Click to hear me sing
Mt. Kitchener
Elevation:
Height Gain:
Location:
 11,410 ft (3480M)
1,860 feet (567M)
Columbia Icefields
Note for 11 May 04: Part of a week-long trip with Dan Ronsky and Jim Everard. SnowDome and Kitchener are peaks that could be done under GPS, so we saved it for a snowy day. Unfortunately, the entire week was snowy, so we went up them on our first day. Click here for a detailed trip report
  Date Ascent Time Descent Time
1st Time 11 May 04 2:30 from SnowDome 4:00 to high camp


This trip was part of a week-long trip, where we tried Columbia for my fifth time, but we bagged SnowDome and Kitchener instead.

So, we left SnowDome and slowly made our way to the SnowDome / Kitchener col. From there, we headed a bit north, then back to the NNE, eventually reaching the summit. Here we see Dan standing at the summit with Jim and I behind him. Dan is really into these self-portrait close-up images.



Despite the bad weather, we still needed sunscreen. I accidently left mine in camp, so I bunched up to Jim to borrow some of his. And to think... I was in Florida the week before.



Here's another shot of me putting on the sunscreen.



We returned to camp without incident, and we made dinner and went to bed. We hoped that the next day would be clear, but as it turned out, we woke up the next morning to even worse weather. So, we packed up and headed out. Soon after leaving camp, the sun came out. Go figure. Here we see Jim and myself slowly making our way down the headwall.



Here we are at the top of the headwall overlooking the Athabasca Glacier with Nigel Peak in the background. If you look closely, you can see the SnoCoach ice road. This ramp that we are about to go down is a nice run, but you really need to be roped up for it. I've had too many friends fall into weakly bridged crevasses in this area.



This is looking back up the ramp to the Columbia Icefields. Aren't those nice figure-8 turns? You've got to love skiing with a rope. I freakin' hate it!!!



Now, we're back in the ice parking lot, putting away the rope, taking a break etc. At this point, the clouds are closing back in and the storm is coming.



Everytime you stop in the ice parking lot, you get a bunch of tourists wanting to take your picture. This time, I thought it would be nice if I got to take their picture. Here is Dan with some Korean lady that asked Dan if he was married. That was funny.



A quick ski down the ice road, and a hard push up the moraine brings you to the paved SnoCoach lot. From there, you have to walk down the road back to the climbers lot to get to your truck. Here's my truck with gear scattered all over it.