22 May 99 - Mt. Columbia is a trip that isn't technically difficult, but it's very long. I do
think it could be done in 24 hours, but you need to leave around 2200 or so. Nonetheless, we tried.
A couple of guys found my website, and then asked me if I wanted to join them on Mt. Columbia. I agreed
thinking it would be cool to climb Alberta's highest peak in less than 24 hours. Adam, Les and
myself left Calgary Friday afternoon and headed toward the icefields. The plan was to stay at
Hilda Creek Hostel, get to bed around 2000, get up at 0030, and be on the toe of the Athabasca Glacier,
roped up and ready to go by 0200. We would ski up the glacier, over the icefall, and across the icefield.
Well, as it turned out, Hilda Creek Hostel was full, so we had to stay at Beauty Creek Hostel (17
km north of the icefields information center). The hostel consisted of two large rooms, each
holding about 20 people. We ate a quick dinner, drank tons of water to hydrate our bodies, and
then we went to bed at 2100. Unfortunately, the other 17 people talked all night, and slept with
the heater on all night long. None of us slept but more than an hour, and we were already dehydrated
from the heat. Nonetheless, we got up at 0030, and made it down to the Icefields Information Centre by
0200. Unfortunately, the road down to the toe of the glacier was closed, so we had to walk, carrying our
skis. By the time we got roped up and ready to go, it was 0330.
We came across a couple of other parties climbing other mountains. One party was doing the twins, and I'm not
sure what the other party was up to. We skied up the Athabasca Glacier making great progress. We quickly
went under the serracs of Snow Dome, and up through the icefall onto the glacier. By 0500, we had cleared the
icefall, and the sun came up, leaving a beautiful picture with Nigel Peak in the background.
After you get though the icefall, the glacier is a 10-15 degree slope for about two more hours. As the sun continued
to come up, we could look back at the Athabasca Glacier to see where we had been.
For the most part, the icefall was on our left going up. Here is a picture of some of it.
As we continued our trek up the gentle slope of the glacier, we see Les here taking a break.
As we start to crest the hill up onto the Columbia Icefield, we could see Mt. Columbia on the horizon. The guy in the
picture is Adam.
Still continuing up the everlasting slope of the Columbia Icefield, you could see Mt. Bryce off to the left.
And off to the right, you could see the Twins.
We reached the trench by 1030, and we stopped for a good rest break. By this time, the sun had been out and the temperatures
were already in the low 20s. There were quite a few tents set up next to the trench were people had come in the night before.
These people started their ascents about four hours earlier than us. In talking to some other parties, it's seven hours round
trip from the trench. This is bad news because of the conditions. Nearly every mountian was having avalanches, including Mt.
Columbia. Mt. Bryce had a large avalanche, and Mt. Columbia was experiencing avalanches on the east slope (the ascent route).
As the snow continued to soften, and the avalanches were becoming more frequent (about one every 10 minutes), I decided to hold
back. Here is Mt. Columbia from the trench. It looks pretty easy, but it was just too late in the day to start an ascent.
With me holding back, Les and Adam continued. Here is the path across the trench.
While Les and Adam continued, I decided to build things in the snow. Strangly enough, I didn't build a snowman, which in hidesight,
I probably should have done. After a few hours, many parties were returning to their tents, saying that avalanche conditions
were too high, and they turned around. Of the 18 people that tried to summit, only four made it, and they left the trench at 0400.
By the time Les and Adam returned, we were all very tired. Nonetheless, we decided that instead of biviing overnight, we would just
go back to the car and chalk this ascent up as a failure. By mid afternoon, we left the trench and started our return across the
slushy slopes of the Columbia Icefield. We made it back to the car by 2230, and we were very tired and cranky. I'd love to go back
to this mountain, but next time, I would like to take a tent, sleep over night, summit, then return to the tent, sleep over night and
go back to the car on day three. Now, that would be a nice long weekend.
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