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Edmonton, AB
Canada
467 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2012 : 2:54 PM
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Finally got time to update my recent trips. I have uploaded hundreds of photos to my fotki site:
Shunda Mountain: http://stevensong.fotki.com/canadian-rockies/david-thompson/shunda-mountain-201246/
Crowfoot Mountain: http://stevensong.fotki.com/canadian-rockies/icefield-parkway/crowfoot-mountain-201247/
Mt. Gordon: http://stevensong.fotki.com/canadian-rockies/icefield-parkway/mt-gordon-201248/
St. Nicolas Peak: http://stevensong.fotki.com/canadian-rockies/icefield-parkway/st-nicolas-peak-201248/
Easter Weekend finally comes! However, the snow storm early in the week brings winter back to Alberta. It's time to do something big at this time of the year.. Well, a winter ascent of Hawk Mountain is big too, but oh well, I mean, snowshoe mountaineering.
Friday:
Shunda Mountain near Nordegg for warm-up. Drive along Highway 11, turn right to RR 152A about 300m past Nordegg turnoff. Then keep left towards Shunda Hostel. In summer, turn right at the Y-junction then keep left all the way to the Gate. But for us, we had to park at the Y-junction due to the snow. Not to say driving the road, we had to break trail with snowshoe pretty much all the way from there... It's boring and tedious as the view only shows up when you topping out on the summit. There's no need to describe the route as you are following the road to the summit. Later in the afternoon, we drove to Bow Lake, slept in car at parking lot.
    
Saturday:
Crowfoot Mountain. The temperature dropped to -19 degrees at night... Definitely the coldest night I've ever experienced in the Rockies. (Not to mention the next night is even colder)...
Since we slept in car and we didn't have stove or any heater thing, the crux of the day is to get everything start in the morning, including eating frozen food, drinking water ice mixture, and wearing snowshoes. I gonna briefly describe the route now. From the parking lot (the proper one, not the one near highway) walk about 100m down to Bow Lake. The Lake might be even colder than the parking lot. I've warned you! The lake crossing takes about 20min if you walk fast. It's further than it looks. Then follow the obvious route towards a narrow canyon (the 1st canyon). Do NOT venture into the canyon, instead start gaining elevation on the left in the trees. Before a huge avalanche path, moving right a bit then start losing elevation down to valley bottom. Now, go straight will lead you towards Bow Glacier Falls, and you should turn left into another canyon (the second canyon). Vulture Peak dominates the skyline from here. Note this canyon is definitely avalanche prone and you should move fast. It takes you 30-40min to completely out of the canyon. Now, watch carefully on your left. Just about getting out of the trees and losing elevation, turn sharply left into more trees (uphill). If you turn left later, you gonna have to deal with steeper slope. 10-20min later, you will see the entire huge slope leading you to the Crowfoot - Little Crowfoot col. The view is very foreshortened so be prepared for a long slog.
The ascent is straightforward, but Crowfoot Mountain does fall into the category of mountaineering because higher up towards the col, you are venturing onto a small glacier. In this season, the snow pack is about 3m thick and the crevasses are well bridged. I wouldn't say you must rope up but you should at lease carry a rope and be prepared. If white-out condition or no more visible skiers' track, you should rope up. From the col, it's still a long way to go. We followed skier's track zig-zagging up the huge slope. The weather is getting bad now. Mt. Balfour never shows up for us. Once topping out on the summit ridge, take off your snowshoes or skis and walk on scree to the summit. On a clear day, the summit view would be fantastic, but due to the clouds, we could only see the very nearby peaks. We waited about 1 hour but there was no sign of improving and we decided to head down... Snowshoeing downhill is definitely much slower than skiing down, but I would say it takes very little energy. The weather improved significantly one hour later, and I took lots of photos on the way back to the parking lot. It's time to rest and get ready for the ascent of Wapta the next day.
   
1. Morning light crossing Bow Lake
2. Typical but foreshortened view of the huge slope
3. Looking back at Thompson
4. Me at the Crowfoot - Little Crowfoot Col
   
1. If you are in a whiteout, you gonna be careful here
2. The Wapta is disappearing into the clouds
3. At the summit ride, watch out for cornice
4. Looking down to Bow Lake
   
1. Almost at the summit, it's getting cold
2. Impressive east face & Summit cornice
3. Weather is improving as we were heading down...
4. St. Nicolas Peak & The Onion
   
