large slope
before joining the other uptrack. The Spanish mentioned they skied to the
bottom of the moraine and then boot packed for 100 metres to find an easier way
up. Their way was likely faster, ours was more adventurous although we did
traverse some big slopes so if it was later in the day and/or bright and sunny
I’d take the lower way.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The majority of
the guided parties took the low route around the bottom of the moraine, likely
because it was faster and easier. The higher route that we took does require
some comfort with exposure.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGJUkyRrBlteDHduzhxv9c8nHdOL6pfq_Z3nTJmTg78cZZqB1ld0gu1WSnqFtUrgg1_i5j_9J81DLD-sgMJHirgDsVS7k-q2U5IBcfIynfmR6yv-M-V82DZmOOmg5rew4Z67F8YdoerOTYaY3RzKfD5Iz_EMt66TwYyrYGys19qQVIaeVsjaXx63Pxg/s4032/IMG_0583.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGJUkyRrBlteDHduzhxv9c8nHdOL6pfq_Z3nTJmTg78cZZqB1ld0gu1WSnqFtUrgg1_i5j_9J81DLD-sgMJHirgDsVS7k-q2U5IBcfIynfmR6yv-M-V82DZmOOmg5rew4Z67F8YdoerOTYaY3RzKfD5Iz_EMt66TwYyrYGys19qQVIaeVsjaXx63Pxg/w429-h322/IMG_0583.jpeg" width="429" /></a></div><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We joined the Spaniards up track at 11:00 am by a little
shack and sign where two Englishmen were having a cup of tea and a snack which
sounded like a good idea. We stopped to chat, and two guided parties caught up
having taken the lower way. We all climbed up together, 2 hours to the hut from
this point and part way up the weather that had been building since mid morning
caught up to us. The weather socked in, with some precip and high winds.
Fortunately, the way was pretty straight forward up the valley and a steeper
pitch trending right at the top. Following the cast of thousands didn’t hurt
either.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS04eovXyY5ctuG7fmor80-NsUk-w2nNxh-bcGFKyzbPEWHuFv5go6wDBUxF_gIGScsuJAqBn3HCejBfsXRs3F3ejcLQ7qylCIyS27VWiwGFqhX6ulynE7xL1g-EzbieGQYsExTqjf4mCcLcz1zYCRzQiY7Gw31dx3CruHRX0HCqbXqh0iCWw08OWv2Q/s2049/IMG_7868.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2049" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS04eovXyY5ctuG7fmor80-NsUk-w2nNxh-bcGFKyzbPEWHuFv5go6wDBUxF_gIGScsuJAqBn3HCejBfsXRs3F3ejcLQ7qylCIyS27VWiwGFqhX6ulynE7xL1g-EzbieGQYsExTqjf4mCcLcz1zYCRzQiY7Gw31dx3CruHRX0HCqbXqh0iCWw08OWv2Q/w407-h305/IMG_7868.jpeg" width="407" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We entered the Cabane des Vignettes (3157 metres) at 1 pm in
the middle of a bit of a storm and it was a different experience. When full it
sleeps 120 people and my sense it was close to capacity. As you can imagine a
lot of gear spread about the entrance, ski room and drying room. Big and busy
although well organized. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaPLVZ88OlD2tIWBmqn4mQtz1b6ww1-vO7rn7mW8j-gO877wXSKy1l-yPO7bCoogJfO1KsSQa1GAjGTkqg48Zit_1vGjPm_kx9i8Cf_V4YeiPsYyXce8593EfDlRx5tcCPUEGc28UmPFXbckMirK_0MtFGPoVheczLyXKIqBwxe0oS85_RG0bht781A/s4032/PXL_20230420_142946486.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaPLVZ88OlD2tIWBmqn4mQtz1b6ww1-vO7rn7mW8j-gO877wXSKy1l-yPO7bCoogJfO1KsSQa1GAjGTkqg48Zit_1vGjPm_kx9i8Cf_V4YeiPsYyXce8593EfDlRx5tcCPUEGc28UmPFXbckMirK_0MtFGPoVheczLyXKIqBwxe0oS85_RG0bht781A/w368-h491/PXL_20230420_142946486.jpg" width="368" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We were forced to take our rosti and beer in the
dining room and there were signs which party was at which table. While eating
Rosti and drinking beer we could look out the window and see a group camping in
the snow across the way. The bunk room was comfortable, although there’s no
wifi (at the hut you could probably use it the most) and no real way to wash
your hands in the toilets. Given the weather and the need for visibility if
heading down to Zermatt by the Matterhorn the forecast was the point of much
discussion throughout the hut. Given all the various conflicting weather
reports gained by talking to people we enjoyed supper and set the alarm for 5
am prepared to make the best of whatever weather presented itself.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYo_3kbHH3t4E0r22CZJ2Zeve296diJRNQhdXlUaNSSN7SIxo0KGsBEEnvVZkCHP1pFJ4p-wuh7u51brwyEYJMNdGbsslD6p7WyTpFU-gbbw9i4dqvHeImc1R-ilNPC2CusxT6eujVoLDkloZrlEfBANHiGtRdjZlPuB28wVneTtm2hZz4snYno6nxQ/s2048/IMG_7882.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYo_3kbHH3t4E0r22CZJ2Zeve296diJRNQhdXlUaNSSN7SIxo0KGsBEEnvVZkCHP1pFJ4p-wuh7u51brwyEYJMNdGbsslD6p7WyTpFU-gbbw9i4dqvHeImc1R-ilNPC2CusxT6eujVoLDkloZrlEfBANHiGtRdjZlPuB28wVneTtm2hZz4snYno6nxQ/w395-h296/IMG_7882.jpeg" width="395" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Friday, April 21</span><sup style="font-family: arial;">st</sup><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Up at 5:00 am and the day started out just as I feared,
fairly socked in and stormy. We ate breakfast and discussed the day. Our beta
was to expect a 10 hour day to Zermatt, with 2 ½ hours to the first col after
which an alternative route to Arolla could be taken if it didn’t look good
ahead and at the second col 2 ½ hours after the first a where a hard go/no go
decision had to be made. Our plan A was, of course, Zermatt, plan B was to get
over the first col and take a longer, more interesting way down to Arolla and
Plan C was to bail to Arolla pretty much following the second half of our climb
to the hut the day before. Two early guided parties headed out into the murk
however it looked to be getting worse, so we chose plan C and bailed back to
Arolla. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvTTRyDNtmFbY43-XE8UMBqlYiIGdBhcitoWCMNCtR0Kzyljljw2mdg4PVeVzWwoIxc5yXIckF9gZge8LRJbp2vVqBRdUHTRUolWex8PQRP-L3_rp3W2aIgh0It1hPzL5oba-gB2kxY4dwJpStFsr7wLag88qQoLl_estIKaa8Io6V6OmjmkUCX2y-w/s4032/PXL_20230421_044228452.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvTTRyDNtmFbY43-XE8UMBqlYiIGdBhcitoWCMNCtR0Kzyljljw2mdg4PVeVzWwoIxc5yXIckF9gZge8LRJbp2vVqBRdUHTRUolWex8PQRP-L3_rp3W2aIgh0It1hPzL5oba-gB2kxY4dwJpStFsr7wLag88qQoLl_estIKaa8Io6V6OmjmkUCX2y-w/w396-h297/PXL_20230421_044228452.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The new snow was pretty sweet up high, however the viz was poor and we
primarily survival skied down. Lower the viz improved and the snow quality got
worse as expected. We arrived in Arolla at 9:30 am pretty much in the middle of
a couple of guided parties. Fortunately, there was a bus stop close by (the
first one not to take credit cards) that took us to Sion where we boarded the
first of two trains to Zermatt. Pretty much the first stop on the second cog
train we had problems with the train. It looked to me that they booted out the
passengers of another train, as it wasn’t very crowded, and shipped them to
wherever they were going by bus and gave us their train. Packed to the gunnels
and resulted in a 1-hour delay. We expected to see a story on the BBC given it
was the Swiss trains not performing but nothing appeared to come of it. Still a
very cool trip up to Zermatt where we arrived at 1 pm and after a walk to our
AirBnB hit a pub to celebrate. Not the perfect ending but still a fantastic
trip. Interestingly, in talking to a guide a couple of nights later, he
indicated that he preferred booking Albert Premier, Mont Fort, Prafleuri, Dix,
Vignette and Bertol huts to give the best chance of success. I’d agree with his
assessment as long as you’ve figured out the timing of transportation from
Champex to Verbier before last lift to make it to Cabane Mont Fort. We talked
to a coupe of parties that added in the Bertol Hut to make the last day into
Zermatt shorter and easier terrain wise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhflzmIRIlzi0RAIJ_0SMVLnDyqix4EjJF-JYxL43lEVj301SSDCL15eS-VWPpRvR8Yy25iDYXLfC-shR01JzafaxyXCsYggUsnFtBUNRaJePF7-bL0YUCajRFD8EdKx0ziUM0vqeMxL8U-TCVMO3OOjMi5vTuWW7BkSqGvpjG1A4iCMYhT8Nxw3mPQ/s2048/IMG_7904.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhflzmIRIlzi0RAIJ_0SMVLnDyqix4EjJF-JYxL43lEVj301SSDCL15eS-VWPpRvR8Yy25iDYXLfC-shR01JzafaxyXCsYggUsnFtBUNRaJePF7-bL0YUCajRFD8EdKx0ziUM0vqeMxL8U-TCVMO3OOjMi5vTuWW7BkSqGvpjG1A4iCMYhT8Nxw3mPQ/w363-h484/IMG_7904.jpeg" width="363" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our original plan was to carry on and ski to other huts in
the area, thus we didn’t forward any gear to Zermatt. Unfortunately, Chimene
came down with a bit of a nasty cold, so we stayed in Zermatt for three more
days. Frankly, I think we were all happy staying in a swish AirBnB in the
middle of Zermatt for pretty much the same price as a mountain hut. We had two
good weather days and passed them by taking the lifts up to the Klein Matterhorn
(little Matterhorn) at 3883 metres and bagging peaks. Day 1 we skied most of
the way up the Breithorn (4164 metres), and then put the boot crampons on for
an airy ridge walk. It was pretty socked in but from time to time you got a
view down to the valley floor resulting in a little more focus on good foot
work. The second good weather day we climbed Pollux (4092 metres) which is more
of a rock and snow route. An absolute blast with chains in place on the harder
sections. One of the highlights of these days was to ski down from the area of
the Klein Matterhorn on groomed trails right down into Zermatt which given its
1600 metres is a heck of a run. The last day was a bit late, and we started to
ski down at 7 pm only to find the vast majority of the way down had just been
groomed. Pretty sweet and a definitely bit mind blowing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSes-mdqRa-HHUWvwubOaarF6GAOjid0e7DmZ0cTdFcl29Li7aZP4xWCNWJJJdEQTrk-qZF-71BwzfOUjuIweBtmfdqOvQpm5hlo8q9ji3lNkldyBEIiZif6fyV371oGA5-Ey4tkAXQg1eBTaVBfsZPuvBtNevWrr6Sd0H4hsboCx3Mpq1VPWDK3Oggw/s2049/IMG_2771.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2049" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSes-mdqRa-HHUWvwubOaarF6GAOjid0e7DmZ0cTdFcl29Li7aZP4xWCNWJJJdEQTrk-qZF-71BwzfOUjuIweBtmfdqOvQpm5hlo8q9ji3lNkldyBEIiZif6fyV371oGA5-Ey4tkAXQg1eBTaVBfsZPuvBtNevWrr6Sd0H4hsboCx3Mpq1VPWDK3Oggw/w423-h318/IMG_2771.jpeg" width="423" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">A heck of a trip and many thanks to Paul, Chimene and Gary
for making it so!</span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p></div>Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-12335632693034830932020-08-11T21:50:00.000-06:002020-08-11T21:50:07.883-06:00Watermelon Peak 2020<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thu/Fri July 30th/31st, 2020 Watermelon Peak, 3094 metres</b><br /><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"></div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. The climb itself was interesting enough to be enjoyable, capped with a few airy moves on the traverse to the summit block. Alice Lake makes for a beautiful biv site and you are unlikely to run into too many people once out of the Dolomite drainage. Early season made for easy work on the snow vs rubble.</span><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6iTpca3ATK0/XybfzPYvjUI/AAAAAAAAaio/iyZh0HWAnfkw4ETUwIMhuFcZM7XgTal8wCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200730_151056.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6iTpca3ATK0/XybfzPYvjUI/AAAAAAAAaio/iyZh0HWAnfkw4ETUwIMhuFcZM7XgTal8wCPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200730_151056.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">An odd year and with the heat and lots of snow up high, this was plan B but it worked out to be a great couple of days.</span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;">We chose to approach Alice Lake from Helen Creek and left the car 9:30 am, a great alternative to the nearby Helen Lake trail - more direct for our purposes and definitely no crowds. We didn't see anyone until Katherine Lake.</span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pkw42sRzeJM/Xybgbxl3wfI/AAAAAAAAaiw/AaQ_oL0MaG4H8fklBzeYb_53zntlZc26wCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200730_101504.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pkw42sRzeJM/Xybgbxl3wfI/AAAAAAAAaiw/AaQ_oL0MaG4H8fklBzeYb_53zntlZc26wCPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200730_101504.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;">We stopped at one of the lake just past Katherine lake for a snack and a quick swim. One other party of day trippers were enjoying the lake and we watched two park warden's (I assume) on horseback trailing a pack horse each. My guess is that they were on their way to Lake Isabella, a pretty iconic thing to see in the back country.</span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZTKSPubVFh8/XybvOEm04rI/AAAAAAAAai8/Zb7Glo1xDTIOazb13zRcqqiUuAaiK9L1gCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200730_122711.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZTKSPubVFh8/XybvOEm04rI/AAAAAAAAai8/Zb7Glo1xDTIOazb13zRcqqiUuAaiK9L1gCPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200730_122711.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;">After dropping down into the Dolomite drainage we crossed the creek 3 times, which was 2 times more than necessary and did take a little extra time switching to flip flops and back to boots. After heading north on the main trail we broke to the east to climb the humps up and over to Lake Alice.</span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8xO3CQFcI7k/XybvvBCT50I/AAAAAAAAajE/ui0vNGv9qaIqrOhmzmv6oBCO49S6SRtvwCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200730_132855.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8xO3CQFcI7k/XybvvBCT50I/AAAAAAAAajE/ui0vNGv9qaIqrOhmzmv6oBCO49S6SRtvwCPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200730_132855.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end it was 6 hours to Alice Lake at a very easy pace and given the weather we chose to enjoy the beautiful afternoon and climb in the morning. It was warm enough to hang around in shirt sleeves and go for a swim or two. There was just enough wind to keep the bugs at bay for most of the evening.</span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zxSZEN3zwmk/XybwXWiH8_I/AAAAAAAAajQ/LxPOB1UFnKgGCDMZHX9NzL0oBRwwQ41fACPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200731_085352.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zxSZEN3zwmk/XybwXWiH8_I/AAAAAAAAajQ/LxPOB1UFnKgGCDMZHX9NzL0oBRwwQ41fACPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200731_085352.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Next morning up and on the road at 9:30, a leisurely start. You can't really see the route from camp but once through the boulder field it becomes pretty evident. We took the ridge on the climbers left of the small glacier and avoided it altogether. Afterwards enjoyed snow slopes all the way to shortly before the false summit.</span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSgUGsj8imE/XzNlKQIe--I/AAAAAAAAamk/v1vajC9g6CghEcVIzKlfGhqPvSVG3wcIQCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200731_091141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSgUGsj8imE/XzNlKQIe--I/AAAAAAAAamk/v1vajC9g6CghEcVIzKlfGhqPvSVG3wcIQCPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200731_091141.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">False summit to real involved a bit of an airy ridge walk (1 pepper by SM's measurement) and straightforward ascent using snow patches where possible, up in 2 1/2 hours. Enjoyed 1/2 hour on summit in shirt sleeves. Not a lot of activity in the summit register, we were first party of 2020 and only 3 parties in 2019. Great views in all directions, lucky enough to have a blue bird.</span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9PNmXQXwm18/XzNlcwUv9_I/AAAAAAAAams/B961oBSNQKYHO2ILpRvcuOx9hV1ngSKiACPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200731_120011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9PNmXQXwm18/XzNlcwUv9_I/AAAAAAAAams/B961oBSNQKYHO2ILpRvcuOx9hV1ngSKiACPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200731_120011.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dMU3jTjrdBY/XzNlhpcxhdI/AAAAAAAAamw/njCfziLDh_MdvyTvJhztzyyyNvhWuYSmACPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200731_122541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dMU3jTjrdBY/XzNlhpcxhdI/AAAAAAAAamw/njCfziLDh_MdvyTvJhztzyyyNvhWuYSmACPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200731_122541.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2 hours down largely following our footsteps. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b2OYuTaXvlg/XzNlx_pcQ3I/AAAAAAAAam0/7bYD71aM85MWZ5gDYnpPD-gO3_XGJZR5QCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200731_125755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b2OYuTaXvlg/XzNlx_pcQ3I/AAAAAAAAam0/7bYD71aM85MWZ5gDYnpPD-gO3_XGJZR5QCPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200731_125755.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sara Mae and I hung out in camp for an hour having some itchy ban and a swim. Decided on an alternative out and gained a large bench to the east of Cirque Peak and followed it North, made the col overlooking the highway at 2700 metres in 3 hours, another 2 1/2 hours down finding our way down cliff bands and eventually finding an old trail in the bush. Hit the highway and walked down to Bow Lake to hitch a ride back, not tough even in these COVID times.</span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q2ah7I-q1Ys/XzNl6-nr55I/AAAAAAAAam8/E13IYrFg1M0dM3qtXNjkR6wfYwcuAzrqACPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200731_163316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q2ah7I-q1Ys/XzNl6-nr55I/AAAAAAAAam8/E13IYrFg1M0dM3qtXNjkR6wfYwcuAzrqACPcBGAsYHg/s640/IMG_20200731_163316.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="color: black; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Good times!</span></div>Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-48180094425903776492020-04-06T15:13:00.001-06:002020-04-10T21:57:06.244-06:00Ski Touring in Georgia, the land of 1000 kick turns 2020<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skiing the Georgian Caucasus, March 1st to 9th 2020</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were an diverse group that piled into a minivan in Tiblisi, Georgia headed for the hills. 3 Americans, an Americanized Canadian living in Europe, a German living in the US and 2 Canadians with all pretty much living up to our respective national stereotypes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 7 hour drive to Ghebi proved very entertaining, with Achi providing an entertaining drive combining somewhat aggressive driving with a very eclectic music selection - who knew Boney M still had a following in Georgia? The road went from 4 lane freeway, to 2 lane highway, to dirt road to... stuck in the snow with a flat tire and humping our gear the last 150 metres by hand through snow mud and cow shit. We then got to help push the van and replace the tire with a spare helped with a couple of the towns older ladies who seemed to have a lot to say. Kinda glad I didn't understand Georgian.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think we were all a little underwhelmed by the digs in Ghebi, although that was tempered by a warm welcome from the lady of the house - Gorcha and the other participants in old MacDonald's farm. Definitely a lively place and to be fair it had a flush toilet and hot wood feed showers! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We grabbed bunks and sorted gear, Pacha the assistant guide gave us a bit of a rough briefing of the next days adventure (think not a lot of english) as we pigged out on some great food, red wine and chacha (locally brewed vodka). We all jumped in bed curious what the morning would bring.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Day one, we hiked a half a kilometer through town before jumping in our skis and skinning up. It was a bit mind boggling skinning through town, past some grizzled old men with a few greetings of gamarjoba passed around. It was definitely warm and we climbed up through forest up onto a lateral moraine. We ended up climbing 1400 metres up Muchamesh valley and the snow up high was actually very good. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once we skied down lower the snow definitely showed the impact of warmer temperatures but never got nasty. The highlight for me was standing by as an old man got his 3 cows back into the yard and watching Stephen ski through some cow shit on the way back to the digs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Supper was great, I noticed that the portions of meat were decreasing but hey there was lot's to eat and it was good. At breakfast the flat bread was something to usually look forward to, sometimes straight up, sometimes with potatoes inside (yeah!) and sometimes with beets inside (less yeah, especially later in the trip). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Day 2 it was time to get up higher given the heat. We were headed up to a high camp in Khvargula valley. There was a tent there (along with a party of 3 American young bucks at the end of their stay and the guide Sergi), we humped up overnight packs with some bringing tents and we shared the food load. You know your not in Kansas when Pacha, the assistant guide, bragged in halting English about having a smaller pack so he didn't have to take as much and kept asking what time it was as he didn't have a watch. To be fair Pacha did have a great laugh which lit up whichever camp we were at and was no slouch at trail breaking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We headed out of town mid morning for a real pleasant ski up even with the heavier packs, the first 2 1/2 hours were along a road that hadn't seen traffic all winter (including the piston bully advertised as helping us up) past small farm plots with what looked like small shelters in each one and a 10'x12' church. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The last hour was through light high elevation willows, I really wished I had brought a saw as they were thick at times and you knew there would be lot's of whips on the way out. It ended up being a gain of 800 metres and roughly 10 km in with the camp right next to a creek at roughly 2200 metres, a couple of hundred metres below tree line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sara Mae and I slept in the large tent with the three young Americans, Sergi and Pacha. It was a bit of a rough camp but right beside a creek for water and well situated. There was a wood burning stove inside which was great for drying out gear however I learned to curse it that night as it was bloody hot, too hot to get much sleep. The next day's meal plan set the bar pretty low; porridge for breakfast, cookies for lunch, buckwheat for supper. I heard some rumblings of folks waking up at 3 am with hunger pains however I fortunately have some fat to live off of. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Day three started out with Pacha (Sergi was skiing with the three American lads up to a high glacier) climbing up to a ridge to our North East. It was great to get up high and see the range, culminating with 4700 metre peaks on the Russian border. Blue sky (as it would be most of the week), a couple of pits were dug and my sense is the avy conditions in the alpine were moderate on the north facing slopes and considerable on the south facing slopes largely due to multiple sun crusts. For those reasons and just plain old ski quality we spent the entire week focused primarily on the north facing slopes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Three runs were had, pretty sweet boot top snow. It was getting warm so we were down to camp mid afternoon where Sara Mae worked on filling out the snow bench and a number of alternative toilets were dug out of the snow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The afternoon dragged a bit and communication from Sergi was definitely on the laconic side. Never the less the lowering the heat in the large tent made for a great nights sleep and anticipation of more exploration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Day four was hands down my favourite ski day of the trip. It started with a "discussion" with Sergi regarding food in pretty simple English. He got pretty defensive however I realized later that was likely a cultural reaction as much as anything. He took it in without verbalizing much however did take it to heart. Not to much to be done that day but he did go to substantial efforts to improve the food when not in town within what could really be expected given what was available.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having said that it didn't take long to shuck the negativity. Today we were skiing the spines that Pacha had pointed out the day before. We started out skiing along the base of the feature to scope out lines. Very, very cool. We climbed up climbers right and it was pick your adventure along the ridge. Sara Mae and I started off on what looked like less committing lines early along the ridge, although you still jumped in not able to see the line to the bottom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Run two I had to check out some of the lines higher up with Josh and it didn't disappoint! A bit crusty on the left hand side of the spines (south facing obviously) but sweet on top and the right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was definitely making diamonds before launching in however sluff management wasn't really an issue and as long as you stayed on top of the spire the turns were pretty darn good! We all went up for a third lap, well worthwhile.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oTDgew_O75c/XoEIuFhBszI/AAAAAAAAZjc/xAV6RoF3y7URlQU7iqeR2Tn1PHSN9Gh9ACKgBGAsYHg/s1600/P3050150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oTDgew_O75c/XoEIuFhBszI/AAAAAAAAZjc/xAV6RoF3y7URlQU7iqeR2Tn1PHSN9Gh9ACKgBGAsYHg/s400/P3050150.