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Mike rehydrating back at camp on the Tusk Glacier after almost 14 hours of climbing.
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By later afternoon was had it down the Shackleton Glacier on the far side of the icefield. Unfortunately, just a few minutes after regaining easy ground at the toe of the glacier, Mike slipped on a wet rock and twisted his ankle. He tried to hobble on, but it was soon apparent that he wasn’t in any shape to do any more climbing, and when we came across this flat expanse of gravel we set up camp. Here’s Mike calling the helicopter company on satellite phone the following morning to let them know we needed a ride out of here.
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This is me a short distance from our camp. In the background is the toe of the Tsar Glacier and the north ridge of Tsar Mountain, the peak we’d hoped to climb. By now the weather was starting to deteriorate.
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Ian and Cyril at tree-line on our way down from Scott Duncan Hut. This section was the steepest skiing on the trip.
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I felt badly in need of a rest day, but the forecast was for one more day of good weather before conditions deteriorated, so we decided to set out for the long hike across the Clemenceau glacier to the base of Tsar Mountain. Mike thought we could accomplish this in one day – I later learnt that most other parties spread this out over two or even three days. Here’s Mike crossing the Duplicate Glacier, with Mt. Shackleton in the distance.
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Mike back on the Tusk Glacier on the way back to camp. In the backgound is Tusk Peak; our climb has taken up us the glacier in the middle and back left up the skyline ridge.
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It was only 8:30am when we landed, so we decided to make the most of the day and head up Tusk Peak. Here’s Mike on the bare lower glacier.
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Mike climbing up a short, steep snow gully that leads to Tusk’s south ridge.
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Mike descending the summit ridge on Clemenceau. We were careful to keep a healthy distance from the edge of the ridge.
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The Bow Hut at evening.
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Dinner at Scott Duncan Hut after a long day. From L to R: Boris, a pair of green booties belonging to Dave, Leo, Alex, Karen McGilvray, a white cap belonging to Cyril, Karen Woo, and Ian.
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Our next objective was Mt. Clemenceau. We rose at 3:30am and by sunrise we were high up on the Tiger Glacier on Clemenceau’s west face. Here’s Mike with Tusk Peak behind him. The guidebook describes this as a “routine glacier ascent”, but it’s become quite challenging in recent years due to glacial recession, and some parties have been unable to find a way around the crevasses.
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Inside the Peyto Hut.
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Aerial view of Mt. Alberta (3,619m/11,873’), the “hardest, loosest and scariest of all the 11,000ers” (according to Bill Corbett’s guidebook), and still on Mike’s to-do list.
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At the Trans-Canada Highway, and the end of our trip. At back (L to R): Alex, Cyril, Stefan, me, Dave, Boris. In front: Karen Woo, Ian, Leo, Karen McGilvray.
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Skiing across Sherbrooke Lake, with Mt. Victoria and Mt. Huber in the background. Not far to go now.
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Leo Markle, Karen Woo and Karen McGilvray inside the Bow Hut. The hut can be accessed directly from the highway and we had arranged with porters to carry some food – and wine! – up here in advance of our arrival (no helicopter landings allowed in Banff National Park). The wine was supposed to last a couple of nights, but it all disappeared in a few hours.
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The helicopter coming in to collect us, and a premature end to our trip. Mike’s enthusiasm for climbing the 11,000ers hasn’t diminished, however, and I’m sure I’ll be back here for another attempt on Tsar in a year or two.
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The view from our tent on Tusk Glacier. I’d brought a “bear vault” to keep our food safe from marauding wildlife, but up here we didn’t see another living thing, not even an insect.
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Our landing spot at 7,400’ on the Tusk Glacier between Mt. Clemenceau (in the background) and Tusk. This small, level patch of gravel was the only such spot for miles around – anywhere else and we’d have been camping on bare ice or slush.
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On the way down we were able to avoid some of the snow-bridges on the Tiger Glacier by downclimbing the loose rock of Clemenceau’s west ridge. Eventually the ridge became too steep to downclimb easily, so we regained the Tiger Glacier and our ascent route. There was a lot of tedious zig-zagging back and forth to get around the crevasses.
