David Trippett Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Climb: North Selkirks- Adamants-Iron Man(Gibson-Rohn) & West Buttress of the Horn Date of Climb: 7/24/2006 Trip Report: On the 24th, after three weeks in the field in the Western part of the Selkirks I returned to Revelstoke and picked up Mat at the bus station and we made our way over to the CMH Adamant lodge to catch a chopper to the Adamants. We would be spending the week there checking out the geology and doing some climbing as well. Luckily, the two activities were often done simultaneously. Upon ariving at the lodge, we decided to head up Stitt creek for a little target practice, as we wouldn't be leaving until the next day, and Mat had never shot a gun before. One of the guides at the lodge had mentioned that Grizzlies use Austerity pass, near to our camp, frequently. The trip up Stitt creek gave us our first view of the Adamants and Mathieu a sore shoulder from target practice. The next day we departed after lunch in the lodges big 212 and the pilot dropped us and our gear....a weeks worth of food, lawn chairs etc...just below the Austerity icefall. From our camp we had access to the Adamants and the area just north of the pluton. The first day Matt and I went up and checked out the glacier, messed about amongst the crevasses and then headed back home. The plan was to wake up at 4am to go do Iron Man. The following morning we headed up the Austerity glacier, a 3 hour walk due to the location of our camp, and made our way towrds Iron Man. The Austerity basin is amazing. There is so much rock, most of it unclimbed, it felt like stumbling across the Bugs 20 years ago. The place is a wonderland. The 700m face of West blackfriar, with only two routes on it, was breathtaking. The possibilities for development are endless. And the rock is amazing, although a bit dirty/mossy in spots. We arrived at the base of the Iron Man ~8:30 am and made our way up to the start of the route. After a bit of trouble finding the start to the Gibson-Rohn we were on our way. The climbing was fantastic, pitch after pitch of splitter cracks in a setting that was awe inspiring. The weather was great so we spent the day taking our time, enjoying the climbing and the views. This was Mathieus first alpine climb, so he was a bit nervous, not being used to some of the finer points of climbing in the Alpine, such as all the various items that can kill you. Things went well anyway as we were used to climbing together in Squamish, and the Ironman is, relatively, pretty tame as far as alpine hazards are concerned as most of the loose rock has been cleaned off from prevous ascents. Probably one of the coolest pitches was the 3rd, which consisted of thin face climbing on discontinuous cracks with equally thin gear. I can not overstate the quality of this entire route, it should be on everyones tick list. The approch is mellow, especially if done from a camp high on the Glacier, the climbing is as good as it gets and is mostly in the low 5.10 range, has a fantastic position, cool summit, the descent is pretty straight forward, and there are ways to escape off the North Face in couple raps, so the commitment factor is pretty low. We got back home around 8pm, after a big day for an even bigger chow down. After Ironman, we took a couple days to check out the geology and scramble up a peak in the Waldorf towers area. We had seen some interesting features on the Horn from Ironman that we wanted to have a look at...so we rested up. After another 4am wake up we headed up to the Horn, a stunning 19 pitch route, that has seen only 2 ascents, since it was first put up in 2003! The 2nd one being the day before we started up. Previously it was 5.10+ A1-2, but the party we ran into had just freed it at 5.11- and in a day. After gleening a bit of beta we headed up. We got to the top of the first tower, after some pretty nice, albeit burly, low 5.11 free-climbing through a couple steep overhangs(possibly doing a variation of pitch 4 in the process) we rapped of the South face to have a look at the rocks. I wished we had more time to do the whole route.....but we were moving too slow for such a sustained and committing route and more importantly we had geology work to do....but what a route! From where we were you could see the upper headwall that featured 2 60m pitches of en-cheval on a knife ridge....after a bit of traffic, this route will no doubt be a classic. The North Selkirks are astonishing....with so many unclimbed lines its crazy! Next week we head into the Argonaut group, and with any luck an FA or two. The CMH Adamant lodge Don't pick the flowers. Mat in the 212 Me up front in the 212 on the way in to our camp the 212 headed back home after dropping us off....the West Butt of the Horn in the background Camp below the Austerity icefall some seracs Mat above the icefall on day one, the Waldorf towers area in the background Upper Austerity glacier cirque, the prominent ridge of Ironman south on the left in the light/shade, then Austerity, and the Turret in light/shade on the right Iron Man Looking down the first pitch of the Gibson-Rohn On the Gibson -Rohn somewhere At a belay on the Gibson-Rohn, the 700m face of West Blackfriar in the background On the Gibson-Rohn The West Buttress of the Horn On the Horn a belay on the Horn, more unclimbed walls in the background Mat from the base of the first tower on the Horn The Horn-Unicorn basin, Upper Ironman visible above the showfield on the right Looking up the South face of the horn from the BAse of the first tower More Horn Basin..... A baby ground squirrel we caught, in a different part of the range (later reunited with family.) Quote
olyclimber Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Damn!!! That looks like an awesome place to spend some time. The shotgun/clearcut picture is priceless. Quote
jordop Posted August 6, 2006 Posted August 6, 2006 Way to introduce your buddy to alpine climbing with a TD 5.10+ route Wicked stuff. Too many helicopter destinations for one life Quote
DirtyHarry Posted August 7, 2006 Posted August 7, 2006 Bitchin'. Nice stainless steel 12 gauge - a bit big and heavy for packin' round though. Quote
Weekend_Climberz Posted August 7, 2006 Posted August 7, 2006 Schweet photos. Canada is looking better and better. Quote
Ponzini Posted August 13, 2006 Posted August 13, 2006 Just got back from a week long trip to the Adamants, we hiked in via Swan Crek to Fairy Meadows, established a high camp and climbed Austerity and Ironman (from the north) plus other smaller peaks in the Gothics. FYI, the peak between Ironman and Turret is Austerity, Adamant is to the east of Turret. Great looking routes on the south side, great job guys! Without a chopper, the Swan Creek trail (in its present condition) is about 7 hours to Fairy meadow (with 4x4), 8 hours with 2wd. Quote
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