Climbing in the Waddington

Trip Date: July 27 – August 4, 2022

Trip Participants: Nick Hindley, Nick Brown, Ethan Berman, Matteo Agnoloni

July 26 – The days leading up to this trip were somewhat stressful, as the weather always has the ultimate say. Our schedules were not very flexible – which is not the best way to do things – so for a week the trip hung in the balance as we refreshed SpotWX day by day, then hour by hour. Fortunately, a stable high pressure system eventually gave us the green light. After work on July 26th we begun the 10 hour drive to Bluff Lake, swinging through Squamish on the way to pick up two of our crew. We took the drive in shifts, stopping at Tatla Lake Rec Site around 0200 to get some shut eye before finishing the drive.

Open bivy over the Tiedemann Glacier

July 27 – In the morning, we finished the drive to the White Saddle Ranch at Bluff Lake. We had hoped to pick up a few extra supplies (chips and beer) at the general store in the tiny settlement of Tatla Lake, but it seems the town is only open M-W-F, also I’m not convinced anyone actually lives there. We arrived at the Ranch around 0900, chatted with Patrick, then Audrey King. Mike and Clint were out flying mining crews and fire fighting operations, so we had a few hours to kill until we could saddle up. We chased a small patch of shade behind their office for a while, until eventually loading up the Bell 407 in the early afternoon. The flight into the Range was only about 25 minutes. Clint landed briefly at Plummer Hut to drop off Matteo and Ethan, before peeling off downslope for Nick and I’s drop off at Sunny Knob, in the valley below. We squinted as the rotor wash eased and the buffeting of the helicopter faded into the distance. The silence was brief, as falls of snow, rock, and ice soon boomed from across the valley – phenomena that would be omnipresent both day and night over the next several days. We piled snow over a natural rock basin and let the sun melt a few litres of water for the following day. Pastels flooded the sky as the sun set on our open bivy at Sunny Knob.

 

The jagged shadow of the Serras cast over the mellow glacier tongue below

July 28 – We awoke the next morning at 0400 for a warm up climb on Tiedemann Tower’s South Face (10-, 630m, D+). We planned to do the first 2/3 of the route, turning around at a prominent feature along the ridge line – as it turns out, that prominent future was in fact Tiedemann Tower itself. What we thought was the tower was just… a second Tiedemann Tower. So unwittingly we climbed the full 630m route. We were on schedule at the top-out, but the descent was demanding, and required many rappel stations to be equipped off this seldom climbed(?) feature. We quickly burned through most of our 12m of bail tat for the trip, necessitating some piracy and rethreading of other tat we came across along the way for the remainder of the trip. The day was about 17 hours in total. Easy climbing with only a little bit of 5.10-, but the duration of the day meant It wasn’t much of a warm up.

July 29 – On day 3 we slept in and lazed around camp, preparing for a midnight alpine start the following day to bump camp up to the Waddington-Combatant Col. We sorted out which gear to stash at Sunny Knob and played many games of crib. By the early afternoon, another Heli rolled in and begun to circle around Serras IV and V. ‘That’s some crazy terrain to try and get dropped off in…’ Nick and I agreed, curious what these newcomers to the Range were up to. The Serras are a group of five jagged summits, each topping out over 3500m in elevation; Serras IV and V are particularly well guarded by steep, icy, and difficult to access terrain. Egress is equally difficult, for that matter. A few minutes passed as the Heli continued to circle, drop out of site for a while, then circle again. Suspicions grew. Matteo and Ethan had been attempting a high traverse of the Serra-Combatant ridgeline – two days in, we anticipated them to be around the end of the terminus of the Serra group by now. Nick checked the inReach and our suspicions were confirmed. ‘Injured leg pretty badly, already called in the cavalry’…or something to that effect. Shortly after, the Heli disappeared from sight and earshot. The radio provided by White Saddle was stashed up at the hut with Ethan and Matteo’s gear, so I hurriedly had to figure out how to program the appropriate duplex repeater frequency into my Baofeng radio, in hopes of getting a more thorough status update from White Saddle. This was eventually successful and I briefly chatted with Mike King – Matteo had successfully been extracted. This was a somewhat audacious rescue from 3400m; turbulent winds can rip around those peaks and steep terrain prohibits any sort of proper helicopter landing.

