Canada and most of the Western States
8/13-9/5
Author:
Gary Clark
Participants:
Gary Clark, Lynn Clark, and Mark Zander
We went, we saw, we were conquered.
We had a disappointing trip, at least the Canada part. We arrived to good
conditions and weather, so went straight to the Bugaboos and got on the
Beckey-Chouinard route on S. Howser Tower. We
reached the half-way bivvy in one day from the hut (6:00 am depart, roped up
at 1:00 pm), so we were climbing pretty well. Then all hell broke loose -
big storm started at 4:00 am, which lasted through the epic descent. On the
way down, we were all very cold and wet, and lost our two climbing ropes
and a bunch of other gear (details beyond the scope of this report). Did
the last 6 rappells using a single BADLY worn 7mm haul line.
Went North to look at N. Face of Edith Cavell, which was out of condition
(what else is new?). Went South to the icefields, climbed N. Face of Mt.
Athabasca (excellent, fun). Drove back North to Jasper, started up Edith
Cavell, but turned back when the upper face began avalanching. Next day we
got ready for the E Ridge, but it rained and snowed through the night, so
we turned off the alarm and slept in. Drove back down to the Bugaboos, but
didn't even make the approach, since it was raining there, too. Got
discouraged and headed for home.
In an effort to make something more out of this 4,200 mile road trip, Lynn
& I bagged the highest peaks in Idaho, Utah, and Colorado on the way back
to NM. Mark had flown home from Canada earlier.
Climbing sucks. Anyone have some good used golf clubs they'd sell cheap?
