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Canadian Rockies Ice


Alex

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Went to Banff over Thanksgiving, here's whats up.

 

General: not much snow except in the alpine, and warm weather everywhere.

 

Rogers Pass: on the East side of the pass are some really nice looking lines to 5 that are probably not climbed often. Really compelling looking, but huge av terrain.

 

Western Rockies: Kicking Horse has construction as you know, so you cant park or climb at the most easily accessible stuff. Pretty Nuts is there but very thin, Riverview is in but thin, everything else is not. In Field, nothing on Mt Dennis; Silk Tassel is in, Superbok out, Masseys out, some of the Yoho climbs look ok from the road. Temps in Field and Lake Louise in the early am about -5. In Louise, Louise Falls is in 5/5+ shape (it was climbed Sun am by two local guys), while Linda Ice Nine (Saturday, 4) is in good shape and holding up well to alot of traffic. Few parties (we were the only one on Sat of 5) are climbing the final crux pillar at steep and pumpy/wet 4.

 

Parkway: Murchison.

 

The Chinook is doing a real number on the Eastern Rockies.

 

Banff: Rundle climbs...Trophy wall has all but come apart in the chinook. Professors in, most hardcores climbing it to Sacre Bleu. Sky Pilot looks in. Nothing else.

 

KCountry: King Creek was reported in but wet a week ago by some people we met on Linda Ice Nine. Mt Kidd only has the first 10m approach pitch to Kidd Falls and Sinatra (Thurs, 2) and the first pitch on Sinatra is on the verge of melting out. Evan Thomas creek has been reported in, but it was like +6 when we were on Sinatra so I can't imagine Moonlight and Snowline survived the Chinook. Amadeus is dead.

 

Ghost: Drove into the parking lot in the North Ghost and climbed the first few hundred meters of streambed on this House of Sky, past the first 3 WI2 steps (Friday). The streambed was dry above that (we think!!). We met two WA state climbers at the base of the route driving a Toyota truck...Layton? GBU is non-existant. Valley of the Birds approach pitch very thin. Burning Drowning was supposed to be in a few weeks ago but we didnt walk that far, it was really warm, maybe +5 during the day. Sorcerer is in and was climbed Fri by some locals driving an Outback. Hydro is in. Big Drip - that thing is huge!!

 

Alex

 

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"Rogers Pass: on the East side of the pass are some

really nice looking lines to 5 that are probably not

climbed often. Really compelling looking, but huge av

terrain."

 

maybe I am wrong but I think these are within the

"closed area" which means not just avy danger but

Howitzer danger as well?

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fern, I am not sure? I suppose that if you were to wander around up there, you might stumble upon some unexploded ordinance, though. The routes look great, easily as nice as anything in the rockies. There is no snow right now at Rogers Pass, and with no snow there is no av hazard, so might be worth the risk of trying out some of these lines. The approaches look to be about 30 min from the highway.

 

You guys know if there is a guidebook to this or the Revelstoke area? Jo Jo doesnt cover it and I kinda wonder why, its pretty close to Golden!

 

Alex

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Al Dunhams web page is the closest thing to a Stoke guidebook. Do a web search for Al Dunham or look for the link somewhere on the ACC web page.

 

Hey Dru .. can you help us brothers and sisters out here ... I tried multiple searchs, got many hits on Al Dunham, check the ACC and many of the chapters sites but came up with no link to a Al Dunham personal page ....

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Yeah that is the one. cool.gif Look how almost all the FAs were done since 2000.... hmmm, you kind of wonder why the hell people just drove by all those years. Stoke can get fat and no crowd scenes unlike Canmore area. That Urine Stain that Arbic soloed is a super cool looking flow of Yellow Ice just W of Rogers Pass near the mouth of Smart Creek, one of the only routes near the pass that aint in an avvy track. The other two routes near the pass are the ones Alex was gaping at I think. As Fern noted these can be howitzered sometimes so only climb when avvy danger is low to non existant or you might get shot. rockband.gif

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