Sun high in the sky, this is a hole I do not wish to climb into

Thank god those hikers got out safe

While this all came as a bit of an ‘oh shit’ moment, Nick and I agreed that there wasn’t really anything we could do about it, and we should proceed with the rest of our trip as planned. We slept early that evening, trying to get some pre-alpine start rest. The booms of calving ice and rock rumbled across the valley through the night.

July 30 – Alarms went off at midnight. Nick and I discussed our upcoming plan for that night; to bump camp above the Waddington-Combatant Col. This would involve complex crevasse navigation through unknown and highly active glacial terrain, as well as at least one pitch of technical ice to punch through the seracs atop the Col. No small undertaking through the dark of a moonless night. Ultimately it was decided that the objective hazard was too high to proceed with this plan. We scanned through the guidebook under dim headlamps, in search of alternatives for later that day. We settled on Day Trip, a short route on the lower spur of Combatant Peak. In the morning we set out to weave through 10m wide crevasses on the way to the base of the route. A huge avalanche had ripped down the 1500m face of Mt Tiedemann a few days prior to our arrival – the debris was piled long and deep across the glacier, even filling in the northern portion of some of the wider crevasses, which aiding our navigation to the base of the route. The toe of the spur we had planned to climb was surrounded by a deep moat, hang-fire loomed above. This was not the same glacier the first ascensionists had encountered in July 1992. We poked around a bit for alternatives before begrudgingly backing off. The base of this 1500m face of snow, rock, and ice was no place to loiter through the heat of the day. We plodded across avalanche debris back to Sunny Knob.

Low on the ridge of Serra II

July 31 – We awoke at 0230 and loaded up with bivy gear, rock rack, tools, crampons, and two days of food. Our packs were heavy as we began to scramble up from camp at around 0330. The remainder of our gear was left behind, stashed under a boulder at Sunny Knob. We weren’t entirely sure when we’d get back to it again. Our plan was to climb the South Face of Serra II (really the route is more of a ridge), then top-out and descend the Tellot Glacier to Plummer Hut, where we would mooch off Ethan and Matteo’s food and beer for the remainder of the trip – for they had packed in a much more luxuriant manner than Nick and I. We simul-climbed through the majority of that day’s terrain, mostly 45° snow and mid-5th rock tackled in mountain boots, but a few trickier pitches demanded rock shoes. One minor mishap occurred when Nick punched through snow into sharp talus at the base of a short rappel; the laceration demanded some first aid, but was dealt with quickly and wasn’t much of a hinderance.

We reached the chossy ledges of Phantom Tower by 1630. Poor bivy options did exist here, which we contemplated but ultimately bypassed. This was the right decision. An excellent, flat bivy can be found atop a small rise a few hundred meters ahead. However we chose to continue further up steep snow to regain the ridgeline, where we were relieved to find another good two person bivy with spectacular views of Phantom Tower and the west side of the Tiedemann trench. Past parties had laboriously built up the platform from talus; a bit sharp but mostly flat. Just don’t roll over in your sleep if you’re on the outside.

A spectacular bivy overlooking Phantom Tower

Aug 1 – We set off at 0700 the next morning. Rock shoes on from the bivy. About five varied pitches to 5.9 led us to a flat ridge traverse, and then a final, long 45° snow slope. We whipped on the crampons and plunged tools upwards for a couple hundred metres. It seemed wise to rope up as we crossed and ascended the isothermal snow slope. This particular slope has apparently claimed a couple lives over the years, one from an early Fred Beckey party, and an unfortunate incident as recently as 2017. We simulled 60 m apart and were able to keep a piece of rock gear or a picket between us the whole time. We topped out on the Serra II – Serra III col then climbed a final glorious pitch along the high alpine sidewalk that is the summit ridge of Serra II. Winds howled as we hastily made our descent back to the col, then made three 60 m raps off a variety of janchors down the Hidden Couloir (jan·chor: contraction of janky and anchor; usually constructed of rusty pitons and/or an old nut, all tied together with a nest of sun bleached webbing). Once down at the Tellot Gl we plodded through soft snow back to Plummer Hut.