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Down-climbing from the summit of St. Nicholas Peak.
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Skinning up the slopes above the Bow Hut, on our way to Mt. Gordon. The summit in the background is St. Nicholas Peak.
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Mike at the summit of Tusk Peak, with Mt. Clemenceau in the background. It was barely than 24 hours since I’d left the office in Denver.
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Me leading up to Clemenceau’s west ridge. The weather had been very warm and the snow bridges were in poor condition – one of my legs punched through when crossing the bergschrund.
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Hiking up moraines near the foot of the Peyto Glacier. This was the only part of the traverse that was too steep for skins.
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Leo, Stefan Kloppenborg, Ian Myles and Karen Woo at the summit of Mt. Gordon. Alas not much in the way of views that day.
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Mike at the summit of Clemenceau. The summit ridge is heavily corniced and there’s a steep drop down the other side. Neither of us was interested in spending too much time up here.
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Dave and Cyril arriving at the Peyto Hut. Cyril had promised us that this would be the longest day on the traverse, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
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Once again it was a warm day and by early afternoon the snow-bridges had become very soft. This is a hidden crevasse that I plunged into with both feet, having done the very same thing just a few minutes earlier.
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Aerial view of Mt. Clemenceau (3,658/12,001’). It’s not clear how the surveyors back in the 1920s arrived at that exact height.
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Preparing to leave the Bow Hut for the Balfour Hut (or so we thought). From L to R: Stefan, Cyril, Dave, Ian, Karen Woo, Alex Perel, Leo, me, Karen McGilvray and Boris Kaschenko.
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Making turns on the glacier above the Peyto Hut.
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On the way to the Bow Hut most of us made a detour to skin up the gentle summit ridge of Mt. Rhondda.
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At the col between St. Nicholas Peak and Mt. Olive. At this point a stiff wind was blowing and a storm was fast approaching. Cyril announced that it would be best to carry on past the Balfour Hut and try get to the Scott Duncan Hut ahead of the storm, since there’s a high pass on the way to Scott Duncan (the Balfour Col) that’s exposed to avalanches if it’s been snowing heavily.
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Getting ready to ski across a frozen Peyto Lake.
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The view from the dormitory window at Bow Hut.
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Our only logistical error was to assume that the huts would be stocked with toilet paper. This wasn’t a good assumption. Cyril came to our rescue by paying a handsome fee to our porters to part with their modest supply ($20 for two rolls!). Here’s Karen Woo carefully dividing this precious commodity between the ten of us.
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Me climbing up Tusk’s south ridge. It was mostly easy scrambling on loose rock with occasional detours onto the snow, with a few 5th-class moves where the ridge steepens.
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Mike and me at the Cline River Heliport, AB, about 40km east of Saskatchewan Crossing on the Thompson Highway. Mike wastes no time on these trips – he picked me up at Edmonton airport at 6pm the previous evening and we drove straight to the heliport, where we slept on the ground for a few hours before getting up at dawn to be ready for a 7am helicopter ride.
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Panoramic view of Mt. Shackleton and surrounding peaks from Tusk’s south ridge. The air was hazy throughout our trip because of forest fires in BC.
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Google Earth image of the Wapta and Waputik icefields. The traverse starts at Peyto Lake on the Icefields Parkway and ends at Wapta Lodge on the Trans-Canada Highway . There are four huts en route – Peyto (Whyte), Bow, Balfour and Scott Duncan. Also marked are a couple of peaks that we climbed.
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Skiing up the Peyto Glacier in the warm afternoon sun.
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Shortly after passing the Balfour Hut the weather closed in, and we traveled in a whiteout up and over the Balfour Col and down to the Scott Duncan Hut. Fortunately Cyril knew the route well, and with GPS assistance he kept us away from the avalanche slopes and crevasses that lie in wait for the unwary. Here we are arriving at Scott Duncan Hut. Cozy accommodation for a group of ten.
