[TR] Banff - A sampling - Green gully, Coire Dubh Integral, Coughlins 3/28/2011

[jordansahls]

Trip: Banff - A sampling - Green gully, Coire Dubh Integral, Coughlins

 

Date: 3/28/2011

 

Trip Report:

First time ever to the Canadian Rockies, man what an awesome area. I am already planning my return trip.

 

Welcome!

 

 

Day 1: The Green Gully

 

Fun climb, was slightly sun affected. We only belayed the third pitch which I am told is a WI4. It didn't feel harder than 3, maybe 3+ to me, however I am by no means an authority on ice grades. Regardless, it was a good climb.

 

Rambly approach ice:

 

Crux pitch:

 

 

Day 2: Coire Dubh Integral

 

This was a really fun climb, however we did not complete the route. We soloed all of the ice bits and found ourselves guessing as to where the mixed climbing began. We picked a narrow chimney that pulled to climbers left and then back to climbers right in a S shape.

 

Brian ended up leading. It ended up being one thrutchy bastard of a pitch, mostly because the chimney was not wide enough to accommodate a pack. after a few minutes of scraping, sparks, and screaming barfies Brian ended up leaving his pack clipped into a cam so he could proceed with more ease. I had the pleasure of climbing the crack with Brian's pack dangling between my legs by a runner as well as my own pack on my back. I sounded like a women giving birth the whole way up. Thank god there was no one watching from below as they would have thought someone was being raped by a Canadian yeti. More shenanigans ensued, but we finally made it to a nice ledge.

 

At this point, we were so fogged in we had no idea where we were. After a few vain attempts to find the route, we decided it was best to retreat with out tails between our legs. Beer wouldn't judge us back at the Irish pub in Banff.

 

Other climbers soloing the ice:

 

Up the Gully:

 

Mixed Pitch (I dubbed it, "no crying in Bubbas bunk"):

 

Day 3: Coughlins

 

Originally we had planned on climbing Professor falls on our last day. However, the previous days activities had exacerbated a nagging shoulder injury so we decided that something with less of a crowd and not as long would be better. On the way in we noticed that pretty nuts still looked good, on the way back it had a large crack forming across the main curtain, so that was another option down. Finally we settled on Coughlins, which was north facing and looked good from the road. It was a fun climb.

 

Finally, fat blue ice:

 

All in all it was a short trip with a little less climbing achieved than I had originally hoped. however, it was by no means a waste of time. I feel like it was a quick introduction to a fantastic area. There is something inherently exciting about visiting/climbing in unfamiliar places. Sadly, its the end of the ice season and now all I can think about is climbing more ice. I guess I will have to wait until next year to get back, and believe me, I will be going back.

 

Until next time!

 

Gear Notes:

Standard Ice and rock rack

 

Approach Notes:

Bring music for the drive.