Traversing a high snow slope, around 3400m

The epic summit ridge of Serra II

The hut hosts a fine selection of mountain literature

Packs were left in a heap outside the hut. We wasted little time before rummaging through Matteo and Ethan’s basecamp duffels, quickly finding what we were looking for. We each cracked a beer and leaned back on the hut’s porch to soak in the spectacular view. The hut is in good condition, featuring a diverse library, decks of cards, and few other amenities. The new outhouse is a fine open-door excursion. 12/10 would recommend.

Aug 2 – After making a guest appearance on the VIU hydromet webcam – which goes off at 09:01:10 – we went for a quick simul romp up the West Ridge of Claw Peak, immediately next to the hut. We climbed it in about 45 minutes, then spent twice that time lazing at the top, identifying peaks in the distance and watching the clouds roll in. Weather rolled in by mid afternoon, which would keep us hut-bound for the next day.

Aug 3 – Strong winds ripped through the night and some medium sized creature was chewing at the cabin foundations – likely a wolverine passing through, it was later decided. The day was spent digging into Matteo and Ethans food and playing crib. We rigged up ropes and ice axes for an hour long climber’s workout.

Summer at Plummer

Nick Brown following The Ice Funnel, a crumbling mess of seracs looming below

Aug 4 – We awoke around 0630. The winds had subsided, giving way to around 10cm of snow accumulation. We grabbed a set of wands from the hut and wandered out across the Tellot in ping pong ball conditions. By the time we reached the base of Dentiform Peak on the Upper Tellot, we had punched through the worst of the clouds. We climbed two pitches of snow, ice, and mixed rock up The Ice Funnel (55°, 120m, AD) on Dentiform, and turned around shy of the start of the Harvard Route slabs, which were buried with snow and smears of ice. We arrived back at the hut by 1500 and buzzed White Saddle on the radio, in hopes of a weather update. Following some back-and-forth, ’Do you think you could fly out in an hour’s time?’ was their proposal. Apparently some unstable weather was inbound and it was uncertain if we’d be able to get picked up in time if we pushed our stay. And so, we finished that last of the hut beer, packed up our gear, along with Matteo and Ethan’s, and piled packs at the heli landing zone. 

The heli crested Cataract Col around 1615. We hurriedly loaded gear and bumped down to Sunny Knob to pick up the remainder of our gear cache. We accidentally overloaded the tail compartment, so Nick had to stay in the cockpit to balance out the helicopter’s weight out while I crouch-sprinted back and forth to pick up the rest of our bags. We were back at the White Saddle Ranch by 1645. We decided to punch it home that evening, and were back in Squamish by 0400 the next morning.

Aug 5, 6, 7 -  A day of decompression was much needed. Nick and I both mucked a large salad from Kululu cafe when we finally awoke around 1100 that morning. The trip was rounded off by a day of climbing The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers and another on The Great Game. Much lazing in the sun was had.

[End of trip report]


Included below is my expedition plan for a Summer climbing trip to the Waddington Range. Posted here as it may include some helpful trip planning info and nice gear lists. The majority of this plan was prepared prior to the trip, additions made upon completion of the trip in 2022 have been included in red. Plan focuses on logistics for our planned trip and is obviously not comprehensive. Perhaps not even accurate.

1. Expedition Overview

1.1 Start and End Dates

Tentative dates set for July 23 to August 07, 2022.

1.2 Zones

Planning to spend time in the core area of the Waddington Range, in close proximity to Mt Waddington and the Tiedeman group. This presents the highest density of moderate rock objectives, good proximity to Waddington proper, as well as the Serras and Plummer Hut area.

