Columbia Icefields & Snow Dome via the Saskatchewan Glacier
Location of the Saskatchewan Glacier
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| Upper Saskatchewan Glacier looking west. |
Ken Willis, Chuck McCafferty, and I set out at the beginning of Spring Break to ski up the Saskatchewan Glacier and see if we could ski up Snow Dome. We knew it wouldn't be technically difficult, but we knew it could get very cold. I had just bought some Asollo leather double boots, and I was to thank myself for my foresight. Ken borrowed some over gaiters from Chris Cooper for his single boots and later made a hasty retreat from Snow Dome due to numb toes. There's a lesson there I'm sure;-)
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| A cold and windy day! |
It was our first time into the icefields on skis and our first view up the Saskatchewan Glacier made me feel that we were entering big cold country. We found some abandoned igloos just before the glacier steepened up to go onto the icefield and we spent the night there. They were old and the snow forming their walls were thin and mostly ice so they didn't provide that much insulation. It was a rather uncomfortable night. The next morning helped to explain why. Going outside provided strong winds and temperatures of about -25 C and the sky was clear!
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| Chuck was feeling better than he looks here! |
We braved the elements after a hot breakfast, stuffed our warm water bottles into our down parkas, and headed off into the crunching snow, the overpowering sky, and the anticipation of things to come. By the time we reached the spot where the Saskatchewan climbs up onto the Columbia Icefields, the wind had died. I remember getting into my self absorbed rhythm and then being startled by this roaring sound and thinking MY GOD, AN AVALANCHE, BUT HOW COULD THERE BE AN AVALANCHE? The air was so still that the sound of an airliner flying overhead had made me think of the only thing that could explain such a loud sound.
As we approached the top of Snow Dome, I remember some blue ice we couldn't easily avoid. Thank goodness for steel edges!
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| Mt. Bryce |
The views were incredible. No Fraser Valley smog. Just crystal like air and mountains and faces I had seen only in magazines. Mt. Bryce and Mt. Columbia were especially memorable.
Ken's toes were losing their feeling so we started to head down just before I had reached the actual summit of Snow Dome. Either Ken or Chuck had left a little momento on the summit though, and it was shared by the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Ocean!
The ski back to our igloos was very casual and the clouds the next morning told us our plans for Stuttfield would have to wait for another trip
Forbidden Peak - Washington Cascades
Location of Forbidden Peak
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| The view from our biviouac. |
The west ridge of Forbidden Peak is one of the "50 Classic Climbs of North America" according to Roper and Steck. It is a low fifth class climb on good rock and has a reasonably enjoyable approach. Chuck McCafferty, Alan Lizee, and I thought it would be a good weekend climb.
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| Chuck is not normally that shy. |
We drove down through Marblemount on highway 20 and drove up the long forestry access road to the trailhead. We pitched our tent on some gravel near the base of the glacier and enjoyed the view.
We woke up during the night to the sound of grazing deer! They were quite a few of them quietly nibbling on the moss and lichen covering the bare rock exposed by the the summer sun. It was quite a weird moonlit sight.
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| The top of the approach gulley. |
The next morning we got up and cramponed up the glacier to the base of the approach gully. The gully started out with a moat and then some very nice styrofoam like snow and about 40 degrees leading up to the ridge crest.
It was just steep enough and the top was just awkward enough to warrant a rope and a belay.
The ridge crest brought the welcomed morning sun and the end on view of the west ridge we had come to climb. It looked great. Lots of exposure down both the north and south faces, but good rock and plenty of holds.
We started roped pitches and were eager to find out what the ridge was to bring. The descent was going to be the east face and we hadn't seen it yet. Judging from the guide book, it should be straight forward.
Little did we know ...............
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| Keith au cheval. |
We climbed along the ridge, occasionally having to go onto the north face, or climb over or around small pinnacles. The view was good and the climbing very enjoyable.
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| Chuck doing another lead. |
The climbing provided for good holds and lots of opportunities to put in protection and the wind whistling through the gaps in the ridge made me feel that I was really in the mountains and not on some rock climb near sea level.
The unusual look of the photo was due to te camera looking almost into the sun and I did some photoshop work to allow more detail to show.
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| Getting close to the top. |
After a break on the summit, we started our descent by rappelling off the summit and down the east face. The idea was to use the ledges there to traverse south along the east face and then go over the south east ridge and back into Boston Basin.
In the picture, Chuck is leading on the north side of the west ridge not too far from the top.
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| Looking down the east face. |
To traverse to the south, we had to cross minor ribs of loose rock. On one particular rib, I went across first, followed by Alan. At this point we weren't roped up because it was easy class 3 scrambling. I had to ease across the large blocks as they didn't look overly stable. Alan followed behind. I stopped just beyond the rib to wait for Alan and Chuck. Alan cam into sight, and then we heard this tremendous clatter and roar of rocks of various sizes cascading their way to the glacier far below. I knew that Chuck was in that area crossing the rib and I this awful feeling that I meet see him amidst the rocks hurtling their way to the snow below. Fortunately, when he had loosened the rocks he was able to get to some stable ones and save himself. That was a close call. It was one of the only close calls in our climbing adventures.
When he came over to where we were, he explained what had happened. It shook us all. The rest of the traverse went smoothly, but I was concerned about the steepness of the slopes to the south that we were getting closer to as they were steep and thought the "easy scrambling" that we were on could easily change to class 5 climbing. Before too long, Alan scrambled up to the ridge and signalled that it was a "piece of cake" on the other side. We had finished the traverse none too soon.
Liberty Bell
Location of Liberty Bell
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| If you aren't having fun, you are doing something wrong. |
We drove down in Chris's near new Volvo and he demonstrated its road holding qualities as I remember. ;-)
We climbed the Becky route on the peak and had a good time, in spite of the fact that the lower part of the climb seemed harder than the guide book had suggested.
What exactly Chuck is doing in the picture and exactly why Chris is wearing what looks like a child's pair of underpants is beyond me. ;-)
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