Mount Athabasca - AA Col Route, Alpine I

 

Summit from the Silverhorn.

Mount Athabasca is an alluring mountain and a classic Canadian Rockies mountaineering objective, with easy highway access. Mount Athabasca was my first 11,000'er summit in July 1994 with an ascent up the North Glacier route and a descent by AA Col route. July 2003 climbed the Silverhorn route and descended the North Glacier. 

May 31 enjoyed a quick ascent of the AA Col route with Carlos. We had reasonable snow conditions, but a very blustery day, and a whiteout on summit. Great day in the hills with a great partner. 

Windy Slabs 5.6, 255 m (5 pitches)

Beautiful early spring day. 

Approach below the big face of Yam.

Rock season opener 2025! Got out for a super fun day with Carlos on Yam on April 11. We did Windy Slabs on the west end (5.6, 255m, 5 pitches). We exited the face at the BBQ ledge. Sunny day with the wind on and off. Cold in the shade of the upper pitches, but overall fantastic weather.  Carlos led pitch 1 and 3, and I led pitch 2, 4 & 5. We both got to enjoy some steep old school trad 5.6. A couple of snow patches, but mostly dry rock. Great day of climbing.  

Looking up pitch 1.

Carlos leading up first pitch.

OSWB on second of first pitch.
(Photo by Carlos)

OSWB on second of first pitch.
(Photo by Carlos)

Carlos having fun.
Top of pitch 1.

OSWB leading second pitch.
Easy 5.2 traverse.
(Photo by Carlos)

Carlos at the first station, top of pitch 1. 

Carlos heading out from station 2,
the start of pitch 3. 

Steeper section after traverse on pitch 3.

Carlos' station on the top of pitch 3. 
Had to contend with a big snow patch on the ledge. 
(Photo by Carlos)

OSWB leading pitch 4.
(Photo by Carlos)

Carlos reading the top of pitch 4.

Looking up pitch 5.

Looking down pitch 5.

Great views.

Looking down pitch 5. 

Carlos rocking the BBQ ledge.

OSWB on BBQ ledge.
(Photo by Carols)

View south across Bow Valley.

Heading home.

View up to route on our descent. 

“Burstall Pass Peak” (GR145231) - South West Slopes Ski

 

East aspect of "Burstall Pass Peak".

Great day out of backcountry skiing on Saturday March 22, second full day of spring. Avalanche hazard was complicated, lots of recent snow on old weak faceted layers. Curt and I chose an objective with low angles and minimal over head terrain. “Burstall Pass Peak” (GR145231), the high point between Burstall Pass and South Burstall Pass. 

Classic view to Mt. Robertson.

Great choice for the day. Sunny and cold start, but beautiful blue skies to motivae the approach ski in. Just above the steep trees above the flats of the Robertson Glacier, a speedy group of four skiers passed us; they did a run off Burstall Pass. 

Cold and clear on the ski in.

View to "Snow Peak". 

Mt. Birdwood.

View to "Burstall Pass Peak".

We headed south, nearly all the way to the low point of South Burstall Pass, then headed up the low angle South West Ridge of “Burstall Pass Peak”. Just above the pass, the ridge was blown clear of snow, so we left our packs and skis and hiked to the summit. Intermittent views as snow squalls blew in and blew out of the area. 

Skiing south towards South Burstall Pass.

Great views to Mt. Sir Douglas.
(Photo by Curt)

Heading up slope towards the South West slopes.

Low angle and broad slopes of "Burstall Pass Peak"
Low avi hazard.

Super windy on the summit. I tried to dig out the summit register, found a plastic film container with a frozen solid note pad. Quick hike back to our packs. We managed to get some turns on the low angled terrain back to main up track. From the Robertson Glacier turnoff out, we were hit with a huge snow storm, snowed a lot. Great day out on skis even with the spooky snowpack. 

Hiking up SW slopes.
(Photo by Curt)

Upper SW slopes blown clear of snow.

OSWB on the summit of "Burstall Pass Peak".
(Photo by Curt)

Summit posers

Old film container for summit register.

Paper in register container frozen solid.

A few good turns on the low angle slopes.

Hidden Lake - Backcountry tour and turns

Halfway Hut (Ptarmigan Hut)
Lovely historic hut below Hidden Lake.
Almost 100 years old. 

Got out Sunday March 9 with young bucks Curt and Max for some backcountry turns. Not being out much this season, decided to ski conservative terrain. Last couple of seasons did some winter mountaineering trips near Skoki (Mt. Richardson, Ptarmigan Peak) and enjoyed skiing the slopes above Hidden Lake, so we headed there. Simple, but not short approach to Halfway Hut (Ptarmigan Hut) for lunch. 

Earning our turns. Long ski slog towards
Temple Lodge at Ski Louise. 
(Photo by Curt)

Heading to hut for a snack on the way up.

Making our way above the hut.

It was snowing hard all morning. Once in the alpine, travel was slow due to sticky (high moisture content) snow and limited visibility. We did one long run back to the hut. Lots of snow, but low angle and fresh wet powder made turns so so. Snack at the hut, then quick ski out. Good day out in the hills.

Typical conditions in the alpine.

OSWB looking for best up track. 
(Photo by Curt)

Transition to down hill mode. 
(Photo by Curt)

Curt in pow. 

Max in pow.

Nice pow, but we needed more steepness. 

Low vis near the hut on the way out.