1. Looking towards Mt. Jimmy Simpson on the way down
2. Me in the second canyon
3. Interesting cloud formation over a subpeak of Crowfoot
4. Crossing Bow Lake, looking towards Crowfoot Glacier. Summit is not visible from this angle.
Sunday:
The real game, snowshoeing all the way from parking lot to Bot Hut, to Wapta Icefield, to Mt. Gordon, then to St. Nicolas Peak. If my camera has more space, I could definitely check off Mt. Olive as well. But too bad I took near 500 photos already. The Snowshoeing in the Rockies's suggest time was too pessimistic. Considering my mom's age, we still made back in less than 12 hours. If my partner's fitness level is similar to mine, we could probably be back in 10 hours.
The temperature dropped to -21 degrees in the morning, and it was even harder to get everything start. However, the weather was way much better than the previous day. The approach to Bow Hut is the same as Crowfoot Mountain. When you get through the second canyon, go straight into the alpine bowl and turn right at the very end towards Bow Hut. According to Vern Dewit's trip report, Bow Hut is an energy sucker... So, we didn't venture into the Hut, instead continue straight towards the Wapta Icefield. The lower section of the glacier is heavily crevassed. However, among all the skiers (more than 20 skiers) I've seen during the day, no one roped up the icefield. At least you should carry the rope. Roping up or not is your own choice and I guess everyone has their own acceptable level of risk taking. You are responsible for your own safety here. The ascent is very straightforward. I even saw skiers taking a shortcut through Vulture Glacier (very heavily crevassed and has big crevasses) towards Balfour Hut... Work your way up the glacier below the north face of St. Nicolas Peak, then continue straight towards Mt. Gordon. It looks close but actually far away. It has 3203m elevation and St. Nick only has elevation of 2970m. You gonna be higher than all the Wapta mountains except for Balfour when you reach the summit. Too bad my mom was exhausted after topping out on the icefield, so I ended up soloing the rest of the route. Note that you should NEVER solo the glacier so don't make the same mistake as I did. The summit offers the best view that I've ever seen in the Rockies. The wintery condition makes the scenery even better than Mt. Temple's summit. Take a look at my photos and you gonna have an idea. Bring a map and try to identify as many peaks as you can! I didn't stay too long on the summit because I was also planing to do St. Nicolas Peak the same day. So I headed down soon and re-joined my mom at the base of St. Nicolas.
We followed three skiers towards St. Nicolas - Olive col. It's far shorter than the ascent of Gordon. At the col, St. Nicolas Peak looks to be a serious ascent. It's indeed serious. My mom couldn't handle any exposure, so I soloed the rest from the col. The terrain gets steeper and steeper as you moving towards the summit, and the final block looks scarier and scarier as well. I could manage to snowshoe all the way to the base of the crux. Most people would appreciate the protection of a rope for the crux. It's shear wall to your left and very steep snow slope to your right. There's absolutely no room for error. Ice axe and crampons are mandatory. If you want to do it without a rope just like I did, you gotta have some winter difficult scramble experience. The crux is more steep and as exposed as Mt. Lady MacDonald's summit ridge. And don't forget, you have to down climb it. After the crux, you are standing at the summit. Too bad my camera was running out of space (480 photos already for the day)... I had to delete photos that were taken in the morning. I didn't take a full panorama as the view is similar to the view from Gordon. Down-climb the crux is definitely more scary than coming up, but it didn't impose too much of a problem to me. Downhill snowshoeing from the col to Bow Hut is fast. We re-filled our water bottle in the Hut. The rest of the day back to parking lot was a slog.
I got blister on my feet.... Too BAD. I still have lots of energy though. But, due to the blister, I had to go back. So no ascent on Monday... We were planing on French - Haig - Robertson Traverse on Mounday though... Well, next time. Also, anyone interested in doing Castleguard Mountain on snowshoes?
Bow Lake -> Bow Hut -> Wapta Icefield:
    
Wapta Icefield -> Mt. Gordon:
    
Mt. Gordon Summit: Try to identify as many peaks as you can!!
    
1. Mt. Balfour & Diableret Glacier. Behind Balfour on the skyline you can merely spot Temple, Victoria, Hungabee
2. Looking down Little Yoho Valley. Mt. Stephen, Mt. Goodsir, Mt. Vaux
3. Vice President & The President
4. Mt. McArthur. In the background is the Columbia Mountains in BC
5. The high peak in the background is Mt. Sir Donald in Glacier National Park
    
1. On the left is Mt. des Poilus. Below it is Yoho Glacier. On the right skyline is Mt. Sir Sanford, the highest peak in Columbia Mountains
2. Mt. Collie in foreground. The Freshfields in background
3. Looking towards Ayesha Peak. In the background are the peaks in Freshfield Icefield
4. Baker, Habel, Rhondda. On left skyline you can spot Mt. Forbes, the 2nd highest peak in Banff N. Park after Assiniboine. On center skyline you can see Wilson
5. Howse Peak, White Pyramid, Mt Chephren on left. Peyto, Mistaya, Patterson at center. In the background is Mt. Murchison
     