1.3 Basic Itinerary

Date Time Event Description
23 July AM Drive to White Saddle Heliport Vancouver- Squamish-Bluff Lk. Pullout camp for the night near Tatla Lk.
24 July 0900ish Fly in Heli into Waddington. Est. 45 minute flight, 60km.
1000 Setup Basecamp Hike to basecamp location, setup, get settled, scope objectives.
25 Jul – 6 Aug - Climbing objectives, as described in Section 3. No fixed itinerary. Possible objectives below. See Section 4 for a example detailed itinerary.
7 Aug 0700 Fly out Waddington to Bluff Lk
0900 Burgers
1000 Drive to Vancouver Long drive, late night back to Squamish/ Vancouver

Nick H is completely flexible with dates. Nick B is less flexible – can probably shift back a few days only.

2. Basecamp

Potential basecamp zones as follows:

2.1 Above Combatant Col

Flight to Hickson or Combatant Col (see Section 4). High elevation; 2500 – 3000m basecamp.

  • More costly heli
  • Weight restrictions apply
  • Flight very weather dependant
  • Easy access to Combatant, Waddington, Hickson
  • Limited access to alternate zones, incl Plummer Hut and Serras (1+ day)
  • Apparently a burly spot to camp. Exposed. Build good snow walls. Confirmed, the winds rip in the Range.
  • Sea level to 3000m in one day might suck

2.2 Rainy Knob / Sunny Knob

Flight to Rainy Knob /Sunny Knob. Lower elevation; 2100m basecamp.

  • Wider variety of objective options compared with above-col basecamp
  • Good access to Waddington via Bravo Gl and Tiedeman Gl
  • Moderate access to Combatant via the Col (1- day). Ascending the Col is not a simple endeavor. Would require travel through the night and looked like a roped pitch of serac ice to surmount. Success not guaranteed.
  • Moderate access to Plummer Hut and Serras (0.5 day)
  • Comfortable camp sites. Sunny Knob meadow.
  • Sunny knob is exposed rock by late July and melting snow for water is easy, thanks to the big hot sun. Some snowmelt streams can be found nearby too.

2.3 Plummer Hut

Commonly visited basecamp. Elevation; 2700m.

  • Hut and outhouse
  • Poor access to Waddington
  • Excellent access to Tellot Gl Peaks
  • Good staging for big traverse
  • Route options generally shorter; 2 to 8 pitches
  • Good variety of easy to hard routes
  • A very nice place to be during storms

2.4 Dragonback Camp

  • High on the Tellow Gl
  • We are unlikely to end up here, but it’s good to be aware of

It makes sense for the heli-drop to be as close to basecamp as possible. A good option could be to get dropped high at the Combatant Col, then move basecamp down Sunny Knob for the second half of the trip, or vice-versa.

3. Objectives

Primary focus on repeating existing rock routes in the range. New route exploration is not a priority. Ice routes are subsidiary to rock routes. Possible objectives are numerous, but some of our higher priority options are as follows:

  • Waddington, various options, dictated by conditions. See Section 3.1;
  • The classic Skywalk Buttress(ED1 5.9 600m), Combatant;
  • Long route on buttress of the Tiedeman Group (aspirational, all very gnar).

Potential objectives include:

3.1 Waddington

Waddington has four prominent peaks. Ascents of any can be combined with an ascent of the main summit. There is a prominent glacier terrace ~250m below the summit.

3.1.1 Tiedemann Gl to the terrace
  • Bravo Spur (5th, 500m) p227 #172. Not a top choice, but an easier option. A few days round trip. Still fairly complex glacier and crevasse navigation.
3.1.2 Combatant Col to the terrace
  • Kiwi Route (D+ 50deg 5.7 1000m) p235 #180. A very good option.
  • Flavelle-Lane (TD+ 55deg 5.8 980m) p235 #181. Good option if we’re feeling strong.
  • Various, with more ice p236 #183-185
  • Fiery Route (D 55deg) p238 #187. Long walk. Option if conditions are challenging.
3.1.2 Main Summit (4109m)
  • Upper Bravo Gl Route (D 5.7, minor mixed) p224 #169. Conditions vary immensely, can be heavily rimed making things much more difficult. This is the easiest way to the summit
  • Northwest Ridge (D 5.7 mixed) p227 #171. Often heavily rimed and difficult to access due to schrund.
3.1.3 The Tooth

Apparently a spectacular rock tower, with a Patagonian appearance. Could be a cool ‘side trip’ of Waddington Main Tower.

