Sayonara, Canada: Ueli & Simon Pioneer Another Line (Hardwear Sessions)

By Ueli Steck

November 9, 2007:

The Canada trip comes to an end. We had a perfect finish yesterday. Howse Peak didn't work out, but that's the game. In the end the Weather and the conditions decide a lot. So the last three days we worked on a new line at the Crowfoot Glacier. This line, we watched the whole trip. And we knew that the ice was growing! Thursday we hiked up the first time, after we went to the parking lot at Howse Peak in heavy snowfall! We climbed the first two pitches to the big overhang. I started the big pitch, but we didn't have a powerdrill. (Of course we had the rack for Howse Peak...) I ended up giving up very fast. The first part of the pitch has little features and no way for natural protection... Wednesday we were up again. With the right equipment--the equipment we had from Will's impressive garage. Or, it's probably better to call it a retail store...

We finished in the dark, the pitch took us the whole day to put up, so we were pretty happy. But we had only one day left and the climbing is hard.

Yesterday it was time to finish the route and the Canada trip! The first two pitches we climbed very fast. We knew we need the time on the big Pitch.

Simon went first for the big pitch. He was climbing forever. But he didn't fall! It took him exactly 2 h to climb the 45 meter long pitch.

This Pitch is very very steep, it hangs over 20 meters...

He rapped down and it was my turn to climb the pitch. I was quite cold, after two hours of belaying, but I felt strong. Then on the upper part on the pitch, I was hanging on the icicle exactly on the same hooks like Simon before. Then the icicle broke. I was not really happy about that.

I climbed up, rappelled and rested for 15 minutes. Then I also freed the Pitch. We finished the Pitch around 4.00 pm. We had one hour more of daylight and one more pitch to go. The last pitch is a really nice freestanding pillar. We finished in the dark on the last pitch. Perfect Timing. A perfect end for a great trip.