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Canadian Rockies Report


Climzalot

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After a marathon trip to the Rockies this weekend we were able to compile to following information on route conditions. Please bear in mind that most of this info has come from visual inspection only an should taken as persons observation. My intention is to give those folks interested in early trips up there some bits of useful info to maximize their efficiency while looking for something to climb.

Banff/Canmore Area-Very little snow and warm temperatures have delayed the forming of routes in and aound the Banff and Canmore areas. There is ice on Mt. Rundle but from the road it is hard to tell what is climbable and what is not. Professors looked bare, Welcome to CA has ice, and Terminator has ice. Most everything else has little or none on Rundle.-Grotto, His+Hers, Coire Dubh, Cascade, Urs Hole are non-existent.

Lake Louise-Louise Falls has ice but it is not in, didnt check out Bourgeau's or Johnston area but no reports of climbing there.

Ghost Area-The Ghost area is really dry as well. Not much snow and warm temps.-Big Drip has plenty of ice, This House of Sky is climbable but mot much fun due to thin ice, nothing has been reported to be climbable in the Valley of the Birds. People have climbed Sorcerer and Hydrophobia but we didn't make the trek to visually inspect.

Stanley Headwall-Most climbs are formed to one degree or another and pretty much all of them have been climbed. French Reality, The Day After..., Acid Howl, Nightmre on Wolf St?, Nemesis (few rock moves to start pitch 3), Sinus Gully, Killer Pillar is not yet formed, dont know for sure about the last climb or two at the end of the headwall. Most lines are thin and steep as usual for this area.

Kananaskis Country-Didnt drive up there but spoke with locals who said there is very little ice to be had. Nothing on Whiteman, Amadeus, or Mt Kidd area. R&D is getting climbed as is Chalice and the Blade.

Icefields Parkway-From what we could tell the parkway is your best bet for ice up there right now. After a binocular drive through yesterday there was lots of ice to be had.-Crow Foot falls, Bow falls, Aimless, Pointless, Murchison, are all looking good and getting climbed. The longer steep routes on Wilson are not formed (Oh Le Tab, Shooting Star, etc.) but there was ice in and around L.Wilsons cleavage. Most of the big scary routes below the icefields look to have plenty of ice, (slipstream, Riptide, etc.). Polar Circus has ice on all sections and looked climbable through the binocs, it is definitely not fat but it should go. I am not sure if the wall of ice we saw hidden back in a gully towards the end of Mt Wilson was the Weeping Wall or not, but there was plenty of climbable ice there if it was. Shades of Beauty is getting climbed, Curtain call is thin and scary looking, The Wings and Stage look to be good. Not much else to be seen between here and Jasper. We did not make it up highway 11 near Elliott and surrounding area.

Field, Radium, Golden-No first hand info but locals say little or no ice is around yet.

I hope this helps people whe might be looking to head up there. Feel free to drop me an email with specific questions as I am sure I have missed somemthing and/or reported something in error.

Happy Climbing?

cgentzel@aai.cc

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Gad is rad. I like how he is both super bad ass, yet equally helpfull to those seeking beta on WI 3 routes. I was lucky enough to meet him at a demo in Bozeman, and was totaly inspired by his endless positive "go get some" attitude. He was even psyched about climbing on Hyalite "frozen kitty litter."

My first climing experience was at the Gad gym in Tahoe in '90. Too bad they closed the wall down.

[ 11-14-2001: Message edited by: lambone ]

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