We started out with the easy classic Cascade WI3, in very beutiful settings in Banff National Park.
On the drive to Cascade Falls on Mount Cascade
On the short approach
Simon leading the first pitch
Simon following the first pitch
Simon leading the second pitch on Louise Falls WI4+
Simon leading the first pitch
Me leading the second pitch
We started in Kananaskis country, climbing in Evan - Thomas creek, Anders and I climbed Moonlight WI4 110 m and Simon climbed a pretty thin line next to it with Toby Pritchard.
Me leading the first pitch of Moonlight
The next day we were back in Banff national park climbing the classic The Professor Falls 280 m. It was a pretty cool walk in, next to the Bow river.
The climb is known for being very wet, and this day was no exception, but the route deserves it classic status. There was no other people on the route.
Unpacking in front of the first pitch. The climb gets it´s nice color because of the high water flow, thus it is very famous for being wet.
Me leading the second pitch of The Professor Falls
Anders leading the last pitch, it is steeper than it looks. We abseiled off chained anchors, which is widely accepted in the canadian rockies because of the poor rock quality.
 |
| On the walk out from the climb, along Bow River. |
As Simon had promised, the trip up Icefields parkway to Rampart creek was amazing. Incredibly beutiful and remote place about 150 km from Lake Louise.
Icefields parkway
Mount Temple from Icefields Parkway
All the talking about the scenery came to a complete halt, when all three passengers dropped their jaws at the sight of first Polar Circus 700 m, V, WI5 and 10 min later the Weeping Wall 300 m with lines from WI3 to WI6.
The lines out here was of a totally different character, compared to the stuff we had climbed so far. The length and steepness was pretty intimidating.
Polar Circus is called “ the showpiece of the Canadian Rockies and a must for all climbers” by Joe Josephson in the guidebook for the area
The last 200 m of Polar Circus, visible from the road.
Anders in front of the Weeping Wall
With the forecast for the next day being cloudy and not too warm, which made for the safest possible avi conditions, we wanted to start out with the Circus the following morning. We got up at 5.30 and simulclimbed the first part of the route in the dark.
We belayed 6-7 pitches and spent 13 hours car to car, making pretty much the whole of the descent by headtorch. All of the 13 abseils are equipped by bolts or pegs.
Me leading the first WI4 pitch on Polar Circus
Leading the pitch around The Pencil on Polar Circus. The pencil is a famous WI6 climb, that is rarely in condition. It usually collapses before it becomes climbable.
Simon leading the technical Rogue pitch on very brittle ice.
Anders doing the bootpacking towards the upper tiers which is the crux of the climb. We passed the cave in which the first ascenders bivi´ed. The first ascent in december 1975 took 8 days!
I thought that it felt a lot more like alpine climbing than “regular” ice climbing on Polar Circus, the weather, ambience and terrain made for a great day out.
Simon and Anders following the first pitch on the upper tiers
Anders leading the second to last pitch. Very impressive piece of ice.
After a day off hanging around in the town of Jasper, eating burgers and drinking coffee, Anders and Simon wanted to get on the Weeping Wall. I was still a bit beat after Polar Circus, but once we stood underneath the lower Weeping Wall, and Anders offered me the first pitch, it just looked to good to miss.
We climbed the Central Pillar WI5+ 180 m, on the lower Weeping Wall in three pitches, the middle pitch being the definite crux.
Simon walking towards the Weeping Wall.
Anders starting out on the second pitch, which turned out to be quite difficult.
Simon on the last pitch. The route was one of the highlights of the trip.
After dropping Anders off at the airport we picked up norwegian climber Anna - Malou Petersson. I took a few days off climbing, hanging round in the Canadian Alpine Clubhouse in Canmore, before we drove back to Field in Yoho National Park.
Simon and Anna led the two pitches of Carlsberg Column, the grade 5 classic of the area.
The small town of Field.
Simon on the first pitch of Carlsberg Column
The next day we walked a few km along the tracks of the Trans Canada Railway to a 5 pitch WI5 climb called Super Bock.
It was a really windy day, and all the new snow from the bowls on the upper mountain, were being funneled down the climb.
When Anna was leading the last pitch in horrible spindrift and bigger and bigger slides were going around us, we decided to bail.
We abseiled down low angle snowslopes, as slides kept setting off.
It was good to get back to the traintrack.
The long slog along the trainstracks to get to Super Bock
More snowy approach, the climb in the background.
Anna - Malou following the first pitch.
Simon and I enjoying the conditions at the belay before we decided to bail.
Anna - Malou in the heavy spindrift. Anna - Malou abbed back to the belay after this pitch and we descended.
Abseiling low angle terrain because of the avi danger. Several smaller slides were triggered from just walking around this area.
trip, a day out in moody weather that ended by headtorch, walking the long way back to Field on the train tracks.
Thanks to the people involved in the adventures.
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar