Today I ventured into a popular area for ice climbers in Kananaskis Country. Evan Thomas Creek has several ice climbs of all difficulties including a multi-pitch WI2 climb called Chantilly Falls. I had a free day to head into the Mountains but I didn’t have a partner this weekend so I thought I would gear up and head into Evan Thomas to have a look around. The weather was great and I figured even if I just walk around in Kananaskis for a few hours it would be worth the drive. I knew that Chantilly was a very easy climb so I made sure I had all my gear in case I felt inspired to climb the route unroped.
I left Calgary a little after 10:30am. The parking lot for Evan Thomas is marked off highway 40. It’s around 5 minutes past the the Kananaskis Golf Course on the left (east) side of the highway. I saw another car with “CHAN” scribbled into the dirt on the back of the car so I thought I might have some company on the climb after all. I headed up the trail which was very packed down and slightly uphill. This is a maintained cross country ski trail. After 20 or so minutes I came to the end of the maintained ski trail and took a sharp right bend to head down toward the creek. After another 20 minutes or so of walking along or on top of the frozen creek I got my first glimpse of Chantilly Falls.
Right away I could see a very easy low angle line up to a tree used for rappelling. I knew I could make it that far and at worse I would just do that single pitch and rappel down. But there was another party on the climb so I dropped off my pack and headed upstream another 10 minutes to check out a couple of Rockies classic ice routes. Moonlight and Snowline looked awesome. For WI4 they sure looked steep and intimating but I have a goal to climb these routes this year.
After taking a few pictures I headed back downstream to Chantilly. The other party was just finishing up. I chatted with them as I geared up. I didn’t have any leashes or an umbilical and I figured running solo is not a time to drop a tool so I fashioned an umbilical by girth hitching two 120cm slings to my belay loop and clipping the other end into the bottom of my tools using a wiregate biner. And I was off.
The first pitch was very easy. I was at the rappel tree and could have gone back down but I saw that I could easily walk on snow and low angle ice between the first and second pitch and look at the rest of the route. The second pitch looked a little more committed for someone of my skill and experience running without a rope but I had a shitty traverse to get to a tree to rappel and the only other way down would have been off a v-thread to the rappel tree below me. So I decided to go up.
The right hand side was much less steep so I confidently swung my tools and placed my feet until I came to a dead vertical 2 metre section with a bulge topout. I started feeling nervous, maybe a little sacred. In fact I had never really felt anything like it before. I think this was what they call an exhilaration rush. I had to keep moving up, retreat wasn’t really an option and the inevitability of what I had to do was daunting. I had really good feet placement so I decided to stop and catch my breath for a minute. I have a tendency to rush when I feel nervous but this was not a time to rush. I made sure my ice picks were in deep. I used the hammer on one tool to pound the other tool into the ice. I needed to know I was hanging onto something solid, even if it was just an illusion. It was a long way down. I wouldn’t die would I? I would just get hurt, badly but alive. Fuck why am I think about this? Don’t look down. I rested the top of my head against the ice and just lightly banged my head as if to shake the cobwebs. I visualized strong pick and feet placements and I started feeling more calm. I wasn’t going to let my mind defeat my body. The fear is irrational. I know I can do this. One deep breath and I lifted my head but this time I had this overwhelming sense of confidence. I wasn’t thinking about the ground and how far below me it was. I wasn’t thinking about the rope in my backpack instead of attached to my harness, keeping me safe. Time to move.
Up I went and I wish I could say I moved like a graceful gazelle but in fact it wasn’t pretty and at one point I was hanging off both tools with no feet planted. But it was a brief moment and next thing I know I was at the top of my first multi-pitch ice which also turned out to be my first (and maybe only) solo ice ascent. At this point I become aware of what my body was doing. It was angry at me. I was out of breath, my heart was pounding so hard I could see the fabric on my jacket move with every heavy beat. But the sense of accomplishment took over and I smiled to myself. Nobody to share the moment with but I didn’t need anyone. I know the beautiful mountains around me approved because I had ascended in the most pure form of climbing.
Now I had to secure myself and my pack while I pulled my rope out. I got the rappel all setup and down I went to the next tree. I hated this tree for rappelling. It was awkward and it didn’t look like it got used very often. I think most people either use two ropes to skip the middle tree or rappel to the base of pitch 2 then downclimb to the tree above pitch 1 and rap to the base from there. Anyway one awkward rappel followed by a really easy one and I was back the base. Wow what a rush! It took under 45 minutes to get back to the car and after hitting some terrible weather and really bad road conditions I was back in Calgary around 5pm.
This was my first climb with my new boots. Scarpa Mont Blanc GTX. They were awesome. A pair of full shank boots make a huge difference to ice climbing. I was able to kick confidently and my feet didn’t feel a thing. When I was on my front points it felt like my calves were doing way less work than when I used my general mountaineering boots (3/4 shanks) which are also from Scarpa (Escape GTX). Anyway big thumbs up to the Mont Blancs and to Evan Thomas Creek.
Here is a GPS track showing the trail to the base of the route.
View Chantilly Falls in a larger map