Living in the Canadian Rockies is an ice climber’s dream. When I moved here 10 years ago, I had no interest in ice climbing. A rock climber at heart I soon realized that we were limited to a 4 month on and off rock season. The upside of this realization is that now, as an ice climber, we have an almost 8 month ice climbing season! It took a while to embrace the nature of the sport, learn how to endure the cold, and face the fears of this unknown medium. The places it brings you, the idea of climbing something that is not there in the summer, and the adventures getting to these frozen sculptures that lead you to places you would never otherwise go, become addictive and extremely rewarding. It can feel like an endless adventure here in the Rockies chasing climbs in a guidebook that hosts close to 800 different established lines! With that type of known and predictable potential, it can often be hard to find the motivation, and mostly the opportunity, to seek an unclimbed frozen waterfall. This was just my luck last year when my good friend and guiding cohort, Jen Olson asked me to join her to attempt a new route she spotted while working a ski touring trip in the Lake O’Hara region.
The route from what Jen could tell would involve: a drive of 1 hour, a ski in of approx 15 km’s, mostly on benign terrain
Gurrrl's Day Off WI5. Photo copyright Sarah Hueniken
with the last km in an area of potential avalanche risk, an unknown amount of ice pitches (2-4 under more avalanche and serac threatened slopes), at an unknown grade (3 -6), followed by another 15 km ski out and a one hour drive home.
Our highly motivated new route-confident egos easily onsighted the 1hr coffee fueled drive. Arriving in the parking lot and anticipating our next step (the 15km ski in) was when the inevitable uncertainty of conditions, hazards and complete laziness set in. As we discussed these very serious potential dangers, it became a fine line between the reality of the approach and climb and our comfortable pillows back home. At 4 in the morning, all the giddiness, drive and anticipation from discussing the climb the night before quickly was counteracted by thoughts of fear, failure and fatigue.
That moment of uncertainty is when it is so important to have a good friend as your climbing partner. Jen is both a good friend and the type of climber one can acknowledge both sides of this decision with and then also accept that either one can pull the plug on the climb at any time. This is a crucial element that helps in fighting that strong pull of the pillow back home. With this understanding, we ventured out of the warmth of the car into the dark morning to see what we could find.
Leaving in the dark, one is never sure what type of weather to expect. We were blessed however with partly clear skies and temperatures around -10 Celcius. The ski in on the road to the O’ Hara lodge was long and uneventful, until Bruce Miller showed up at km 9 with his snowmobile. We opted to take the towed lift for the next 3 kilometers on the road, which proved to be almost more painful then the ski would have been. Holding on to the tow lines with heavy packs and wobbly skis we were blasted by the cold winds and soon felt like wind up toys getting pulled one moment and then accelerating at uncontrollable speeds the next. Thankfully this only lasted 10 minutes and probably saved us about a half hour. We thanked Bruce and headed into the woods towards Mount Odaray where Jen had spotted the line. A few more kilometers of skinning led us to our first view of the climb. After the 2.5 hr approach, this was my first time seeing the potential that Jen had promised me. She did not disappoint. The climb looked reasonable, fat and with numerous line choices.
Sarah battling spindrift on the first pitch. Photo copyright Sarah Hueniken.
We paused well before the base of the climb to evaluate all the potential hazards. The reality was, to access the route we would have to ski across an avalanche slope. Then, to climb the route we would be under an avalanche and serac threatened slope. Since Jen had worked in the area only days earlier, she had a good feel for the snow pack and felt that our approach was reasonable. We both also agreed that the serac and slopes above the route looked fairly benign and showed no evidence of activity. With this assessment I tepidly followed Jen on the ski traverse to the base of the climb. Skiing is not my forte and any size of release under my skis would probably send me cart wheeling, so I took this approach VERY seriously!
At the base of the climb we found ourselves above a large broad snow slope and below Odaray peak with views across the valley of Victoria, Wiwaxy and some of the other classic peaks of the Lake Louise/O’ Hara group. The climb was wide enough to offer numerous new lines, and Jen and I spent some time discussing which line would suit us the best. We wanted a line that was protectable, but also challenging. The wind and snow started to pick up and the temps dropped further as I racked up for my lead.
The climb itself presented a bunch of challenges and excitement. As luck would have it, each of us was rewarded by long 60 meter pitch leads on varying ice. For me, the challenge of ice climbing usually lies in believing in myself. Knowing that I can handle whatever I find and that I will have the mental stamina to complete the potentially hard work ahead. It can be overwhelming sometimes to look ahead at 60 meters of uncharted territory. Luckily my first pitch involved little more than some extremely dense ice, requiring numerous swings, hard to place screws and a few funky ice lenses. After 60 meters of WI4-4+ climbing, I happily built my belay station and enjoyed the views while enduring the usual screaming barfy session (the inevitable rewarming of the digits that usually comes at the cost of some serious pain).
Jen battling out the last pitch. Photo copyright Sarak Hueniken.
Jen climbed up to my belay, gave me the kudos that every second with a good sense of partnership gives the leader, and then took off for her pitch. This pitch looked far less intimidating than it actually was. Weird mushrooms, funky ice and creative climbing gave this pitch a solid WI5 rating. After I battled to her belay stance, I in turn gave her the rightful kudos she deserved for fighting on that challenging lead for over an hour.
Cold, slightly battered and still very aware that we were sitting under a serac, we prepared ourselves for the decent. At
Sarah seconding the final pitch. Photo copyright Sarah Hueniken.
this point it was snowing at a good rate and we were starting to feel like we could be overstaying our welcome. Looking at the potentially hazardous slopes above us, we knew that this was a climb to do only in the right conditions like we had that day. The ice was a little funky at the top, but we managed to build a good enough V-thread to get us back to our last station and another one there to take us back to our bags. Taking in the final views of the spectacular Lake O’ Hara area, we rapped back to our skis and enjoyed a few powder turns that even got this gumby skier hooting in glee.
As we endured the rather hateful up and down road skiing back to the car, I took the time to appreciate how fortunate we had been that day. Both of us work as guides and winters are a busy time. New ice lines are harder and harder to find, good partners are even harder to find and good girlfriends that are also good partners, who are mountain savvy and have the same day off is almost impossible to find! To recognize this good fate we named our climb Gurrrl’s Day Off 110m IV WI5. Hopefully, others will enjoy similar conditions on this route and continue to put up new lines around it, because the potential is there!
All smiles from Sarah and Jen atop Gurrrl's Day Off. Photo copyright Sarah Hueniken.
Sarah Huenikenis a fully certified ACMG Alpine guide. Sarah spends her summers guiding rock and alpine routes and her winters guiding classic ice and mixed lines in the Canadian Rockies.
Sarah Hueniken has been living and guiding in Canmore for the past 10 years. As a fully certified ACMG Alpine guide, Sarah spends her summers guiding rock and alpine routes and her winters guiding classic ice and mixed lines in the Canadian Rockies. Having climbed for over 16 years, Sarah has traveled and worked in various places throughout the US, Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia to explore the mountains of the world. Highlights have included a first ascent of a 6000m peak bordering Tibet (Sachun 5.10+ M5), new ice lines in Iceland and the Canadian Rockies, and participating in various climbing competitions. Presently Sarah runs her own guiding company, specializing in getting women on the sharp end in the alpine, and on the rock and ice. Check out this year’s ice courses on her newsletter or her website http://sarahhueniken.com.
