Cathedral Mountain, the most epic trip of all !!

 

Top of Cathedral Mountain

Every day out in the mountains have been a great day, in fact as soon as I am back I am always calling it “the best day”, but Cathedral ??? Oh yeah, this is by far the best day of my life out in the mountains!! Everything was good, the company, the weather, the snow conditions, the route. 

We had an early start, left home at 4:15am to be there by 6:30. We needed to leave a shuttle car on the other end and drive back to Lake Ohara Parking Lot to start the day. 

Andy, Stefan and I left just before 7:00am. At around 3.6kms we crossed the creek heading west.

 Started the climb through the trees, a bit of bushwack and steep at times, but soon enough we were out in this beautiful open area that offered us a view of the steep and long skin tracks.



At the top of the south couloir we saw a party of two just coming out of it in their way up. 

As we passed them, we spotted two snowboarders coming down from the top, these were the early birds that break through the snow and made our lives a bit easier in the way up. 

It was “hot” I am not exaggerating I was sweeting and pretty much ready to get rid of my light jacket.. The sun was cocking the slope along with us.. we could see pieces rolling down.

As we get out of the first steep climb and faced the wind gust things changed dramatically, my hands were frozen, we put extra jackets and toque to cover from from the super cold wind. 

At this point (around 3 hours into it) we wanted to stop for water, but decided to keep going until we could find a spot with less wind.

 

From there, and after some water and a bite to eat, we headed to the last stretch to the summit !! Big deal now, when I saw the skinny slope with no room for mistakes I doubted my skills level to descent from the summit of Cathedral Mountain, at 3,189 mts you can pretty much see every valley in Yoho, Banff and Kootenay... spectacular view of Mount Field and other summits I have been skiing before. 

Just a hundred mts before the summit we stopped to put out harness on, the wind was calmed and we thought it could be a good idea to have them ready for the rappel section in the north couloir. As we are doing this, Adam Campbell and two more guys passed us and met them at the top. 

We took some pictures and contemplated the scenic view, but conscious of the weather got rid of the skins and got ready for the sweet turns to come!! Andy told me one more time “if there is a place where you don't want to F$%#^^ a turn.. this is the one...”















Heading down into the rappel section, North Couloir
The next section was the Rappel ! We ski down as mush as possible, but to avoid rocks we had to boot packed a few meters.

Stefan helped me out with the rappel device and secure rope.

Andy rappel down first and I came second. The ice section was a bit nerve wracking, but managed to control./ 

  

Boot Packing down to the rappel section

The Crux, I wish I had crampons

Skiing from here all the way to the hwy was the longest and smoothest line I have done ! We had to sort out a section that was a bit challenging at the bottom through the drainage and some rail road crossing at the end, but 99% was doable.  

Very long descent from the North Couloir









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bill Putnam (Fairy Meadow) Hut, BC Trail Run/Hike/Bushwhack

Image
  Columbia River (Kinbasket Lake), 63km drive on logging road besides this river The approach wasn't easy or short, we drove 30min west from Golden, then up north on a logging road with the Columbia River right beside us for 63km exact, at that point we were suppose to see a trail heat sign (which in the first pass me missed it) and after 30 minutes of back and forth we found it. Swan Creek Trail Sign Overgrown and dense, we started the run, soon enough got our "freedom steps in" (that means that after avoiding getting wet, we just stepped into a deep poodle and the concern of getting wet feet was gone... Sure a 10k run shouldn't take me more than 40 minutes I thought.... but when is in a terrain that hasn't been travel in a long time and with 1,500+ of elevation gain !! 3 hours weren't that bad...Stefan Price and Riley invited me for an adventure near BC and I didn't hesitate to say yes without asking to many details.. I told Stefan that I would try find ...
Read more

A week in Paris with the kids !!

Image
2025 our plan was to travel to another continent and what a better place to visit than Paris, France !! A week before spring break we booked a week in Paris, found an AIRBNB right in town and went light with backpacks to walk as much as we could. The highlights places that we visited in not particular order were: Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre, Notre Dame, The President's House, The Assamble National, Canadian Embassy,  Arc de Triomphe, De Louvre, Hotel des Invalides, Grand Palais, Petit Palais, Chateau de Versailles, and many other places, corners, coffee shops. There was a direct flight from Calgary which made things more simpler, leaving Calgary at 2pm and arriving in Paris at 11:00am. After a 45 min train to Les Maries we got to the apartment and drop the backpacks to begin our tour !! Next morning and for the following 7 I woke up at 7am and went out for an early run (10-12kms) was a perfect way to get started and see the city without many people.  Walking around P...
Read more

Bluerock Trail, Gorge Creek, India's Oil Trail and Bluerock's Knob

Image
  Great adventure before the road is closed for the season.. This is the third Sunday we are in the Sheep River Provincial Park running trails and bushwacking. Pete, Ken and I started a bit later this time.. around 9:00 we were running and done by 3:00 (28 kms with 1,500mts of elevation gain). The first 11 kms were fine, up but with a good pace. After that and after enjoin a nice view of Bluerock we had to do a bit of a traverse and bushwack for the next 10k or so..
Read more