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Rockies TR - a little shorter, but still boring


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This is the short and boring TR for our Rockies trip last week (Aug. 2-10).

 

We started out in Rogers Pass. Scooted up the NW Ridge of Sir Donald. Great route - easy, great position, awesome rock. All everyone says about it is true. 6 hours from the car to summit (3rd classing all the way - easy), and longer back down (some raps, and lots of downclimbing). There is a new rap route starting about 200m above the col that heads left (facing down the ridge) down the west face/shoulder which avoids the trickiest part of the downclimbing. We did it, but I would recommend finishing off the tedious downclimbing all the way to the col instead...the rap stations are great, but there are 10 of them (they are set at 25m, and we only had one rope), where as going directly to the col is perhaps 3 raps and downclimbing. The rap route is probably best used as a bad-weather escape - the rock here would be very slippery after rain.

 

After this, our plan was to head into Mt. Assiniboine via Assiniboine Lake on the south side (which is much shorter than the Magog Lake approach), but the valley was on fire. Oh well. Had a hot springs soak, then scrambled up The President, via Little Yoho Valley, as a consolation prize the next day. This is a fairly long day trip (30km) and a slog. Avoid (although the views of O'Hara and the Ten Peaks were awesome...and good views of the HUGE fire in Vermillion Pass (post-Fay Hut burn down). Surmising that this peak and its sister (the Vice President) are named in honour of the US Executive Branch, two of our party left silent, but satisfying (if smelly) symbols of protest against American hegemony the_finger.gif on the summit. Organic cairns, if you will. Now, if Dru tells us that these peaks are named in honour of the ACC Executive Committee heads, I think our protest actions are still relevant.

 

We then headed up the Icefields and whacked our way up the North Face of Athabasca. It is in fine condition right now - no snow left, and most of the ice is one-hit-to-the-head styrofoam. The rock band was narrow, but we managed to fuck it up a bit by going too far left and had some fun fixed climbing and scrambling on the worst choss in the Rockies. Fun. If the rock band is ice-free (which is not good), bring blades and baby angles and some small cams. The climbing is easy, but the rock shite, and the exposure dramatic. We scooped a new TCU as booty, which made us feel better about wandering off route.

 

We finished up our tour of Rockies/Columbias moderate classics by a great run up the East Ridge of Edith Cavell. One of the better alpine scrambles I have done. Awesome position. Great rock. Never harder than low 5th, so don't bother with the rope or rock shoes. Less stressful than Sir Donald (which does get a little nerve wracking because of the relentless exposure and scrambling difficulty). The descent is initially a little gross (aka slag heap), but obvious and safe. The valley below is beautiful. Fairly easy day...12 hours or so.

 

Then we drove back to the Coast. Everything is in condition - glaciers, ice, rock. The beer is kept nice and cold in most Alberta establishments. All the smoke from the forest fires is a tad tiresome, but OK. Another fun Rockies trip where one can enjoy alpine climbing without the usual coastal "challenges" (bush, shitty logging roads, bugs, steep approaches). Fast food alpine climbing at it best. But don't gorge on it too long or you'll get fat...or lazy.

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It is named as follows:

 

Origin Notes and History

"President Range (not Emerald Range)" adopted in the 5th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 30 June 1904.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

 

Named in 1904 by Edward Whymper, of Matterhorn fame, after Lord Shaughnessey, president of the CPR. Also 2 mountains Whymper called "The President" and "The Vice President".

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

 

 

so its named after the CPR bureaucracy. I guess you are protesting the company decision to make the Canadian Rockies a mountaineering destination in an early example of ecotourism promotion confused.gif

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Ah fuck...the CPR? That's no fun. And EC won't like to hear that, being the train nut that he is.

 

Oh well, I took a dump on top of Eisenhower Tower...call that a political protest about 50 years too late to make a point. It felt good.

 

Dude, Uto peak was fun (I have done it too as a rain-check to Sir D), but you need to get back up there to do Sir D itself...loads of alpine scrambling fun. It is worth it. Plus, you could probably bivy in AMC's backyard in Revvie (we looked her up, but she was in the Charlotte's on a trip).

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