[TR] Jasper National Park - Edith Cavell, North Face, Chouinard, Becky, Doody 4/9/2009

[Dane]

Trip: Jasper National Park - Edith Cavell, North Face, Chouinard, Becky, Doody

 

Date: 4/9/2009

 

Trip Report:

From the Park Canada web site:

 

"Climbers coming here for the first time may not be familiar with the type of climbing and the varying rock quality in particular. The Rockies are made up almost entirely of sedimentary rock including limestones and dolomites, shales, and silicas (including quartzite - metamorphic rock). The characteristics vary widely from the very worst to some fine rock, depending on the formations (the layers) encountered. The best rockclimbing is found on the some of the thickly bedded limestones (such as Roche Miette) and the beautiful quartzites located along the main continental divide ranges.

 

The Columbia Icefields is a spectacular glaciated plateau, which boasts several of the highest peaks in the Canadian Rockies. Alpinists, from the novice to the extreme, will be challenged by routes such as the Normal Route on Mt. Athabasca (II) or the Grand Central Couloir on Mt. Kitchener (V 5.9 A2/W5). The quality of the routes combined with roadside access make the Icefields an excellent area in which to focus a climbing trip to the Canadian Rockies. The North Face Mt. Edith Cavell and the Japanese Route on Mt. Alberta are two additional alpine climbs that are among the 50 Classic Climbs in North America."

 

The original North face line from "50 Classic Climbs of North America" in white. Not uncommon to use a variation of any line on the face. The line I climbed is in black.

 

 

Mike Graham's photo and comments from a 1975 ascent with Rick Accomazzo, "here is of me just below the rock bands on EC. guess we were considering roping up at this point. I think that was a motorcycle helmet."

 

 

Here is a picture looking down the rock band Mike is looking up at, mid face above the Angel glacier on Cavell. Photo by Monomaniac @ Mountain Project.

 

 

And a view down the upper ice/snow slope.

 

photographer unknown

 

And another of Mike Graham's pictures.

"Here's a shot of Rick Accomazzo on the summit of Edith Cavell after doing the Chouinard/Doody route. 1975, taking a break on our car to car push."

 

 

Three different big, Canadian mountains here with TRs. Deltaform and Temple are limestone. Edith Cavell is quartzite.

 

Deltaform has some of the worst rock imaginable (anywhere, except maybe Deborah) in the last rock band. Same reason most now try to avoid as much rock up high as possible by climbing the shorter variation on the left.

 

Temple on the other hand has some of the best limestone in the Rockies on the central buttress before you break out into the bowl at mid height. If that ridge were anywhere besides under a few million tons of ice it would be a classic climb. Wonderful in boots, but something that would be a delight in shoes. Above that the rock quality goes to shit...but still not as bad as Deltaform's last bit.

 

Edith Cavell? Amazing, solid quartzite the entire way, up the north face and down the east ridge, if you pay just a little attention and stay out of the choss. Beautiful incut holds on smooth rock the while climb. Stuff that would be fun in rock shoes was still enjoyable in dbl boots. Of course with the reputation of the final shale band on Cavell I just had to go see for myself. I intentionally climbed directly through it, after a little pre-inspection from below. Not bad in crampons, easy angled and well frozen while I was there and still way better than any thing on Deltaform.

 

Classic look up the east ridge of Edith Cavell.

It is a big file if you dbl click, so I left it a link.

 

http://www.kolos.ca/andriy/Rockies2005/EdithCavell1.jpg

 

But no question in anyone's mind, it isn't granite If it was granite it might well be boring!