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1433265949"></span><span id="goog_1433265950"></span>Claude definitely takes the run of the day, popping out of the heel piece of a ski one turn in on the first run and making it work! On the way back to camp both he and Josh cleared the creek on a kicker built the day before to keep us entertained.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Given we had limited time and with the heat limited options, Sergi suggested that we ski back down to town late afternoon and head up to another camp for two days to end the week. Definitely made for a longer day but was the right thing to do. So we broke camp and headed down to town, arriving just before dark. Good to be back to Gorcha's amazing food and drink.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a hot shower, a great supper and good nights sleep we were well ready for the next days climb up to camp two in the Geske region. Given it was going to be a 4 hour day we didn't get going until mid morning and it started off with an hour drive through Glola, a neighbouring town that was known in the Russian days for mineral springs. It was kind of eery driving through a fair amount of development that was all shuttered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally at about 11 am we started the hump up, and it was a hump. The trip was known for steep up tracks however today it was out of necessity. We essentially followed a hiking trail and traction was an issue at times. Part way up I pulled out the ski crampons to give me a fighting chance and there were a couple of spots where boot packing became inevitable. Having said all of that, 3 hours in and we cleared out of the trees and got a view of the valley. Definitely memorable!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After 4 km and roughly 800 metres of elevation gain, "camp" was a flattish spot on western side of the valley. One of the highlights was watching Pacha climb a tree in his ski boots to collect the prospectors tent that was home for most. Being on the west side, it did get dark pretty early and we had to melt snow for water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having said that Sara Mae and I attempted to learn from the previous camp and were armed with biv sacks. It actually worked out really well, we made a nice level platform covered with small branches for comfort. To be honest it was about double the work I would have put into it on my own but Sara Mae was on fire and I benefited from a very comfortable bivy. SM's first use of a biv sack or so she says!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Supper was definitely an improvement on the previous camp, Sergi did make an effort to bring in more supplies and we went to bed with full stomachs. The next day was the only cloudy day we had all week and it did feel a little more chilly than previous days although the daytime high was just below freezing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Getting away at a decent time, we headed up the valley looking at the north facing slope at the head of the valley and with a vague description of more terrain to the climbers left. When we got to the juncture we elected on the slope at the head of the valley. As always it wasn't as steep as it looks in the photo, however the snow was variable enough for Stephen to head out a dig a pit. Low hazard, high consequence was the muttering so we carried on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The col was windy and cool with, as you can see, not a ton of snow but well worth the effort... for the views and the group shot!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was definitely some good turns on the way down and we then headed right up the offshoot of a valley to check it out. There was a great looking couloir at the head of it and half the group head up it. Three of us were getting a little weary (yes I was one of them) and hung out on a moraine for a bit and watched the show. Keith looks happy with the decision...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sara Mae, Keith and I didn't wait for the others to get down and headed back to camp at 4 pm. There was great snow down a gully feature and we got back just before the rest of the gang.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our last day of skiing woke up to blue sky and single digit negative temperatures. The plan was to catch a couple of the couloirs closer to camp and head out mid afternoon. The snow was definitely crunchy and the odds of pow weren't high, that combined with some lassitude caused a rift between the sex's with the guys getting up and after it and the lady's (yes, including Keith) hanging out in their sleeping bags.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They didn't miss much, there were two couloirs to choose from and we started by checking out the on the right which was a light dusting on crust, as it steepened we backed off and checked out the one on the left which was worse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the end we went back to our high point on the first one and ripped it down and had a slight climb back to camp which we made back to late morning. We then slowly tore down camp, had something to eat and waited for Claude. Not a bad way to spend a day in the mountains!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were all pretty convinced that the track back to the road would be a doozy and it didn't disappoint, I think most of us skied with skins on with plenty of side stepping around obstacles. Sergi's truck and a hired driver waited for us at the bottom and we were back in Ghebi in time for showers and a great last meal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Needless to say, there was plenty of gear drying out when we got back and it was good to scratch Gorcha's dog Beechuma behind the ears. He was our protector and spent much of the night barking at I'm not sure at what.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Big surprise, the last night lead to a bit of a piss up. Beer, red wine, sparkling wine, chacha (of various flavours) a home made sherry like substance and back to beer. Great fun and Sergi opened up quite a bit, I'm not sure if he was drunk or just happy to see the needy Westerners on their way. It became apparent the passion Sergi has for the mountains of the area and opening up the terrain. The evening ended with him sharing drone footage of some massive couloirs starting at 4200 metres. What made it very impressive is that he was flying the drone while shredding!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next morning at a not very early time, we all piled into Achi's van, this time complete with one brand new tire!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The hung over drive back to Tiblisi did seem to take forever but in reality was the same 7 hour drive as before and this time the roads got better and better on the way back. The highlight was stopping at a roadside group of eateries and finding donairs. Awesome, they were just what we needed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Great trip, great adventure! I felt very fortunate to share the experience with a fine bunch of folks that kept it together through some of the challenging times and new how to have a great time on the snow! Thank you Keith, Stephen, Claude, Bianca, Josh and Sara Mae for a fantastic trip and to Gorcha for the hospitality and Sergi and Pacha for showing us around.</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-25570427256146065192019-04-04T21:39:00.003-06:002019-04-04T21:39:45.296-06:00White Pyramid 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tuesday April 2nd, 2019 White Pyramid, 3219 metres</b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: In the right conditions 4 out of 5 stars. It's a beautiful cirque that would be difficult to access in the summer followed by a great non technical ridge climb.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We attempted it earlier in the year last winter and ran out of day/lacked crampons for the ridge. This year we came prepared and lucked out with great conditions and didn't need the crampons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I parked on a pullout on the west side of the highway just over 24 km north of Num Ti Jah Lodge after seeing tracks heading further north. We left the car at 8 am with Chephren and White Pyramid bathed in early morning light. We essentially followed tracks from several parties, including snow shoers from earlier in the day a couple of hundred metres north and then through the bush arriving at Epaullette Lake 45 minutes later after gaining 150 metres of elevation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a spectacular morning, with forecasted blue sky and -7 C at the car. The tracks allowed for very little descending to the lake which made the return trip far easier. It took another 40 minutes of following the drainage further up until breaking out of the forest for good. The route is obvious up to the low point on the ridge, as is the summit on the upper left hand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We finally caught up to the sun at 9:40 which made a large difference to the comfort level and softened up the hard pack. Ski crampons weren't needed but it was close, I got lucky as I left mine at home. The advantage of not much snow recently was a well beaten track which made for easy travel and, admittedly, a little less of a sense of adventure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ski up to the col isn't as steep as it looks, although as you can see from the photo's I had trouble keeping up with Sara Mae. We arrived at the base of the climb to the col at 11:30 am and my watch showed 2695 metres, a gain of just short of 1100 metres.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the photo above the route goes up and to the left of the blocky feature the end of the bowl, after carrying skis further last year we elected to leave them at the base of the boot packing. However one individual from another party carried his to the summit and skied a considerable distance down the ridge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The climb up to the col was much, much easier than the previous year when we essentially swam up faceted shite. A beat in trail made life pretty easy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Breaking out on the ridge in the sun and not much for wind was stunning with great views in every direction. The first little bump in the ridge came quickly. Note that it isn't the large false summit unless you are doing a fair amount of down climbing (miscalled by me, ops!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Above is the true false summit (I know, I know). As mentioned we brought crampons however never felt the need to put them on. There were two groups of two snow shoers ahead of us that were kind enough to put in the boot track and did use them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The false summit was had at 1:20 pm at an elevation of roughly 3100 metres. Note that the steepest climbing of the ascent was the down climbing (roughly 30 metres) after the false summit and the up just on the other side. Unfortunately the up was right around the rocks and was pretty faceted, otherwise the footing was pretty solid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The final slopes to the went quickly and we were on top at 2 pm, a 6 hour push. For perspective the snow shoers ahead of us beat their way up in 8 hours, leaving at 4 am! If I see them again I'll buy them a beer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Awesome views of Chephren, the Lyells, Cline, the Goodsirs and much, much more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blue sky and no wind! We had a good break and second lunch on the summit. The forecast was for -10 C on the summit and it felt pretty close. After a half hour we retraced our steps without much drama.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the way up we went through a couple of patches of pretty frozen rubble that I thought might be tricky on the way down, however Sara Mae found an easy way around and we were back at the skis at 3:30 pm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ski down was fast and better than expected, especially higher up. 4:30 saw us on the east side of Epaulette Lake. Thanks to the previous tracks we gained what little elevation we had to without skins. The ski out was a bit tricky, the usual combination of ice in the shade and crust with the start of isothermic snow elsewhere however definitely not diabolical.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were back at the car at 5:10 for just over a 9:00 hour, 1696 metre, 19.8 km day although Gaia shows that 2:15 hrs of that was sitting on our packs, not surprising. </span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-64673977154146024182018-07-23T21:16:00.000-06:002018-07-23T21:16:19.267-06:00Little Sister 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday July 8th, 2018 Little Sister (Hope), Canmore 2694 metres</b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: I didn't given Little Sister stars because..., well if you want to climb it it has very little to do with stars. It is a good day; a long approach some with a view, some surprising good rock quality on the technical sections, some Rockies style scrambling and an airy ridge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve and I had planned on giving it a shot last year but neither of us forced a date and it didn't happen. This year Steve got on it, a weather window opened up and game on!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We left the truck at 5:20 am and headed up the east entrance to the Highline trail in Canmore, headed up for a bit and jogged left to gain another trail leading upwards following Gaia GPS. The trail is pretty good going, with a bit of dead fall hopping if you can keep to it as the trail fades in and out. Some orange and blue flagging helps considerably. I've got a gpx track if that I'd be happy to share if its at all helpful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About 2/3 of the way up you break out of the forest and although still fair ways to go the views open up and little sister comes into view. As you break out a bit of a feature comes up that can be passed either right or left, right is a bit easier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The entire climb does come into view and we took a moment to reconcile the summit post beta with what we were looking at, it was great and unusual to get a look at the complete route on approach. Once out of the forest it's actually a great hike!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the end we took 2:50 hours to gain the 860 metres to the bottom of the roped up climbing. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We ditched ski poles and some extra water just before the ridge gets a bit interesting and scrambled up to the start of the roped climbing. Once there we geared up and started the technical climbing at 8:45 am.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve had gear on so he took first lead. We had a double set of cams, single set of nuts and pitons and hammer, 12 draws and a 60 metre rope (the latter working just fine). Ended up being too much as we used mostly smaller/medium cams and frankly there wasn't that much gear. The first three pitches are pretty obvious, straight up the chimney on the right of the face in the photo above.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first pitch went fairly easily, we looked at the alternative to the left however it looked like a sea of easier rock with absolutely no gear so we dove in the chimney. I took the second lead which was likely the technical crux. Great, old school 5.6 chimney climbing, more like a bar room brawl than climbing and great fun with not a lot of gear. As per summit post, I clipped a two pin rap anchor on the way up and belayed from the 3rd anchor which consisted of a pin and a slung horn. The technical pitches, especially lower down, were actually pretty good rock. We collected some old tat which had mostly fallen out, I assume as boulders moved around over the winter. The tat on route was in good shape, we banged on the pitons along the way however they were all good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve came up and took the third pitch, not terribly long and slung a block to bring me up and to rap off of later. From there we scrambled up and quickly there was an obvious traverse left that lead to the bottom of a large bowl with a bit of a cairn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve lead up this pitch, a little more than 30 metres with some interesting moves down lower then got more straight forward. It ends at a large balcony with 10' boulders where we slug another block to belay from and rap on the way down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">From there it was a pretty beat in path going across and down, easier than it initial looks. Just left of the waterfall and next to some lingering snow I started up. Straight forward climbing, it initially looked like no gear so I pounded in a piton however there were some good gear placements further up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As mentioned in the summit post beta the station is up on the left and a bit awkward, obviously placed with the rap in mind. I belayed Steve up and given the terrain he elected to carry on further with the rope. He didn't find the next belay mentioned so bashed in a couple of pitons for a station. I followed and we ditched the rope and started scrambling, 12:30 pm and so far so good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We basically caught the rib just to our right, stayed out of gully's and onto somewhat better rock on the ridge leading to summit ridge. This section went surprising quickly, although we stopped and left the rack and rope which turned out to be a bit of an error.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In fairly short order we made the ridge, and started to get some great exposure on variable rock. Even ran into an au cheval (at least for us) which kept things spicy. At 1:30 pm we ran into a bit of a gendarme along the ridge which stopped me in my tracks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few old school 5.6 moves, nothing drastic but with nothing but air below. The thought of down climbing it didn't exactly fill me with joy. After a bit of consideration I sat, ate my lunch and enjoyed the view as Steve carried on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When he got to the top of this feature Steve found a two pin anchor and had some sketchy down climbing on the other side. It looked set up for a belay up and a rap down with the rope left in place to regain the feature. Steve made the summit at roughly 2 pm with a few exposed moves along the way, the next time he saw him he had his rock shoes on. He made it back to my alcove/lunch spot at 2:15 and we retraced our steps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The way back was pretty straight forward, although we had invested in more than a few looks backwards as we made our way up. We picked up our gear along the way and made the top of the first rap at 3:30 pm. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First two raps were a little awkward however it was straight forward after that. Total of 7 raps (we did some lowering as someone forgot their belay device). The two of us were down off the technical climbing at 5:00.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a bit of food and a gear sort headed out, followed our up track and hit the car at 7:20 pm. Pretty much bang on 14 hours. With the exception of the forested part of the approach, we never lost site of our houses in Canmore!</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-50222124270012655122018-01-22T20:23:00.001-07:002018-01-22T20:23:04.925-07:00Fairy Meadows Alpine Rock 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday August 6th - Sunday 13th, 2017 Fairy Meadows</b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 1/2 stars out of 5. A beautiful area, we didn't get up high however had a blast exploring some adventurous rock.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was an ACC Calgary Section camp run by George and Clare, with camp located on a moraine about 20 minutes from the Bill Putnam hut towards Friendship Col at roughly 2200 metres. I hadn't been in the area since a GMC in 2000 so was stoked to get back to the area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday consisted of all of the usual helicopter hurrying up and waiting. We did have time to get a bit organized around camp and scrambled up the knob to have a look at Granite Glacier and collect snow for the cooler.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Monday c</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">limbed the 5.6 routes on Gog and Magog. Gail and I left camp at 7:45, arrived at Gog and Magog just after 9. Gog was one was of the best pitches of climbing we experienced all week, having said that go to the top and don't stop at a 3 pin anchor on the shoulder. Magog is worth doing for the free hanging rappel, lot's of loose rock midway as you corkscrew around the mountain and we did it in two pitches to reduce rope drag. Just after noon we were off Magog and headed to the North Ridge of Pythias, which sounded like an interesting objective following the left hand ridge below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We crossed the glacier and arrived at the base of the 3 obvious steps at 12:30 pm and 2540 metres. The two of us s</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">crambled up and ducked left at the first step. After some futzing around roped up (60 metre rope and used it 30 metres doubled) and in one short pitch made the ridge on top of the first pitch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The second step took 3 or 4 very moderate pitches, some of it a bit mossy with signs of travel. Dodged right to top out and along another fine ridge, I still wonder if there was a more aesthetic line but it went. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 short pitches and were on top of the 3rd step. Some of the best rock on the route was on the scramble to the ridgeline of Pythias where we went back to boots and scrambled a short bit to the summit. We made the summit just after 5 pm at 2760 metres and were back to camp through friendship col at 7. It did prove to be an interesting objective with the usual route finding challenges, loose rock and yes, some steep moss and grass.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Tuesday, Gail and I attempted the Black Rib on Quadrant. After an hour and a half approach, we started in the middle of the rib just left of a large gully in black terrain. It seemed to make sense to start, however after 2 1/2 pitches we realized that we were off route and after a bit of a whipper on my part (actually more like a slitherer) we bailed. Pain is a great instructor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Given the day was only half over, we elected to go around and do the ridge on Quadrant, as much for some fun as to scope the rappel line. Solid rock, great fun if a bit short after a longish approach. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We put the rope on for the crack at the top, otherwise scrambled. A bit of fiddle farty lining up the raps. On top at 1:30 pm and back to the col at 2:10. Back to camp to lick our wounds (me mostly) at 4:30.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My favourite objective of the trip, Gibralter, was our plan for Wednesday. We left camp at 7:30 am and made it to the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">base of the route at 10:30 after negotiating Gothic Glacier. Some large cracks in the glacier earlier on, then basically bee lined for the mountain. We choose to attempt it using the near side crack and arrived to a small bergschrund that was easily crossed and a bit of a moat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I scored the first lead and it was a bit of a doozy. Started grotty with loose blocks followed by a gully that was close to the edge of my modest skills, fortunately with good gear. The pitched ended with a squeeze chimney and a belay ledge with an old station to the left complete with moss grown over webbing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next pitch was a short one and took us up to a BBQ ledge, where we hung out and had lunch. The next section looked like it would go, however the route deeks right and escapes </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">through a hole in the rock back to the North side. Great fun with a few exposed moves on the North Side. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We then built an anchor and the following pitch was one of the most fun pitches I've lead. Solid rock with great positions, including an eau cheval and definitely funky moves onto a flake with a lot of air beneath. I used a rap station just after to belay and Gail who the final 5.5 off width to the summit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We summitted at 2:45 pm roughly 2900 metres. We then rapped down the route down the face with a more direct line, it helped to have some beta from the guys that climbed it the day before. Having said that I did have to prussik back up to the 3rd anchor which was hidden in an alcove climbers right. We were back on the glacier at 4:30 pm and at camp just before 7. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Thursday Gail and I decided to give the Black Rib on Quadrant another try, primarily because it was unfinished business and the other routes either sounded too difficult or too scrappy. Left camp at 8 am and hit the base of the route at 9:20 am. It turned out to be faster to approach on a beat in trail fair right and work our way to the base along the base of Quadrant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gail had the correct route pretty much sussed. It actually starts just left of the large gully on white granite. Gail took the first lead and bypassed the initial gendarme on the right. I then eased my way left to the right hand side of an obvious gully. Pitch 3 Gail attempted to bypass the gully to the left which didn't go. I then pounded straight up it on some grass, some loose rock and some good rock. The pitch ended in a horizontal squeeze chimney but working my way through it ended in a beautiful belay station laying on some grass with a view so no complaints. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just up from there we came up to a feature that joined the main wall. I manage to miss the cave that lead to the 5.7 money pitch and we jumped on the crack just to the right. If definitely was the money pitch and Gail made short work of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I then took the 5th pitch which carried along for a bit and the emptied into a bowl which lead through easier ground to the ridge of Quandrant. We hit the ridge at 3:15 pm and 2646 metres. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We grabbed something to eat and changed into boots (how I wish I brought approach shoes). We then scrambled up fairly interesting 5.1 terrain to the main summit of Quadrant, which we arrived an hour later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Great views, we carried along the ridge on pretty straight forward terrain and made it to the South Peak of Quadrant at 4:40 pm and then used the three raps to make it to the Col and back to camp at 8 pm. It felt good to have completed the route.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We ended the day with a swim in the lake below Quadrant. The unusually warm weather made for great swimming and not the usual quick in and out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On Friday we were both pretty bagged and tired of dragging around a rope. We basically did the Quadrant col to Friendship col traverse which was a nice scramble and took us back to the top of Pythias. Taking our time it was a 7 hour day and we made it back with lots of time for the week end party.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">All in, it was a week well spent. It would be good to get to the bigger peaks but lots of adventure with the rock shoes on.</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-79656383230365367632017-07-21T22:11:00.004-06:002020-08-23T18:02:40.784-06:00The West Ridge of Mt Tupper 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday June 2nd, 2017 West Ridge Mt Tupper 2804 metres</b><br />
