The traverse was a four day, 37km trip on touring skis and skins, staying in alpine huts with a professional guide and three other participants. Over the course of the trip we hiked up to over 3,000m elevation, endured -35 degree temperatures, crossed crevassed glaciers and passed through some truly breathtakingly beautiful terrain, all under the steam of our own legs and carrying our supplies on our backs.I am absolutely hooked on ski touring. It allows you to get into the most remote locations, away from any form of mechanization and still allows you to ski the most epic uncut snow that you can find. Going on adventures like this in winter can only be done on skis and I derive huge satisfaction out of working for my downhill turns! I guess it is the same mentality as hunting your own meat: Sure you can buy it in the supermarket, but the process feels more complete and the end product is more satisfying if you go through some pain to obtain it. By using touring gear, your only limitation is yourself, and you can really push the adventure envelope if you camp in a tent and navigate off a well known route. Needless to say, I'm planning on purchasing my own gear for next season, and I'll try to get out on rented gear as much as possible this season. I think I may be able to slot in with some of the more experienced tourers who live in town.
For those who are interested, below is a full description of the Wapta Traverse:
Day 1: Bow Lake to Bow Hut
We set off from Banff in a van and were delivered to Bow Lake, which is up past Lake Louise, about 45mins North of town. From there we finalised our gear, loaded up and headed off to start our adventure.
Our goal for the day was just to make Bow Hut which was about a four to five hour hike up from the lake. The huts are all maintained and owned by the Alpine Club of Canada, and you book in and pay per night that you stay.We started out directly across the frozen Bow Lake. That is the great thing about travelling in winter is that you can head straight across lakes rather than having to detour around them! It took a little while to settle into the rhythm of travelling on convertable bindings with skins on and a heavy pack, but everything got working pretty soon. Unfortunately I developed a blister almost straight away in the rental boots, but I was able to tape it up and it didn't give me any further trouble for the whole trip.
The arrow points to where the hut was, behind the round mountain and at the base of St Nicholas, the very pointy one at the left:
Heading across the lake we had the most inspiring view of the moutains rising up in front of us. the weather was clear and cold so the sun was on the mountain tops as they jutted up into the sky. From down on the lake, it looked like a very long way up to where we were told the hut was and it was a little bit daunting, but the excitement levels well and truly overcame any nervousness.
It took us about five hours to make the hut and the going was pretty good the whole way. The scenery was nothing short of spectacular and we went through a ravine as we worked our way up throu the tree line to the alpine region. The final ascent to the hut was particularly impressive as we passed under a huge headwall of moraines with the glacier arching out over the lip. Of course it wasn't a place to hang around, but certainly impressive as we passed beneath.
Leaving the treeline, with the headwall in the background:
After we made the hut, the guide, one other and I went on a short hike with light packs to get some fresh turns. The snow was disappointingly crusted, but the effort of achieving the height, combined with the spectacular setting made the turns magic.
Heading up towards 'St Nick' for some turns:
We had a cosy evening in the hut that was packed with pretty hardened mountaineers. It seems there is a pretty nice community up in the huts as everyone who is up there has had to put quite some effort into getting there.
Day 2: Bow Hut to Balfour Hut
The day broke cold, at -28 degrees, and we were enveloped in a cloud in the morning. We had a slowish start and got away around 9.30am by which time it had cleared up a lot.
The first ascent from the hut was steep and hard with full packs and the temperature dropped as we ascended to around -30. We eventually summited at 2,920m after a hard climb.
I had to put on my hooded jacket and goggles and tuck my neck warmer into my goggles for complete coverage because my whole face was hurting from the cold.
The way down the other side from the col to the hut was all downhill, but the snow was so sticky that we really had to break trail and hike downhill which was dissapointing. We made the hut quite early, but all decided against a light-pack trek for some turns as it would be about a 3 hr round trip and the snow wasn't very good for skiing. We were all pretty knackered after our trek, so sitting in the hut drinking hot sweet tea was a good option!
The Balfour hut is more basic than the Bow hut and has no heating, but does have gas stoves and lights. After a few hours it warmed up to about -1 and we were joined by two other adventurers who were following the same route as us. There is a good system of collecting snow and melting it down for water and they are equipeed with pots and pans. With all the bodies and cooking on the stoves, I think it was about +5 in the hut by the time we went to bed.
I went out for a late pee and it was the most magical scene. The full moon was shining mutedly through the fine mist of frozen air that was wafting around the valley. The mountains looked ghostly in the moonlight and the hut hunkered there, emiting squares of warm inviting light from its small windows. It was just fantastic to be out there...
Day 3: Balfour Hut to Scott Duncan Hut
The day dawned clear, but even colder. The thermometer read -35 degrees. It was again very beautiful with the morning sun on the mountains all around us.
After only 800m travel from the hut, we had to make a long steep ascent across the crevassed glacier and up finally to Balfour High Col at 3015m. We all had to rope-in together at one point to minimise the consequences of falling into a crevasse, but it made for difficult travel as we had to go at exactly the same speed and I found it hard to get a rhythm at the slow pace that we were travelling.
It felt pretty warm while we were going up, but once we were more exposed to the wind and were not exerting as much energy it felt bitterly cold. The wind wasn't particularly strong, but it was enough to sap any warmth from exposed skin.This is an approximation of our route from day 2 (St Nicholas is circled) to the Balfour hut (circled) and up onto the glacier again with some impressive crevasses in the foreground:
The views all day were good, but at one point I burst out laughing with wonder and awe. As I crested Balfour High Col, the horizon of the straight white line we had been aiming for for so long suddenly opened out to a 180 degree view of spectacular mountains as far as the eye could see. We couldn't stop for long though, as our hands and face would quickly freeze.
The trip from there to the hut was all downhill, but painfully tough going as the snow was like glue, and we actually had to hike downhill. Reaching the hut this time and having a hot drink was a serious relief, particularly for the girls in the group who were having a hard time of the travel that day. The guide and I actually broke off and reached the hut much before the others, as it was too cold to stop and wait for them for long. Unfortunately I got a tiny bit of frost-bite on one of my ears at some point throughout the day, so that is pretty sore!Looking back towards the others (three dots in the middle of the picture) on reaching Scott Duncan Hut:
Day 4: Scott Duncan Hut to Sherbrooke Lake and the ride back to Banff
Today was just picture perfect. It was warmer, at around -25 in the morning to perhaps -18 in the afternoon. We pretty much descended all day and passed more and more beautiful terrain. Coming down through the treeline was particularly cool, and would have made some great skiing, but we were quite held back by the combined skiing ability of the group and had to stop at almost every turn. We eventually came out at the lake, which we crossed and whizzed down the skinny cat track through the forest to the highway where there was a van waiting to pick us up.The final small section of our traverse, looking back after crossing the lake:
We all had aching legs, but unmovable smiles and the group got on very well despite our differing fitness, skiing ability and backgrounds. The guide was great too, and was confidence inspiring all the way. I can't wait for the next trip, and gained a lot of valuable experience towards my goal of going off un-guided.
This is not a superficial smile!
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