BURSTThe ice climbing season has begun, sort of, in the Canadian Rockies, as some ice has started to form on famous routes and a new line was climbed on Vulture Peak near Bow Hut.
Sebastian Taborszky reported that he and Juan Alberto Henriquez have made the first ascent of The Early Worm Gets the Bird, a 75-metre two-pitch WI4 (first post below). He noted the first anchor was on “trad gear to keep the belayer away from the climbing line, rest on screws.” Taborszky, who runs Arise Mountain Guiding, noted “in general, the high elevation ice has deteriorated, and new smears have formed at lower elevations.”
Taborszky and Henriquez also made the first ascent of Tierra Mapuche, a 28-metre M8 trad route in Storm Creek, about 50 metres right of Rectal Squirrels (second post below). It takes an overhanging crack and requires a double rack to #3 (Totems and Camalots). As Taborszky noted about the conditions, “Sadly there is no ice anywhere in Storm or Stanley, much too warm.”
Daytime highs remain well above freezing throughout the valleys of the Rockies for the foreseeable future. Last year, several ice routes were fat enough to climb by the third week in October, including Difficile Monster WI3 in Storm Creek – read about it here. If you’re looking for a Rockies ice guide, be sure to reach out to Taborszky here.
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