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<span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 1/2 stars out of 5. A little bit of everything; steep hike up to Hermit Meadows, snow up to the ridge and rock that improves quickly to being very, very good. Something for everyone and a little crowded because of it.</span><br />
<span face="" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tupper had been on my list of Rogers Pass classics for awhile and with the long weekend, a good weather window and two good friends who had been up it before why not? We originally were thinking of the Lone Pine approach from the highway however when I checked it out on the drive on Friday there were definitely gaps in the snow and unseasonably hot temperatures had us choose the regular route up through Hermit Meadows.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Up at 4:30 in Revelstoke, a bit of an Alpine Start although already light out. Out the door quickly with mugs of caffeinated beverages had us leaving the Hermit Meadows parking area at 6 am. There were a few cars about and another party about to head up the South Rib which is an interesting sounding route.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The forecast for the day was clear and hot and it started off without a cloud in the sky. The almost 800 metres ascent to Hermit Meadows took Andrew, Brenda and I about 2 hours and once near the camping sites we ran into snow. It was with some relief that we found it to be firm enough to hold us (read me, the Clydesdale of the team).</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Water bottles were filled just past the camp ground and we could see the snow slopes right up to the ridge. There were at least one other party ahead of us judging by the tracks in the snow and we followed them over a couple of humps and across a rapidly growing creek. I don't know what I was thinking but I didn't bring a pair of sunglasses. Brenda did have an extra pair, lesson learned - always climb with people better prepared!</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Once up a bit, the approach was spectacular as we made our by past Rogers, the Swiss Peaks Traverse and Truda visible in the photo above. We felt pretty lucky that the snow was just right for kicking steps in at 9 am but wondering how it would hold up for the descent in the heat of the day. The easiest and quickest approach took a pretty direct line near the top of the ridge and as we crested it Tupper itself came into view, looking spectacular!</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">10 am saw out team on the rock ridge, ditching poles and mountaineering axes. My watch measured roughly 2500 metres, up roughly 1200 metres and with 300 metres to the top. Interesting metres mind you.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We of course celebrated by the taking of second breakfast . </span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see, the ridge starts off a bit rubly however fairly quickly improves to solid blocks with great exposure. </span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can imagine there are a few ups and downs along the way and the summit block didn't appear to be getting any closer for a bit.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Shortly before noon, we came over a bit of a rise to find the party ahead of us pitching out an exposed traverse including a bit of an au cheval type move. Given there was a bolted anchor, that Andrew and Brenda remembered pitching this bit out and christ there was a lot of exposure we elected to wait our turn and pitch it out as well.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew offered to take the pointy end, although shortly into it mentioned that it was slightly downward trending so he actually had the safest belay of the bunch. Crafty bastard! At this point we could see that in addition to the party just ahead of us there was another party on the 5.6 pitch partway up the summit block and another party above. You can actually see a climber in brown pants (wonder if they started out that colour!) above and to the left of Andrew in the photo above.</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew and Brenda were pretty certain that we could scramble up to the start of the single 5.6 pitch above without the rope and the team just across were kind enough to let us by as they chose to pitch it out. There was enough rubble on the steps we needed to be a little careful not to rain rocks on them and by working our way back and forth soon found ourselves at the bottom of the 5.6 pitch just as the second of the party above us slid off the first holds and of the crack and rejoined us on the ledge.</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After roping up, Andrew handed over the alpine rack; all 4 nuts, 2 cams and 5 draws. Good of him to keep it to a minimum, you wouldn't want to haul any extra weight! As expected, it worked out perfectly although I did use a stuck cam the previous party left behind. As we agreed, I was the only one to bring rock shoes for the lead. Andrew and Brenda seconded it in their trusty Trango's in fine form (if you ignore the grunts and knees). Good, old school 5.6 however with 2 shiny bolts up top!</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Once above this obstacle, the top looks pretty close however don't be fooled. The first team were descending with sore feet as they left their rock shoes on. It's further than it looks and the photo above is a false summit. Once cleared the true summit block comes into view.</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Although it looks a little stiff, as is often the case in Rogers Pass the holds were perfectly spaced and incut enough that we were comfortable soloing it and found ourselves on the summit at 1:30 pm, 7 1/2 hours from the parking lot.</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly I counted 5 other parties on the mountain, everyone doing things their own way. 2 parties used a rope throughout most of the upper mountain and did a fair amount of pitched climbing. We took a middle ground and pitched out two bits, the au cheval traverse and the 5.6 crack, and while we were on the summit a solo soloist arrived. </span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The weather was holding, although as you can see some cloud cover did develop and the wind made it's presence known from time to time so after a bite to eat, filling in the register and the obligatory summit photo we got out of dodge.</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Just down from the summit itself was a bolted rappel anchor that we used to rappel off the summit block and after a short down climb we rapped off the anchor at the top of the 5.6 crack. Below the gear up ledge roughly 7 metres to climbers left was another bolted rap anchor that we used. We down climbed a bit to it but I believe that you would make it there with a 60 metre rope and save some time.</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Once at the bottom of that rap it was a pretty quick down climb to the exposed au cheval like feature. We chose to rope up and I led it however not certain I would in retrospect. On the return it is slightly uphill and less awkward.</span></div>
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">At this juncture, we stopped and grabbed second lunch. We were lucky in our timing with the others on the mountain and had made good time. From this point in it is mostly scrambling and reversing our up track.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Lower down, we did use one more rap anchor to avoid some tricky down climbing. It was a bit sketchy as there is a single bolt and a red sling around a block. If you use it pay attention as the block did move and spooked the hell out of us.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Other than that it was a pretty uneventful descent. We did watch a helicopter land just our side of the Swiss Peaks and met up with the guided party lower down. We felt a little releaved to hear that it was a medical emergency although I'm not certain why, it sounded like everything worked out. We were lucky that with a bit of cloud cover the snow on descent was perfect for plunge stepping and a bit of glissading.</span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">7:30 pm found us back at the car after a 13 1/2 hour, 1680 metre day. A day well spent and highly recommended!</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-21889147745423860992016-09-05T17:47:00.001-06:002016-09-05T17:47:55.834-06:00The East Ridge of Mt Edith Cavell 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fri, Sat Aug 19th-20th, 2016 East Ridge Mt Edith Cavell 3363 metres</b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 stars out of 5. Where it's good it's very good, and it's a long way up to get to the good stuff. </span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Andrew and I had climbed the East Ridge before, like 14 years before, and Brenda hadn't and wanted to. A great excuse to revisit the climb as we were both keen to see if it lived up to our rather idyllic memory. The one memory that we wanted to avoid repeating was the long slog down the west ridge. We therefore planned on bivying at the base of the East Ridge, committed to coming back the same way we went up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I met up with Andrew and Brenda in Lake Louise and headed North, complete with 3 mac and cheeses from Laggan's to be reheated for supper before heading up. We were nice and early so it was a pretty relaxed drive and hike up to the biv site below the East Ridge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The hike up in the late afternoon sun was fantastic, the area was lousy with marmot's and pica's (shh, don't tell the bears). I missed the last of the trail up to the col and we ended up bashing up the scree to the ridge to the left and higher than the col itself. Kind of funny when you consider it was daylight and it usually gets down in the dark! It ended up taking a little over 2 1/2 hours given our lively detour. We also didn't take the optimal route out of the parking lot, ideally take the paved trail until the Cavell Meadows sign and go left. There is a sign further up showing the way for the climbers, this must be becoming a popular route. The hike up to the biv site did involve a climb of 633 metres and I was happy to deduct that from the summit day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Brenda found water 10 minutes down the other side of the col and we made good use of the biv sites complete with stone windbreaks. There were two up higher however no water there so we stayed at the first one. It was a beautiful night, not cold but plenty of stars. Just before the alarm went off at 3:45 am the wind shifted to the south and picked up which woke me up, the forecast was for it to be mostly clear with the wind picking up to 30 km/hr and that was pretty accurate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One party of two passed by as we were getting geared up, they had no gear or rope and planned to solo and descent via the west ridge. Given we watch their headlamps disappear above and didn't see them again I assume that is exactly what they did. We got on the road at 5 am, after dealing with a pesky pack-rat who actually attempted to drag my biv sac off! I wanted to kill it however the pacifists prevailed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Brenda lead the initial push by headlamp, it definitely isn't early July anymore! There is a pretty beat in path up the obviously gully eventually involving scrambling up some fairly solid rocky bits. Cairns festooned the upper part of the trail and I was surprised to pull up on top of the initial pitch to find a couple more biv sites. We made it this far at 7:30 am at roughly 2900 metres and it starting to brighten up about half way up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was some discussion about going left to keep from having to climb the next hump, it worked quite well as there was several well worn trails in the scree. Not a huge savings but worth looking for. The ridge then bobbles along for a bit and we had second breakfast while eyeing up the upper ridge. Our plan was to solo up however we had a two 30 metre ropes and alpine rack ready to go should someone call uncle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were a couple of steps on the upper section that reflected my memories of originally climbing the route, the first shorter than the second. Fairly steep with some exposure, great quartzite with incut holds. It goes at old school 5.3 so if it felt more difficult we just looked around a bit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Once on top of the last serious bit the angle backs off considerably, as does the rock quality, and I was surprised how long this section was up to the summit. We did cross 4 or 5 small snow patches, some were a little icy on the margins however we didn't make use of the crampons we hauled up. Having said that I wouldn't want to be up there without them if they were needed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some interesting moves to be made here and there but mostly careful scrambling. The first snowy summit looks to be the highest however we went to the next two and found the summit cairn and register just to be sure. We managed to summit at 10:30 am, a 5 1/2 hour trip up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end we soloed it all, however I could see someone calling for a rope given the exposure. The summit was windy and cold, we took photos, filled out the summit register (thanks Andrew) and started our way down. Right behind us were two parties of two making good time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Coming down the east ridge involves a lot of down climbing, even if you use the two rap stations set up. Funny, it took my a bit to get into the rhythm however after about 20 minutes I loosened up and started to have fun. The upper part is pretty straight forward with a little awkwardness (on my part) getting onto the snow sections where we couldn't avoid them. We ran into 2 more parties of 2 making their way up the route. It does take a bit of finesse to work around each other on the upper sections without knocking rock however it was a good day and everyone played nice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One party passed us on the descent and the second caught up just as we had set up the first rappel on the upper steep section. There was a obvious well used anchor with pins, a quick link and fresh tat. We had 2 30 metre ropes so were able to rig up a full 30 metre rap which worked out well, a 35 metre rappel would have worked out a bit better and there is an intermediate rap station to climbers right if needed. We let the other party rap and descend through although we all had something to eat at the bottom of the rappel, in the sun and out of the wind. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the time we got down to the lower rap station the same guys had rigged a rope and gave us a free rappel. They had a 70 metre rope and there wasn't much of it left on the ground, it's not completely necessary but made quick work of some tricky down climbing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The three of us made it down to the top of the first long section of climbing above the col right about 2 pm. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously there was still a lot of down climbing to do and this was the part we either did in the dark or had very little recollection of. A little futzing found our way down looking for cairns and foot prints skiers left of the big gully. It did try and suck us into the gully every now and then but we avoided it by down climbing on more solid rock. By this point is was starting to feel like a long day and a degree of concentration was still required given the exposure and not fantastic rock quality in spots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We eventually made it back to the biv site 11 1/2 hours at 4:30 pm. By my watch it was 1150 metres up and down from the biv site to the summit. Fun route, not quite the quality of rock that I had remember but some darn good rock, exposure and fun moves up high. Andrew and Brenda have done a lot of climbing in Rogers Pass and they rated it better than many of the routes there which says something. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I would still down climb the East Ridge rather than do the West Ridge slog any day. Interestingly enough, of the 6 parties on the route this day 1/2 chose each way down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was great to be back at the biv site with lots of daylight left and no imminent storms moving in. We took our time, packed up, drank tea and soup and eventually departed at 5:30 pm. We stopped for snacks along the way and a bit of a wash up in a creek getting back to the car a little after 7. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best of all we made it back to Canmore for pizza and beer. Yeah!</span>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-8030337072538801992016-08-23T22:03:00.001-06:002016-08-23T22:03:42.841-06:00Mt Aberdeen and Haddo Peak 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wednesday July 20th, 2016 Mt Aberdeen and Haddo Peak 3,151 metres</b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 stars out of 5, in the right conditions it is a varied and interesting climb with the opportunity to bag 2 good sized peaks in brilliant surroundings. We took the Paradise Valley descent which added some interest, and some bush whacking.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The three of us had a somewhat alpine start out of Canmore and left the car at 6 am, nice to be able to get a parking spot at Lake Louise. The approach follows the trail around Fairview and we made the junction with the trail down to Paradise Valley at 7:30 am with an elevation gain of roughly 600 metres. We continued up the Fairview scramble trail for 10 or 15 minutes until an obvious path cut left.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This trail works through the trees and eventually breaks out onto packed scree. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As per the directions, we followed along and eventually crossed to the other side of the valley and followed a cairned trail to the base of the Aberdeen snow slopes, arriving at 8:40 am and roughly 2550 metres. Much quicker than my last attempt when we followed the valley bottom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jackie, Steven and I donned helmets, harnesses, crampons and roped up. Steve led and I was the lard ass at the end of the rope. We were very lucky, even though the cloud cover didn't allow for the freeze we were looking for over night the continued cloud cover kept the snow from getting sloppy and even more important kept the rock fall at bay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The recent snow made for easy steps and we followed the right hand edge of the snow slopes until we ran into the ice proper. Steve did a great job of leading and we simulclimbed with a couple of screws between us at all times. The ice was pretty good however there was some excavating necessary along with the spindrift associated with it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't know whether it was due to it being my first alpine day of the season, the fact that 24 hours of adrenaline was a couple of days before, or just being out of shape but I struggled a bit. 10:45 am saw us at the </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">top of the technical climbing at 2750 metres and over a couple of big slots. One I managed to penetrate into trusting Jackie's foot prints, failing to consider the likely 75 lb difference in our weights! Steve built an anchor and we took a breath. There were a few rests along the way but my calves were pretty much screaming. We calculated that the more technical climbing amounted to 160 metres of elevation gain and took us roughly 1:15 hr. The bottom line is that it went well and the cloud cover stuck around so we didn't have much for rock fall. Using one technical tool and a mountaineering axe did take a bit of a toll on my right hand knuckles though!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The next step up to the Aberdeen/Haddo col was prefect snow bucket steps most of the way. We passed the 'shrund on the left hand side and once we made it up to the upper rock band and went left above there was some ice that made for two great screw placements for a running belay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were on the col shortly after noon at roughly 3000 metres. The three of us essentially walked to the edge of the snow and left behind the crampons, rope and packs as the summit of Haddo looked pretty close.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> 30 minutes later were on top</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">which by my watch was 3070 metres. Y</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">es it's farther than it looks, however we were lucky to have an easy packed scree slope that we made good time on. There was a summit register that went all the way back to 1973! Either a lot of people skip the peak or don't bother filling out the register. Here's a look back at Aberdeen from Haddo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">15 minutes later we were back at the col, roping up for the final snow slopes. When the sun popped out you could see the old tracks under the new snow and we pretty much stayed on the left hand margin of the slope. The snow did get a touch sloppy, especially close to the rocks however as soon as the pitch backed off the snow firmed up. Jackie did a great job leading the charge and we set up a belay up the final slope and rock step.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 pm and 3151 metres saw us on top. What a vista! Victoria, Lefroy, Temple and Valley of the 10 peaks all laid out before us. The view of the final snow slopes of the east ridge of Temple were superb. A great place to be, the sun was coming out from time to time and although the wind was around it wasn't terribly strong. It's nice to be able to enjoy the summit!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We took the Paradise Valley descent, which basically headed straight down the other side. However contrary to directions down a couple of hundred metres the more packed trail goes descenders left side of the ridge line and we followed it pretty much straight down all the way to the Paradise Valley creek. The start was actually pretty quick descending with great scree followed by snow, easy on the legs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Quite a ways down right in the middle of the photo above there is a small col, we continued through it and found a fairly established trail on the left side of the creek. It took us a fair ways down until a small amount of bush whacking was necessary to reach the creek itself. The three of us arrived at the creek directly below the lower col at 4:30 pm at just over 2000 metres in elevation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once down at the creek we lost a little time monkeying around a bit getting to the main trail. We crossed the creek and found a decommissioned trail going the right direction however came to an area without a bridge. We then attempted to go up the slope to find the Paradise Valley trail. The bush whacking got pretty bad and we failed to find it so ended up going back to the creek and following a variety of animal trails and making the best of it, afterwards finding that the trail had been decommissioned some time ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It took us 1:45 hr to find the bridge down stream and the trail proper which lead us back to the car at about 8 pm. Having said that I would take this way down again is it avoids rappelling, potential rock fall and the climb back up to the col in the heat of the day. It looks like it is best way is to traverse skiers left just above the creek and stay on the near side of it until you find the bridge. In the end it was a 14 hour and 1750 metre day. Great to complete a climb I had been hearing about for years, in good condition and it sure was good to get back in the alpine!</span></div>
Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-72027738435187950002016-04-23T20:30:00.001-06:002016-05-09T16:57:10.723-06:00Wapta/Yoho Traverse 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 1/2 stars out of 5, a classic traverse now serviced with huts, enough route finding to be interesting and fantastic views.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We heard the the new Guy Hut was open for booking noon on March 1st. I called in at 12:15 and managed to get 4 spots in the Bow, Guy and Stanley Mitchell Huts. I was familiar with the terrain around Stanley Mitchel and Bow Huts however there was a lot of new discovery to be had.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our plan was to leave two cars at the Takakkaw Falls parking lot so the BC folks could head back straight from the trail head. Some forgotten food and a road closure due to avalanche blasting delayed the start a bit. We finally headed out of the Nam Ti Jah Lodge parking lot onto Bow Lake at 11:15 am on Friday under a beautiful blue sky.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a little chilly but promised to warm up. The avalanche hazard was considerable, moderate, moderate and we were interested what the last steep section up to the hut would look like. In spite of a little new snow early in the week, the trail was pretty beaten in and travel was pretty quick.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In no time we were making our way up through the canyon to the slopes just below the Hut. There was a Yamnuska group at the hut and they had explored Crowfoot earlier and left some great looking ski lines down the south side of the bowl below the hut. The fresh snow and blue sky was just spectacular!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was a good trail beat up through the bands below the hut and stability was good. As you can see from the photo below there was a large group going in just before us. In all we were roughly 3:15 hours to the hut at a pretty leisurely pace with a lunch break, it was too nice to rush it much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the hut Frank opted to chill (read sleep) and the three of us went for a wander up the toe of the glacier to the shoulder of Gordon to get a read on the line for tomorrow. There was some debate on which mountain was which, and as per usual Andrew was right. Collier is the peak on the left side of the photo below and the route gains the left hump through the crevasse field which isn't nearly as bad as it looks. Great views in all direction and the ski back down to the Bow Hut was pretty hero. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a great supper, complete with wine and scotch - yes everyone wanted to lighten their packs - we hit the sack in a half full and blissfully quiet Bow Hut. The morning came clear and cold, -15 C outside so we didn't really get going until just after 9 am. Frank did have some trouble with his harness, but eventually got it figured with a little help from the peanut gallery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was stoked to be heading into new territory and it didn't disappoint. There were two parties of two ahead of us, one were assistant ski guides heading up Collie and the other were two heading for Guy Hut after skiing a great looking line on Rhonda.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The views once past the Rhonda shoulder were simply staggering. At the high point it was cold and windy enough that I put in hand warmers, however 20 minutes later on the low point before the Collie col in the sun I had to take them out because they were too hot! We made it to the initial high point in 1:30 hours and it was roughly 300 metres above the hut.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once closer to the crevasses up the Mt Collie shoulder, there was a great route to the right that gave the larger holes a wide berth. It felt like cheating having great visibility and an awesome skin track set by the party ahead of us. We stopped for a snack at the bottom of the Collie shoulder and basked in the sun until some high cloud came over.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once on top of the shoulder of Mt Collie we headed south leaving a subsidiary peak to our right and finally had to break our own trail. It was a slow continued climb until we reached the second high point for the day and the view to the south opened up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Spectacular! We could see right from Temple, to the Goodsirs, to the President and Vice Prez. Perfect place for lunch and were soon joined by a pair of Ravens, they don't miss much. Looking back on Collie in the photo below you can just see the up track of the party in front of us earlier on heading for the top.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had a good discussion surrounding route finding. The dead give away with visibility is Yoho, the low peak in the middle of the photo below. The Guy hut is on the shoulder running down the right hand skyline. You can see the notch we aimed for at the bottom of what looks like a ridge off Yoho (actually the ridge coming off Collie behind us).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once we got to the notch and attempted to boot pack with post holing results (at least for us nearing the Clydsdale class) on went the skins for a short trip up hill. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is some talk about going down on the left side or even down right to the bottom of Des Polius however my sense is that this is the easiest route however obviously challenging in a white out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then it's pretty much a case of following the high point in the ridge. The hut actually doesn't come into view until you are right above it. If you value your ski bases ski gently down the final slopes to the hut, when we were there it was faceted crap on top of moraine with more than a few rocks poking out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In all, it took roughly 6 hours for the trip across from Bow at a pretty leisurely pace although with good visibility. According to my watch it was a gain of 711 metres and a descent of 549. The hut is perched right on the ridge with great views of Des Polius, complete with a fantastic ski line down it (photo taken on the climb up Yoho Peak).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We lost Frank to hut suck, but Andrew, Brenda and I headed up to bag Yoho Peak and get a few turns in. It was actually closer than it looks, highly unusual I know, and took us a little more than 1:30 hours up and down including plenty of neck craning. Here's a good look back at the hut showing the route down the ridge in the photo below. You can also see the crown from a recent avalanche above and lookers right of the hut.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We also had a good look at the route up to Isolated Col, the plan A for getting to Stanley Mitchell Hut the next day. You can see it in the photo below at the bottom of the right hand ridge of the President and just to the left of Isolated Peak, a bit of a nondescript hump in the middle of the photo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Back to the hut to bask in the warmth of the sun through the windows, you gotta love longer days come March! My turn to cook, however Ichiban and wine applied generously beforehand keeps the expectations low. The new hut is a marvel, bring ear plugs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were all aware that the trip up to Isolation col can be a serious one, however we were very lucky with weather. We planned on being out at 8 am, modestly early, however also benefited from a fairly cold night and cloudy skies in the morning to keep down the solar heating. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course that meant pretty poor visibility coming down from the hut. We traversed skiers left, did a couple of turns and then traversed hard skiers right to meet up with tracks heading to the lake. At the toe of the glacier along the lake there was an interesting ice feature that I wouldn't have wanted to ski over!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The route to isolated col was pretty straight forward although at one point we were skirting under a large slope on climbers right. With cool temperatures, overcast skies and results from a couple of hasty pits we felt pretty comfortable with the avalanche hazard and opted to go up and over Isolated Col rather than around the Whaleback.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Route finding was pretty straight forward and we had some down tracks of a party going the other way the day before to give us some depth perception. The climb itself started steeply, eased off midway and then got quite steep near the top.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We found that climbers right had a bit of dust on crust so we opted to crest the col to the left of the col itself. Andrew broke trail most of the way, however being a gentlemen he let me finish the job to the top. Kick turns were our friend!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By my watch we were on top of the col at roughly 11:15 am or 3 hours from the hut and a gain of 320 metres. There is some big country on the other side and we were happy to have a crusty ski down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were originally sucked into heading skiers left at the col by the uptrack however soon realized that was foolish and we pretty much survival skied straight down from the col picking our way. The photo below is looking back up at the col on the right side of Isolated Peak showing our descent route.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once we were out of harms way, right on queue the sun came out. We decided that the meadow above tree line was the perfect spot for lunch. Great view of the President and Vice President below which gave us a good idea of where the hut was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After lunch we worked out way down just to the left of my skis in the photo above. We got some good turns in the trees and bumped into an up track that took us right to the hut. You gotta love Stanley Mitchel hut, especially when you don't have to slog up the road to get to it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were at the hut at just before 1 pm and lost roughly 550 metres of elevation from the col. 5 hours from Guy Hut including some faffing about route finding and a long lunch. It was far too nice a day to spend in the hut, so after cleaning pack rat shit off the tables we headed out to see how far up the President Glacier we could go without a rope.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Great fun, even Frank joined us and we did get some sweet turns off the moraine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A great last night was spent in a classic hut, definitely quite a difference from the previous night. The pressure was off, we knew our way to the car from here so had a great time eating and drinking all that remained of our provisions (not enough for a full scale bender unfortunately, or is that fortunately?). We even had the pleasure of spending the evening with one of the patron saints of the area, good times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The four of us had our own room downstairs and managed a bit of a sleep in. There was originally some talk of going out the Iceline trail as opposed to the road however cloud base was about navel high and it was snowing when we left at 9 so we opted for the tried and true - the dreaded road. (Yes I had to put one photo in with a finger in the corner!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first two hours were kind of fun, following the trail in light snow to Takakkaw Falls. We stopped and had lunch outside the picnic shelter, it stopped snowing and the sun even came out from time to time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then it was time to hit the road proper, half of us managed to make the uphills without skins and the other half needed them. It was pretty warm and as we got lower the snow got slower, however on the whole is was pretty painless. Half way Andrew got bored and made a snow man, perfect snow for it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The road inevitably gave way to the parking lot and we were down in just over 6 hours at our typical relaxed pace. By my watch we gained just over 100 metres of elevation and lost just over 900. I must admit I wasn't in all that big a rush to get back to it, the end of a fantastic trip!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've got a gpx track of the route, if your interested leave a message.</span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-14414795619111125102015-10-25T11:27:00.000-06:002015-10-25T11:27:27.152-06:00Recondite 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fri, Sat, Sun Aug 7th-9th, 2015 Recondite Peak 3356 metres</b><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 stars out of 5, if you enjoy long days with plenty of solitude and plenty of Rockies choss (a bit of an acquired taste I realize).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This trip was an Alpine Club trip that I led, and we delayed the start by two days looking for a weather window, which came through as advertised! We had a slightly longer and higher approach given that Helen Lake area was closed due to bear activity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike, Jamshaid and I left the mosquito creek parking lot at 7:30 am Friday morning. Fortunately I had checked out the start of the trail and turnoff up to Dolomite Pass the previous weekend. 1 hour in we made it to the third bridge along the trail to Mosquito Creek and back tracked a bit to find the easiest way through the bush. After following game trails with some moderate bush whacking we popped out at tree line and followed some very interesting terrain up to the pass, which was actually a fair way in. 11 am and 2590 metres we topped out and started to head down into the head waters of Dolomite River.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rather than dropping down and picking up the trail we stayed high to our right, eventually skirting the waterfall and heading down into a small patch of bush. It actually worked out well as we popped out of some bush just across an easily crossed bit of river and jumped on the trail. It was just before 1 pm and at 2210 metres. We had a sense that not many people went this way, so it was a bit of a surprise when I found a Hot Wheels plastic bag with happy birthday written on it stuck in a bush - it looked like it blew in. </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xNzDBf2hBJk/VenAC9UDClI/AAAAAAAALJE/ynfY87HdaHI/s1600/P8070100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xNzDBf2hBJk/VenAC9UDClI/AAAAAAAALJE/ynfY87HdaHI/s400/P8070100.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given that there were more stream crossing to come, we carried on with bare feet in wet sneakers. It worked well although one of our party had a blister issue. Once on the trail it was pretty straight forward travel on a clearly defined trail, with a surprising amount of descent. Fortunately water levels were pretty low so the two subsequent crossing were pretty much non events.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HAwl5HvVnzw/VenACzcT4yI/AAAAAAAALJI/fkiaobW35nA/s1600/P8070105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HAwl5HvVnzw/VenACzcT4yI/AAAAAAAALJI/fkiaobW35nA/s400/P8070105.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finally came around a corner to see Isabella Lake in the distance. With the warning of slopping through the mud in our minds we stayed left and at one point got sucked into gaining elevation looking for a better trail. Not to be, the best way appears to be along the gravel bars and eventually picking up a trail just on the edge of the trees. We made the spectacular Park Warden hut at 4:15 pm and it was at an elevation of 1876 metres. </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I8QOan7ps9k/VenAC1VKZfI/AAAAAAAALJA/5jxSprimPsg/s1600/P8070122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I8QOan7ps9k/VenAC1VKZfI/AAAAAAAALJA/5jxSprimPsg/s400/P8070122.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We carried on just a couple of km's past the end of the lake (didn't see a campground) and came to an obvious place to recross the Dolomite River that went over to an old horse camp. It was funny to catch the first trail sign of the trip this far in.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kEmx4J1i1mA/VenAC6FhB7I/AAAAAAAALI0/yEgtRFN44rE/s1600/P8070127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kEmx4J1i1mA/VenAC6FhB7I/AAAAAAAALI0/yEgtRFN44rE/s640/P8070127.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once across there was an obvious trail heading along the opposite side of the river bank, that lead shortly thereafter to a spot to cross the Siffleur River. Once on the opposite bank, we got our climbing boots back on. The old horse trail is pretty over grown and we quickly (too quickly) head up and right.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SHKP8DTVjWk/VenACzLkF5I/AAAAAAAALJE/AxLv1sQutOM/s1600/P8070128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SHKP8DTVjWk/VenACzLkF5I/AAAAAAAALJE/AxLv1sQutOM/s640/P8070128.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In looking at the beta we had and the topo, I was concerned about continuing along the Dolomite and wanted to cut up quickly. The others weren't convinced but followed and it turned into a bit of a bushwhack. We got into some thick bush and you really couldn't tell looking if we were going to pop out in the correct valley or cut right too early and find ourselves back in the Siffleur valley. Fortunately Jamshaid had a GPS and it helped immensely.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QD5p_djfcoA/VenACw0zA8I/AAAAAAAALI0/IWABPtpsZ94/s1600/P8070134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QD5p_djfcoA/VenACw0zA8I/AAAAAAAALI0/IWABPtpsZ94/s400/P8070134.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After some time, we came to the edge of the bush we were whacking our way through on a scree slope. After considering it we took a descending line and ended up in the valley floor, fortunately upstream of the waterfall mentioned in the beta.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wB-wrfJtNLc/VenAC-W0-EI/AAAAAAAALI0/UfSIUKsxKfM/s1600/P8070138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wB-wrfJtNLc/VenAC-W0-EI/AAAAAAAALI0/UfSIUKsxKfM/s400/P8070138.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It became pretty apparent that we weren't going to make Corbett's or Collier's biv site before dark. At about 8:30 pm we found a flat bit about half way along the valley and set up camp. It had been a little over 13 hours and 1300 metres of elevation gain, no doubt not helped by some of the decision making along the way. However we could see the end of the valley (not Mt Recondite yet). The three of us quickly set up camp convinced that we had a good shot at the summit the next day. It was a beautiful valley with really no signs of any human activity.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NtUm480oyU/VenACztJdOI/AAAAAAAALI4/amxjywWdeiQ/s1600/P8080139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NtUm480oyU/VenACztJdOI/AAAAAAAALI4/amxjywWdeiQ/s400/P8080139.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given the previous days exertion, we set the alarms for 6:00 am and after a bit of a leisurely breakfast were on the road at 7:30. We actually had a discussion about how far to move camp towards the highway should we be up and down quickly, I should know better! It is actually pretty surprising how close you need to be to Recondite to actually see the summit, that's it on the left in the photo below.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xRIoM-qGfWs/VenAC_ugcwI/AAAAAAAALI4/Rj_FD398vEE/s1600/P8080145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xRIoM-qGfWs/VenAC_ugcwI/AAAAAAAALI4/Rj_FD398vEE/s400/P8080145.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We followed the right side of the river as far as we could before hoping across. Given that Collier's biv site was a more direct route to the summit we decided to stay on the near side of Recondite's Ridge and pick our way through the bush. We started up out of the valley at 8:50 am (2200 metres). </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-27lkK2LUars/VenACxDhHEI/AAAAAAAALI4/HvdKlr-UOLg/s1600/P8080150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-27lkK2LUars/VenACxDhHEI/AAAAAAAALI4/HvdKlr-UOLg/s400/P8080150.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Almost exactly an hour later, the three of us popped out of the bush and climbed up to a grassy bench. A very cool area, it would have made a great camping spot. We stopped and left some items we wouldn't need on a large bolder and made our way up the valley before climbing the scree slopes to gain the ridge.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7vqnmEtkJ4/VenAC38xk_I/AAAAAAAALI0/JEQ9LmFuNOw/s1600/P8080154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7vqnmEtkJ4/VenAC38xk_I/AAAAAAAALI0/JEQ9LmFuNOw/s400/P8080154.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once on the ridge, it was interesting to see down the far side to Collier's biv site, it would have worked equally as well and being a little higher would have led to a shorter summit day.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hsmuyk-qKiM/VenAC4PPxWI/AAAAAAAALI4/5q8y0WwEVTw/s1600/P8080158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hsmuyk-qKiM/VenAC4PPxWI/AAAAAAAALI4/5q8y0WwEVTw/s640/P8080158.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ahead lay some interesting rock that made for easy ascent if you avoided the occasional dusting of marbles. Very textured so traction was great and calf workout reminiscent of a long ice climb.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bF5R5rNbbaQ/VenAC2WJr1I/AAAAAAAALI4/xhac-GilUWg/s1600/P8080173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bF5R5rNbbaQ/VenAC2WJr1I/AAAAAAAALI4/xhac-GilUWg/s400/P8080173.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It eventually petered out and became the more classic Rockies scree. Route finding wasn't as straight forward as I expected (is it ever?) and we climbed too high on the tower and ended up descending a bit before finding relatively straight forward terrain to climbers right. Straight forward it a Rockies kind of way.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyTR1hI0P-U/VenAC4uQGzI/AAAAAAAALI4/kl8sNfb_4qQ/s1600/P8080177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyTR1hI0P-U/VenAC4uQGzI/AAAAAAAALI4/kl8sNfb_4qQ/s640/P8080177.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shortly beyond regaining the ridge, we climbed a second tower thinking it would be the rap station however it was clearly more than 30 metres down the other side. After a bit of faffing about we realized that we needed to pass this on on the right as well and found a way down to the right and onwards.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FehNkSuoPJc/VenAC4GpQ2I/AAAAAAAALI0/GAEA34LVHgE/s1600/P8080181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FehNkSuoPJc/VenAC4GpQ2I/AAAAAAAALI0/GAEA34LVHgE/s640/P8080181.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly enough, we found a coiled 1/2 rope stashed under some rocks very close to the point we originally thought we would be rappelling from. We originally planned to take it back and post it to see who turned up and find out the story behind it. As luck would have it we stashed it for the return trip and found a better way back so it is still there.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vrFDlQ5g6yI/VenAC2rLQ-I/AAAAAAAALJI/gLRu7n8LeaI/s1600/P8080198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vrFDlQ5g6yI/VenAC2rLQ-I/AAAAAAAALJI/gLRu7n8LeaI/s640/P8080198.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finally did reach the rappel station at 2:45 pm at roughly 3340 metres. To save weight we chose not to bring crampons and mountaineering axes. We did bring an extra 30 metre rope in case it was slick on the final slope, thinking that someone may appreciate a belay. Once at the rap station I realized the error of my thinking, the top was a choss heap and there wouldn't be any pro. Fortunately it worked out, as expected there was very little snow in the notch and none above.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AikVESoBg8M/VenAC-jB4GI/AAAAAAAALI4/zTH7ZdlrbN0/s1600/P8080188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AikVESoBg8M/VenAC-jB4GI/AAAAAAAALI4/zTH7ZdlrbN0/s400/P8080188.