Tour de Rockies, Caroline Ware, Jon Walsh, March 2006
All pictures are copyrighted either to Jon Walsh or Caroline Ware, used with permission, please don't use them without permission, thx. -wg
WG note--Caroline sent me this, I asked if she minded sharing, she said, "Sure." The photos might be a bit off as I had a fit figuring the file names out, but close enough, thanks Caroline!
Hello!
Here are some news and pictures from my little trip in the Canadian Rockies...
After working January and February in SLC, I headed out on the road to Canada. The idea of spending some ice climbing time in the Rockies came about as I was linking up some climbs down in Ouray with Canadian climber and photographer Jon Walsh. We figured that Canada would be a great place to go on an ice climbing binge and March would be a good time as I would be done with work and he would be back from a trip down in Patagonia.
So, there I was, on the road to Canada in my sweet gear loaded car and with a stack of audiobooks to keep me company on the drive. It would take me 18h of driving to get to Golden, BC, amongst which 2hours were spent driving in the wrong direction!!! Just what you'd want on such a long journey! I slept on the way and was in Golden at 9am the next morning.
I unloaded my car, geared up and we were soon on our way to do laps on Pilsner Pillar, a local WI6. We were back the next day to start on our link ups. First in lines were the Beer climbs on Mount Dennis in Field: Guinness Gully (WI4), Guinness Stout (WI4+), High Test (WI4), Kronenberg (WI6), Carlsberg (WI5) et Pilsner Pillar (WI6), which summed up to over 650m if ice climbing that day.
The next day, we drove out to Rempart Creek, a small hostel half way between Lake Louise and Jasper, on the Icefield Parkway, to get an early start to link up the great local classics: Wheeping Wall(Wi5), Wheeping Piillar(WI6) and Curtain Call (WI6). Hanging out at the Rempart creek on the night after our link up, we met a bunch a really nice climbers... was really great to hang out there. Our link ups was posted on climbing.com: http://climbing.com/news/hotflashes/canadaicelink/
Wheeping Wall (bottom) and Wheeping Pillar (top) Curtain Call
On our way back to Golden the next day, we stopped in Field to savor a nice Chaï Latte at the local coffee shop: Truffle Pigs... then, we climbed a small three pitch climb called Twisted and headed back to Golden to get some work done.
The day after was the 16th and this is when I turned 30. I'd been waiting for that moment for a long time. Somehow, i've been really looking forward to turning 30. So, there it was. I was blessed with a beautiful day and had some dinner with all the people I knew in Canmore after climbing nemesis on the Stanley Headwall. I was really touched that almost all the people I know there showed up to celebrate this special day with me... :-)
After 2 rest days, we headed out to the Ghost valley for some photo shooting on Wicked Wanda
Jennifer Olson, a local guide and friend, joined us at 3am to link the Sorcerer and Hydrophobia. A rather long and bush-wacky hike took us to the base of the Sorcerer, a beautiful 210m WI5 ice climb. Jon soloed and shot pictures as i lead the climb... getting to the top, we were caught up in zero visibility, snow and cold... satisfied with our day, we decided to head back to the car, spend the afternoon in Calgary and sleep at Jen's.
I hooked up with a friend from Colorado the next day to climb Louise Falls in Lake Louise. He was leaving the next day and wanted to take it easy and i was happy to spend the day with him just hanging out and making up for almost killing him on our first encounter on Ames Ice Hose in Ouray, as I unintentionally dropped my ice axes down the climb... The day after, Jon, Rene, a climber from Quebec, and i headed up to the Trophy wall. This Wall holds some of the hardest and most challenging routes in the Rockies. Climbing either of them is somehow considered a trophy, thus the name. So, we headed out on our bikes along the Golf course road to the start of the steep path that leads up to the base of climb. Jon and rene were talking about how it would be a good idea to link up the first pitch - The Post Scriptum - and the 2nd pitch. I didn't think much of it as I believed Jon was going to lead the first pitch. Yet as we geared up, Jon said he would be shooting pictures and so i would get to lead the first pitch. Damn, it looked thin up there... so, I started climbing up the hooked out Post Scriptum, and soon headed out on the thin traverse. Where to put my feet? And my tools? It tool me a while to make the move, but putting a mini screw half way in helped psychologically and I made the move across. I thought it was over, as I realizaed that the climb only got steeper and thinner. Don't think, climb... the pump in my arms slowed me down a little as I needed to make it go away. I added a small worthless screw in for my psyche, and was soon over the bulge. A few more meters and i ran out of the 70m rope... I could finally rest. I belayed Jon and Rene up. the rest of the climb is steep but not as thin. We celebrated our ascent with some great Sushi in Banff! Goodie...
Last pitch on Sea of Vapors
On our drive back to Golden the next day, we stopped in Field for some Chaï Latte and then headed out on our second Beer climb link up...a small one this time: Cool Spring, Superbock. dinner at the Truffle pig and Twisted at night to shoot some headlamp shots... here they are!
