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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Nov 11, 2014 - 09:34am PT
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Wilford "escape" N Face to NE ridge and thence to summit should be regarded as a legitimate route in its own right.
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Andy de klerk
Mountain climber
South Africa
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Nov 11, 2014 - 11:38am PT
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Cool thread thanks Avery and to all who have posted.
Alberta is really one of those "mythical" mountains, that you really have to do, kind of like the N face of the Eiger, or maybe the Bachar-Yurian in Touloumne. A mix of both perhaps, add in a bit of the south face of the Marmolada in the Dolomites and some of the N face of the Courtes in Cham, mix them all together and there you go. Add some hectic rockfall in there nowdays to bring it up to date and the roulette wheel favours the house.
I really liked climbing in the Canadian Rockies. I liked climbing there because everything is far from the road and all of it required a self sufficiency that is fast disappearing in this connected world. We had an epic on Edith Cavell that I remember far more clearly than our ascent of Alberta. I also liked following in the footsteps of Dave Cheesemond, a fellow South African, who is still sorely missed by many. (Just finished reading Barry's book. Great read, great letter to the Big Cheese) All I can say is that Julie and I had a lot of fun climbing in the Rockies, both in summer and winter. We might have been slow and steady, but we got there in the end and we enjoyed every minute of it.
I have only one regret and that is not climbing N Twin. Went there twice with different partners but the wall was badly out of condition both times. Such is life and these things happen, a strong sense of mortality superseded ambition. It was the wise and the happy choice.
Many Thanks
Andy de Klerk
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Andy de klerk
Mountain climber
South Africa
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Nov 11, 2014 - 11:46am PT
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Hey PA
My memory banks are toasted too
No worries man
Andy
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Nov 11, 2014 - 11:56am PT
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Great thread. Thanks to all.
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Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Aurora Colorado
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Nov 11, 2014 - 12:42pm PT
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^^ It's reminding me of the North Face of the Eiger. Looks harder.
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Nov 11, 2014 - 03:01pm PT
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Nice to hear from you, Andy.
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Nov 11, 2014 - 03:14pm PT
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Alberta, North Face: Dana Ruddy and Jay Mills
What makes Mount Alberta so impressive to me is how remote it is. It’s a full day from the road to the base of the North face and involves multiple glacier crossings and a rap to reach its base. There is a hut that sits at about 9500ft at the base of the East face of Alberta which offers climbers a warm night and dry spot in bad weather. As is common in the Rockies the long approaches often add to the challenge of the climb.
Alberta is also very hard to find in good condition. When I climbed it we were hoping for rock climbing conditions to allow fast travel. We found good conditions but not great, as the face had a thin layer of ice and snow which added to the challenge.
One thing many people don't know is that you can see the North Face of Alberta from Jasper town site. There is one spot on the very west end of town that on a perfectly clear day you can make out the pyramid shaped ice face that makes the NF of Alberta so indistinguishable. When I climbed the face we topped out on the rock climbing at about 1 am and took a short break. I will always remember looking to the north and feeling comforted by the lights of Jasper some 80 km away. Then we were up to the summit at about 4 am and made our way over the famous summit ridge in the light of the full moon as the sun rose over the Columbia ice fields. We got to watch the north face of the north twin slowly appear from the darkness as night turned to day. Good memories!
Dana Ruddy
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nah000
climber
canuckistan
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Nov 11, 2014 - 10:33pm PT
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Oplopanax:
fair point about wilford: i switched the word "escaped" to "traversed" in my post...
for those that haven't read it here's wilford's write-up about his two solo attempts on and a solo summit of alberta...
and to whet the appetite here's a small excerpt from the above, regarding his second attempt via the northeast ridge:
Over a period of a few hours I tensioned and free climbed my way up 200 overhanging feet - solid, but almost crackless, save for a few knifeblade placements. I fixed lines and scurried back to the hut. Smug in my tiny amount of success, I wrapped myself tightly in a shroud of ignorance and struggled for sleep.
I set out the next morning and quickly topped the fixed ropes. Above, I cruised an easy icefield and then hit the ridge crest. From there, the mountain began showing its soul. The facade of beauty and charm peeled away with each step. Actually, part of the mountain was physically peeled away with each step. The black tile gave away to putrid yellow shale - only gravity held the stacked dinner plates in their precarious position. I felt like a drunk stumbling through an antique store tightly packed with china and glass - while a neon sign flashes "You break it, you buy it."
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mikeyschaefer
climber
Sport-o-land
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Nov 12, 2014 - 08:21am PT
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Here's a pic after topping out on the NE ridge. Alberta definitely feels a bit out there!
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Nov 12, 2014 - 11:12am PT
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Trevor Jones was Jo Jo's partner on Alberta, the one that got knocked out for a second. Trevor also did an early ascent of the Shield with Piton Ron
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Nov 12, 2014 - 01:03pm PT
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Great pic, Mikey
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Nov 12, 2014 - 05:20pm PT
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The following is an excerpt from Andy De Klerk's 2007 book "Sharper Edges"
Thanks Andy
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chappy
Social climber
ventura
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Nov 13, 2014 - 10:15am PT
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What a great thread. George's ascents of Alberta and North Twin (along with Jock and Chris!)introduced me to the Canadian Rockies. Their ascents were very inspirational to me and led to my taking trips up there for three straight years 75,76 and 77. I even managed to get up a few things--most notably the ramp route on Kitchener in late Sept. of 77 with Ron Kauk. We thought of doing the Grand Central as it was in perfect form (if there is such a thing in the Rockies). The Ramp route was challenging enough at that time. Still have a few scars to remind me! I have so much respect for anyone who has climbed any of those big north face routes--especially the remote ones like N. Twin and Alberta.
