overzealous

I didn't mean to imply that he originated the expression, only that he was the first place I encountered it. I figured it was something old, but I had no idea it was quite THAT well known a quip.

Goatboy - thanks for the compliments on the writing. I wish I could take credit for the bivy quip, but it's from a friend of mine (Shingo) I just recycled it.

Cool picture and explanation. I don't think I was in that corner at all though. I was at least half a ropelength (so 100 feet) left of the correct exit. If you remember the large section of protruding rocks at the top of the face - I came up right of them, then angled back left over them. I'd love to go back and do the correct route.

Apologies if this should be in route or trip reports, but I thought here was more appropiate since I'm posing a question, feel free to move this if you think otherwise. A few weeks ago my partner and I climbed the North Face of Athabasca. I made a complete idiot move and took the wrong exit gully through the rockbands. (see linked picture) http://www.teambivy.com/v/chris/athabasca/athabascaFace.jpg.html Speaking to one of guys at a gear store in Canmore I was told that this is a common mistake (despite the straight forward route finding). I'm curious if anyone has been up where we were, if it is an established route/alternate, what they thought of it etc... If you're interested in my full take on the experience it is linked below this post. I'm fully aware of how my inexperience and bad decision making shine through in this report, so while you're free to lecture me, you're probably preaching to the choir. This was a big wake up call. The grading is a WAG (wild assed guess) since I don't have tons of experience climbing with crampons. If this mistake is common, as we were lead to believe I figured someone might have experiences to share in the same theme. Full Trip Report: http://www.teambivy.com/mt_athabasca_north_face_oct_7_9_2006 - Chris

Thanks for the beta page. I hadn't stumbled onto that despite a lot of time searching online for any information I could get about this face. It looks like it'll be VERY useful. Assuming we do get up there and find the face out of condition (as you say is likely) are there good alternates with a simialar feel that are generally in shape in early October (after record hot summers)?

I’ve been drooling over the north face of Athabasca for several years now, and haven’t lucked into the right combination of money and time off with a good partner to make it up there yet. I’ve climbed in the Cascades and Sierras, but never the Canadian Rockies. It looks like I’ll probably have the chance to go around October 6-11th, and I was hoping some of the people here could either give me some beta, or point me toward useful resources. From the reading I’ve done, it seems that this face is best done as an early season route now, due to the increased rock fall in late summer with the warmer temperatures. What kind of conditions could we reasonably expect in early October? Is it likely to still be a rock fall prone dodgeing match, have the winters snows usually started and made avy danger on the approach a bigger problem, etc..? I realize that the weather itself isn’t predictable, but does anyone have any idea what general conditions around this time are likely to be? Likewise, can anyone recommend other quality routes of similar difficulty around the Banaff/Jasper area that are likely to be in good shape in early October? We’re probably comfortable with 5.6 or so alpine rock, and AI3. Long days are ok, but I don’t think we’re in shape for multi-day routes at the present time. Thank you in advance for any help. This planning is coming late in the season. I’d resigned myself to not doing a mountain this year – hope this trip comes through. - Chris