After a rest day, we headed back on the Stanley Headwall with the intention to climb with Nightmare on Wolfstreet (M7+, WI6+) and French reality (WI6+, M5). We ski toured up to the base of the climb. As I don't have my diamir bindings with me here, I get to carry my climbing boots with me in my back pack each time... :-( We climbed a total of nearly 400m of hard mixed and overhanging ice mushrooms... the link up took us less than 13 hours car to car... sweet day with sweet conditions.
Stanley Headwall, right hand side Nightmare on Wolfstreet, me pitch 2 Jon, pitch 3
me hitting the overhanging ice mushrooms, pitch 4 View on our second climb of the day: French reality
After hanging out in Canmore for the evening, I met up with Jon to climb Political World a really aesthectic climb by Bow Lake on Crowfoot mountain.
The next day, we climbed an apparently unclimbed pillar, Jacob's ladder... This pillar touched for the first time ever this year and we kept on seeing it from the road as we drove back and forth from and to Golden.
Jacob's ladder Pillar Me... first ascent (?) of this pillar in total mist
Riptide was our next objective... Riptide has the reputation of being the hardest ice in the Rockies. So, we left early. I felt frustration rising inside of me right from the start. The snow was really bad, we'd sink in to the top of our boots each step we took... we went up the wrong drainage and ended up doing some severe bushwhacking. I was going crazy. the thought of turning around kept on nagging me the whole time. I didn't want to be there. All I could think of was being in Banff or Canmore, sipping on a nice cup of tea, hanging out with some friends... the snow sucked, I hadn't had breakfast and was bonking, the slopes look loaded, why was i there... I felt no pleasure in this undertaking. Yet, I stuck to it... to both the climb and the whining and being bitchy. We made it the bottom of the climb and our focus soon turned to the line 5 meters to the left of Riptide. It looked thin, yet it looked in. How could we not give it a try? Jon lead the first pitch. It was soon my turn to lead. But I was still not psyched to be here. Still wanting to be elsewhere. I geared up all the same. It was thin right off the belay. I put in a psychological screw in the thin smear of ice right above the belay, and made my way up, somehow, pulling on nothing, standing on not much either. With the gear we had along, all the pitches were run out... our pro was close pure fiction. I set up a bad belay and brought Jon up. He left on the next pitch... suddenly, I heard him scream: "Ice!!!!!" and even sooner, I felt it, right in my arm. The pain overwhelmed me. was my arm broken? no it wasn't... but the pain, the pain... I hate it. I still don't want to be here. And now, i want it even less... spindrifts are coming down unceasingly... it's cold, and I hate being here. I make it up to Jon and grin as I see what the belay is made of: 2 ice axes, a mini nut and nothing screw... great!!! We're out of pegs, nuts, or anything else for that matter. the next pitch is thin, brittle, overhanging rotten ice... this is it... we're out of here... plus, my friend Vince is having a slide show on Nanga Parbat and i don't want to miss it. friends are more valuable than a stupid cold climb, aren't they? We leave our ropes at the base of the climb. We'll be back.
Back in Golden, we rest for two days. it's been snowing and we need to wait until the snow slopes below our climb stabilize again. So, we head back out to Stanley Headwall to finish our link up mission: we climb Suffer Machine (M8, WI5+, 200m) and then Nemesis (WI6+) in less than 1h45 backpack to backpack. We head out to the Mosquito Creek Hostel and get an early night in to be well rested for the next day.
Stanley Headwall, left hand side, with Nemesis to the left and Suffer machine to the right. Me first pitch of Suffer Machine. Me second pitch of Suffer machine (it's not as steep as it looks, really!!!)
The alarm clock rings at 3am. I force something down my throat and we're soon on our way. The trail is nicely broken in by now... conditions are great, it's a beautiful day, temperatures are nice... am happy and psyched. Suddenly, what felt like the hike and climb from hell all seem pink and cheerful and exciting. I can't wait to get back on the climb... our packs are light as we had left the 70m ropes at the base of the climb. This time around, we've got all the gear we need, from pegs to friends, to a hand drill to nuts and screw. The pitches are less run out as we are able to put pro in the rock... as we climb the fourth pitch, we realized that we had made the right decision by going down on our first try. The pillar is thinner and more brittle and the climb is the hardest we've both ever climbed... but with a good belay and some pitons, the climb is now less exposed. it's been a great adventure and a great way to end my stay in the States... We named the climb: "The Shadow", crediting Maria Coffey's book: Where the mountain casts its shadow, a book about the psychology of alpinists, and what a hard drug climbing can be. An absolute must read for every addicted climber and for their families...
Here's a story of our climb: http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/riptide/
... and some pictures... (WG Note--link to those photos here)
Thanks for taking the time to read this litte account of my journey into the Canadian Rockies...
Best toughts to all of you,
Caroline
PS: All pictures are copyrighted either to Jon Walsh or Caroline Ware