The majesty of the North American icefalls
14 February 2020
Together with my rope partner Masha Gordon, in January I travelled to Canmore to enjoy the world-class ice climbing spots of Canada. It was my first climb of the season, since this winter the Alps have been far too warm for practising this sport.
The first day of climbing was just a warm-up in the Kananaskis mountains before approaching our grand objective: the “King Line”. It was cold, -15 °C and the weather forecast announced -30 °C three days later. Then we decided to go to the incredible Ghost Valley, where some of the most majestic and legendary icefalls in the world are located.
This area is very wild, and the access is very tough, even with a 4x4. We stumbled across steep icy hills, impetuous rivers and wind drifts. We were not yet in the icefalls, but our adventure had already started.
After 2 hours of driving through snow and natural obstacles, we arrived at one of my “dream” lines, which is in the Recital Hall: a magnificent and incredible amphitheatre where there are two twin icefalls: Fearful Symmetry, grade WI 6 and Rainbow Serpent, grade WI 6. I’ve dreamed of this king line for many years. This one is rarely formed, only in very particular weather conditions. How lucky I’ve been to put my ice axes and my feet on this rare formation: it’s a dream come true!
Even the so-called Rainbow Serpent is quite rare and doesn’t form every year so I decided to climb it immediately because the -30 °C forecast for the next day would have made the ice more fragile, and as a result the ice climbing really difficult.
Finally, as expected, the polar cold came (-30 °C degrees) making ice climbing impossible in Canada. We therefore decided to leave for Bozeman (Montana), one of the most beautiful places for ice climbing in the USA, which is an 8-hour drive from Canmore.
The temperatures there were good: perfect for enjoying the ice without being exposed to frostbite or collapsing pillars! Some good friends joined us. We climbed some of the most beautiful classics from Hyalite Canyon: The wonderful Cleopatra icefall (grade WI 6), the even cooler Mummy, (IV grade WI 6) and for the perfect conclusion, the beautiful Zack Attack (WI5 / M5).
This second trip to North America was amazing! The USA and Canada are still one of my favourite destinations for ice climbing in the whole world. Amazing landscapes, wild nature, friendly and very helpful local climbers and the perfect ice for climbing.
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