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At last, we found ourselves on the top of the rubbly summit at 3:00 pm and after a bit of a break enjoying the view and some lunch we retraced our footsteps. We were the first party to sign the summit register in two seasons and it made for interesting reading, the names of a lot of local legends were in it. On our way down, the most fun of the day was reclimbing the notch that we rappelled down with the rope left in place.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SXKDQcbrkwk/VenAC7nrm3I/AAAAAAAALJA/f_BB0XPLXxE/s1600/P8080194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SXKDQcbrkwk/VenAC7nrm3I/AAAAAAAALJA/f_BB0XPLXxE/s640/P8080194.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The return was much the same although we allowed ourselves to get sucked into attempting to rappel the first block by some tat we saw on the way up. It turned out to be a mistake as it resulted in stuck ropes with the ensuing drama and lost time.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bi4UvT8JKX0/VenAC8A7zWI/AAAAAAAALJI/iXs6aU5VjA4/s1600/P8080200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bi4UvT8JKX0/VenAC8A7zWI/AAAAAAAALJI/iXs6aU5VjA4/s640/P8080200.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The remainder of the descent was straight forward, if not quick. The final scree slope back to the meadow as a good boot ski and once down to the meadow we collected our stashed gear. At this point </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jamshaid </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">found a better way through the foilage to the valley bottom although part way down I took a tumble and broke my ski pole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The three of us made it back to the biv site at 8:30 pm and had a good laugh at ourselves for underestimating the day and thinking we would move our biv site closer to the road. Come to think of it it's a lesson I've learned a few times. Summit day on Recondite has a bit to it, from where we camped it was just short of a 14 hour day and 1500 metres of elevation gain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day was obviously a reversal of the first day, with a couple of improvements. We left the biv site at 8 am and angled slowly upwards towards the patch of trees turning the corner into the Dolomite valley. The was everything from 2 steps up, 1 slide back scree to hard morraine. Minus a pole I was at a bit of a disadvantage until Mike did an amazing job of fixing it using tightly wound surveyors tape, followed by a layer of duck tape. 1/2 a season later it's still taking abuse!</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fluYSQlhc70/VehgN8Mv14I/AAAAAAAALGE/DpRAIKDprJ4/s1600/P8090230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fluYSQlhc70/VehgN8Mv14I/AAAAAAAALGE/DpRAIKDprJ4/s400/P8090230.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Near the trees we did a bit of awkward climbing to enter them on the shoulder. In following our noses and Mike's readily apparent bush sense, we found a pretty clear way down staying descenders right close to the top of the cliff band. It eventually joined the old horse trail back towards the Siffleur River crossing. The horse trail came and went but there were old tree blazings to help us along.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iSBK3ou3J08/VehgN6GDVQI/AAAAAAAALGA/b1Nb2N5WkEA/s1600/P8090241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iSBK3ou3J08/VehgN6GDVQI/AAAAAAAALGA/b1Nb2N5WkEA/s640/P8090241.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest was pretty much a reversal of day one, with the exception of the area just past lake Isabella. We did much better following the gravel beds on the right hand side of the valley, eventually rejoining a beaten path in pretty obvious spot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In keeping with our theme of finding odd stuff along the way, Mike came across a single insole along the trail near the Siffleur crossing. Day three proved to be every bit as long as the first two as we were at the trail head in 13 1/2 hours with an elevation gain of 1,000 metres.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was an odd feeling at the end of the trip; I'm very glad to have the experience of getting back there, and equally as glad we bagged it and I don't have to go back! The gpx coordinates indicate it was 87.9 km of travel and 7,548 metres of elevation gain, which helps explain why it took me a week to recover.</span></div>
Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-91959044664549079682015-09-02T21:16:00.002-06:002016-10-07T10:34:37.701-06:00Willingdon in a day 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 stars out of 5, a fairly straight forward 11,000er in a spectacular area that doesn't get visited much (other than August long weekend)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ever since Deanna and I had headed into the Devon Lakes area at the foot of Willingdon in 2012, I had thought of attempting Willingdon in a day, solo. Can't say why, why not? What I had forgotten is what a spectacular area it is. I was attempting to go light and not slow and didn't bring crampons, ice axe or harness. Really the only "technical" gear I brought was a short rope in case I needed a handline down the crux.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I left the car in darkness at 3:45 am and easily found the start of the trail just north of the creek. The moon was bright, so bright it was a bit eerie as it was behind me and it felt like someone was coming up on me with a headlight. Unfortunately, with the position of the moon and the tree cover I still needed a headlamp.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My notes from the last time in were, take the path left just before the third bridge to Quartzite Col. As I approached the third bridge I did think for a minute that things may have changed since the 2013 flood, however it looked good so I jumped in. The "trail" started off well however soon I was bush whacking and gaining more elevation than necessary. Given the hour, and my grogginess, it took longer than it should have for a light to go on. Finally I took a moment, sat on a log and figured out where I was, realizing that I was one drainage to early. Fine way to start off a long day! I found a better way down in the dark (the only thing worse than bush whacking is bush whacking in the dark!). Easily reaquanted myself with the Mosquito Creek trail and wasted 1:15 hr. At least the sky was starting to get lighter!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At 6 am just before the 4th bridge, I took a more obvious left (there was a cairn there I saw on the way down) and headed up the correct drainage. Without the detour it was 1 hour to the turn off. The trail is initially a fairly easy to follow one, and the dew wasn't heavy so I wasn't getting wet. After following the left bank of the creek for an hour, there was an obvious old creek bed heading up the far side. It looked good and ultimately went, with some interesting rock formations at the top.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Basically once in the meadow I headed up and west and in short order Quartzite Col came into view. Recalling my previous notes I came at it low and went almost straight up rather than traversing high. Much easier scrambling on mostly solid quartzite blocks, with the most amazing spider webs everywhere. I even went around a couple of the bigger ones where there was some action going on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Made the col at 8:40 am, pretty much 5 hours in although it would have been 1:15 less without the recon, and an elevation gain of 750 metres. (tough to say I was doing recon given it was dark!). The great part about making the col is that the route finding challenges are behind you, you can see the route and the peak itself - all pretty straight forward, and spectacular!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The steepest part of the whole day is going up and down the backside of Quartzite Col, and eventually you lose 360 metres of the hard won elevation gained. The start of it is somewhat tricky although thankfully no snow, just went SE on the ridge and followed some scree ledges that traversed right to easier terrain. Once down and clear of the rocky debris it was a case of nice soft footing and working to keep the feet dry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Making my way towards the opening of the valley, I was surprised to see two people coming towards me. Unusual to see people, but it was the August long weekend. They had climbed Willingdon two days before and reported that it was good and dry. I didn't see any wildlife, however given the humpy terrain I was sure to make lots of noise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After coming out of the smaller dip that makes way for the Siffleur River, I basically picked up the second obvious horse trail in just under an hour from the col and followed it up and around the left side of the valley heading to Devon Lakes. Fortunately, it looked like the horse trails hadn't been used for their original purpose in awhile. 10:30 am found me at the biv site by the creek draining into Devon Lake and I had something to eat, donned the lid and moved the rope on top in case it was needed. There was a party camped however they were out and about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was the first trip with a new toy, the InReach Explorer. Kind of cool although evidently I still have to figure out how to use it for navigation. I sent out an email showing where I was and giving the all good a few times along the way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The early part of the climb consists of scrambling up and on to an obvious ridge with the BART (big ass rock thing) at the end, pretty straight forward with one steep scree bit getting up to the more solid rock ridge. The rock ridge itself was likely the most fun of the day, going up and over pretty solid rock features, a lot of it quartzite.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once up to the BART at 1 pm, it really became more of a scree slog although it was rarely too bad. After skirting a few rock features to climbers right the rock step appeared. There was a small first step that I climbed right on the ridge and then there was an obvious 8 mil white coredelette hanging 10 metres to the left. It was only 2 metres of climbing, down sloping and loose as advertised with a bit of exposure. Having said that it was straight forward and went quickly. Once above I checked out the anchor and it was pretty bomber, a pin and 2 nuts with newer webbing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the top of the step it is just a few minutes from the top and I made it at 2:15 pm, well early of the turnaround time I had in my head of 3 . I was happy that my recon in the dark didn't keep me from summiting. It was a great day, sunny with a bit of a breeze however no jacket necessary. The team camped below had summited at 10 am however carried on for a traverse of Crown, explaining why I hadn't run into them. It was an interesting feeling having the whole mountain to myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a short stay on top, I reversed direction and made quick work down. As mentioned, I had a short rope for the crux but just (gently!) used the cordelette in place and made it down to the BART in 1/2 an hour, roughly 375 metres of descent. I had a small bit of excitement down climbing some of the blocky quartzite when a microwave sized hand hold broke off. No harm, no foul however it was a good reminder to leave a little extra margin travelling solo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The remainder of the descent went pretty quickly and at 4 pm, I stopped to soak my feet in the creek draining into Devon Lake, do quick wash up and grab some food. A 20 minute break felt good, the longest of the day. I even had the luxury of a change of socks which felt very good. Funny enough as I climbed out of the drainage I met someone who had just arrived for the night planning on a two day attempt of Willingdon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The old horse path between Devon Lake and the Siffluer was probably the only part of the day I could zone out, so zone out I did, nothing like a mental holiday. Soon enough came to the valley and the trail heads North, I had a good bead on Quartzite col and made my way back. It is pretty obvious bear country and I made a bit of noise although got a little excited when I saw movement just over a hump. It turned out to be 4 German's on their way to Willingdon, the Siffluer is becoming a crowded place on August long weekends!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soon I saw at the bottom of the slog up Quartzite col, to the right near the remaining snow was a small cairn and a bit of a trail through the scree that made things easier for a bit. I made the error of carrying on to the high point of the visible scree slope rather than cutting right on the lower angled terrain. Then compounded it by not wanting to loose elevation. The net result was I climbed some of the nastiest, steepest scree I've come across to gain the col a bit to the South. Not recommended, however I was happy to be on top of Quartzite col at 7:30 pm. With the sun getting lower on the horizon the view was incredible!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having said that I really was interested in finding my way through the route finding before the sun went down so didn't dally. Essentially, I was able to follow my footsteps and made it back to the Mosquito Creek trail at 9:30 pm with what felt like a brisk pace. I managed to make it back to the car without a headlamp (just) at 10:30 pm for an 18 1/2 hour day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A fantastic day in a beautiful area, it ended up being 43 km and 2630 metres of elevation gain. I can't believe how fast the day went by, a whole lot faster than the recovery!</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-86585943817070772102015-05-21T21:24:00.004-06:002015-05-21T21:24:56.584-06:00The Pumpkin Traverse 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sat April 18th 2015</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars, it's a classic tour and a lot of fun in the right conditions. A big day from the Fish Creek parking lot but a must do for anyone who has skied the Louise Resort and looked over the back longingly.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had put this trip in the ACC Rocky Mountain schedule for April 18th and pretty much wrote it off by the end of February given the cycle of warm temperatures and rain. However, April was a good month, Louise received a fair amount of snow and the avy hazard had slipped into "classic" spring conditions, i.e. bullet proof in the morning, watch for solar radiation and cornice failures once it heats up. I felt better about the objective given warmer days earlier in the week and a forecast for some cloud and cooler temperatures.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8bAyM6XqGw/VTUG5sTGVlI/AAAAAAAAKBI/V_MCyaoxl9Y/s1600/2015-04-18%2B08.12.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8bAyM6XqGw/VTUG5sTGVlI/AAAAAAAAKBI/V_MCyaoxl9Y/s1600/2015-04-18%2B08.12.01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For most of us, the day started at 6:30 am at </span>Beamer's<span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in </span>Canmore<span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and we were on the road pretty quickly with cups of Joe in hand. All 8 of us met up at Fish Creek parking lot on the road up to Lake Louise ski resort. With minimal fuss we were skinning up the road in to Temple Lodge at 8:15 in the morning. The day was starting off cool (single digit minus C) and some dissipating cloud.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cKz5h5NuEHw/VTUG5VZS2fI/AAAAAAAAKBY/UFztZB3RXSM/s1600/2015-04-18%2B09.17.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cKz5h5NuEHw/VTUG5VZS2fI/AAAAAAAAKBY/UFztZB3RXSM/s1600/2015-04-18%2B09.17.58.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was a bit surprised at the climb involved in getting to the first run on Larch, it was a gain of 300 metres and took us an hour. A quick right turn and we were climbing on fresh corduroy, a new experience. Another hour and a quarter and 350 metres of elevation put us on top of the Larch chair, it was a bit longer than I expected and there were a few downhill skiers which kept us watchful (given they were all wearing helmets) but we stayed to the side and out of the way.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SywwKbnzzLE/VTUG8btBpGI/AAAAAAAAKBg/Rh0QRa4gJZM/s1600/2015-04-18%2B10.31.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SywwKbnzzLE/VTUG8btBpGI/AAAAAAAAKBg/Rh0QRa4gJZM/s1600/2015-04-18%2B10.31.03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the top of Larch chair we were lucky to find the start of a skin track just to the left of the boot packed trail. After ducking under the rope we stopped for a second breakfast and to take a breather. It was starting to turn into a fine day!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xvsq--fsnVU/VTUG87sv1bI/AAAAAAAAKBo/sSR9VnqOJlc/s1600/2015-04-18%2B10.46.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xvsq--fsnVU/VTUG87sv1bI/AAAAAAAAKBo/sSR9VnqOJlc/s1600/2015-04-18%2B10.46.21.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The skin track lead all the way to the summit ridge of Lapalian Mountain gaining the ridge after a traverse below the rocks climbers right. There a couple of the slower members of the party took a breather and the rest whipped up to bag the summit. It was a full 1000 metre gain from the parking lot and was 12:15 pm on the summit. We were moving although not setting any records.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gJsqawkHn_U/VTUHAXsUZUI/AAAAAAAAKBw/rkCpT8Zb4gU/s1600/2015-04-18%2B11.04.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gJsqawkHn_U/VTUHAXsUZUI/AAAAAAAAKBw/rkCpT8Zb4gU/s1600/2015-04-18%2B11.04.18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was about then that we realised that it was going to be a bigger day than Chic Scott's description of 900 metres and 13 km, my sense is that it is from the top of Larch chair. A little more exercise than anticipated.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PwADwbdCShI/VTUHBmvWK_I/AAAAAAAAKB4/5NoSz_o3geA/s1600/2015-04-18%2B12.15.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PwADwbdCShI/VTUHBmvWK_I/AAAAAAAAKB4/5NoSz_o3geA/s1600/2015-04-18%2B12.15.55.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once we regrouped on the ridge the next step was getting over to Purple Peak. There is a pretty obvious ridge making it the easy line and the elevation loss was low enough that we chose to leave our skins on. Some great double corniced features at the col made for interesting terrain.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mFoNb2lOM00/VTUHFV-hyMI/AAAAAAAAKCA/zC_ByhSbPCQ/s1600/2015-04-18%2B12.58.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mFoNb2lOM00/VTUHFV-hyMI/AAAAAAAAKCA/zC_ByhSbPCQ/s1600/2015-04-18%2B12.58.05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1:00 pm found us at the top of purple peak. Tracks lead straight down and a little right, however we chose to go to the left and stay high on an interesting ridge. Probably the technical challenge of the day what with a cornice on the right and fairly steep rocks to the left, however it allowed us to stay high.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3qqsZ4P5hM/VTUHIPi7XHI/AAAAAAAAKCQ/4ayimUPXNJw/s1600/2015-04-18%2B13.26.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3qqsZ4P5hM/VTUHIPi7XHI/AAAAAAAAKCQ/4ayimUPXNJw/s1600/2015-04-18%2B13.26.54.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">From here, I initially thought the rocky knoll in the background was Unity Peak. Fortunately stability was excellent as everything was still solid and we found an easy way through the cornice. Once half way up the knoll it became very apparent that it wasn't Unity however we bagged it anyways and completed a high traverse over to Unity Peak.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5v_SIcHpCz8/VTUHNRs9fsI/AAAAAAAAKLA/L-1cwb_3IlU/s1600/2015-04-18%2B14.11.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5v_SIcHpCz8/VTUHNRs9fsI/AAAAAAAAKLA/L-1cwb_3IlU/s640/2015-04-18%2B14.11.30.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once on the shoulder of Unity Peak we divided into three groups; some waited for a bit on the shoulder and then headed down towards Redoubt Lake, some climbed half way up and 3 of us skinned to the top of the peak reaching it at 3:30 pm. The top part of the climb was fairly steep however soft enough that there was no need for ski crampons. We were fortunate enough to have great stability and skied the northeast bowl, the best turns of the day (okay almost the only turns of the day!).</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ywrthvWacbo/VTUHPdsO6KI/AAAAAAAAKC0/OqYg273d2zk/s1600/2015-04-18%2B15.29.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ywrthvWacbo/VTUHPdsO6KI/AAAAAAAAKC0/OqYg273d2zk/s400/2015-04-18%2B15.29.38.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once we were down low and starting the slight climb to Redoubt Lake the sun started to make itself known. We were lucky enough to have tracks to follow, but it was getting warm out. If you look carefully in the background of the photo below you can see our ski tracks high on Unity.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HWhPryOxq2w/VTUHSUhCc2I/AAAAAAAAKDA/BfdNkg8YvRk/s1600/2015-04-18%2B15.54.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HWhPryOxq2w/VTUHSUhCc2I/AAAAAAAAKDA/BfdNkg8YvRk/s400/2015-04-18%2B15.54.38.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now it was really just a case of climbing up to Redoubt Lake, doing the long crossing and cutting up and around the corner to Boulder Pass. There was enough coverage that we were able to stay high and after a short climb from Redoubt rip the skins for the last time and ski down to the pass.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2mYHaqs-EfE/VTUHYc8H_GI/AAAAAAAAKDg/0tg_gt8vbu8/s1600/2015-04-18%2B17.43.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2mYHaqs-EfE/VTUHYc8H_GI/AAAAAAAAKDg/0tg_gt8vbu8/s400/2015-04-18%2B17.43.08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was 5:30 pm by the time we hit the slopes just above Boulder Pass, and after 9 1/2 hours some of our party were starting to flag a bit. I was concerned it was going to be a lllooonnnggg way out. However we were lucky, at the pass you join the trail back from Skoki and the trees had kept it from getting too soft. It was hard packed and just the right slope to make fast work of getting back.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-erzzuIK0Y0w/VTUHaEqHElI/AAAAAAAAKDk/FTwgfpilbv0/s1600/2015-04-18%2B17.53.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-erzzuIK0Y0w/VTUHaEqHElI/AAAAAAAAKDk/FTwgfpilbv0/s400/2015-04-18%2B17.53.10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was very surprised to pop out of the trees just above Temple Lodge on the backside of Lake Louise ski hill just 40 minutes from Boulder Pass. Our only regret was not stashing beer in the snow on the way up. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">From there it was a quick hop down to the cars. All in all, it was a 10 1/2 hour, 1670 meter day. A fit party could obviously do it more quickly, although I'm not sure they would have as much fun! A highly recommended day out.</span></span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-51151854972396525742015-02-10T19:39:00.002-07:002015-02-10T19:39:23.622-07:00Professor Falls WI4 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 5 out of 5 stars, it's a classic for a reason. Thankfully it's a bit of a hike in or it would be completely overrun. Fortunately, it was wet enough to heal well for all but the top pitch.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">7:30 am on Saturday morning saw Trevor, Nik and I hanging out at Beamers in Canmore eating breakfast and figuring out what to climb. Our original plan was to give Guiness Gully a whirl but some recent snow upped the avy hazard for that area higher than what we were comfortable with. We settled in on a recon of Professor Falls given we all wanted to climb it and none of us had previously given it a go.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We parked by the Banff Springs Hotel at the end of the road and left the car at 8:20 am on foot. Funny enough, we just commented at our surprise on being the first in the parking lot and a truck came in with bikes. The lack of snow as of late made the approach flat and slick enough that the mountain bike assisted crew decided to do something else.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The approach was pretty obvious, veer right twice while following the boot prints, and we arrived at the base of the first pitch at a pretty relaxed time of 9:40. From the approach we could see the first three pitches and we thought we would give them a try and see how the day progressed. There was one party of two ahead of us and the second was just climbing out of sight as we arrived, so far so good!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was doing the leading of the first three pitches and really enjoyed the first pitch. It started off pretty steep and got significantly wetter to the right. It was great to be able to wander and find the edge of the plastic ice without getting too wet. One swing sticks were the norm. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A second step made for a bit of a break and, as advertised, there was a bolted station climbers left. Nik and Trevor seemed to run up it and left me a little breathless keeping up with the ropes. