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974 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 07:16 AM
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Our plan was to try the less frequented north face/ne ridge of Sunwapta peak. I drove up the day before to find the proper creek we were to follow, but after bushwacking for only a couple minutes, my enthuiasum for the trip diminished and i just felt like going off and doing something else.
My partner Sara arrived and she seemed to be undettered at the lovely bush we had to deal with to start our ascent. I had little optimism that we would get to the top at all and I couldn’t even see the route from the road and was wondering what we may encounter.
We woke at a later time than I would’ve liked (4am or so). Got ready and shared the ride up to the starting point, leaving my vehicle at the beauty creek trail for our descent down the front/easy side of Sunwapta.
Soon we were off into the bush…it turned out that the bushwacking was a bit better than I thought it would be. It was bad at first, then got better, then bad again and then finally we cut over to the creek when it widened and were able to rock hop along or up the middle of the creek.
It took about an hour to get up the creek and for things to level out a bit. From here on it was talus and meadows. After about 3 hours of hiking non-stop to fend off the hordes of mosquitoes, we finally got a glimpse of the route…….well …most of it.
  this isn't the best drawing of the route line,the upper half is actually climbed behind the rock,not up it
I had checked out the freeze on a couple snow patches on the way up and had a feeling things weren’t going to be good at all. As soon as I hit the glacier I started postholing right away, sometimes up to my knee and I thought if it doesn’t get better, we are turning around.
Didn’t really think the snow was going to be all that much better, but I thought we’d may as well head a little ways up and see if it improved.
 looking back 
Sure enough, the snow improved, then it got bad, then good again and finally settling in at an alright snow pack. We had to cross under a huge icefall just after getting onto the glacier and we crossed quickly,hoping she would not unleash her icy blocks on us.
 just passing the last of the danger zone
Stepped into a couple crevasses also. We were crossing an area were I knew there were some around and sure enough..in goes a foot, then about 5 minutes later I broke through another one and fell to the ground.
Up we went to gain the NE ridge, and from there it was basically followed to the summit.
 Sara taking turns breaking trail  following the NE ridge 
The slopes we encountered were at most 30-40 degrees, no rock to climb, but later in the year one may want a few ice screws here and there.
The last 300-400 meters where climbed in a whiteout and we used the ne ridge as a guideline, making sure we were well away from the huge cornices and soon we were at the top.
  On Top!! we kept warm by digging out the cairn
It took us a bit to find out we were truly on top as we couldn’t see anything but the top of a cairn sticking out of the snow and a possible bivy shelter nearby. We dug most of the snow off the cairn and finally found the register (ok..were are on top!!)
We were about to start down, but were sort of mixed up as to which way we had to go. It must have been the way the route circled around and the whiteout that screwed us up, because the way we thought we had to go down was in the totally wrong direction.
We checked our compasses and figured they both can't be wrong, and just a moment later the clouds cleared for a moment and we could see the road….ahhh ..there we go!!
We started down the easy way and were greeted with perfect plunge stepping snow for the first half, then it just got slushier. We used a combo of plunging and bum sliding to descend and then followed the trail out to the highway, for a round trip time of 9 ½ hours.
Part way down the mountain I realized that in my morning stupor, I left my truck keys in the other vehicle, 4km’s up the road…damn!!! But I remembered and found the spare keys I had and we didn’t have to hitch a ride or hike another 4k.
 headin down  things clear a bit
I’m finding it hard to actually recommend this route, but it was an alright climb.
It would've been great if we could see the views on top,but you cant get always get what you want. It is a good climb if you want to get away from the road, it is harder and a lot longer than the north glacier on Athabasca and it has an easy, worry free descent…..which is nice!!
Here is a video of my trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU_RGAD8ZA8
Go give it a try!!
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Edited by - nmcan84 on 06/29/2011 07:45 AM
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 Kootenay Bud
2695 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 07:54 AM
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| Nice trip. Not often done. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1114 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 08:50 AM
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| Sounds similar to the snow conditions we encountered over the weekend...but we didn't have any bugs to worry about. |
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Popkum, BC
Canada
5887 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 08:57 AM
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| Good job! Too bad the views didn't open up much. |
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Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
331 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 09:04 AM
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Good to see more people trying this route. I found it to be one of my most enjoyable glacier ascents even though the weather for me wasn't much better. The visibility was good enough to at least get some nice shots of the glacier while I was there. My favorite crevasse crossing photo is from this glacier.  |
Edited by - ecoulthard on 06/29/2011 09:05 AM |
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974 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 09:23 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by ecoulthard
Good to see more people trying this route. I found it to be one of my most enjoyable glacier ascents even though the weather for me wasn't much better. The visibility was good enough to at least get some nice shots of the glacier while I was there. My favorite crevasse crossing photo is from this glacier.
i remember seeing a report on this route awhile back and was trying to find it again before i headed up,i assume it was your report that i saw now. Looking at your pictures is kind of nice,i could only see about 50 feet on the upper half of the mountain and now i know what it looks like. i would have to bump up my opinion of the route now and say i would do it again,i guess my lack of views added to my feeling about it.
We were thinking of taking the ramp that you used and gaining the nw ridge,but chose to use the ne ridge as a guide instead. i am glad i didn't take the ramp as those crevasses would've been hidden well and your picture above looks kind of gnarly.
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over the hills and far away
Canada
709 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 9:35 PM
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| nice one man. i was thinking of doing the scrambles route this summer, but now that seems boring. congratz. was sara on lefroy with us? -c- |
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Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
558 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 9:47 PM
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| Thanks for the TR! It's interesting to compare the terrain in the Rockies with the Coast. Want to get out there some day soon. |
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974 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2011 : 10:47 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
nice one man. i was thinking of doing the scrambles route this summer, but now that seems boring. congratz. was sara on lefroy with us? -c-
ya,that is the same sara that was up at lefroy with us. She's the on that might be joining us on vic north.
yes,i would say if you want to do sunwapta,do the north glacier/ne ridge route and use the scramble route as a descent. |
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Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
331 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2011 : 10:05 AM
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Here is a photo of most of the North face of Sunwapta Peak in case anyone is interested. I took this shot from Swan Pass which is beside the Brazeau Icefield. The link is to a full sized version of the photo.
[Edit]I added lines for the ascent routes[/Edit]
http://summitsearch.org/photos/show_full?photo_id=419
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Edited by - ecoulthard on 06/30/2011 10:34 AM |
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Persistence pays off on the N face of Sunwapta