 

 

Edith Cavell North Face, 1st ascent , AAJ 1963

 

Day two……

 

It began to rain just as we started climbing. It was easy climbing on low angle rock and we moved at a steady deliberate pace. We were not going to let ourselves be forced to move fast by fear. A far cry from yesterday! It began to hail and we could hardly hear each other above the noise of the wind and thunder. Lightning was hitting the summit 800 feet above us. Clouds moved back and forth unveiling ghastly views of the ice-plastered wall to the right and left of us. In about three hours we reached the summit ice slope. It looked very steep but not long, possibly two pitches to the summit rocks, but it was to take 500 feet of step-cutting before we were to reach them! The ice was in terrible shape. Since it was granular and kept sliding, I had to chop steps all the way. The higher up we got the worse the ice became, while the slope continued to steepen. Through breaks in the clouds Doody and Beckey appeared below me, huddled against the slope trying to avoid the ice chips. Below them the wall dropped sheer and Eiger-like for 3500 feet. Lulls in the storm gave hopes that it would stop, but hail and snow kept us soaked through for the rest of the day. Freezing feet made me chop a little faster but I had to make bigger steps for my weaker legs. With only a few ice pitons, we had to keep the leads fairly short. My left foot had lost all feeling. After an interminable time we reached the summit rocks only a little way from the top, but the face was not going to give in so easily. The next 300 feet took everything I had to lead. On horizontal bands of the loosest shale, pitches had to be short because of the lack of piton cracks. Each move was a desperate effort to keep from sliding down the wet slabs. Doody belayed perfectly calmly, never complaining of countless rocks dislodged onto him. The last pitch took me to 80 feet above Doody on extreme rocks with no protection. I got above a small band of dirt and there I was with my hands on the summit! I tried to pull myself up but could not. My feet slid continually and my fingers dug deeper into the dirt, but I could not move. I looked across 50 feet to the summit pole and then down 4000 feet to the ground. 0 God, what a place to get it! I was afraid for the first time during that day. With frantic eyes I spotted a two-foot long patch of hard snow ten feet to my right.

 

I very cautiously eased over. It felt solid, so I pulled up, mantled and was up. Never have I felt so happy as that day on the summit with my friends. Even though we encountered a great deal of objective danger I feel there are times when this wall is perfectly safe. When we climbed the wall, it was in very poor condition. Future parties should try to climb it in cool weather, perhaps the first week of July, when the summit ice slope would be in better shape as normally nearly all of the rockfall is caused by the summit ice fields avalanching and flushing rocks. Since retreat from high up the face would be next to impossible, enough gear should be taken along to last three days even though in good conditions a two-man party could climb the wall in one day. The summit rocks should be avoided by climbing the 60~ ice to the left. Speed is the biggest safety factor on nearly any great wall, so it is better to go unroped as much as possible. No more than 10 pitons need to be taken, two of which should be knife blades.

 

Summary of Statistics AREA: Canadian Rockies.

ASCENT: Mount Edith Cavcll, 11,033 feet, July 20-21, 1961-first ascent of north face.

PERSONNEL: Fred Beckey, Yvon Chouinard, Daniel Doody.

 

Edith Cavell, Second Ascent of the North Face, 1966.

 

On July 30 Gray Thompson and I quickly climbed the first third of the 4000-foot face on firm quartzite, finding good holds all the way to the Angel Glacier. We roped below the glacier and after two steep ice leads, we trudged up the glacier, crossed a difficult bergshrund, and climbed continuously mixed snow and rock to the base of a 300-foot vertical buttress. I led the first pitch up wet rock on the right face of an inside corner; then Gray made an extremely difficult second lead, climbing F7 rock up a waterfall. We emerged at the top of the buttress soaked but happy that the hardest rock climbing was behind us. More mixed climbing, some of it after dark across steep ice, took us to a bivouac ledge 200 feet below the summit icefield. We had expected that the icefield would be an easy snow climb to the summit, but the next day we found that the snow was rotten and underlain by hard ice. We avoided the summit rocks climbed by the first-ascent party by traversing left and climbing ice to a rock outcrop directly below the giant cornices which festooned the summit ridge. The final lead began up snow which was at first underlain by rotten rock, and then by ice, and it ended in deep unstable snow, which let me know I would not fall only when I dug my ice-axe into the summit. When Beckey, Chouinard and Doody made the first ascent in 1961 the face was dry and they had heavy rockfall. We had no rockfall, probably because the face was still plastered with winter snow and the rocks were frozen in place. Under the right conditions, the objective dangers are not great, and it is certainly one of the great face climbs in North America.