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Roping up above the Bow Hut en route to the Balfour Hut.
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Aerial view of Mt. Athabasca (3,491m/11,453’) as seen from the flight to the Clemenceau Icefield.
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After two nights at the Peyto Hut we headed over to the Bow Hut, stopping for lunch on the slopes of Mt. Rhondda.
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Mike on the Clemenceau Glacier, with Tusk Peak and Mt. Clemenceau behind him. Crossing this glacier is a monotonous business – it’s an enormous flat expanse that goes on for miles and miles, and there’s almost nothing to gauge one’s progress.
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On the way back from Mt. Gordon a few of us made a detour to scramble up St. Nicholas Peak. It’s really more of a knife-edge ridge than a peak.
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On the traverse from Teewinot to Mt Owen, somewhere between Peak 11,840’and the East Prong.
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Scary 4th class down-climbing on the W side of Mt Owen, en route to Gunsight Notch. There are a couple of different ways to do this section, all involving steep, loose, exposed climbing and a few rappels. Last time we took a different line. I’m not sure that the way we did it this time was any better.
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Stefan and Boris approaching the col between St. Nicholas Peak and Mt. Olive, on the way to the Balfour Hut.
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Our first night’s bivy site on the E side of the Grandstand, below the N Ridge of the Grand Teton. We weren’t sure what to expect here, as Kevin and I had bivvied further back on Mt Owen last time we tried the traverse. We were pleasantly surprised to discover some nice grassy ledges, sheltered from the wind, with a trickle of running water from snowmelt.
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Martin on Teewinot summit, with the N Face of the Grand Teton and Mt Owen in the background. One down, another eleven to go.
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Traversing across exposed ledges on the W side of Mt Owen, en route to Gunsight Notch.
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We thought we might have to spend a second night at Scott Duncan Hut waiting out the storm, but by mid-morning visibility improved slightly and Cyril decided we’d be able to continue the traverse out to the highway. Here we are skiing past Mt. Niles.
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Kevin and Martin at the top of the Grandstand, with Mt Owen in the background.
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Martin and Charles on Spalding summit.
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Kevin at the top of the first Italian Cracks pitch on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton, with the Teton Glacier far below.
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Scrambling up to Spalding summit. We got a bit lost between Ice Cream Cone and Spalding, traversing too low across rubble-strewn ledges on the S side of Gilkey, then having to back-track from the Gilkey/Spalding col to summit Gilkey before continuing on to Spalding.
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Willem rappelling down into Gunsight Notch. The climb up the other side onto the Grandstand was the toughest part of the traverse. It was gloomy, chilly and windy down in the notch, we’d already been on the move for 14 hours, and now we had to climb a couple of 5.7/5.8 pitches with heavy packs, cold hands and sore feet.
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Down-climbing into a notch on the N Ridge of the Middle Teton, with the Grand Teton behind us. The N Ridge is mostly a scramble with a short 5.6 section.
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George, Charles and Willem on the Middle Teton summit.
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Charles, George, Martin and Willem on the Ice Cream Cone summit.
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Charles just below the summit of Mt Owen, with the N Face of the Grand Teton and the Enclosure in the background.
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At the American Alpine Club Climbers’ Ranch the evening before the climb. From L to R: George, Charles (displaying his inimitable organizational style), Willem and Kevin.
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George on the summit of the Grand Teton.
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Scrambling up the E side of Mt Owen from the Koven Col .
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Willem and George starting up the Italian Cracks (5.7) on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton. (No idea why they’re called the Italian Cracks, they were climbed by a pair of Americans). This was much more pleasant than the previous day’s climb out of Gunsight Notch; it was sunny and warm, and we’d all had a decent night’s rest.
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Descending from the East Prong to the Koven Col, en route to Mt. Owen.
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Kevin on the summit of Mt Owen, with Teewinot in the background and Jenny Lake far below.
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Hiking down the Garnet Canyon trail. Only 3,000’ to descend between here and the beers waiting for us down at the Climbers Ranch.