  • South Face (5.7? A2) p228 #176. 

3.2 Combatant

  • Southwest Tower, Skywalk (ED1 5.9 600m) p287 #221
  • Walk on the Wild Side (ED1 5.11 500m) p286 #219
  • Great Couloir (D- 60deg 4th 735m) p287 #222 Good snow warm up/ opportunity to figure out snow conditions
  • Main Summit, Kshatrya (D+ 5.8 735m) p288 #227
  • Day Trip (D 5.9 250m) p291 #231. Accessed from below the Tiedemann Icefall, could be an option from Sunny Knob.

3.3 Tiedemann

Most routes very serious.

  • Southwest Face (TD+ 5.8 1450m) p294 #233. High priority option if basecamp at Sunny Knob. Probably 3 or 4 days round trip. Solid rock.
  • South Face (TD 5.7 45deg 1450m) p294 #234
  • Tiedemann Tower South Face (D+ 5.10 630m) p301 #246

3.4 Serras-Stiletto Group

A much more type-1 place to climb. Plenty of high route options right next to camp (eg. Dragonback)

  • Serra 2, South Ridge (TD 45deg 5.9 1500m) p336 #274. Starts from Sunny knob. Apparently very pleasant. Could be possible in a huge fast day.
  • Serra 3, North Ridge (TD+ 5.6 mixed to 75deg, 1400m) p334 #269
  • Serra 3, The Hose (WI3 420m. Nice) p334 #268. Awesome, not this trip though. [Access from the radiant Gl side]
  • Serra 5, Thunderbird (ED1 50deg 5.10 A1) p327 #255. Access from Sunny knob/ Bivy at Carl’s Camp
  • The Blade, Sundog (ED1 5.11a 525m) p346 #295. 5.7, the 6p of easy 510, to 5.11 crux.

3.5 Mt Hickson

Accessible from the Combatant Col. Nearby peak that overlooks the Schimitar Gl from the Pk

  • South Buttress (AD+ 5.6 350m) p284 #214. Good warmup route for first day, superb quality granite.
  • Southeast Ridge (as above)

4. Example Itinerary

Example (incredibly optimistic) detailed itinerary1 compared with actual itinerary.

 

Date Event Comments/ Route options Actual Trip
July 23 Drive to White Saddle Heliport Vancouver- Squamish-Bluff Lk. Pullout camp for the night near Tatla Lk. ~11h drive Delayed due to weather
July 24 Fly in, setup basecamp, short route Drop off at Combatant Col2. Set up basecamp at the Col. Climb a short route eg. Hotel of Lost Companions (D 5.9 3p 100m). Delayed due to weather
July 25 Kshatrya (D+ 5.8 735m) Delayed due to weather
July 26 Skywalk (ED1 5.9 600m) Depart Vancouver at 4pm, bivy at Tatla Lake Rec Site ~2am.
July 27 A) Active Rest DayB) Full rest day A) South Buttress, Mt Hickson (AD+ 5.6 350m) Includes approach/ descent of ~1.5 hours each way. Start early, return early, sleep early.B) Rest up Finish drive to Bluff Lake, arrive ~830am. Fly in with White Saddle ~2pm. Set up base camp at Sunny Knob.
July 28 Kiwi Route Waddington (D+ 50deg 5.7 100m), to upper Bravo Gl route. 16h return from Col.Alternate option if we’re feeling strong; Flavelle-Lane, Waddington (TD+ 55deg 5.8 980m), 18h return from Col. Options exist for a high bivy3. Depart camp at 0330, Climb South Face, Tiedemann Tower (D+ 5.10- 630m). Duration 17h camp to camp
July 29 Rest day Rest Day
July 30 Bump camp, Combatant Col to Sunny Knob Tear down camp. Half day. Complex descent down the Tiedemann Icefall. Attempt Day Trip (D 5.9 250m), could not access base of route due to moat and serac hazard. Rest for the remainder of the day.
July 31 South Face, Tiedemann Tower (D+ 5.10- 630m) Depart camp at 0400, Climb South Ridge, Serra 2, (TD 45deg 5.9 1500m). High bivy on route.
Aug 1 Rest Day Continue South Ridge. Depart bivy 0700, summit 1430, Plummer Hut 1815.
Aug 2 Southwest Face, Tiedemann (TD+ 5.8 1450m) Limited info, serious outing. 1100 departure. Climb West Ridge, Claw Peak (AD+ 5.6 130m). Laze on the summit, few hr round trip.
Aug 3 Southwest Face, Tiedemann (TD+ 5.8 1450m) Storm. High winds. Rest day at Plummer.
Aug 4 Southwest Face, Tiedemann (TD+ 5.8 1450m) and descent Moderate snow. Depart 0730, climb The Ice Funnel, Dentiform Pk (AD 55deg 120m). 1500 at Plummer. Weather expected soon, 1620 Heli pickup at Plummer. 1715 Begin drive back to Squamish..
Aug 5 Buffer Day 0400 Arrive in Squamish. Sleep and decompress.
Aug 6 Buffer Day Climb The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers, Fluffy Kitten Wall, Squamish (5.11a 180m).
Aug 7 Fly out and drive home Early morning flight Sunny Knob – Bluff Lk.11h drive Bluff Lk – Squamish – Vancouver. Climb The Great Game, Slhanay, Squamish (5.10d 120m). Drive back to Vancouver