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second pitch was a little steeper, but in the same vein as the first. I noticed that my feet weren't feeling as secure as I was used to. As I was belaying the rest of the team up I checked out my crampons and realized that I was climbing in my glacier crampons. Not really a big deal, but I got to get more sleep!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The third pitch was about as far as we originally thought we would make it, however we were making good time. The party of two ahead of us had disappeared and the party of three behind was moving about the same speed so all was well. I found the third pitch a good challenge as it was more sustained than the first two. Having said that I had a bit of a moment 2/3 of the way up when I clipped an ice screw into the rope between my figure eight and the keeper knot. In the end it was a great opportunity to practise clipping a draw into the end of a tool to protect myself while fixing the mess. Good thing there weren't many spectators!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rzv8J40Gkhc/VMcO-ssyDWI/AAAAAAAAJFI/iXoh2tKZEmU/s1600/P1240007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rzv8J40Gkhc/VMcO-ssyDWI/AAAAAAAAJFI/iXoh2tKZEmU/s1600/P1240007.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The third pitch tops out with rap rings directly in front and once Nik and Trevor joined me we wandered higher to see what was next as none of us really read the route description any further. Two pitches of easier (WI3+) were next and given that Nik hadn't lead ice in 4 years he was keen to give it a go.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fourth pitch was still pretty wet on the right, which resulted in some interesting ice formations. Fortunately, it was much drier on the left and Nik made quick work of the lead. I lent him my leashless tools for the lead and used Nik's older tools, added to bashing my knuckles a few times the fussing to remove screws reminded me how good leashless climbing is!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nik carried on for the fifth pitch, which was much drier but about the same grade. The day was wearing on and we could see the next pitch. Not realizing it was the top pitch we agreed to make it our last pitch of the day.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a short hike, we came to the sixth pitch. At this point the crowds congregated as a fast team of two passed and then rapped along with the lead pair while I was leading. Not a lot of drama as I just placed a screw and waited it out. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course about then, the party of three caught up which made for a bit of a bottleneck - nothing like a party at the base of the crux!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p-iSnBtKswM/VMcPEHWkMdI/AAAAAAAAJGU/CgWM41GGOes/s1600/P1240019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p-iSnBtKswM/VMcPEHWkMdI/AAAAAAAAJGU/CgWM41GGOes/s1600/P1240019.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was only when I asked one of the climbers (the one that forgot his harness and was climbing with a field built webbing harness!) that I found out this was the top pitch. Nice to know we were going to finish it! The first half of the pitch isn't that steep with very interesting features on the right.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I climbed the top of the pitch on the far left. Very steep and balancy however with great feet and hooks. A bit of an adrenaline pump but great fun, I followed rope marks to a cave on the right with a chain anchor. 3 pm saw us all on top, 5 hours for 6 pitches with 3 climbers not fast, but not bad for a team out for a recon. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1cKufwrNVHo/VMcPFKVrDxI/AAAAAAAAJGg/p7BsjkkUnbo/s1600/P1240024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1cKufwrNVHo/VMcPFKVrDxI/AAAAAAAAJGg/p7BsjkkUnbo/s1600/P1240024.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fortunately, the team behind us was great in letting us rappel through and we were down in under two hours. All of the rap stations were easy to find with the exception of the 3rd which I was on the climbers right at roughly the 55 meter mark along the wall.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We moved pretty quickly as our goal was to get back to the base before dark. In the end we were down at 4:45 pm and made it all the way to the cars (barely) without headlamps.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WctjoPFiTIo/VMcPHskZMUI/AAAAAAAAJHI/Z7rSKZoG9F8/s1600/P1240031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WctjoPFiTIo/VMcPHskZMUI/AAAAAAAAJHI/Z7rSKZoG9F8/s1600/P1240031.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hike out was quick, and a bit slick, however the highlight was walking towards the Banff Springs Hotel as the sun went down. It looked a bit like gotham city! In the end it was a 10 hour day car to car at a pretty relaxed pace.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A great day in the mountains, with great people. It was great to finally get up the classic, it's been on my list for awhile!</span></span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-81994737474739842942014-12-07T16:25:00.003-07:002015-04-30T19:58:18.160-06:00Fryatt Attempt 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 3 out of 5 stars. Fryatt sports a spectacular, albeit a bit lengthy, approach along with an awesome bivy site. The climb itself has interested bits among the scree and presents interesting route finding challenges.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ahh, the curse of a great weather forecast! This was an ACC Rocky Mountain section trip and I was looking forward to attempting an 11,000er and checking out a new area. Jay and I drove from Edmonton and spent the night at the Athabasca Falls youth hostel, while Midori and Brian drove in the morning and met us at the Geraldine Lakes parking lot as that was the approach we chose.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There had been snow recently however the forecast was perfect with lots of sun and warm temperatures on Saturday to melt it off along with a great summit day on Sunday. Saturday started off looking good as we left the car at 9 am and made our way along the trail through the Geraldine Lakes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's a beautiful hike in, although sporty and with all of the mossy boulders I wouldn't want to do it in the rain. Don't expect a paved trail, especially after the 6 km mark. Having said that I would go back and camp at the campground, it is spectacular and we didn't meet anyone else until day 3!</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGf_ROdPwr4/VBhT4dTQggI/AAAAAAAAIRE/L6pWUe_Cj0w/s1600/P9130011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gGf_ROdPwr4/VBhT4dTQggI/AAAAAAAAIRE/L6pWUe_Cj0w/s1600/P9130011.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travelling at a relaxed pace, thanks to the overnight packs, and including lunch it took us 5 1/2 hours to reach the end of the Geraldine Lakes having gained 500 metres of elevation. The trail wasn't particularly obvious at times however we followed our noses and Corbett's directions and it all worked out. Some of it is pretty obvious bear country and at one point we followed cougar tracks for some time - fortunately without meeting the owner.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UWV1hLSC3GI/VBhT7B5q2wI/AAAAAAAAIRk/RPtYBLZJVpw/s1600/P9130015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UWV1hLSC3GI/VBhT7B5q2wI/AAAAAAAAIRk/RPtYBLZJVpw/s1600/P9130015.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the lakes the correct way is to go straight up through some bush that develops into an alpine meadow and then go left to the obvious shoulder of the West Ridge of Fryatt. We headed left too early and ended up bush whacking and eventually cliffed out, which likely cost us an hour however was fairly simple to undo.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you can see, there was a fair amount of snow around as we gained elevation. To add to it cloud cover started to become significant and it stayed cool with a biting wind if you were in the open.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can see the last of the Geraldine Lakes behind Midori along with the shoulder low on the right that we climbed in behind. Once sorted out it was fairly straight forward going from bush to alpine meadow to largely scree. We hit the shoulder of the West Ridge of Fryatt at 4:30 pm, roughly gaining 800 metres total. Great views down the backside.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wcYJFHa6jso/VBhUCavRRkI/AAAAAAAAIS8/ooRi5ygTmqk/s1600/P9130029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wcYJFHa6jso/VBhUCavRRkI/AAAAAAAAIS8/ooRi5ygTmqk/s1600/P9130029.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once around the corner there is the tiresome sidehill trudge, which lived up to its name. My hope was once we got around the corner to the south side of the mountain the snow would decrease however I was well off the mark. It was a winter wonderland!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our plan was to biv at Iceberg Lake and to go low past it around and back up. However as we got farther along it didn't look inviting at all. We back tracked and checked out Corbett's suggestion of scrambling up by the twin waterfalls.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RC_6NuULybg/VBhUNrI_B_I/AAAAAAAAIVc/LrmxvLW5Yt4/s1600/P9140054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RC_6NuULybg/VBhUNrI_B_I/AAAAAAAAIVc/LrmxvLW5Yt4/s1600/P9140054.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I initially headed up too early however once we realized that it the way up started at the high point of a scree slope some ways lookers right of the falls it went fairly easily and is the way I would recommend. We arrived at the biv site in a bit of a snow squall, definitely not basking in the sun as I was hoping for! With the two diversions, it had taken us 10 hours to make it in and the elevation gain was roughly 1300 metres (roughly 180 more than necessary).</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTfVn6Fo4sw/VFheOhKFzaI/AAAAAAAAImc/TCn40JFuZvQ/s1600/P9130030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTfVn6Fo4sw/VFheOhKFzaI/AAAAAAAAImc/TCn40JFuZvQ/s1600/P9130030.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given the snow about, I wasn't particularly hopeful about summit day. We had a bit of a late start, 7 am and fortunately the day started off with a high cloud that was keeping the snow pretty solid.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gxz0wkKwvHA/VBhUEo0LS0I/AAAAAAAAITc/c1iwwBPnDcY/s1600/P9140034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gxz0wkKwvHA/VBhUEo0LS0I/AAAAAAAAITc/c1iwwBPnDcY/s1600/P9140034.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As per Corbett's description, we made our way up the fortunately frozen scree and found a weakness in the cliff band slightly left. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are an aficionado of the Rockies, the climbing was fun in between the choss and route finding kept us entertained.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The occasional bit of tat kept us feeling good about our route finding choices. Up high, things remained pretty wintry however we were able to find the occasional cairn that pulled us climbers left. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--yCqHuA5wgI/VBhUIh8oskI/AAAAAAAAIUY/BnvWIVk8U0k/s1600/P9140043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--yCqHuA5wgI/VBhUIh8oskI/AAAAAAAAIUY/BnvWIVk8U0k/s1600/P9140043.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We actually made pretty good time given the easy travel the snow afforded.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofI-6C5J_Ts/VBhUMexdSzI/AAAAAAAAIVM/Vb1OoONz5gU/s1600/P9140051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofI-6C5J_Ts/VBhUMexdSzI/AAAAAAAAIVM/Vb1OoONz5gU/s1600/P9140051.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Up high, we found a gully that lead to a rock wall which sounded a lot like the description of the start of the more technical climbing. About this time we got on some modestly technical rock and given the snow the route was obviously not going to go. To compound things right at that moment the sun started to make an appearance and I had some concerns regarding footing and rock fall if the snow rapidly melted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our high point was roughly 3100 metres and it was 10:30 am when we pulled the plug. I lowered and then rappelled down to the ice in the gully at the left in the above photo and then we simul-climbed down the ice until back on solid snow. With the four of us it took some time to extract ourselves.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Descending we were able to follow our tracks back quite a ways however it did take us longer descending than ascending due to the deteriorating snow. Once down a ways route finding became a bit more tricky as things looked considerably different than earlier. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DWzBANsJ69s/VIOrAyrc_KI/AAAAAAAAI5I/VmUAZfw96xU/s1600/P1130041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DWzBANsJ69s/VIOrAyrc_KI/AAAAAAAAI5I/VmUAZfw96xU/s1600/P1130041.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We did end up coming down one lower gully to climbers right of our ascent, it did go however not as easily as our ascent route.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vSLBeP7NhA8/VIOrU26bREI/AAAAAAAAI5Q/KOa2OteDew4/s1600/P9140041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vSLBeP7NhA8/VIOrU26bREI/AAAAAAAAI5Q/KOa2OteDew4/s1600/P9140041.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We made it back to camp at 5:30 pm, to give you an idea of the changes in barometric pressure - my watch read a gain of 660 metres and a descent of 750 metres, quite a swing in 11 hours!</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PvpCdmr5k2U/VBhUDcFEFjI/AAAAAAAAITM/GFzr_yI65O8/s1600/P9130031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PvpCdmr5k2U/VBhUDcFEFjI/AAAAAAAAITM/GFzr_yI65O8/s1600/P9130031.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a great nights sleep, we awoke to a clear sky and a rapidly warming day, one day late! We left at 8:15 am and given the blue bird day took our time on the way back.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HcOFBKkoRRI/VBhUTpXPtZI/AAAAAAAAIWs/v6-ussloG6Q/s1600/P9150070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HcOFBKkoRRI/VBhUTpXPtZI/AAAAAAAAIWs/v6-ussloG6Q/s1600/P9150070.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A lunch stop was made at the Gerladine Lakes campground, where we met a couple who has hiked in to check it out. A beautiful spot that I will go back to.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H6BaRmvOid8/VBhUZlnZhbI/AAAAAAAAIXs/HTz1-HwLOS4/s1600/P9150084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H6BaRmvOid8/VBhUZlnZhbI/AAAAAAAAIXs/HTz1-HwLOS4/s1600/P9150084.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In all, it took us 7 1/2 hours on the way out including a leisurely lunch. The trip was as much fun as I've had not climbing a mountain. I'll be back!</span></span></span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-45547758177245232092014-10-06T20:00:00.000-06:002014-10-06T20:00:16.703-06:00Mt Sparrowhawk 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Saturday July 26th - Mt Sparrowhawk 3121 metres</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. An easy scramble that gets up high quickly and rewards with spectacular views!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Deanna, Seana and I had been up Read's Ridge last fall and had made a note that the extra effort to go to the top of Sparrowhawk would likely be rewarding. When we were blessed with a beautiful summer Saturday and nothing much on the agenda, it was a done deal!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Nf-pCJJzWU/U9cepRcISAI/AAAAAAAAH0Q/YSi0IicFOqE/s1600/P7260003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Nf-pCJJzWU/U9cepRcISAI/AAAAAAAAH0Q/YSi0IicFOqE/s1600/P7260003.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The nice thing about Sparrowhawk is there isn't a whole lot of route finding, you can see it as you are driving down the Smith-Dorrien. The morning was a bit leisurely and we left the parking lot at 9 am, as mentioned the trail goes pretty much straight up so the views quickly become breathtaking.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uTRzAgjDz00/U9ceqL_yZzI/AAAAAAAAH0c/PjCARWnk7IU/s1600/P7260004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uTRzAgjDz00/U9ceqL_yZzI/AAAAAAAAH0c/PjCARWnk7IU/s1600/P7260004.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">By 10:15 am we made the hump before Read's Ridge and followed a well beaten path down to the left and up a scree bowl.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bctr0Q5peNs/U9cet7vhRlI/AAAAAAAAH1A/I6fi34PcF5E/s1600/P7260012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bctr0Q5peNs/U9cet7vhRlI/AAAAAAAAH1A/I6fi34PcF5E/s1600/P7260012.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It took us about half an hour to work our way up through this feature, as you can see the sun was shining and it was quickly getting warm. There wasn't anyone we could see ahead of us although there was a large party coming up behind that fortunately kept their distance through the scree.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pkJ3dWXoox4/U9ceuj8_A2I/AAAAAAAAH1M/KQhUuKgM8PU/s1600/P7260013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pkJ3dWXoox4/U9ceuj8_A2I/AAAAAAAAH1M/KQhUuKgM8PU/s1600/P7260013.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Once above, there was some grass and some rock but the scree wasn't bad at all. The track through it helped.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">There had been some precipitation earlier in the week and once we got close to the head wall, it was covered with rime in really interesting formations. We could actually hear the tinkling as it melted off the rock as the sun got to it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The snow was pretty solid and we had no trouble making our way around to the right to the summit. It got modestly steep around back but the footing was good.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The views were fantastic! We could make out the roof of the Canmore Hotel on once side and see Calgary in the distance on the other. We were on top at 12:30 pm and spent almost an hour having lunch and pointing out the peaks of K Country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Down was the reverse of up, the wind picked up a little and it wasn't tropical but still a great day to be in the mountains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had a break close to the bottom of Read's Ridge to kick the stones out of our shoes and were back at the car at 5:30 pm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a bit of a huff, with more than 1500 metres of elevation gained but well worth the effort!</span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-78813765575669057822014-09-29T21:37:00.004-06:002014-10-06T19:35:14.070-06:00Grand Sentinel 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Tuesday July 1st - Grand Sentinel Trad Route 5.8</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. A fantastic location with a great approach and 4 (3 really) very fun pitches. The 5.8 (old school) pitch under the roof was the most fun I've had leading in a couple of seasons!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This was an ACC trip I lead for purely selfish reasons, I hadn't climbed it in about 10 years and wanted to go back and lead the 5.8 pitch. Seana and Andrea agreed to come along and it worked out well.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We left the parking lot at 8:30 am, fortunately there wasn't a group size limit in effect (although there was when we got back). As you can see, I made the ladies carry the ropes, so much for chivalry!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I had heard that there was still a lot of snow on the way up to Sentinel Pass and there was. We came prepared however in the end there was good, firm buckets in the snow so we made pretty good time. The three of us were at the pass, a gain of a little over 700 metres, in 2 hours.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Once at Sentinel Pass, the Grand Sentinel is obvious and not far. It did take us an hour to make our way carefully through the snow.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A warm day, it was definitely going to be sloppy on the way out! We were geared up and climbing by noon. I split up the first two pitches however in retrospect could have easily combined them and gone all the way to the base of the 5.8 corner.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Once past an initial bit of ruble the climbing is blocky, well protected and a lot of fun. Andrea and Seana simulclimbed as seconds and made fast work of it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As mentioned the third pitch, the 5.8 corner capped with a roof was the most fun I've had leading a rock pitch in a long time. Definitely an old school grade but well protected and moving left under the roof and over was fantastic! Here's Andrea making it look easy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The last pitch has a 5.9 option, feeling pretty full of myself I checked it out but backed off and scampered up the 5.4 finish. A lot more fun than I remember, including an airy step across. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of this followed by the mandatory top of the pinnacle shots!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;">Four single rope rappels put us to the base and we were back at the base at 5:30 pm. There were two Americans from California who were on their way up and kindly helped us rap through. They did have a few questions for us: why are Canadians so happy? Why do we drive so slow (they haven't been on the QE2!)? and why can't they get a rare hamburger in Canada? We really didn't have many answers for them, however suggested some better places to eat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were back at Sentinel Pass at 6:30 pm with smiles on our faces. With the snow down could have been significantly faster than up, however we took our time and were still back at the car at 8:00.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;">Glorious day, great friends, fantastic climb!</span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0Lake Louise, AB T0L, Canada51.4253851 -116.1773193000000225.9033506 -157.48591330000002 76.9474196 -74.868725300000023tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-41164823728720722472014-09-10T22:05:00.000-06:002014-10-06T19:34:55.945-06:00Ha Ling Northeast Face 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. It's a bit like visiting an old friend who hasn't aged well, but is still an old friend. 12 pitches of fun climbing, lots of fixed gear and we got lucky with the crowds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I agreed to take Brian out for a long trad route as part of the ACC Rocky Mountain section ROCK program, originally Rebecca was going to join us but couldn't make it so then we were two. I hadn't climbed this route in 5 years so was keen to have a go at it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Given it was a weekend with a good weather forecast we met early and were leaving the car at 7:15 am from the upper Grassi parking lot. The way up is pretty straight forward if you go right for a short bit once you hit the main trail. Then it's pretty much following the footsteps in the scree.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We actually thought we might be first (a bit delusional on my part) until we met two coming down who were bailing due to a slow group not letting anyone by. Not highly unusual for this route so we soldiered on, eventually getting to the top of the trudge and the single bolt belay at 8:40 am after a 560 meter stair master. As warned there was one party of three on the second belay and two young guys ahead of us who were just starting up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We waited around for a bit and headed up about 9:15. Fortunately, the first party appeared to have pulled their fingers out and the young bucks were making pretty short work of it so other than a couple of short delays we were pretty much on our own (the advantage of being the slowest climbers!).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The route starts off a bit loose and given it was the day after a large rain event I expected a bit of shrapnel and it didn't disappoint. The party head got off route a couple of times and we were forced to take cover. Having said that it is nice to ease into it as the initial climbing is pretty easy and we didn't pull out the second double rope until the half way point.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AkUOUV-EKLg/U6jccweI_FI/AAAAAAAAHEo/0j1UUaVyMH8/s1600/P6210001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AkUOUV-EKLg/U6jccweI_FI/AAAAAAAAHEo/0j1UUaVyMH8/s1600/P6210001.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We had a few chances to put together earlier pitches however I didn't due to the traffic up ahead. In two hours we were 5 pitches into it and the rock started to improve and some interesting climbing followed.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d0VrZX3d1LM/U6jchQ2-_CI/AAAAAAAAHFY/grfok6ngVqY/s1600/P6210012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d0VrZX3d1LM/U6jchQ2-_CI/AAAAAAAAHFY/grfok6ngVqY/s1600/P6210012.