Lyell 4 + 5

In August 2012, Team Fuzzy Peaches (myself, Stephan, Darcie and Alex) set off in the wee hours of the morning to climb Lyell Peak 4 and Lyell Peak 5 from the north ridge of the Lyell 3 / 4 col.

After an early protein breakfast and a few last minute check of clothes, head lamps, crampons, ice screws, ice aces, water, lunch and trail mix with Fuzzy Peaches to help "send our Project", we were ready to leave the warm confines of the Lyell hut at 5:00 am.  (Maybe not quite an "alpine start", but we got burned by the weather on our first attempt a few days earlier so WTF!!!)

We set off in the dark, across mostly firm snow bridges and solid crevasses to watch the sun rise on the Lyell Glacier.

Its about a 4 hour hike across the snowfields and glacier to get to the Lyell Peaks 1 to 5.  Along the way, we passed the odd snow slide and avalanche which reminded us that we weren't in Kansas anymore (or chillin' on the dock at Bon Echo for that matter!).

Lyell 4 (shown below) is an impressive hunk of rock with a beautify snow ridge on the north slope.

Fortunately, Darcie and I brought along Alex and Stephan to do all the snow, ice and loose rock leading!  I think Stephan dug through the snow and placed one ice screw along the steepening ridge.

And it was steep!  A very long drop on either side of the ridge.

Still, it was kind of cool being "way up there".

The next few pitches were rocky, starting with a 5.4 "crux" with some really loose and wet rock mixed with snow and ice.  Unbelievable (unless you've been to the Rockies)!!!

Darcie, Stephan and I hung out on a windy, icy belay while Alex negotiated his way up the frozen choss.  A few fist-sized rocks would come whistling by, but we were protected by a large rock outcrop.  Every hold, and I mean "every single one" needed to be tested before you could put your weight on it.  And forget about pulling out.  Most holds "moved" so pulling down was the preferred method.  We also had to be careful about our foot placements since things were moving while we moved as well.

Several pitches of rock were followed by more pitches of snow and ice.  The conditions were getting sketchy as we plunged deeper into the softening snow.  Fortunately Team Fuzzy Peaches knew what we were doing (?) and we had our nutritional stash to keep us going.

Alex built awesome snow anchors.

Stephan built rock anchors out of nothing!

And Darcie and I ... well we helped keep the spirits high!

Just a couple of DFU (don't fuck up) snow pitches to go ...

... and then we were at the summit of Lyell 4.  Breathtaking at 3,400 m (11,155 ft) ...
Alex ...

Darcie ...

Stephan ...

... Sean ... and just in time for the clouds to roll in ... damn!

We had little time to celebrate.  Some food, some water, some Fuzzy Peaches and it was time to move on to Lyell 5.  No way we were going to retreat back down Lyell 4.  There was just this long and tricky rock and snow ridge between Lyell 4 and Lyell 5 to climb.  It looked so simple when you could see ...

... not so simple when you can't see and its getting late in the afternoon and we've got a long, long way to go!

Time to suck it up and get on with the job!

I wasn't worried (much).  Although I wasn't too thrilled about the deteriorating conditions at 11,000 feet above God knows what!  We had food.  We had water.  We had Fuzzy Peaches and we had fresh tracks to follow if the visibility dropped to zero.  Time to move!

A few hours of climbing later and we were at the summit of Lyell 5 at 3,390 m (11,122 ft).  Hurray!!!

I can't see a freaking thing!!!  And it was time for dinner ... Darcie ... what's on the menu?

After a quick bite of whatever we had left in our packs, it was time to descend the Lyell 5 south snow ridge.  We plunged up to our hips down the steep snow slope, crossed the now familiar crevasse field, rapped down a steep snow gully to save time and then dragged our asses back to the Lyell Hut around 9:30 pm.  16 hours of fun in the mountains and 2 awesome 11,000 ft peaks in the Rockies!

Long day?  Ya ...

Worth it?  Just check out those smiles!!!!!

