| Ski Mountaineering Photos from Mount Columbia Approach Day | May 9, 2009 |
Today we skied up the Athabasca Glacier. We avoided the seracs of Snowdome by taking the zigzag route up the glacier instead. We heard that Snowdome was dropping more seracs recently than usual so we opted for the safer route up. The ascent was very warm and I even had to bare my legs at one point. The weather was cloudy but we could still see Mount Athabasca and Mount Andromeda. As we got onto the icefield it started snowing a lot and all we could see was white. The monotony of the scenery made me tired and I closed my eyes for short periods of time while we were skiing. I made a game of how long I could close my eyes before I had to open them again. I was 5th in line and the skis stayed in the tracks on their own most of the time. We made it down to the trench without incident. My skins were too fast and made it difficult for me to keep a taut rope. After setting up camp the mountains to the South West cleared up and we could see most of Mount Bryce. So far no sight of Mount Columbia or the Twins. But the weather forecast for tomorrow looks good
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The moon rising from Mount Wilson. Photo taken from Rampart Creek Hostel.
The moon rising from Mount ...
View from the Columbia Icefield parking lot.
View from the Columbia ...
Marion and Yuri.
Marion and Yuri.
The author.
The author.
Nigel Peak to the East.
Nigel Peak to the East.
Mount Andromeda on the right.
Mount Andromeda on the right.
Skiing up the Athabasca Glacier.
Skiing up the Athabasca ...
Sheri stopping for a photo.
Sheri stopping for a photo.
A panoramic view of the AA col, Mount Andromeda and the Athabasca Glacier.
A panoramic view of the AA ...
Mount Andromeda. The Skyladder route follows the snow on the right side of the the mountain.
Mount Andromeda. The ...
Skiing to the upper reaches of the Athabasca Glacier.
Skiing to the upper reaches ...
The author.
The author.
The seracs of Snowdome loom ahead of us.
The seracs of Snowdome loom ...
A panorama of the upper glacier.
A panorama of the upper ...
Skiing beneath Snowdome.
Skiing beneath Snowdome.
Skiing across the glacier with some cool ice nearby.
Skiing across the glacier ...
Skiing across the glacier on our zigzag route.
Skiing across the glacier on ...
Skiing across the glacier on our zigzag route.
Skiing across the glacier on ...
Sheri posing with ice coming off Mount Andromeda in the background.
Sheri posing with ice coming ...
Skiing up the second ramp.
Skiing up the second ramp.
Another shot of the ice coming off Andromeda.
Another shot of the ice ...
A panorama of the final zig of our zigzag route.
A panorama of the final zig ...
Skiing towards the final ramp.
Skiing towards the final ramp.
A panorama of the icefall coming off Snowdome onto the upper Athabasca Glacier.
A panorama of the icefall ...
Taking a break before the final ramp.
Taking a break before the ...
A close up of the ice hanging off of Snowdome.
A close up of the ice hanging ...
Skiing up the final ramp.
Skiing up the final ramp.
Skiing up the final ramp.
Skiing up the final ramp.
Lots of ice hanging off of Snowdome.
Lots of ice hanging off of ...
Our camp at the trench. No photos from the icefield since it was a whiteout.
Our camp at the trench. No ...
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