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Martin at our bivy site below the Middle Teton. Another luxury bivy with running water not too far away.
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Kevin on the S Teton summit, with the Middle and Grand Tetons behind him.
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Higher up on the E slopes of Teewinot. It’s hiking until half-way up, then mostly 3rd class scrambling.
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Looking across from the Upper Saddle to the N Ridge of the Middle Teton, our next objective.
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Looking E from the S Teton. It’s a bit confusing but from nearest to furthest the peaks are the Ice Cream Cone, Gilkey , Spalding, Cloudveil Dome and Nez Perce.
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Descending the SW couloir of the Middle Teton, with Icefloe Lake down below.
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Martin and all the peaks of the Traverse.
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Kevin, Willem and Charles on the summit of the Grand Teton, looking down at the rest of the traverse.
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Taking a break for tea at the Lower Saddle before starting up the Middle Teton. We weren’t in too much of a hurry that day.
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Looking back at the East Prong and the Koven Col. A rappel allowed us to avoid down-climbing the steep snow.
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George on the descent of Spalding’s E ridge. Supposedly it’s a 3rd class descent, but lower down we found ourselves on distinctly 4th class terrain with scary exposure. From the base of Spalding it was a 3rd class scramble across to Cloudveil Done, then more 4th class down-climbing and a rappel down to the connecting ridge between Cloudveil and Nez Perce.
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Traversing across the Second Ledge to the W side of the Grand Teton. From here we took the Owen-Spalding route to the summit (a couple of 5.4 moves, then 3rd class scrambling).
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George and Willem on the Middle Teton summit.
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Fore! Charles teeing off from the summit of the S Teton.
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Charles climbing a 5.7 pitch up the W side of the Ice Cream Cone. After he did the hardest section we noticed an easier traverse ledge coming in from the right. The rock at the top of this pitch was pretty `rank`.
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Sunrise from our bivy site on the Grandstand. We didn’t have as far to go as the previous day and we had the luxury of lying in our sleeping bags until the sun warmed us up.
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Slogging up the E slopes of Teewinot. Only 5,600’ from the valley floor to the summit.
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Next day’s objectives as seen from the descent of the Middle Teton. From R to L: South Teton, Ice Cream Cone, Gilkey Tower and Spalding Peak. Cloudveil Dome is just out of sight on the L. We bivied on the broad saddle between the Middle and S Tetons.
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All done! Martin, Kevin, Charles and Willem on Nez Perce summit. We had to hunt around a bit before finding the route up here. It turned out to be a fairly well-marked track, mostly 3rd class with one short 4th class section.
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Showered and clean (some of us, anyway) and happy to be back at the Climbers Ranch. From L to R: Martin, Charles, Kevin, Willem and George.
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Rapelling down from the Grand Teton to the Upper Saddle. This is the standard descent for the Owen-Spalding route and the rappels can be quite crowded, but luckily we didn’t have to wait long.
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The Grand Teton and the peaks of the southern part of the traverse, as seen from Teewinot.
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The Teton Range from Jackson Hole (elevation 6,700’). In order of the traverse the peaks are (1) Teewinot 12,325’ (2) Unnamed 11,840’ (3) East Prong 12,000’ (4) Mount Owen 12,928’ (5) Grand Teton 13,770’ (6) Middle Teton 12,804’ (7) South Teton 12,514’ (8) Ice Cream Cone 12,400’ (9) Gilkey Tower 12,320’ (10) Spalding Peak 12,240’ (11) Cloudveil Dome 12,026’ (12) Nez Perce 11,901’.
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George and Kevin posing for a final photo before we headed back to Colorado. From L to R: Nez Perce, Middle Teton, Grand Teton, Owen and Teewinot.
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The view from the Climbers Ranch the next morning.
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From our bivy site it was an easy scramble to the top of the Grandstand and the base of the N Ridge of the Grand Teton.
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Looking back at the S shoulder of Mt Owen from our bivy site on the Grandstand