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">About this point, Brian came up to the belay with an odd look on his face. He caught a gear loop on some rock and in moving by ripped the gear loop open and lost some gear. Needless to say, the gear was the least of his concerns - my guess is that harness got retired!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Things progressed nicely, I wasn't using a lot of gear and it was all medium sized cams and nuts. That was until the bookend pitch where a couple of larger cams found a home.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's really hard not to grin when you are climbing the bookend pitch. Although some of the middle pitches are getting a little greasy, the top pitches seem to climb just fine!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once up high the views start to expand and close to the top we could see the hordes making their way up the scramble.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We topped out at 2:40 pm after roughly 5 1/2 hours of climbing, the joys of climbing with a strong partner! We took our time packing and finishing up some lunch and enjoyed the scramble down.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Great day, car to car in just over 9 hours with smiles on our faces!</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-43701594480612977482014-09-10T21:46:00.000-06:002014-09-10T21:50:15.483-06:00Le Soulier, Tunnel Mountain 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sunday September 7th - Le Soulier 5.6, Banff's Tunnel Mountain</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. 15 minutes from the car, three interesting pitches, sunny aspect, not real greasy - whats not to like?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The day started with bigger plans (in my head anyways), however a late night the night before and supper plans called for a more laid back day. We parked in the parking lot just west of the Banff Centre and hiked down the trail until spotting the scree slope on the left, then simply followed a path to the bottom of the scree and then up right. You then follow the rock to the right until clearing the obvious roof (Gonda's Roof), a cruisey approach in anyone's book.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Once at the bottom, there is an obvious bolt however we chose to scramble around the first pitch. Looking down it seemed like the right call, although there is a little sting in the tail of the scramble. It probably would have been a good idea to gear up before the scramble (lesson #1 from the mountain gods).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Having said that all of the belay ledges are nice and comfy. I did bring a small rack, but found it completely unnecessary (lesson #2) as it was bolted (not to sport route standards, but ...).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">From the first belay, there is a bolt out to the left however we figured out that it is the start of the 5.9 variation, the correct route goes straight up and then right at the weakness. Not a lot of route finding necessary as it was a case of following the bolts to the belay.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday was a great day, warm with a little fall in the air and some cloud cover to keep from overheating. I wouldn't want to be on this on a hot day mid summer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Great views opened up of the Banff Springs Hotel and the Golf Course the other way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The second pitch ends with a bit of an awkward move right to the station, once again there are bolts and another station to the left but I believe it is for the 5.9 variation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The third pitch does pass by the namesake shoes with some fun moves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">After things kicked back and it was a scramble for the top, I went right on some dirty rock after clipping an old piton. Once at the top I realized the error of my ways, the route actually went left by a shiny new bolt to a tree - you can ignore any pins as they will just pull you off route (lesson #3).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A great day out, even made Deanna smile! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We were climbing at a pretty relaxed pace and made it up in 1:40 hours, another 15 minutes took us back to the cars. Take the path left and then the lower jeep track through the forest.</span></span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-63296981094812918292014-03-23T17:21:00.001-06:002014-03-23T17:21:11.640-06:00Valhalla Mountain Lodge 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="color: black;">Sat Jan 25th - Sat Feb 1st Valhalla Mountain Lodge, </b><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: ArvoRegular, 'Lucida Grande', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28.799999237060547px; white-space: normal;">West Kootenays</span><span style="color: black;">, B.C.</span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 1/2 stars out of 5, one of my favourite back country lodges. Great terrain, the feeling of big country however small enough for multi-pass tours and a lodge that, for me, is the right amount of "rustic".</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The 9 of us met up in Nakusp, BC early Saturday morning. Flying out of Burton we are the only lodge so there isn't a lot of other parties around and things are pretty relaxed. We got going in decent time with a little valley fog but blue skies up top.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">With four flights in all, we were all moved in, fed and ready to head out at 12:30 pm. It was blue sky day with the temperature just around zero and an avalanche forecast of moderate, low, low. Given the proximity of McKeen pass, we agreed that would be a good afternoon objective and 8 of us headed out, Brad hung out at the hut, nursing a broken toe and sore ribs. He told us it was a "household accident", I wonder? The good news was he was preparing supper while we played in the snow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Given the low snow year, trail breaking wasn't a real issue and yes, there were plenty of rocks pocking out on the south facing slopes. An hour and a half put us at the col, up 350 metres above the lake, and after a windy de-skinning at the pass we choose a line of descent far climbers right that was soft and had me grinning (it looks like I wasn't the only one)!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was too early to go in to several of us went back up windy knoll and I skied a steep line off to lookers right of half pipe with Dave and Sharon. Dave was good enough to lead the charge and found some scary faceted snow up high however we persevered and were rewarded with some great, fairly steep turns (the feature is above Chris's toque).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were back at the hut just after 4:00 pm, which at the end of January was feeling a lot like dusk, and after 550m of skiing felt like we got some exercise. Brad was on for supper and we started with some of the best margaritas I've ever had and a huge bowl of guacamole. I had a good feeling about the week!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday dawned clear blue and not cold, however with a bit of a breeze. Our hut custodian arrived early with the weather and avy forecasts, which became a morning ritual (they've got their own hut, which works well). Moderate, low, low was the order of the day. Plans were made to head up to Chico bowl and we were organized and out the door at 9:30.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brad was able to join us and the sore toe didn't seem to hold him back. Chico bowl is just to the southwest of Mt McKean and involved heading slightly downhill to Twilight Lake and then climbing through some forest and then out into the bowl itself.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We actually climbed up to the top of a run called Gateway and could look down the backside to Voodoo Child and Rumplestiltskin. The run down Gateway was surprisingly good, nothing too deep but hero none the less. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the bottom of the run we split into two groups; Brad, Jane and Chris headed back up for another run (if you look closely you can see them below the left hand cliff band in the photo above), and the rest of us headed up to sunshine pass for a look.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Very cool terrain and while windy it was still very comfortable. The top of Sunshine Pass is roughly 2375m and 400 metres above Twilight Lake. It was 1:30 when we went over to the back side and were greeted to a great view of the Valhalla's in the distance!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We checked out the top of Rolling Thunder, the skiing was good but the day was wearing on so we only skied the top portion and headed back up to Sunshine Pass at 3 pm.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were back at the hut at 4:30, for the ritual beer in the back porch. Sure it would have been nice to be skiing deep pow, but the blue skies, great touring and surprisingly good skiing on north faced terrain had us feeling lucky! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Monday looked to be a carbon copy of Sunday; blue skies, high hovering around freezing and low avy hazard. We had been talking about checking out Valhallaluya ever since arriving and today was the day! All of us were out the door at 9 am and up the familiar territory towards McKean pass. With the bindings adjusted (thanks Dave!) I took out my new K2 Coombacks and skied them the rest of the week, sweet rides but not totally impervious to snow snakes!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And to the folks that give me a hard time about my Whistler/Blackcomb toque complete with pompom, hey it was free! Without any real ski penetration on the way up we made quick progress, gaining the 300 metres up to McKean Pass in an hour.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Off came the skins for a quick 200 metre ski down to Blue Lake. Being north facing it was soft if not deep and after a quick climb up we were at the top of Valhallaluya at 10:30.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We did a full run down skiers right and had some of the best snow of the trip. Great fun, although Jane managed to hit a rock early on and treated us to a bit of a yard sale. It's kind of nice when someone else keeps everyone entertained!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cSoM8E7Gq4U/UvGsQaQgZUI/AAAAAAAAGWQ/AMRuyHTbyuw/s1600/P1270076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cSoM8E7Gq4U/UvGsQaQgZUI/AAAAAAAAGWQ/AMRuyHTbyuw/s1600/P1270076.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The skiing was good enough that we went back up for another run, not bothering to go all the way to the col. We stopped before the angle kicked back and the shade started, ripping our skins for a second run at 12:15 about 70 metres below the col.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JX3w5SnLSBI/UvGsUcY2YHI/AAAAAAAAGXI/2aNMIIY20qk/s1600/P1270092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JX3w5SnLSBI/UvGsUcY2YHI/AAAAAAAAGXI/2aNMIIY20qk/s1600/P1270092.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time we explored a little skiers left and found some great snow, after which we had a celebratory warm lunch basking in the sun. Having said that this was deep in the north and a long ways from home, it did get shaded early, there was a wind picking up and the forecasted clouds starting to move in. We called it a day and started to head towards home.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UFuPxt0vvsY/UvGsUuhD2zI/AAAAAAAAGXQ/A7Y4hlFL9ec/s1600/P1270094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UFuPxt0vvsY/UvGsUuhD2zI/AAAAAAAAGXQ/A7Y4hlFL9ec/s1600/P1270094.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all decided to ski back down to Blue Lake with our skins on, which did create some entertainment but no large crashes. The snow above Blue Lake on the way back up to McKean Pass was hard enough that a few chose to boot pack up. We made it back to the pass at 2:40 and were happy to note that it was still sunny on the west side which made for a leisurely ski back with a stop for a chill out in the sun.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qFNKHoGzCH8/UvGsaZv3skI/AAAAAAAAGYo/j8UvoDXHDxA/s1600/P1270119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qFNKHoGzCH8/UvGsaZv3skI/AAAAAAAAGYo/j8UvoDXHDxA/s1600/P1270119.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life is good when you can hang around outside at the end of January. Never the less it does get dusk at around 4 this time of year so we eventually headed in after a 1320 metre day.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tuesday did start to show a shift in the weather. Avy hazard was still moderate, low, low and the temperature still very moderate however high cloud had moved in. After a big day on Monday, some were looking for a slower start to the day. In the end Dave, Marni, Deanna and I headed out about 8:45 am looking to check out just how sun effected a run called Under the Rhino was.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ImIxisA6u8/UvGscg10soI/AAAAAAAAGZM/hviyeerDKn4/s1600/P1280127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ImIxisA6u8/UvGscg10soI/AAAAAAAAGZM/hviyeerDKn4/s1600/P1280127.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We made our way down familiar territory to Twilight Lake and continued to the south west gaining some elevation. We stopped just over the trees above the run to check it out. Given the committing nature of the run, Dave stopped to dig a pit however it looked good enough to warrant jumping in.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Asa0dJjWqew/UvGscJSDNUI/AAAAAAAAGZE/uEhNxBw72Do/s1600/P1280126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Asa0dJjWqew/UvGscJSDNUI/AAAAAAAAGZE/uEhNxBw72Do/s1600/P1280126.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The run was a real mixed bag, some great turns, some sun affected snow and even some alder bashing at the bottom. You could really see the results of a low snow year.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o48LOo6y3iQ/UvGsd6coZpI/AAAAAAAAGZg/fVvmbILVYfU/s1600/P1280129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o48LOo6y3iQ/UvGsd6coZpI/AAAAAAAAGZg/fVvmbILVYfU/s1600/P1280129.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The run does go for a lllooonnnggg way down and 11 am found us at 1500 metres, a full 600 metres below the hut. Needless to say it was a long climb out, fortunately with a well beaten trail the whole way. Not having Garrett around to show us the way resulted in a little back and forth however we eventually found our way to the top of home run and we made our way down some pretty soft snow back to the hut for lunch at around 1:30. The rest of the group had skied largely the same run and made it back to the hut about the same time.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fTCQ3dSe7Qc/UvGsfLc1W_I/AAAAAAAAGZw/1H130VjVPoE/s1600/P1280131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fTCQ3dSe7Qc/UvGsfLc1W_I/AAAAAAAAGZw/1H130VjVPoE/s1600/P1280131.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you can see, it had started to snow although not heavily. After the luxury of a hot bowl of soup for lunch some of us headed out for a lap on home run. Gord, one of the custodians joined us for it and if you searched around soft, boot top powder was there for the taking. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--3t3ymBbbgk/UvGsgjaoKFI/AAAAAAAAGaI/8EDJqE3eeIo/s1600/P1280140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--3t3ymBbbgk/UvGsgjaoKFI/AAAAAAAAGaI/8EDJqE3eeIo/s1600/P1280140.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 o'clock rolled around and given the cloud cover it seemed even darker than usual so we headed in. By now we had settled into the comforting rituals of hut life; eat, drink and enjoy the occasional sauna. One nice thing about skiing in January is you usually do get plenty of sleep given the darkness.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hump day came along with the first day of real snow, however when I say real the total accumulation amounted to about 12 cm. Deanna took the day off and the rest of us skied down to Twilight Lake to check out the slopes to the east and south draining down to the lake. Trees for viz and the promise of good snow sealed the deal. There was some talk of skiing Forbidden on the north of the ridge coming off Woden Peak however in the end the visibility just wasn't there.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tm_nB3yDe1c/UvGsi5xtPaI/AAAAAAAAGas/lYXiftNuUhQ/s1600/P1290157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tm_nB3yDe1c/UvGsi5xtPaI/AAAAAAAAGas/lYXiftNuUhQ/s1600/P1290157.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">However when we got to the lake just down from the cabin, I realized that I left my pack at the hut! Yikes, and a quick (but not so quick) skate ski back to the hut with a promise to catch everyone up was my reward. Funny enough just as I got close to the hut, D radioed to let me know my pack was sitting on the porch. Thanks for Dave and Brad for waiting for me.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t-4r1BP6ND4/UvGsnwfVD5I/AAAAAAAAGbQ/VaO8GLhRgM8/s1600/P1290162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t-4r1BP6ND4/UvGsnwfVD5I/AAAAAAAAGbQ/VaO8GLhRgM8/s1600/P1290162.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once we climbed above Twilight Lake, the visibility proved to be not bad. An initial run to skiers right showed some sun effect however the runs directly north facing were actually darn good. We partnered up and I got to chase Sharon down a couple of laps. It's great to ski with people that like to gobble up terrain!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LvNgGDxT250/UvGspt4zlII/AAAAAAAAGbw/fyRmsaE7XtA/s1600/P1290170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LvNgGDxT250/UvGspt4zlII/AAAAAAAAGbw/fyRmsaE7XtA/s1600/P1290170.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each run we worked up to Chico bowl a bit more. In all 3 runs were had and great fun. I did have a bit of a garage sale down close to the lake after losing it completely through the deep snow at a bit of a clip. Entertaining once I cleaned the snow out of my ears and nose.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n2m2bsLVIiM/UvGspJnH9aI/AAAAAAAAGbk/flNglD6-hwI/s1600/P1290167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n2m2bsLVIiM/UvGspJnH9aI/AAAAAAAAGbk/flNglD6-hwI/s1600/P1290167.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the third run, some went in and some of us went to check out Cabin Fever. I was starting to slow down a bit on the way up, feeling like it might have been wise to take a 1/2 day off at some point!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XQmlbWQXQ6I/UvGsqpQB29I/AAAAAAAAGb8/8UYbQ5yw5rY/s1600/P1290175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XQmlbWQXQ6I/UvGsqpQB29I/AAAAAAAAGb8/8UYbQ5yw5rY/s1600/P1290175.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The snow was really good down cabin fever, helped by being pretty much north facing. It was pretty moderate terrain and a great way to end the day. We were in right about 4 pm after skiing just about 1200m of fine snow!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wednesday was Deanna's and my turn to cook, however being the sweetheart she is, my role was really just one of BBQing the fish, oh and eating! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thursday dawned overcast with light snow at times. The avalanche hazard remained moderate, low, low and by the end of the day there was 20 cm's on the board. Not huge but enough to soften it up and it was a little colder, in the -10C range. There were some ideas floated around and the whole gang left just after 9 up windy knoll and south over to the shoulder of Mt McKean overlooking Twilight Lake.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MW6Xb9oQ_dY/UvGstTSZA8I/AAAAAAAAGco/FwbJiRYqYkA/s1600/P1300180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MW6Xb9oQ_dY/UvGstTSZA8I/AAAAAAAAGco/FwbJiRYqYkA/s1600/P1300180.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The new snow looked good and we elected to give the south facing slopes down to the lake a try. Unfortunately, it was still pretty sun effected and essentially dust on breakable crust. A few bits in the trees were good but we thought we could do better. Given Chico bowl was right around the corner up we went.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NInAxVg76lY/UvGsu8vU_gI/AAAAAAAAGdA/6xg4eNR3gU0/s1600/P1300185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NInAxVg76lY/UvGsu8vU_gI/AAAAAAAAGdA/6xg4eNR3gU0/s1600/P1300185.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Visibility</span><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> kind of came and went and we made it to the top of Gateway/Voodoo Child/Rumpelstiltskin at 11:30 am. We all agreed the snow was likely better down Rumpelstiltskin so we descended 100 metres down the backside, however as soon as we got down to the point of commitment the visibility got decidedly poor.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FGuG0CGhTz4/UvGsywIOWtI/AAAAAAAAGeA/chvGOGMMcHA/s1600/P1300198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FGuG0CGhTz4/UvGsywIOWtI/AAAAAAAAGeA/chvGOGMMcHA/s1600/P1300198.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A bit of faffing about transpired, as it often does at these times, so we sat down and had some lunch. The entry in felt a little intimidating in the lack of viz and slowly 5 of our party headed back down to ski Gateway. However, Sharon, Garrett, Brad and I hung it out and wouldn't you know it - viz improved and the "committing" entry wasn't really much at all.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4_K0ffxixM/UvGs08_rn7I/AAAAAAAAGec/vGORB9J9D8c/s1600/P1300205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4_K0ffxixM/UvGs08_rn7I/AAAAAAAAGec/vGORB9J9D8c/s1600/P1300205.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The skiing was great, especially when Sharon got the great idea to stay high and access Voodoo Child (unfortunately, I wasn't so high and had to climb a bit but well worth while). Great, great skiing and Voodoo Child eventually joins Under the Rhino which was familiar territory.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gQJxZVltbNQ/UvGs2f9YOEI/AAAAAAAAGew/pnhl1TUagH8/s1600/P1300209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gQJxZVltbNQ/UvGs2f9YOEI/AAAAAAAAGew/pnhl1TUagH8/s1600/P1300209.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We didn't go all the way past the alders and stopped just above them, but still 500 metres below the hut. Another long climb out, with a food stop along the way. We climbed all the way up to home run and had a great last run down to the hut.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MswXo__gbPg/UvGs25cwC_I/AAAAAAAAGe4/yqlSlsh-dGg/s1600/P1300211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MswXo__gbPg/UvGs25cwC_I/AAAAAAAAGe4/yqlSlsh-dGg/s1600/P1300211.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a 1300 metre day and on the last bit of the climb I was definitely dogging it. Sharon was good enough to hang back and chat as I struggled up the last bit however the snow was worth it!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thursday night in the hut was pictionary night, a great game although it dashed my plans for any kind of artistic endeavors in a future life. Apparently the moon is a different shape than the sun! Hey it was a stressful situation!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There had been some talk earlier in the week of doing a big tour; up Chico Bowl, over sunshine pass, down Rolling Thunder and back up the backside to McKean Pass and down Mainline to the cabin. The day dawned clear and cool, -15 C to be exact - perfect!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1fJhvHX4v6E/UvGs3d6-jnI/AAAAAAAAGfA/o_vpiHUJNlo/s1600/P1310212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1fJhvHX4v6E/UvGs3d6-jnI/AAAAAAAAGfA/o_vpiHUJNlo/s1600/P1310212.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 of us set out, Chris and Jane stayed back to have a more chilled out day (and beautifully, do a bunch of the clean up of the cabin). Out the door at 8:45 and down familiar terrain to Twilight Lake.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZxPa9-j1io/UvGs4eHL5wI/AAAAAAAAGfM/WUjLOmryH8Y/s1600/P1310214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZxPa9-j1io/UvGs4eHL5wI/AAAAAAAAGfM/WUjLOmryH8Y/s1600/P1310214.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once we broke out of the trees into Chico Bowl and into the sun, with fresh snow and blue sky, it was just spectacular!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W4V91hk-N0o/UvGs8FMSQfI/AAAAAAAAGgA/wX9PDmRk7As/s1600/P1310224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W4V91hk-N0o/UvGs8FMSQfI/AAAAAAAAGgA/wX9PDmRk7As/s1600/P1310224.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The day was a great one, but I was playing back of the bus charlie on the way up. Paying the price for a great week and not being in great shape. To add to it, I couldn't resist the lure of taking some photo's on the way to Sunshine Pass.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTV_3GI3f2o/UvGs_tRtBnI/AAAAAAAAGgs/tchYsEerxyI/s1600/P1310239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTV_3GI3f2o/UvGs_tRtBnI/AAAAAAAAGgs/tchYsEerxyI/s1600/P1310239.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got to the top of the pass at 10 am and immediately felt the shame of realizing I was holding the group back. Deanna and Sharon helped me rip skins and get with the program. We jumped down the back side and traversed hard skiers right to get to Rolling Thunder.