 

Notes

  1. Assumes completely splitter weather and superhuman stamina. Unlikely to materialize. But this is a good aspirational trip outline.
  2. Requires perfect calm weather, which is apparently only about 20% of the time p234. Alternate landing zone South side of Hickson if weather/ weight restrictions do not permit. Flight is cheaper, but requires a couple hours hike through crevassed terrain to get to the Col. Hickson offers good easy warm up routes.
  3. If the weather is splitter and we feel like hauling gear for a high bivy, could spend 1 night in snow cave and climb the Tooth via South Face (D 5.7 A2) and/or an easy route on the Northwest Peak. Descend same day.

5. Costs

The estimated total budget for the trip is $1200 – 1500 per person, if in a party of 4. All major expenses to be split 4-ways. Estimates for major expenses below:

Expense Estimated cost Comments Actual Cost Comments
Food $600 14 days food for 4 people. $220 Between 2 people
Gas $400 ~1600km $383 In Tacoma DCLB
Heli $4400 Round trip to Combatant Col. Not guaranteed. - -
$3850 Round trip to Hickson or Rainy Knob. Apparently this cost includes a $100 radio rental, which maybe we can avoid. $4682 Bluff Lk > Plummer > Sunny KnobPlummer > Sunny Knob > Bluff Lk1.6hrs flight time @ $2295/hr = $3672328L fuel @ $2.40/L = $787GST = $223

 

6. Access Options

5.1 Helicopter

White Saddle, based out of Bluff Lk are the go-to; highly experienced in the Range, and are closest. Other options exist from Nimpo Lk and Campbell River, but are both decently more expensive.

5.2 Fixed Wing

Less commonly used, can generally only land on bodies of water or runways. Ski-equipped planes don’t seem to exist any more.

5.2.1 Tweedsmuir Air
  • Depart from Nimpo Lk (13h from Vancouver).
  • Can land on any of the surrounding lakes.
  • Flies Beavers (4-5ppl capacity)
  • $600/hr (in 2002…)
5.2.2 Corilair
  • Flies Beaver equipped with floats
  • Does not land on lakes anymore apparently, only sea. Will not fly to Ephemeron Lk.
  • Airdrops? Fuck no
5.2.3 Island West Air
  • [Defunct]
  • Flies Beaver or Cessna 180
5.2.4 Van City Air
  • From Vancouver
  • Flies Cessna 182 and Beaver on floats
  • Rates $6.35 and $9.35/mile, respectively
  • = about $1400 each way for cessna. Oof.
5.2.5 Vancouver Island Air
  • Only have Otter (9 person capacity, too big)
5.2.6 Glacier air
  • Based in Squamish
  • Has Cessna 185 on floats
  • Very far
5.2.7 BC Air
  • Campbell River
  • Wheeled aircraft only. Can land on beaches etc.
  • Cessna 206 $1295 tax incl up to 5 passengers
  • Cassna 172 $863 500lbs limit
  • $1050 in 206, just under $700 in 172
  • Are allowed to fly with the door off and are open to airdrops
  • Commonly fly loggers into Homathko Camp, and loggers are generally very willing to dovetail flights
  • Seemed to be amenable to interesting access options. Strongly consider for future access to Mt Bute.