Thank you Alex, Stephan and Darcie.  Next time we'll get up EARLY!

Mons Peak

Getting ready for an alpine climbing adventure in the Canadian Rockies is a true test of planning and logistics.  The Alpine Club of Canada Toronto Section assembled in the mountains north of Golden BC for some incredible alpine climbing at the Mons Glacier (and later at the Lyell Glacier).

Let's see, we needed:

• back packs - check
• climbing boots - check
• crampons - check
• ice axe - check
• summer clothes - check
• winter clothes - check
• glacier glasses - check
• food - check
• cook - check
• fearless leaders - check
• chicken wire - check
• helicopter - check 

Within minutes (~ 5) we were choppered up into the alpine and our new "home" for the next 10 days.

Looks kinda cosy from a distance with a "little wee outhouse at the edge of all things".  The Mons Hut is located near the glacier on a rocky outcrop at an elevation of 7,630 ft (2,235 m).  High enough to be "up there", but low enough to allow glacial melt streams for drinking water.

It was a whole new experience for some of us: early morning "alpine" starts, glacier travel, moving across snow, ice and crevasses, sharp but loose rock, cool temps, warm temps and hot temps, but mostly lots of sun, fresh mountain air and truly amazing views.

Mons Peak loomed high above us and many hours away.

After some climbing, we got closer to our destination ...

Just a few crevasses to negotiate and the summit would be ours!

Mons Peak at an elevation of 10,115 ft (3,083 m).  Ya!!!

Sweet!

Lyell Heli Dance

The Rocky Mountains along the Alberta / BC border are breathtaking (especially at the 11,000 ft elevation).  The Lyell Glacier and surrounding valleys and mountain peaks are truly spectacular!

Here's a short video of our helicopter ride returning from the Lyell Mountains near Golden BC in August 2012:

Lyell Heli Dance http://vimeo.com/47428359 "Lyell Mountain helicopter ride from the glacier hut to the valley below."

Enjoy!

Ah Ha Ling!

Well, climbing the Northeast Face of Ha Ling near Canmore, Alberta turned out to be a long, long day.

A gorgeous morning view of Ha Ling from the ACC Clubhouse just got us psyched to climb the route so we cruised up to the Grassi Lakes parking area and started the 1.5 hour approach to the base of the route.

The Northeast Face of Ha Ling is 12 pitches of mostly 5.6 climbing on variable terrain with lots of loose limestone rock and the odd overhanging section and runout pitches to keep it "western" and "spicy".

There were a couple of beautiful dihedral pitches with good cracks, great pro and nice features for climbing.  We would have like more climbing of this style, but we're not on Squamish granite, right!!!

Ya, these pitches were fun!  And we were getting really high; it started to get windy and a bit chilly on Ha Ling.  Time for the puff jackets and wind shells!

A few more runout pitches and some more loose rock, and before we new it, we were at the top!  Ya!!!

It was freezing up there and the wind was howling around 20 knots!  Nevertheless, it was an awesome climb!  (Somewhere between type 1 and type 2 fun, unless you're into Rockies choss and then it would be all type 1 fun).

But, like they say in the mountains, when you're at the top you're only half way.  The 2 hour decent along the hikers trail awaited us.  A pleasant, but sustained hike with 30 lbs packs and water supply running low.  Brutal.  Maybe we were suffering from the altitude change and had a touch of jet lag. Who knows?

Twelve hours later (car to car) and a few beers with friends in town seemed to brighten the mood.

There are a few more climbing routes on Ha Ling which go at higher grades of difficulty.  I'ld have to give it some thought and maybe get some route beta before tacking any of them since my main issues with this type of Rockies climbing are (1) loose rock and (2) route finding - not trivial characteristics in the mountains when help is either far away and not there at all.

Canmore is a cool place to climb in the summer (which apparently lasts about 4 weeks!)  If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes or drive to the next mountain range and enjoy the sunshine.

Maybe you'll find a waterfall and raging river nearby.

Cheers!