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NDDfEY14Mdk/UvGtEdTcD4I/AAAAAAAAGhw/VaRlLPINaI8/s1600/P1310248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NDDfEY14Mdk/UvGtEdTcD4I/AAAAAAAAGhw/VaRlLPINaI8/s1600/P1310248.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dave jumped out ahead and gingerly tested the snow pack. There was a fair amount of faceting on the skiers right and the decision was made to head down without climbing up for the full run. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B3V5VeXH3Xk/UvGtHIScE7I/AAAAAAAAGiU/z_RAene3uI4/s1600/P1310257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B3V5VeXH3Xk/UvGtHIScE7I/AAAAAAAAGiU/z_RAene3uI4/s1600/P1310257.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hero snow that just seemed to go on forever! Dave was good enough to point out a steeper slope that was big time fun. However a little lower I paid for my exuberance after coming over a roll with a bit too much speed (like there is such a thing!), found it a little crusty and completely lost it.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zx_0X5PEn9Q/UvGtITP16MI/AAAAAAAAGik/lN53gX8HCEw/s1600/P1310263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zx_0X5PEn9Q/UvGtITP16MI/AAAAAAAAGik/lN53gX8HCEw/s1600/P1310263.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I actually took a bit of a hit to the head and came upright with a bit of a leak. I soon figured out it was just a bleeding nose and Sharon came to my aid with her bandana.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OqzBm7_KPF8/UvGtJnxajXI/AAAAAAAAGi0/jH8HJddy7N4/s1600/P1310265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OqzBm7_KPF8/UvGtJnxajXI/AAAAAAAAGi0/jH8HJddy7N4/s1600/P1310265.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fortunately, Dave and Marni got caught in some ugly terrain just to the left of the photo above and allowed a bit of a rest and a chance to remember my name...</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w8xLsQ4_Imw/UvGtLfm8AhI/AAAAAAAAGjM/SSJR86pifWc/s1600/P1310273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w8xLsQ4_Imw/UvGtLfm8AhI/AAAAAAAAGjM/SSJR86pifWc/s1600/P1310273.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We then had the big huff climbing out of the back of beyond. It was shortly after noon when we started climbing and it took a little over 2 hours, including a lunch stop, to climb the roughly 800 metres up to McKean Pass.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was a bit slow and tailed the group, however Deanna kept me company as we wound through the trees. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we stopped short of the pass for some late lunch we had a bit of a surreal experience as a lone woman popped up out of no where, going light without a daypack or much of anything. She chatted briefly, let us know she accessed the area on a sled and disappeared. It left me rubbing my eyes!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uXGjuh9ITJk/UvGtOYU8QQI/AAAAAAAAGj8/P5FAAjvtsIw/s1600/P1310280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uXGjuh9ITJk/UvGtOYU8QQI/AAAAAAAAGj8/P5FAAjvtsIw/s1600/P1310280.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We then made the pass and had a great last run down of the week. It was a fantastic tour, with some great turns and a fantastic way to end the week!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqbCvlOiM9Y/UvGtPyZ4fWI/AAAAAAAAGkY/T5ezqF9M-gk/s1600/P1310284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqbCvlOiM9Y/UvGtPyZ4fWI/AAAAAAAAGkY/T5ezqF9M-gk/s1600/P1310284.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overall, it was an awesome week that went by just a little too quickly. Thanks to Chris, Jane, Marni, Deanna, Garrett, Brad, Sharon and Dave for making it so! Special thanks go to Garrett who knew the lay of the land and was good enough to show us all around.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coolest toque of the week award has to go to Chris, gnarly!</span></span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-61834156438365813432014-02-04T20:24:00.000-07:002014-02-04T20:24:04.022-07:00Kerkeslin Falls 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sat Dec 14th - Kerkeslin Falls</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. A great day out with a reasonable approach, several pitches of 3 to 3+ ice with the last long pitch being the best.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We were in Jasper, scouting around for a birthday climb for Kim. I was concerned about avy hazard however the wardens felt the strong winds of late blew most of the snow elsewhere (likely Saskatchewan) and what was left would be smaller pockets of wind slab. To be respected, so our plan was to rope up and place some gear.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">After a full night, we didn't really get an early start. To add to it, I didn't really know where the parking lot was and had to pull into the Athabasca Falls Youth Hostel for directions (a great place to stay for ice climbing in the area). The correct parking lot is actually a few km's further south on the west side of the highway. A fairly well trodden path across the highway to the south made the way pretty obvious.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Given all of this we didn't actually leave the car until 11:30. Fortunately the approach was less than an hour, involving 200m of elevation gain.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point the canyon started to narrow and there was ice showing so we suited up.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a small step to warm up on, before further meandering up the valley.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Which lead to the first two pitches of pretty easy grade 3 ice. Bolted anchors were on the climber right.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For us the highlight was the 3rd roped pitch and the longest of the bunch. About then, we were enjoying the 0 degree temperatures and the plastic ice (okay, it wasn't completely plastic in fact a little dinner platey in spots). Still just a blast of a pitch.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">My understanding is this was the end of he longer pitches although there was some more ice above that would be interesting to explore.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, it was also 3:30 pm on very close to the shortest day of the year so we turned around.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As per plan we made it back to the gear up spot just as it was getting dark and to the car at 5 pm without headlamps.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Great day, great objective - might get up earlier next time! We followed it up with a day at Maligne Canyon for giggles.</span></span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-3573855287550583202013-10-29T21:23:00.003-06:002020-10-09T08:31:50.218-06:00Squaw's Tit and Read's Ridge 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sat & Mon Oct 12th/14th - Bald Eagle Peak, Read's Ridge</b></span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Ahh, proof that you can still have fun in the shoulder season!</span></span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve and I attempted Bald Eagle Peak, an adventure considering that the guidebook suggests only attempting it when dry and there was obvious snow on the route. </span></span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">We parked at about 9:30 am off the highway and took the Harvey Heights trails to the base. A short ways in Steve and I realised that it would have saved us some time to park in the town site..</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">After leaving the Harvey Heights trail at a well cairned turnoff things started off as a steep huff through the trees. It wasn't long before we emerged on the rocky ridge and things got more interesting. Fortunately, the sun had melted the snow on the south facing slopes so we made it considerably higher than expected.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Eventually it got a bit sporty with fairly stuck together rock. You could go around most of the steeper features but we chose the directissima.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">The fun factor remained fairly high, however we eventually made it to the nipple and realised that was as far as we were going. Fresh snow on slab didn't really appeal to either of us. As mentioned, we made it considerably higher than expected - according to Steve's watch it was a 1200 metre day.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">The descent went quite quickly although we got sucked a little too far down the gully on the skiers left however found a trail back to the gully down.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">A great day out given the season, we were 3 1/2 hours up and 2 1/2 hours down at a pretty relaxed pace. I'll definitely be back once the snow melts.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Two days later I found myself in Kananaskis country with a couple of much better smelling partners, Deanna and Seana. We choose to hike up to the top of Read's Ridge, just to the south of Mt Sparrowhawk.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n7dFkj_fF2M/UmCSD0ZJE0I/AAAAAAAAFxE/0Q1Dq-Mp2gk/s1600/PA140033.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n7dFkj_fF2M/UmCSD0ZJE0I/AAAAAAAAFxE/0Q1Dq-Mp2gk/s1600/PA140033.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Although the day was cool, it was the clearest of the weekend and afforded great views up and down the valley.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">As you can see, it didn't take long to hit snow line and up high it was a little sporty in boots with no traction devices.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">We made the top in 2 1/2 hours a gain of 960 metres. From the top of the ridge we could see the scramble route up Mt Sparrowhawk, even saw someone coming back down the trail.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H-oVHzXQnCU/UmCSPIV1czI/AAAAAAAAFzU/0m2afnUAyR4/s1600/PA140060.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H-oVHzXQnCU/UmCSPIV1czI/AAAAAAAAFzU/0m2afnUAyR4/s1600/PA140060.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">The shot above shows the ridge itself on the right and Mt Sparrowhawk on the left, here is where the two route diverge.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Ah yes, and Dee did get to see some of the Larch's in their fall wardrobe - mission accomplished!</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Another interesting scramble and an area I would like to explore more.</span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-32795299232567584532013-08-10T08:21:00.002-06:002013-08-10T08:21:50.914-06:00Lunette Peak 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sat/Sun/Mon Aug 3rd/4th/5th - Lunette Peak 3400m</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars. This is an amalgamation, one of our party rated it 3, one 2 and one AL (avec larmes). Expect a beautiful biv site, lots of scree, challenging route finding, rockfall and solitude.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Armed with Bill Corbett's description, we met at 9 am at the Settler's road turnoff just of highway 93. After dropping a car off just past the bridge at the 14km mark, we carried on. The road to the Baymag plant is in excellent shape, the spur at the end less so but still fairly easy travel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Andrew, Brenda and I parked the trusty CRV at the bottom of the hill to the first bridge given the rough road and dodgy bridge. After wrapping the vehicle in chicken wire we carried on up the road at roughly 11 am. We crossed a second bridge and 1/2 an hour into it reached the path into the cut block. There was a pick up truck parked right at the cut block and spare chicken wire around so you can save some walking with a high clearance vehicle.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Just up the obvious path, we were surprised by a parks registration book. This path obviously gets a fair amount of use going into the Hind Hut to climb Assiniboine. Given the flooding earlier, the trail was in great shape and we made pretty good time, climbing steadily.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">An initial water crossing was pretty easy and at the second we found the log and cable 25m upstream. It added a bit of spice but nothing too dramatic.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">After that we followed the shore of Assiniboine Creek, a beautiful setting. At one point we scared a couple of white tail deer, and I just about stepped on a mother grouse attempting to scare us off. There was some bear scat on the trail but we didn't see any other signs.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The description calls for a faint trail turning off from the main Hind Hut trail to head towards Lunette and we started looking pretty early. In the end it is a beaten path and well marked with a cairn. By the time we reached it we were 3 hours in, including a healthy lunch break, and 460 metres up.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Not far ahead was Lunette lake, a beautiful spot with a good view of the biv site above, along with Lunette and Assiniboine right above.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Now the real work started, after crossing the outflow the trail follows the shore for a short stint and then turns 90 degrees and climbs steadily before heading towards Mt Sturdy. From</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"> here the three of us climbed steadily through the forest, fortunately marked with surveyors tape along the way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">At about the 2100 metre mark, we went straight across the first two scree slopes and climbed the third. The biv site was one scree slope directly above a small waterfall which we reached in 6 hours, it was an 1100 metre day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">The biv site was spectacular, nice soft vegetation for sleeping on and complete with a small stream for water. We enjoyed the evening and the sky even cleared up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Next day, given the not terribly positive weather forecast and perhaps the chance to climb Assiniboine as well, we were up at 5 and out at 6. In spite of a cafe mocha, I was a little sluggish starting out however the start of the climb is through pretty lush surroundings, followed by the inevitable scree slog.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The coilour mentioned in the directions is the pretty obvious one in the middle and is likely the longest snow </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">coilour I've climbed. We arrived at the bottom in an hour and it was great snow for cramponing and fairly steep in places. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a modestly tricky rock step to pass before more snow and we gained elevation quickly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The day started with the peak a little clagged in and it came and went through the early going though never really added to the route finding challenges.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Once out of the coilour, we went hard right and climbed a ridge of fairly interesting blocky terrain (mixed with a healthy dose of scree). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Along this area the surveyors tape reappeared and in places was a bit over the top. We passed search and rescue tape at a clearing near the road in the day before and we wondered if it was related. Interestingly enough, within a couple of the taped cairns were gloves and in several of them tent pegs were inserted. Definitely a bit of a mystery.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe the clockwise that Corbett mentions is right and we made our way up loose scree and some snow angling up and then went hard left before cliffs. The terrain in this area is pretty scrappy however we started to aim for a snow slope that goes up to the Assiniboine/Lunette col.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We choose the right most snow slope that ended in a small col and took it right to the top. Mid way there was a 4 metre ice section and right about then the weather closed in. We had some wind and a fair amount of grapple. Things did start to feel a little more serious.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">At this juncture we were 5 1/2 hours into it and had gained the majority of the elevation of the day. The summit block was quite a route finding challenge, compounded by the lack of visibility and the snow that started to fall.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We attempted to go to the far end however other than a fantastic view down the north side of Lunette there wasn't a real reason to be there. What we found is that the true summit is first major block as you traverse in. The best route we could find was just past it and then up and traversed back left crossing the typical down sloping scree ledges. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">We then made our way to climbers left of the true summit and climbed easy, airy ground around the backside and up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">At one point, I was traversing on a ledge and knocked a 1/2 a microwave sized block out with my belly (time for a diet maybe?) that was enough to knock me over. Fortunately it was in an area of little consequence however managing rockfall in this area was a priority.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We hit the summit at just after 12:30 pm, 6 1/2 hours and a 1,000 metres up. Given we were in a lull in the weather and it was looking like it would get worse we spent all of 10 minutes on the summit.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I spotted a good rap station just below the summit and we made use of it. Having only a 30 metre rope wasn't an issue as it put us on a ledge past the worst of it and we scrambled down from there. On the way down we found a better line, as is often the case.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We took a different line down the side of the final snow slope to avoid the ice and it went pretty well. There was a brief discussion about attempting Assiniboine while we were up high however the final word was from the blushing bride, suggesting a rating change to AA (avec avocat).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">The way down was slow, given a complete lack of visibility in places and our general sense of confusion. Funny, I nearly kissed the surveyors tape that I had derided only hours before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">After getting back to the ridge the skies opened up and it did start to rain in earnest. Fortunately, it wasn't cold and it beat snow. We were also entertained by some of the most deafening thunder I had heard in a long time, fortunately when we were in a sheltered spot. Luckily, it didn't develop into much.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">After down climbing the endless coilour, we made our way down the scree. Coming over a mossy hump we could see the camp and two marmots sensed us watching and ran off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In the end, they hadn't been able to get into the rock encased food cache but had spread out the pots we left out under a rock and hauled Andrew's large pack out from under the tent and had a good chew. Fortunately, the pack was wearable but it did add a little excitement to the end of the day.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A 12 hour day in the end, fortunately the rain eased to showers and we quickly had the silt tarp erected and enjoyed some supper.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The night was a little odd weather wise, at one point the sky cleared and then at 5:30 am hard rain hit. I would have liked to see film footage of my inch worming my biv sac under the tarp without having to get out.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jtt3JLaJvdI/UgG0ZYjywcI/AAAAAAAAFks/l9N2fVBVbEg/s1600/P8050163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jtt3JLaJvdI/UgG0ZYjywcI/AAAAAAAAFks/l9N2fVBVbEg/s1600/P8050163.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We had a leisurely breakfast and pack up and were out at 10. 4 1/2 hours down included a couple of lunch stops, the last one by Assiniboine Creek in the sun.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nz0KJeV7j0Y/UgG0dUOB_nI/AAAAAAAAFls/olcT3nN7848/s1600/P8050176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nz0KJeV7j0Y/UgG0dUOB_nI/AAAAAAAAFls/olcT3nN7848/s1600/P8050176.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">In lucky fashion we hit the car just as the sky's opened up again and we escorted from the area to claps of thunder.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not sure whether I am in a hurry to do it again but happy for the experience!</span>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130072930535792743.post-51580611449734601382013-07-31T11:08:00.000-06:002013-07-31T11:08:01.438-06:00Cathedral Mountain 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3225467863958329" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sunday June 30th - Cathedral Mountain 3189m</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. This is a classic grade II alpine climb that has a lot going for it; variety, exercise (yes a 1600m gain) and aesthetics. Definitely recommended.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This was an unusual climb in that Brian did all of the heavy lifting and planned the climb, got the beta together and some of us (yes, me) just showed up bleary eyed and asked which mountain we were climbing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The 5 of us were staying at Tak falls and dragged ourselves up at 5:30 for a planned 6:30 am departure. Breakfast was a little more leisurely than planned however we still departed the Lake O'Hara parking lot just after 7 am.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It took us roughly an hour to cover the 4 km of road to the cataract creek crossing and although we didn't find any cairns there was a bit of a trail just before the 4 km post on the road. After a little futzing we decided this was the best place to cross as it looked good and there was a marking stick on the far bank.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Somehow I got sucked into going first (lack of patience perhaps) and got a bit surprised by the depth - mid thigh, and cold. At least the water wasn't running that fast and even those vertically challenged managed across with mere tickling of the nether regions.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We finally carried on just after 9 am and headed north briefly before Brenda found the trail directly away from the water. It was only about 15 minutes on that we crossed the cataract creek hiking trail. Just north of the intersection is a large rock, a cairn and a trail running west which we took.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A great trail then gains elevation quite quickly and we made our way through open forest. Quite a nice way to start the day. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">After an hours work the trees started to thin a bit and the climb eased.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OaDyPbzsA6E/UdOYMIuRwiI/AAAAAAAAFAY/JYagS8Kiquw/s1600/P6300107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OaDyPbzsA6E/UdOYMIuRwiI/AAAAAAAAFAY/JYagS8Kiquw/s1600/P6300107.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At one point you skirt left of some low cliffs and pick up the trail, easy to do on the way up but an important place to check out for the descent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eventually we worked our way above treeline and into an interesting bowl feature. We paused here to grab second breakfast and scout out the route.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We skirted to the left of the bowl and being early season took advantage of some easy travel on the snow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As you can see, it was a great clear day with fantastic views.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was 2 pm and 2700 metres before we gained the glacier, in spite of the sun the snow was pretty much perfect, not much penetration and no need for crampons until the final summit ridge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's actually a loooonnnngggg way back to the final summit ridge, bypassing a couple of small sub peaks along the way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We stopped for snacks just at the base of the ridge itself and donned crampons. Travel remained pretty straightforward although the views opened up nicely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some of the less experienced in our party needed a little coaxing along the summit ridge however once underway we made good progress and the snow was confidence inspiring.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How many sunny, windless summits do you get in a lifetime? Great to share such a neat place with great friends. It had taken us 9 hours to gain the 1614 metres (according to my watch) to this point and it was just after 4 pm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Definitely not a high stress day and we made the most of the summit. Down was definitely easier and almost exactly half the time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks to Brian, Andrew, Brenda and Deanna for a great day out in the mountains!</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16387080838437830215noreply@blogger.com0