The Pumpkin Traverse 2015

Sat April 18th 2015

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.

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.

For most of us, the day started at 6:30 am at Beamer's in Canmore 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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Professor Falls WI4 2015

Sat January 24th 2015

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.

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.

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.

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!

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. 

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.

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!

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!



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.

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!

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.

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. 

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Fryatt Attempt 2014

Sat/Sun/Mon September 13th/14th/ 15th

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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).

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.

As per Corbett's description, we made our way up the fortunately frozen scree and found a weakness in the cliff band slightly left. 

If you are an aficionado of the Rockies, the climbing was fun in between the choss and route finding kept us entertained.

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.  

We actually made pretty good time given the easy travel the snow afforded.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

Mt Sparrowhawk 2014

Saturday July 26th - Mt Sparrowhawk 3121 metres

Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. An easy scramble that gets up high quickly and rewards with spectacular views!

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!

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.

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.

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.

Once above, there was some grass and some rock but the scree wasn't bad at all. The track through it helped.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It is a bit of a huff, with more than 1500 metres of elevation gained but well worth the effort!