By Will Meinen
Last year I had attempted the East Ridge of Mt. Edith Cavell only to get shut down hard. Too much beer the night before, a late start the next morning, and a forgotten topo amongst other things were responsible for the imminent failure.
After being influenced by Rockies legend Urs Kallen, my alpine hit list was pretty big for this summer. Unfortunately it was one of the wettest summers in years. It wasn't until the end of August that things started to dry up and objectives all started to shape up.
On Aug 18th, I went back to Jasper with another year of experience under my belt, and managed to pull of a route up the North Face East Summit (IV 5.8) Mt. Edith Cavell (3363m) with Fred McGuinness. It was a pretty bad-ass line to say the least. It had everything from calving glaciers, and unrelenting rock-fall, to an open bivy under a starlit sky. The route began on beautiful bulletproof rock which eventually turned to teetering jenga-towers and finished with calf pumping alpine ice and a cornice to negotiate right before the summit. To top it all off there was even some grizzle bear action on the hike out. One of the best adventures I've had in a while.
After that, Fred headed to South America for some skiing so I roped up with long time partner Brandon Pullan, and completed the first ascent of Tah Osa Ridge (II 5.8) on Mt. Kidd (2950m). The climbing was not too sustained, but just tricky enough to keep things spicy, and the views from the top were great.
When September rolled around I figured it was time to put the slippers away and get ready for skiing, but a week long window of beautiful weather rolled through and provided Brandon and I with the chance to climb the Greenwood/Jones (V, 5.9) on the north face of Mt. Temple (3540m). A 40 hour push took us car to car with a short bivy at 2900m. Urs Kallen told me in the spring that 'any monkey can climb up granite splitters, but it takes a real climber to survive in the Rockies.' He wasn't kidding. Some of the rock that had to be climbed was the loosest, scariest stuff I've ever seen. With no protection it can become a real mindf*ck. Brandon fearlessly charged through it, and when we made it to the snowfield at the top of the rib we both let out a sigh of relief. The final push on the East Ridge was spectacular and the descent back to the car was long but straight-forward. The following day, as Brandon and I chugged coffee and stuffed bacon and eggs into our pie-holes, it felt as though we had been given a new life and a new set of eyes to perceive this new found life with. It was pretty sublime.
Anyways, the temps are starting to drop again and old man winter will soon fall over the alpine. Time to get ready for backcountry skiing and alpine ice!
Cheers,
Will
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Comments (6)
why did it take 40 hours isn't that usually done in 16-20hours?
Posted by andrew langsford | January 10, 2009 11:20 AM
Posted on January 10, 2009 11:20
Oh Snap! Sounds like we have a critic amongst us! haha
We weren't really racing up the route because we knew we had a solid weather window and wanted to enjoy ourselves and test out some new gear during the bivy. As stated in the report, we climbed it late Sept (outside of the optimal time frame). Even though the weather was good, we still had to deal with quite a bit of snow up high on the route, and we had shorter days and a 10 hour long bivy while waiting out the night. Also the descent from the mountain puts you a good distance away from the trail used for the approach. If we had planned better, a two car setup would have saved a lot of time and hiking down moraine lake road in the middle of the night.
Anyways, if you are thinking of doing the route, I highly recommend it. If you can do it in 16-20 hours, I'll even buy you a case of beer.
Godspeed!
Posted by Will Meinen | January 12, 2009 12:50 PM
Posted on January 12, 2009 12:50
Looks like you may owe a lot of beer to a lot of people.
Posted by steve holeczi | January 17, 2009 9:35 PM
Posted on January 17, 2009 21:35
You name the place, I'll bring the case! I'd drink beer with you anytime Steve!
Posted by Will Meinen | January 21, 2009 8:46 AM
Posted on January 21, 2009 08:46
It's seems that I have offended the Bow Valley hardcores because I'm not core enough. Apparently some dude soloed the Greenwood/Jones in like 2 hours. Very impressive feat.
Regardless, this is just a blog. I write about all sorts of stuff including sailing, gardening, resort skiing, etc. At no point have I ever implied that I'm the best climber ever, or that my climbing accomplishments should be held up on a golden alter above everyone else. I'm just out there having fun.
I use my blogging to share memorable experiences with friends and family. It's a good way for my Mom to know what I'm up to. If I blog about how I spent a week pulling myself a cool route that's been soloed in 2 hours, please don't crucify me because I wasn't as fast. Like I said, I'm just out there having fun.
And the prior offer still stands; for anyone that has climbed the Greenwood/Jones, regardless of the amount time it took them, look me up cause I'll gladly buy some rounds and relive the memories of a stellar route with you.
cheers,
Will
Posted by will meinen | March 5, 2009 7:32 AM
Posted on March 5, 2009 07:32
A Family Blog..?..
Oh I thought this was Mountain Hardwears site.
Oh well.
Keep cheating death!
Posted by Jon | March 19, 2009 10:20 AM
Posted on March 19, 2009 10:20