Chappy
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Nov 13, 2014 - 02:00pm PT
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Great thread!!!@
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Nov 13, 2014 - 02:45pm PT
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Back to the Lowe Hat Trick, Alberta, North twin, and Gieke(sp??).
Has any one done a repeat of all three? Probably not, unless Barry did Gieke. Barry has done most of the big alpine stuff up here.
Alberta was one face that Dave Cheesmond didn't climb. I heard he went in there with Alex one time but the weather did not cooperate. Dave returned next year and retrieved the rack he had stashed the year before. The cams were seized up so he melted cheese for the oil then lubricated the cams. He was not called "The Big Cheese" for nothing!
So I think Jon Walsh and partner's new route was done in 18 hours hut to hut. Wow
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Nov 13, 2014 - 06:01pm PT
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Thanks AP: great Cheesmond story!
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nah000
climber
canuckistan
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Nov 13, 2014 - 06:37pm PT
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a couple of awesome [in the most literal definition of the word] headwall photos:
BJ: your last post made me hahaha... you can have the beachcombers, though... just don't take my danger bay!
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Nov 13, 2014 - 10:56pm PT
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Alberta, North Face: Jon Walsh and Chris Brazeau
Mt. Alberta North Face The climb: We soloed the shrund (which was easy), and simulclimbed to the traverse ledge where we unroped. After the bulk of the ice-field, we angled right and traversed below a rib of the yellow band and found short WI 3 steps through it, that led to the base of the headwall, and a obvious natural system of grooves and corners. Here we roped up and swapped leads to the summit. The headwall pitches are described as follows: Pitch 1 - 25m: up the left facing corner (shattered rock) and slightly right to a small stance before the next corner... M6 Pitch 2 - 45m: Up the corner (better rock) for about 15 meters. When the crack pinches shut and the wall overhangs, make a delicate finger traverse right with no pro for 6 meters to a ledge (possible belay here). Continue up a hand crack to a pedestal belay stance below and right of prominent yellow rock scar... 5.10+ Pitch 3 - 55m: Up left facing corner and move left past prominent yellow rock scar. Continue up left facing corner past the roof (crux) and up the crack above (sustained) to another small stance... 5.11b Pitch 4 - 50m: Up the groove above (minimal gear), and follow the mixed weakness left, then right, to a finger crack in a corner, through a roof and step right to a good stance. We belayed here off two good ice screws in a pool of ice that formed below a small overhang, and a piton... 5.10 R Pitch 5 - 40 m: Traverse left in an arc with difficult gear towards a ledge and a right facing corner. Belay before the corner. One piton fixed midway - only gear left on route... 5.10 + / 5.11- (we tried going straight up but backed off on 5.11 R terrain with friable rock) Pitch 6 - Up the corner, and contour left towards the exit ice field. Continue up ice until out of rope... 5.10- WI3 Three more 70 meter pitches up the very brittle upper icefield (maximum 60 %) and some simul climbing up the NE ridge gets you to the summit. The Rack (what we brought - it seemed to be perfect, at least for us): 5 screws; cams: 2 each from #.3 camelot to #1 camelot, one #2, one #3 camelot; 1 set of stoppers; 9 pitons (mainly knife-blades and lost arrows); one pair of rock shoes (critical!). Other details: It's hard to imagine having better conditions than what we had. The rock was just warm enough for bare hands, and there was virtually no natural rockfall. It was cold enough that ice and snice provided good purchase for both tools and crampons. All pitches were on-sighted on lead, and most have run-out sections, and some marginal gear. The second and third belays were also on the marginal side, but might have been better with an extra piton or two. Although our feet were on rock 90 to 95 percent of the time, I wore my crampons the entire way, and Chris put our only pair of rock shoes on for two of his three leads (although both of those leads required some climbing in boots as well). It was just mixed enough that crampons were an important asset on the headwall. Being avid mixed participants, we're used to climbing a lot of rock in our crampons, however, others might be better off in rock shoes under the same or drier conditions.
Jon Walsh (With his kind permission)
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Massive Vinny
climber
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Nov 14, 2014 - 05:59am PT
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Steve & I climbed it March 24-27, not in April & not (technically) in winter, though the temperatures (-10 F at the start) & snowy conditions (with avalanches on the descent) felt that way. The Aurora Borealis during the approach, the ridiculously good dry-tooling in a blizzard, the ancient, dragontail-like ice pitch in the dark and the second bivy (unplanned & our coldest ever): all moments forever etched in my memory. Climbing Mount Aberta's North Face ranks as one of the finest alpine climbing experience I've ever had.
The log book at the hut may as well be The Bible of North American Alpinism, if that is your religion. Not so much for the entries from who climbed Alverta, but from the numerous luminaries who did not: all untold stories & events, that had they succeeded, would've been well known.
Nice place!
Vince Anderson
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