Page Type:
|
Route |
|---|---|
Lat/Lon:
|
51.70863°N / 116.64562°W |
Route Type:
|
Ice Climbing |
Season:
|
Winter |
|
Time Required:
|
A few days |
|
Difficulty:
|
Grade WI2-5+ |
|
Number of Pitches:
|
1 |
|
Grade:
|
II |
|
5 new routes with backcountry lodge access
% New Routes at Mistaya LodgeThis new area is amazing. It's a guide's dream location for themselves and clients. It offers a fully catered back country lodge about a mile from the main ice climbs. A few hundred meters from the hut are two relatively easy climbs.
Only people with preivious backcountry ski experience should go on this trip. The short ski down to the climbs is technical.
Getting There
Recommended: Fly in and stay at Mistaya Lodge www.mistayalodge.com OR dirve to the end of the plowed section of the Blaeberry forest service route. Then skidoo 40 km to the trailhead (GR 211297)and ski up wildcat creek and camp below the climbs (GR 244287, elevation 1800m).The lodge is highly recommended. It's a comfortable lodge with a cook, breakfast and supper served, and a wood burning sauna for the evenings. It's a perfect place to dry out after climbing. The ice climbs are easliy accessible with half hour/hour ski each morning/evening.
Exit: Come out the way you came or do a 25km, 15 mile, 8 hr ski traverse over the Wapta Icefield, which we did, to a car at Bow Lake. Contact the lodge for details on the traverse.
Route Description
Wildcat Wall GR 244287, 1800mClimbs: (L-R)
A: Mistaya Pillar WI5+, 55m ***
Climb the aesthitic, steep pillar to a ramp to a smaller curtain. FA Brandon Pullan, Brian Merry
B: Ginny's Corner WI4+, 55m *
Up steep, hollow pillars and curtain in a corner for 35m to a ramp and to the top. FA Brandon Pullan, Brian Merry
C: The Cat Came Back WI4+, 55m **
Start on the right and climb the amazing curtain to a steep groove. FA Brian Merry, Brandon Pullan
Wildcat Falls area, just below Mistaya Lodge GR 252277, 2070m
D: House Cat WI3, 5.5, 60m *
The smear to the left of the main falls and up a rock ramp to the main falls. Bring a few pins and 1"-2" cams. FA Brandon Pullan
E: WildCat Falls WI2, 60m
Beneath the Hut is the main cascading falls and a smear to the left. FA Brandon Pullan
Essential Gear
Standard ice rack and a few 1"-2" cams for the mixed line.External Links
www.gravsports-ice.comwww.mistayalodge.com