North Face of Athabasca or...

[sleepy]

A buddy of mine and me are looking to plan a couple days of apline climbing at the end of May. Would it be in condition to climb then? Any other suggestions would be great.

[PaulB]

If you haven't already, ask on Live The Vision's message board.

[sleepy]

Nope haven't yet, but I will check it out. Thanks.

[Alex]

I think May might be a bit early for this route to be in the classic "ice nordwand" shape. But its a great route, and easily approached so you can just head up there and if it looks sucky climb Silverhorn or the North Glacier.

[gearheart]

I worked at the Columbia Icefields for a few summers about ten years ago and the usual wisdom was climb it in May or early June after a good overnight freeze and hope to be kicking steps, or wait until after the snow is off the face mid-summer. Usually more avi activity in late June. The downside is that the anchors (pin belay) below the crux rockband may be snowed up and hard to find, but you should be able to dig for screw placements anyway. Of course, the mixed move may be only one bodylength long if you get it in good, early season conditions.

I think, sadly, that the hourglass route is now melted out - too bad, as stemming up that serac was pretty cool.

One thing to note - global warming is making a mess of ice routes in the Rockies. I was back climbing the N. Ridge of Athabasca (not recommended, the last route on the peak to do) last August (2004) and was shocked to see the state of the north face - melting out with big rock fall scouring the face. Things have really changed with global warming and I wonder if these routes are safe during the summer these days.

One other thought - before you go or as you are planning your trip, call the Parks Canada wardens at Mile 45 (Sunwapta) and ask them about conditions - a lot of experienced climbers (and ACMG guides) are wardens and they usually know exactly what shape things are in.

Enjoy!

[gearheart]

Some options if the snow & ice is no good in late May - climb long limestone routes! Brewers Buttress on Castle Mtn is superb, as is the Kain route on Mt. Louis. Other front range limestone in the Jasper area like Meissner Ridge on CR2 or any of the routes on Mount Colin are good if the snow and ice conditions aren't cooperating.

[AlpineK]

I think, sadly, that the hourglass route is now melted out - too bad, as stemming up that serac was pretty cool.

 

It's gone That was a really good route.

[sleepy]

Gearheart thanks for the info, i have the Wardens # some where... Yep everything is changing out there. This was August 15th 2004.

 

"JASPER, Alta. (CP) A mountain climber is dead and another has serious injuries after falling rock knocked them off an ice slope on Mount Athabasca in Jasper National Park. Four climbers, working two to a rope, were ascending a moderately difficult ice face Sunday near the Columbia Icefields when boulders began tumbling from an overhead band of rock. ``There were some sizeable rocks in the rock fall,'' said Parks Canada public safety specialist Steve Blake Monday. Two of the climbers on one rope were hit. One, a 26-year-old man, died after a 45-metre fall. His female climbing partner sustained serious injuries. Parks Canada got an early jump responding to the tragedy, said Blake. "Some of our Parks Canada staff at the Icefields Centre saw through a spotting scope some activity up there that seemed sort of frenzied and out of the ordinary for climbing,'' he said. ``They made some calls to our dispatch which alerted us that maybe something was up, so we started to assemble our rescue team at that point.'' A member of the climbing party phoned in the call for help at about 12:54, by which time a helicopter was already on standby in Canmore, Alta. A rescue team was on the ground by 2:25. The injured woman was flown to hospital in Edmonton. The remaining two climbers were also taken to hospital. They were released with no injuries. The current strike by Parks Canada staff had no impact on the rescue effort, Blake said. Safety staff are considered essential services and the normal complement of such staff were on duty at the time of the tragedy. Blake said the climbers were a group of students from the University of Calgary." UPDATE: Jasper Booster — One man is dead and another person was hospitalized after a climbing expedition went wrong Aug. 15 near the Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park. Four climbers were ascending the north face of Athabasca Mountain at around 11:30 a.m. when one climber was struck by a rock shower, causing him to fall about 45 metres. “The climber was tied into the mountain but sustained life threatening injuries as a result of the fall and subsequently died at the scene,” read a press release from the Jasper RCMP. The second climber sustained serious injuries and was transported to hospital. The two remaining climbers sustained no injuries and were released from hospital. The Jasper Warden Service Search and Rescue and EMS responded to the accident and were able to airlift the party to a safe environment. The name of the deceased climber is J.M., 26, of Calgary. UPDATE: "A young Calgary man died after sustaining injuries in a climbing accident on Mount Athabasca. J.M. (26) was hit by natural rock fall and fell 45 metres Sunday morning. He broke his femur and is believed to have died from the resulting blood loss, said Jasper National Park public safety warden Steve Blake. J.M. was climbing with three other Calgary friends who were roughly the same age, a woman in the group was also hit and suffered significant internal injuries. The two other climbers were not injured. The group was attempting to climb the North Face of the 3491 metre mountain in the south end of Jasper National Park. They had climbed two rope lengths up from the glacier when a natural rock shower hit them. "Rockfall is just something that occurs naturally, especially in places like that when the temparatures are warm. It seemed like the rocks were small pebbles to soccer-ball sized rocks" Blake siad. The accident occurred at around 11:30 am. The warden service received the call for help about an hour later from Parks Canada staff at the Icefields Centre who noticed a single person running down the glacier waving his arms. Rescue staff arrived on scene at 2:20 pm. J.M. was determined to be dead at the scene. His female climbing partner was evacuated to a hospital in Edmonton where her significant internal injuries could be treated. She is expected to recover.

[gearheart]

Yeah, we climbed the N. ridge two days after that incident. More than ever gotta get off that face before the day heats up - we would aim to be up whatever the route, off the mountain and back in the Astoria pub in Jasper by noonish.

Edited April 28, 2005 by gearheart

[Dru]

That was my friend Jeff Martin

 

RIP Jeff

[sleepy]

Sorry to hear that Dru. If that was incorrect forum to copy and paste that kind of stuff I apologize for that as well.

[glassgowkiss]

i think as of last couple of years climbing this face in the summer is like playing russian roulette. i did this face in mid october. the temps were very good and no snow on the face- hard alpine ice requiring 3-4 swings. did the whole thing with running pro

here is the pic: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=441&size=big&sort=1&cat=500

btw, if the snow turns to mush mid day descent AA col, it's much safer then long decending traverse to silverhorn.

here is a link to current temps:http://www.theweathernetwork.com/features/parks/pages/CAAB0617.htm

Edited May 3, 2005 by glassgowkiss

[Alex]

I would agree about the russian roulette. When i was on the route I had one baseball size rock miss my head by an inch or two, and another baseball size rock go right between my legs. It was the only rockfall I saw all day, but too close for comfort is an understatement

[sleepy]

Looks pretty solid. We went up the AA col a couple years ago and it was a hot day in august... we should have went down that way as well...

 

Thanks for the info and nice pics.