For more sick photos, visit Chump's Stash

We marched in and had good weather the second day to go for Mt Columbia, the highest peak in Alberta and the second highest in the Rocky Mountains (3747 m, 12293 ft). The only cloud anywhere sat on the face we wanted to ski for over an hour. Finally, we had to ski the East Face in poor visibility made even trickier by a wind slab that released 2 small slides on us, which grew to Class 2 avalanches as they flushed the face. I guess Columbia repels a lot of parties with bad weather, so we should probably just consider ourselves lucky to even get up and down it on our first try.

The next day was whiteout again, so we retreated by GPS down the glacier. After a sleep in the valley, the Icefield was still covered in cloud but Mt Andromeda (3450m, 11,319ft) was sheltered enough to see, so we scratched our way up the North Face. It was a great little adventure: a few tricky spots on the climb, a summit, and then good snow for the ski down with rock and ice all around you.

Marty is basically just legs and lungs, so I usually let him race ahead to kick steps at light speed and help out at the technical spots. This arrangement had us moving fast and we were done by 10:30, so, we decided to bang off Skyladder, as well. The top half is showing a lot of ice this year, but the bottom half was great snow. I've wanted to ski this line ever since I read about Doug Ward doing it years ago and once we started up, I wasn't going to let us stop for a little ice. “No Marty, this isn't 'high enough’!”

When the weather broke that night, we packed up our bags and headed back up the glacier towards the North Twin, the Rockies 3rd highest (3730m, 12,237ft). After a 20km slog we pitched camp and climbed the peak's southeast face for a mellow late day shred.

While not as tall as its northern sister, South Twin (3580m, 11,745ft) is the more impressive mountain. I had spent most of the trip pretending it wasn't there, only sneaking quick glances at it that made my throat dry. Skies were still clear when we woke and before we were even fully away we were heading for it. No need for coffee this morning.

Climbing the East Face went well enough (considering neither of us are real alpine climbers) until we reached exposed ice on the top 100 metres. Our lightweight crampons and ice axes weren't cutting it so we were forced into a sketchy down-climb/traverse to a serac exit. Call me a wimp, but down-climbing a 50-plus degree slope with skis on your back is not comfortable in any way.

Once on the ridge, we went for a fun summit walk then Marty headed down the N Ridge while I slipped back onto the East Face. The top is steep and the first half of the line is above the lower cliff band, so I tried not to fall. The middle of the face eases off to what felt like 45 degrees then you trend skiers' right until you have a clean line to the bergschrunds below. It reminded me a lot of the NE Face of Victoria except that it cliffs out below you for most of it. I have to admit it wasn't great snow and would be a lot more enjoyable in different conditions, but it was a sweet line and it felt great to get it done.

So our adventure ended with 5 solid lines and 4 11,000 foot peaks in 5 days. We felt pretty lucky (and tired) considering the weather up high on the Icefields rarely lets you get this much done on a trip. It feels like summer down in the valley now and I’m ready for it.

Enjoy the off-season!
Kevin Hjertaas

For more sick photos, visit Chump's Stash