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Date |
Ascent Time |
Descent Time |
| 1st Time |
09 Apr 05 |
6:45 from car |
2:30 to car |
Here we are at the toe of the glacier. Mt. Andromeda is on the left in the background. Basically, we're going
to head up the Athabasca Glacier, up the headwall, then circle around to the backside of Mt. Andromeda and ascend
the SW Ridge. Other than typical glacier travel, it's a non-technical route.
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This is Blair getting closer to the headwall. This is where we start to go under the SnowDome seracs.
The closer you are to the seracs, the further you are from the crevasses. Talk about being caught between
a rock and a hard place. The headwall basically has three tiers. The lower two are cleared by going on
the far right. The upper tier provides a ramp up the middle.
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This is Mt. Andromeda as seen from the base of the upper tier. Our route is going to make a wide, sweeping
arch that will eventually arch back to the col between Andromeda and the bump on the right. If you cut the
route too tight to the headwall, you run the risk of travelling parallel to some big crevasses.
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We took our first break below the upper tier of the headwall. This is me not wanting to look at the ramp up
the top tier. It's a real slog. While this ramp usually provides great skiing, there are a lot of crevasses
here, and every year, it gets worse. Stay roped up.
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This is grandpa Blair still at that first break before the big slog up the headwall. Behind Blair is an old tent
site that someone dug out. It's very rare to camp below the headwall.
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As we continued heading up the headwall, we were starting to get better views of our eventual path to the Andromeda
Col. Our route will eventually traverse left up and across the slopes to reach the col.
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While we tried to make our second break at the col, we fell short and took the break on the side of the bump,
about 30 minutes short of the col. In the picture, you see me with Mt. Columbia in the background.
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Okay... Break time is over. We put on the packs and headed to the col. Blair up front as always
and Dan in the middle.
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With the col coming into view, we're now able to see the SW ridge. Basically, we're going to proceed up the
obvious ramp to where the classic Skyladder route joins our route. Then, we will follow broad slopes to the right
in order to reach the SW Summit.
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Here we are at the col. I'm on the left, Blair on the right. We decided to leave the skis at the col because
other trip reports recommended it, and the 11,000er Guide Book recommended it. In hindsight, we should have
carried the skis up the slope to the point that it intersects the Skyladder route. From there, skis would have
been helpful.
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This is Blair heading up out of the col. The Skyladder intersection is just above him. This area is where
we could have put the skis back on to go right, toward the SW summit.
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Looking back, we see me coming out of of the col.
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A little further along now, you can see that I'm starting to head toward the SW Summit. In this area,
skis would have been a little bit faster, especially on the way back down.
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Here I am standing at the SW Summit. This is the false summit. While the map shows the two summits to be equal,
the NE Summit appears to be a few feet higher.
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Now we see Blair heading toward the true NE Summit. I think you should leave your skis at the SW summit.
The connecting ridge is rather corniced and narrow. We also got a fracture line for the slope on the right.
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This is Blair approaching the true summit. As you can see, the ridge is narrow, steep and corniced.
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The benefit for Blair leading the rope, is that he is the first to reach the summit. Here he is with
Mt. Athabasca on the right. Athabasca's scree cone is the top of the Silverhorn route.
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This is all of us at the summit. Dan in orange, Blair in yellow, and me in blue.
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Looking across Andromeda's North Bowl, Skyladder would be up the right skyline ridge, but on the back
side of that ridge. That's Mt. Columbia, King Edward, and Snow Dome in the background.
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After our summit photos, we headed back down. This is us heading back to the col, where we can pick up our
skis. In the bottom right corner, you can see Blair.
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A little bit away from the col, we took the skins off, tightened up the boots, and got ready for an
awesome ski run back to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier. This is Dan in the middle, with me in the back.
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