Ketabcheh

A few days after an attempt to climb Mt Hector on a guided outing I went back with Chris and Jordan to tackle this classic ski mountaineering objective in better weather. I picked up the guys at 5:30 in Calgary and headed West.

Let me get something out of the way right at the start. The few days preceding this trip were the first significant warm days of this late Spring. A very active Spring avalanche cycle had started the day before and we were well aware of this when we decided to make this trip. Our plan was to start early and finish early as conventional wisdom dictates for these conditions. As the day proceeded we started seeing avalanche activity much earlier than we expected. The temperature was around 10 degrees by 11am and solar heating was intense. This has been a strange year for snow and the snowpack has been challenging all winter. It also became apparent that we were in for a long day due to not being able to move very fast so our early finish was in jeopardy. Given all this, I feel in hindsight we should not have exposed ourselves to the risk presented by these factors and hazards. On the descent the snowpack was isothermal and we had to travel through some hazerdous terrain. I feel we did so as safely as possible and took every precaution to deal with what we were facing but at the end of the day the right scenario was to not be in that situation. I don’t know if we got lucky, I think we made good decisions and we were in control. I would argue being in the alpine always requires a degree of luck but I completely acknowledge that we exposed ourselves to more risk than necessary. The rest of this post describes the trip as we faced it and doesn’t belabour the hazards and risks.

Mt Hector is regarded as a classic ski mountaineering objective. In the right conditions it’s possible to ski from your car to within 50m of the summit and after scrambling to the summit you can ski 1600 glorious meters back down to your car. To make the mountain even more appealing is the fact that it belongs to the covetted group of mountains in the Canadian Rockies with elevations higher than 11,000 feet.

The trailhead is located around 19km north of Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway. We geared up and hit the trail by 9am making our way up Hector Creek with skis and skins. Travel was good and coverage was very good but it was obvious that full Spring thaw/freeze cycle was in affect. In no time we had reached the gully which represents the hazard crux of this route. There was a lot avalanche debris at the base of the gully and headwall. At this point we continued on skies until the frozen avalanche debris meant we had to proceed on foot.

The frozen conditions made for fairly good and fast boot packing so we made it to the top of the gully quickly at which point we decided the few layers we were wearing were too much so we stripped down  even further, basically down to t-shirts and it wasn’t even 11am yet.

We had reached the large alpine meadow where the snow was deeper and it was a very easy grade to ski up. We were also treated to another huge field of avalanche debris. We followed a track which took us down the middle of the meadow near some trees instead of traversing a higher line on a slope which could slide.  Eventually we got to another short steep section which was wind blown, rocky and frozen solid. Jordan and Chris dismounted the skies and boot packed it up but I decided to continue on skis. Without ski crampons that was a mistake. Near the crest of the steep section I slid backwards just enough to lose my footing and started to fall down the slope. There wasn’t any hazard at the bottom of the slope but I didn’t want to take my chances so once I saw some rocks sticking out I tried to make sure they would catch me without hitting them too hard. It worked and after some swearing and inspection I joined the guys at the top of the slope. This time I walked up.

From here you take a sharp right and can either ascend a long snow slope or hike up a moraine. After my experience on the previous short section of steep, icy snow Jordan and Chris decided to take off their skis and walk up the moraine. Ever the purist I decided to try the snow slope which offered great skining despite being long and steep. Those guys continued on foot on the moraine and I think I beat them to the top but I don’t know if they stopped to wait for me or each other so it’s hard to tell which path is faster.

Once I topped out on the slope we were in the shadow of Little Hector and also had our first view of the Mt Hector summit. Several hundred metres later we were on the glacier and decided to stop for lunch. We also decided not to rope up because there was so much snow and visibility was excellent.

After lunch we basically made one big push to the summit. Travel on the glacier was excellent. The snow was just soft enough to make for good travel without being too soft to require trail breaking. The grade is quite gentle until the last 300 vertical metres or so. By around 1pm or maybe a little later we heard and saw our first avalanche off Little Hector.  We continued to hear lots of activity from slopes to the East and a few more off Little Hector. I also saw a cornice failure triggered avalanche. We were in no danger on our skin track but we started thinking about the descent through avalanche terrain we had crossed earlier in the day. The temperature up to 3000m was still very warm but as we gained elevation we caught a Southerly wind and it got chilly so I donned my new Arc’Teryx softshell which I have to say performed very very well. Compared to my older North Face softshell I can only say that the cliché ”you get what you pay for” was reaffirmed for me once again. More on gear later.

