This was an interesting exercise in alpinism. One, you get to find out that I'm a dogshit skier, haha! Myself, the climber, and two incredibly rad skiers/boarders, Emrik and Max, decided on a fast strike on Mt. Tupper's moderate West Ridge in Rogers Pass. The artificial limitation of a permit schedule necessitated a late start, 7:30ish am, and a must-finish time of midnight to avoid the risk of hefty fines. For speed we went light: one 8mm rope, 5 cams, some nuts, 4 pins, and 4 slings. We did our best to manage the avy hazard on the approach, despite multiple large naturals ripping on southerly slopes on the way up. Glad we viewed those from a distance. A beautiful 1400 meter approach got us to the West Ridge. The winter conditions turned the moderate ridge into an insecure snowy nightmare at times. Snow mushrooms, cornices, snow plastered over a meter wide that would collapse, causing you to fall, 1 leg on either side of a knife-edge of quartzite hidden underneath. The "regular" route was invisible, so anytime a route-finding question needed answering, we followed our nose. A few mixed pitches with ice choked cracks provided relief from the traversing. It was fun as hell. It was their first real alpine climb, and given the conditions, they absolutely crushed it. We rounded the corner, seeing the summit just a couple pitches away. It was right there! And we made the decision to go down. We were out of time (permit, remember?) and we would have to back-lead all of the traversing pitches. As we descended, the winds started howling, warning us the storm was close. The descent only took 1 hour less than the climb up, and right as we reached our skis by headlamp, the the snow started falling. I'm a dogshit skier, the terrain back down being enough for my level with fresh legs and good conditions. So in a pitch black whiteout storm, with tired legs, shitty unsupportive crusty snow, and rock hard avalanche debris from the day's sun, I was maxed out. Emrik and Max were supportive, and helped coach me down via a a mix of survival skiing, bootpacking, and one downclimb. We called parks on the way down letting them know we would be late, but that we were fine. Oh, and please don't FINE us haha. The hour drive back to Golden seemed longer, and after being awake for 22 hours, we collapsed asleep. The day was a beautiful exchange of skills: I sharing the climbing knowledge and coaching them through, and they doing the same for sliding down. I was sure as hell inspired by their expertise in their discipline, and hopefully they got something out of the climbing side... although I made sure to let them know to bring more gear for their own future climbs, haha!
Picking objectives is difficult right now. Yea we can keep cragging. Not what we came for. The weather is good. Gotta feed the demon. But things are still ripping. Fingers crossed 🤞 until then, we're having fun, training, and getting real fit.
Негізгі бет Failing to climb Mount Tupper in WINTER conditions: Alpine Climbing in the Canadian Rockies
Пікірлер: 4