1. Thompson, Portal Peak. Behind them is Mt. Weed. On right side is Mt. Jimmy Simpson and Observation Peak.
2. St. Nicolas Peak in foreground. To the back of it is Observation Subpeak. On the right side you can see Cirque Peak, with Recondite Mountain points out in the distance.
3. Back to Front: Mt. Willingdon, Dolomite Peak, Mt. Olive South
4. Mt. Olive North in foreground. On right skyline is Cataract Peak
5. A classic 11,000er, Mt. Hector, and Hector Lake
6. Balfour Glacier in foreground. In the background are the Skoki Mountains to Protection - Castle Mountain Group.
St. Nicolas Peak summit ridge:
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Edited by - StevenSong on 04/11/2012 4:44 PM
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972 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2012 : 2:58 PM
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looks like you got some decent weather.
you should try ski's,they are much better than snowshoes and a whole lot faster. |
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 Kootenay Bud
2695 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2012 : 3:54 PM
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Everything is relative, but I don't think anyone ropes up for Crowfoot. That glacier is about as benign as you can get, and, again, most people find an ice axe perfectly acceptable for climbing St Nicholas, crampons and ropes would be overkill.
Good work on all your trips. I'm impressed with your Mum going with you. |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
467 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 08:49 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by nmcan84
looks like you got some decent weather.
you should try ski's,they are much better than snowshoes and a whole lot faster.
The weather generally cooperate well in Easter weekend. Yep I have tried one ski trip with ACC, and I felt pretty good about it. The problem is that I have to rent ski pakage and it's freaking expansive. Buying is more expansive. I got some scholarship this year so I might consider buying skis. |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
467 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 08:54 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sandy
Everything is relative, but I don't think anyone ropes up for Crowfoot. That glacier is about as benign as you can get, and, again, most people find an ice axe perfectly acceptable for climbing St Nicholas, crampons and ropes would be overkill.
Good work on all your trips. I'm impressed with your Mum going with you.
I agree. Everyone has their own perspective of roping up or now, both for glaciers and for moderately technical climbing. It depends on how comfortable the group is.
It's hard to find partner to do these things on snowshoes so family members become perfect choice then. My parents accompanied almost half of my trips and they enjoy outdoor pretty well. They are just not the "peak baggers". But I am :) |
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972 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 09:13 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by StevenSong
quote:
Originally posted by nmcan84
looks like you got some decent weather.
you should try ski's,they are much better than snowshoes and a whole lot faster.
The weather generally cooperate well in Easter weekend. Yep I have tried one ski trip with ACC, and I felt pretty good about it. The problem is that I have to rent ski pakage and it's freaking expansive. Buying is more expansive. I got some scholarship this year so I might consider buying skis.
my first pair of backcountry equipment didnt cost very much. look around at gear rental shops and ask when they are selling off old rentals. i found mine that way and got skis,boots,bindings (could've got skins,but they didnt have enough left) for $285.
MEC's gear swap often has good deals too on used equipment. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
617 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 3:16 PM
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Wow! Good job on snowshoes! And yes - that hut is an energy sucker...  |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
467 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 4:55 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by nmcan84
my first pair of backcountry equipment didnt cost very much. look around at gear rental shops and ask when they are selling off old rentals. i found mine that way and got skis,boots,bindings (could've got skins,but they didnt have enough left) for $285.
MEC's gear swap often has good deals too on used equipment.
Wow that's soooo nice if I can get them in this price. I gonna go MEC soon to ask for details then. Thanks! |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
467 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 4:57 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by vern.dewit
Wow! Good job on snowshoes! And yes - that hut is an energy sucker...
Thanks Vern! I've read lots of your TRs on explor8ion. I'm totally impressed my your achievement!
I did Gordon while you did Castleguard the same day. Perfect weather! Very impressive views. I guess Gordon's summit you can see more peaks than Castleguard, because Columbia & Twins are blocking the view to north ;) |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
617 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2012 : 1:11 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by StevenSong
Thanks Vern! I've read lots of your TRs on explor8ion. I'm totally impressed my your achievement!
I did Gordon while you did Castleguard the same day. Perfect weather! Very impressive views. I guess Gordon's summit you can see more peaks than Castleguard, because Columbia & Twins are blocking the view to north ;)
No problem man. I still want to do Gordon in bluebird conditions since I got hosed on the view when I did it. It was -30 and blowing snow... |
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287 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2012 : 06:47 AM
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| Let me know, Steven, when you might try Castleguard. I am willing to give it a go on snowshoes. |
Edited by - jeffs78 on 04/13/2012 06:48 AM |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
467 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2012 : 10:11 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by jeffs78
Let me know, Steven, when you might try Castleguard. I am willing to give it a go on snowshoes.
Hi Jeff, have you received my emails? You still use your yahoo one? I have several finals caked in April so I might not that flexible in this month. But anyway, wait for next high pressure system. I would really want to go with experienced ppl. |
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287 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2012 : 11:31 AM
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^^^^
I haven't been getting your emails. I still use my yahoo address. It is possible that emails sent via clubtread go directly to my spam inbox and I rarely review those emails but rather delete my spam inbox altogether. In any case, good luck with your exams. I remember being a student, April is a tough month. I'll try and check my spam inbox more closely should your emails be sent there. Maybe try sending emails to my yahoo address directly if you havn't done so already. Cheers! |
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Shunda + Crowfoot + Gordon + St. Nicolas