After much slogging, hurting, drinking water, introspection, bargaining and just wishing the ascent would finish we made the last switchback for the summit block and finally caught up to Chris who had blazed a trail and was already in crampons and freezing while waiting for us. The summit of Hector is a rocky outcrop from the glacier and you reach a saddle between the true summit and a sub peak where a huge cornice greets you and overhangs the South side of Mt Hector. Being careful not to get too close to the cornice you have to hang out on this fairly steep slope to switch gear and go for the summit. We ended up digging out a ledge for ourselves and leave our packs and skis behind. We started for the summit with mountaineering axes. The first rock band was easily climbed and gave me some very pleasant flashbacks to ice climbing earlier this year. The snowy, rocky break in the block was vertical enough and required moves with the axe to make me feel at home. A short steep snow slope and another rock band later which was easier than the first rock band had us on the snowy summit with no more vertical metres to climb.

We smiled and took pictures and admired the amazing view. You can see clear to Lake Louise and Mt Temple and the endless summits around us. I’ll have to go back to my pictures and a topo to identify all the peaks we saw. It wasn’t very windy but having been on a glacier solar cooker all day made us feel the chill at the summit so after less than 10 minutes it was time to head down. Over the next few days I would reflect on that fact that you work so hard to attain a summit but when you get there, I don’t want to say you don’t enjoy it, but you’re hit with the fact that you’re only half way done your day and I personally can only afford myself a few moments of letting my mind go and enjoy the moment before my mind is back on task and thinking about the descent.

We downclimbed from the summit and back at our gear. Jordan hit us with the best surprise of the day. “Summit beer” he announced and busted out 3 cans of beer. Sweet! I enjoyed my sips but I knew I was dehydrated and didn’t think a can of beer would help the matter. We removed the skins from the skis and from the summit block had a very pleasant, easy and uneventful descent back to just above the alpine meadow were the snow conditions got much worse and we had to contend with the avalanche hazard we knew we’d have to deal with eventually.

I stepped out onto the slope where I fell earlier in the day and immediately felt the snow settle and Chris saw a crack propagate behind me. The snow was isothermal and I had broken through to ground where I could tell large boulders had created cavities under the isothermal snow which had now trapped my leg. I quickly and gently as I could dug out my leg and by now Chris had spotted some old tracks to skiers left which would allow us to move very quickly through this section and get to the bottom of the slope and out of harms way. I still had the unenviable task of slogging through the unsupportive snow to get to the old track but once Jordan and Chris had moved out of the way I made my way over and eventually joined them. That was descent crux #1 out of the way, now we had to get down the gully to Hector Creek. It was at this point we heard a huge crack and looked down valley to see a large avalanche streaming down the headwall cliffs over Hector Creek. We watched in silence until it was down to a stream over the cliffs and one of us commented that the avalanche likely hit our up trail and if we were 30 minutes faster … well you get the idea.

We continued on skis over the very heavy and unsupportive snow in the meadow above the headwall until we had reached the top of the gully. The conditions in the gully had completely deteriorated to the point were we knew we couldn’t ski it and had to proceed on foot. We went down the first section one at a time and regrouped above the final steep section of the gully which was now a very strong stream of water under a very weak looking snow bridge. Evidence of the avalanche we had seen 30 minutes earlier was everywhere and very sobering. I looked to our left and noticed a tree which would let us rappel down past the snow bridge and we were pretty sure a 60m rope would suffice. To be safe we decided the first person should be lowered to survey the rappel and have the full 60m to use. Jordan went first and was able to get down into the gully far enough to avoid the weak snow bridge but still on the avalanche debris. Then Chris lowered me and finally he rappelled and we move fast down the debris field and onto Hector Creek.

A 10 minute ski down Hector Creek on still good coverage had us back at the car and on our way home.

For a full picture galley please visit my Picasa album.

View Mt Hector in a larger map