 

DENNIS EBERL

 

Edith Cavell, 1967, 1st solo ascent

 

To really comprehend what Robbins did in the fall of 1967 on Edith Cavell it helps to know what he was doing earlier in the year.

 

It was early 1966 and John Harlin was still alive. Royal Robbins had come to the American school in Leysin Switzerland to teach with Harlin but in ‘66 became the sport director at the school taking Harlin’s place as Harlin began planning for the Eiger Direct. Among other climbs Robbins and Harlin had just done the 1st ascent of the American Direct on the Dru with Robbins leading the majority of it when Harlin was injured by rockfall. Climbing with Chouinard in the Dolomites they had done several hard climbs together including the north face of the Cima Grande. On a trip to England Robbins made some hard and impressive choices at the time about free climbing with “clean” pro.

 

By April of ‘67 Robbins was back in the Valley. In May he and Liz Robbins did the classic Nut Cracker Suite with its obvious and futuristic statement on climbing ethics. Then in June the 1st ascent of the West Face of El Cap with T. M. Herbert.. Again in June the Grand Sentinel with Chouinard another grade VI wall climb. In July Half Dome again with Liz. April through July sounds a little like a vacation for Robbins from "hard climbing". For some it would be a good climbing resume.

Two new grade VIs, a early ascent of a grade V and a new III free climb? Not bad for 4 months in 1967. And there was much more to come.

 

As fall approached Robbins headed north. The first climb was the new route on the North face Geikie with Hudson. Another new grade V but this time in the Candian Rockies on crappy rock. 4000 feet. V, 5.9 , A3 (which still has a fearsome reputation)

 

By any measure Robbins must have been in decent shape by the end of August 1967!

 

Not much written on Robbin’s solo and the third ascent of the Chouinard/Becky/ Doddy route that I can find. Other than the fact Robbins wanted to teach himself “mountaineering”. Edith Cavell became his school room for the day. Robbins spent 4 hours on the last 600 feet of snow and rock. He later commented on his climb, “mountaineers aren’t made in a day“. Becky is said to have told Robbins after his climb, “That was a pretty good stunt.” Robbins took it as a compliment. Those that know Becky might have read that differently.

 

Robbins obviously knew how to push the envelope mentally and physically in the Alps, Yosemite and now he was doing it again alpine climbing in the Canadian Rockies.

 

Some perspective on Robbin's climb? It was 14 years before the face was soloed again. A lot had changed in those 14 years.

 

"A lot had changed in those 14 years"

 

I am still convinced that the majority of what gets done in the alpine is mental....but modern gear certainly has lowered the mental stress over time.

 

Edith Cavell was first climbed by two of America's best alpinists..Chouinard and Becky. Doddy was along to film and did almost no leading according ot the original account.

 

The date was 1963.

 

REI was selling chrome moly 12 point Eckenstein and every axe in inventory...any where in the world....had a straight pick. Chouinard was still climbing with ice daggers...even though he would say, "no more of this ice dagger bullshit for me" by 1965. And then went on to forge his first ice hammer in 1967. Salewa had just started selling the first lwt weight, and most importantly, the first adjustable crampon. And in 1964 the first Salewa tube ice screws cam out.

 

Boots available? Slim pickens unless you actually made it to Europe to buy real climbing boots. By 1966/67 the Lowe Triplex (a triple boot) and the Galibier Super Guide ( a single boot) and Hivernal (a dbl boot) were available in Europe and with some difficulty in the USA.

