Rockies, Kananaskis

[Bogen]

Wed afternoon, the fellow from seattle that is coming up phones, he has been turned back by Canadian customs, something about a DWI. So, after garnering promises from an old friend in Calgary (he is doing the the video projection for the film fest) that he will at least try ice climbing, off I go.

 

Though trophy wall is FAT everything else right around Banff is not. I hiked to Johnston canyon, and discovered that in fact my first ice lead 7 years ago went pretty much through the Algal deposits that the climbers are supposed to avoid. I feel bad. Johnston canyon is not in. Golden is not, Field is mostly not, though the beer wall is getting there and Guinness Gully is in. Later, people I talked to said Murchison had lots of ice on saturday, but they didn't climb any.

 

Fri morn, I hiked to Urs hole and the tube, both were falling apart. The grade 4 pitch in the back of the gully to the tube looks like a worthwhile venture in colder conditions, and probably forms even when the tube does not. Some 5.7 moves and 10 feet of ice will get you there. Professor is not in and Cascade is flowing. Two consecutive groups tell me King Creek is the place, especially if soloing or with beginners, so I head down there fri afternoon, soloing a few pitches of WI2. It is late in the day, no one else is in the canyon, and the heavy winds that have been eating the snows all day are literally knocking me around. The canyon is beautiful, the weather is high, and I finally have my picks in. Rapture!

 

While King creek had tons of easy stuff, there are some short pillars and curtains a couple pitches above the easy stuff. Apparently there are bolted mixed routes up there, but we didn't see any. Nonetheless, we had alot of fun when I returned Sunday with my friend Aaron, with whom I rock climbed through many adventures several years ago. The ice was just soft enough that every placement was great, with minimal effort. After putting a top rope on a little pillar, I had fun dynoing up it, and was able to do the whole thing in 4 long, leaping moves slamming a pick in at the top of each jump. What a hoot! Kidd falls looks fantastic, with a more experienced partner I would have gone, and looking at it I wanted to take Aaron up anyway, but decide against it. R & D is in, but always busy. Arterial spurt is seeing lots of traffic, waterhole looks in, and good, only once did I see a car there.

 

WI3 pitch in King canyon. Aaron, in blue and red, is visible rapping at the top of the pitch. At the top of the frame you can see the little pillar and curtain featured in the next picture.

 

 

[layton]

thanks for the heads up.

i find that rumors of things being in are just 3rd hand lies.

like last year i kept hearing mixed master was in fat, yet it contained no ice at all and no one had done it.

[Dru]

Dude I heard Bountiful Drought was in super fat this year!

[Don_Serl]

i find that rumors of things being in are just 3rd hand lies.

 

it's early season, gentlemen, stay calm.

Janez went out for 5 days over last weekend, arrived as it chinooked, drove 2700km, and climbed 60m of ice (Amadeus).

and, yes, Barry did climb Terminator, but an attempt at a follow-up 2 days later came to an end after 2 pitches cuz the party were completely sodden - more waterfall than icefall. OK for locals; maybe not so hot to drive for.

patience...

[PaulB]

Just back from a quick trip to the Rockies. As Don says, it's early season and the warm weather last weekend hurt things badly. However, we did find some ice lines in Haffner Creek on Thursday, and there are several mixed routes that were being climbed:

 

King Creek is still pretty much as described above by Bogen, although a bit thinner than in his pics. Kidd Falls was completely gone on Friday when we drove by.

 

The best value was to be found in the Bow Falls area. Bow Falls itself was open in the middle with running water, but looked like it would go on the right side. We opted to play around on Gorby Falls, (the flows to the right of the main falls) which offered a handfull of grade 2-3 pitches which were in great condition, and made for a fun day. Strangely enough, despite there being a half dozen cars in the parking lot there were only two other people up there on Saturday.

 

Bow Falls Area:

 

Bow Falls:

 

The following pic shows what I think are Pointless & Aimless Gullies on the approach to Bow Falls. There was a party at the base of the flow on the left (Pointless?) when we hiked by in the morning:

 

There's moderate ice to be had, and it can only get better as the days go by.

[ken4ord]

Sweets thanks for the info. Can't wait to get up there.