How It’s Not Done

Andriy Kolos
Embellishment Editor: Danylo Darewych

Preface

In August 2005, Danylo and I were able to align schedules and climb again in the Rockies. Like previous trips, we had big eyes – planning on climbing all the big gems, back-to-back, resting during the ride between trailheads… It appears that we didn’t learn from our previous Summer Rockies Tour, a three week trip in which all we managed to climb was Assiniboine’s NR in wind/snow to some bump, that might have been the summit. It’s not that we didn’t try and climb everything, it’s the fact that the Rockies are BIGGER and more COMMITTING than the roadside routes of the east. Not to mention: the weather was stormy; the routes best done dry, were snowy; the routes best done when snow/ice-covered, were rocky; and we were tired, hungry, worn-out and driving a beater van that kept us returning to the mechanic. (All those “visits” to Edmonton didn’t help either)

In the carAugust 2005

We learned that:

1. You don’t climb Gooseberry on Tunnel Mtn by starting two hours before sunset on what you think might be the first pitch. In addition, the mosquitoes in Banff this summer were horrendous which didn’t help us climb quicker, like one might think.
2. You don’t climb Mt Louis by eschewing maps. We figured we could just follow the signs. Unfortunately, they were mislabeled and led us down to Forty-Mile Creek.
3. You don’t climb the ER of Temple by climbing up the Tower of Babel for a better perspective of the approach. As I was pulling up slack on the second last pitch, the rope looped around a block and dislodged it on Deanna, our close friend from south of the border. She had to endure a broken middle toe and torn tights for the rest of the trip – a result of an endless butt-slide down the descent.

Too much snow

4. You don’t climb the ER of Edith Cavell by on-sighting a variant start, in the dark, by accident, only to end up on a ridge that few have attempted that summer due to loads of snow. Along with Blair, who replaced Deanna for this climb, we had plenty of opportunity to practice setting up raps off manky blocks and pins. Funny, how one of the few pieces we left behind was gimpy-toed-girl (GTG) Deanna’s cordellete, though I had promised her it wouldn’t be the first thing we would leave behind. It was. Next time, instead of taking a day off resting in the hut, be on the climb and have a say in what gets used for rap anchors!
5. You don’t climb the Silverhorn route on Athabasca by climbing without a map (“It’s roadside alpine, we can’t get lost!”) and compass in a developing snow shower and low clouds. The batteries on Tiago’s GPS (which had waypoints from a previous attempt) weren’t fresh… Our two teams (Tiago and Danylo on one rope, Deanna and myself on the other) were separated right from the start due to impatience… GTG Deanna kept up our pace forcing me to go higher and faster than I wanted… Fortunately, our two groups managed to find one another before the North Face cut-off… Stumbled around, unknowingly climbing the ramp of the normal route to the AA col… (Danylo: “I knew all along that we were going up the ramp, but Andriy and Deanna didn’t hear my shouts to turn around and climb the Silverhorn Route, so we followed them.”) I’m not sure how I convinced the others that the Silverhorn was the summit of Athabaska… (Danylo: “It was the howling wind and blinding snow pellets.”)
6. You don’t climb the Meisner Ridge on CR2 by getting a late start. GTG, Danylo and I wore ourselves out just reaching the ridge. We did the awkward bit that Cyril showed us during his slideshow at the AGM, but that still left a major chunk of the ridge ahead of us. We bailed at the last point possible and descended with a series of raps. After our rope encountered a dislodged block, we continued downwards with a knotted rap line. Even the bushwack was longer than we anticipated.

More snow

7. You don’t climb Mt Alberta by not even trying it. Ditto goes for Cromwell, Bryce, Diadem and Columbia.
8. You don’t climb the Beckey-Chuinard route on South Howser by getting intimidated by 22 pitches of “moderate” climbing. We tried to kid ourselves that we ran out of time, but it’s a fairly committing route. Instead, we found some excellent climbing on Snowpatch, Crescent and Pigeon Spires to which we’d be happy to return to.
9. You don’t climb Assiniboine by not even getting past the approach headwall. However, that was probably a good thing considering the poor conditions that were present all summer long and led to an accident on the NR a few days later.

Prologue

This summer was another great learning experience. Both our bodies and gear were used and abused. Although we didn’t climb as much or as hard as we wanted, we gained a lot from our adventures. We’ll leave you with these final notes:

• The Bugaboos are a stellar alpine venue; be prepared to hike up with a huge load.
• Consider going LIGHT for short blasts, when the weather is good, rather than a weeklong assault.
• Why wait out poor weather? - The Rockies are great because conditions are always good for something, somewhere. For example, Roger’s Pass (McDonald, Tupper, Donald, Eagle, Uto, Moby Dick) is not far away if another venue (west of the Rockies) is required.