 

Robbins had access to the Galiber boots (he was working with Galibier as a designer and had visited the factory) but no idea what he used on Cavell...for crampons, boots or tools. No doubt Robbins had the best European gear available to him in 1967.

 

Gear changed so much in the next few years and by 14 years later there was no real comparison. And no question, these climbs had gotten "easier".

 

The second longest ice face in the Canadian Rockies (Robson having the longest) The east face of Stanley is first climbed in 1966.

 

The first route on the north face of Temple, the Greenwood/Locke was done that August in '67 along with Robbin's solo on Cavell. With the reporter lamenting the "directisma" on Temple would have to wait on another generation.

 

3 years later (1970) the Lowe's arrive on Temple...the "directisma" is done with aid climbing through the ice cliff. The "new" generation has arrived back in the late '60s. By the time the picture of Jeff Lowe aiding through the ice cliff shows up on Mt 34 it is Oct of 1974. Jeff and Mike Weiss had climbed Bridalveil free on WI6 10 months previously. But that photo of Jeff Lowe on Mt 34's (1974) cover (even though it was then 4 years out of date) directly encouraged two more routes to be climbed on Mt. Temple. (1974 and 1976)

 

Yes a lot had changed by the time the 2nd solo ascent of Cavell was done. Polar Circus was by then standard fare in an easy day instead of the original eight days. Slipstream which took 3 days on the first ascent, by two of Canada's most experienced, had been done in less than 9 hrs on the 2nd ascent.

 

Some of the best gear available in 1968/69.

McInnes metal shafted axe, Salewa adjustables, Galiber Havernal dbl boots.

 

 

Gear from the 2nd solo of Cavell in August '81

 

 

1st generation Koflach Ultra db boots and Chouinard hinged crampons.

 

 

Wild Things swami with a buckle, Snowdon Curver axe and a terro hammer.

 

 

A Ultimate fiberglass helmet, Merino wool jersy, Eastern Euro wool gloves I bought in Nepal in '77, a Alpaca hat from Peru. Only things missing besides lunch and the water bottle are the GPIW Fish pack, knee high gaiters and my polyester XC knickers.

 

There are several mentions of the time frames these climbs were done in. For instance one of the few details from Robbin's solo was the 4 hrs it took him to climb the last 600 feet of snow, ice and rock.

 

14 years later a "modern" climber bragged on his own solo ascent of Edith Cavell in a CLIMBING magazine. He had told of climbing, "from the Angel glacier to the summit in 4 hrs!"

 

The top of the Angel glacier is close to half way up the face. You would be pressed to find anyone including the first ascent party who used a rope the entire way to get there.

 

Fact was by the late '70s that kind of speed wasn't even worth mentioning since Robbins had already covered that same ground in similar time. Climbers were by then ('81) measuring the climbing time car to car or at the very least from the parking lot to the summit.

 

Yes, things had changed. Royal Robbins was the climbing editor of SUMMIT before and long after his solo of Edith Cavell and never thought the "stunt" worth mentioning in the national climbing press or his biography past a few words.

 

Things had indeed changed.

 

The flip side? Nothing here (Temple, Deltaform or Cavell) even remotely as hard as the early European climbs done in the 1930's, like the Eiger north face for example or Bonatti's climbs in the '50s let alone Robbin's own European test pieces in the Alps. For that kind of climbing you'll need to step it up to the "modern" Canadian 5.9 A2 classics.

 

 

Gear Notes:

It is more about conditions than it is about gear. Rock and ice gear obviously. And freezing temps from top to bottom. A early start will help you get that in weather that can be fun to climb in. Done in good conditions the climbing is awesome the objective hazards almost zero. The 1000' mixed section between the lower buttress and the upper ice slope is as good as it gets...classic alpine nirvana.

 

Approach Notes:

10 min from the parking lot view point. East ridge is highly recommended as a descent in good weather and conditions. Much of it can easily be down climbed and with only a few short rappels.