7. Contact

White Saddle will give you a reliable, but heavy radio included with the cost of the heli.  Personal radios can also be used to communicate with White Saddle and the White Saddle Repeater. White Saddle Frequencies are as follows:

Simplex (for direct communication with WS, incl direct communication with pilots in the air): 155.250

Repeater (duplex): 155.250 RX No Tone 153.440 TX Tone 141.3Hz

The repeater is located East of the Tiedemann Glacier. It has good coverage most places on the East side of the Range, occasionally patchy near the Knobs. There are a couple other repeater options available to bounce off of too.

8. Resources

Plummer Hut webcam: http://www.viu-hydromet-wx.ca/webcam-viewer/?fbclid=IwAR2BPLiKa-HeJxk1dCNbjH3rw1G0L4RzUi9wTQwVW2EKJR4JOoLBGaZ-L7Y

Weather:

https://spotwx.com/products/grib_index.php?model=gfs_pgrb2_0p25_f&lat=51.38389&lon=-125.25435&tz=America/Vancouver

9. Gear Lists

9.1 Group Gear

Category Items Comments
Technical, Rock/ Ice/ Snow Half Rope
Triple Rated Rope
Rock Pro: Singles .1 – 3, Doubles .2 – 2Set of Nuts
Draws: (6) shoulder slings, (3) Alpine draw, (3) mini quickdraw, 3x 120cm
Iron: Beaks and knifeblades, 8x total
Ice screws: (8), various lengths
Half set of bail nuts
12m bail webbing Should have brought more
24” Picket Useful, 2x would be good
Basecamp Mountain 25 tent, 2-man
Stove
2L pot
Backup Stove, Jetboil
1L pot
Large Isobutane cannister (6) x6 was way too much, we didn’t even finish one. Sun was hot and melted snow for us. But melting snow is likely required at the Col
Repair /extras kit duct tape, paracord, small aquaseal, voile straps, lighters
Small Binocular
Cards / crib board
Large First Aid Kit To stay at basecamp
Small First Aid Kit
8W Radio Baofeng GT-3TP

9.2 Personal Gear

Category Items (A) Items Cont’d (B) Comments
Technical, Rock/ Ice/ Snow Harness Technical crampons
Rock shoes Spare frontpoints and repair hardwear, allen keys for crampons and tools
Approach shoes Ice tool leash (B) Did not use
Mountain boots Chalk bag
Ice tools (2) Helmet
Lightweight aluminum crampons Beacon, shovel, probe
General Sunglasses, case, leash Sun Screen
Headlamp, spare 18650 battery Sun pro chapstick
35L Pack Climbing Radio
65L Pack Spork
Basecamp Duffel Pack towel
Bivy bag Book
Sleeping bag (-18C) Notepad
Gaiters Pencil
3L Camelback Battery bank
2L Water Bladder Iphone charge
1L Nalgene Camera (B) D300 w 18-200mm. Did not use much.
Ski pole (1)
Apparel Sock (6) Big Puffy
Long sleeve base layer Sun Hoody (B) Hero of the trip
Underwear (6) Wind shell
Long underwear Touque
Thin climbing pants Baseball cap
Thicker climbing pants Thin glove
Shell pants Big gloves (B) Not used
Shell jacket Fisherman’s gloves (B) Used a lot
Mid Puffy
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One Response to Climbing in the Waddington

  1. Alex Wharton says:

    Wow!! Incredible trip!!

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