adventures with Jen Olson

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The Highest Height in Alberta: Mt. Columbia 3747m

Thanks again to Mammut for facilitating this fantastic adventure.

Image

Gery – our fearless leader

Gery Unterasinger organized us: myself and five strong men from Calgary who call themselves the White Clothed Peaks. We set off in a great weather window to summit the highest peak in Alberta. Mt. Columbia at 3747m.

off to the ‘races’

We started by meeting in Lake Louise at 6:30 am, which got us skiing by 10 am. After competing with the Brewster Ice buses at the Athabasca Glacier.

The graceful wilderness approach to the Athabasca glacier

We were happy to connect with Mark Klassen who showed us a ‘safer’ way to traverse through the three icefalls of the glacier- one of the cruxes of the route.

traversing through the icefalls

The rest of the trip had a lot of flatish glacier slogging. Where you could watch your dog run away ;)   I was grateful when I pulled up and saw the digging of our campsite — which meant I could unload the beast that was on my back.

your dog is in BC

We were blessed with some amazing weather, which made for fantastic cooking conditions and lifestyle photos at dawn and dusk.

oh, the light!

Unfortunately, there was some suffering. Ground meat surface around the feet, elephantitis around the face and one suspicious case of altitude sickness cause some vomitting:

NOT fun

This is an example of me ‘being comfortable’ winter camping in perfectly reasonable temperatures:

anyone have an extra layer or hot beverage?

The greatest rewards from this trip include: being with some quality folks who were giving it their ALL! and the amazing vistas to the west and to the north.

the vastness

I must say that I think the greatest joy of the trip, other than the fragrance of our clothes, was the relief felt when the ‘rental’ boots came off!

oh, please make it stop

I am very proud of these guys for enduring the suffering of rental equipment and naivety, but they survived a very physically challenging adventure and received the rewards of amazing scenery and a job ‘well done’!

sweet as

Posted by  |  May 17, 2012 | Categories: Alpine Climbing, Ski Touring | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Aguja Guillaumet Squared

I am grateful to Saule Zukauskaite, Arunas Kamandulis, and Gediminas Simutis for this fantastic opportunity to climb in Patagonia. Saule, Aras and Gedas proposed this trip to Mammut for the 150 year project and it was selected. Thanks to Mammut for choosing me to accompany this talented team of young climbers.

For more information on Aguja Guillaumet look here.

We climbed the routes: Brenner-Moschioni  350 m 6b and Comesaña-Fonrouge 350 meters 6b+

The view from my window at my posada, Inlandsis, the day of our departure

Buenos Dias and the waning Luna

Gedas, Saule and Aras... ready to giv'er

definitely 6 tons!

Starting the grind...

We started our march to the promised land on December 12th. We ended up camping in the valley at Piedra del Fraile after taking a load up to Piedra Negra. On December 13, we hiked from the valley at ~500m, changed up our loads at Piedra Negra (~1300m) and continued up to Paso Guillaumet where the rock climbing begins, a few pitches of quality rock climbing gets you to the aesthetic crux pitch.

At Piedre Negra, ready for action

The left summit is Guillaumet

The crux pitch on the Brenner-Moschioni

Saule on perfect alpine granite

loving the shadows and the cracks

Rising to the ridgeline

Looking back at the ridge we climbed

Summit Shot ~2579m

We gratefully summited at 8:30pm after ascending a little over 2000m from the valley.

starting the descent with fantastic views

the shadow of the aguja in the valley below

We rappelled the Guillot couloir into fading light.

Finishing the rappels, back to the Paso Guillaumet for a midnight snack

We arrived back at our tents around 3 am. We spend the next day resting, recovering and sheltering ourselves from the heat and the sun. Climbers say they haven’t seen it be so hot here in previous seasons.

On December 14, we decided to head back up Aguja Guillaumet–to minimize our time on the not so frozen snow. Aras, Gedas and Saule did a great job of leading us up the approach on snow, keeping the momentum on the route and up to the Amy couloir.

Crux Pitch of Comesaña-Fonrouge

Fitzroy group shadow on Pollone

a happy guida

Gedas leading the rappels

the last rappel

Racing down to beat the heat

Gratefully back at the trailhead, without our packs on our backs

crammed into the taxi

Posted by  |  December 16, 2011 | Categories: Alpine Climbing, International, Rock Climbing | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Team Lithuania in Patagonia

Gedis, Aras and Saule

Today we went for a 5 pitch rock climb. Bolts, around 5.10 or 6a. Very fun outing. A little bit windy– good training for us to get to know each other and get into thinking about alpine climbing.

Gedis on the 1st pitch

in the rhythm

enjoying the views

the wind picks up

our 1st summit - many more to come ; )

to rescue training...

So after a day of getting to know each other and some rescue review… we are off to the mountains. Tomorrow we will hike into Piedre Negra and hope to climb Guillomet and Aguja Pollone in the next couple days….

Posted by  |  December 11, 2011 | Categories: Alpine Climbing, International, Rock Climbing | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Classic Chamonix Climbs with fellow Canucks, Joanna and Tom

get your game face on for the Aiguille du Midi arete

the Cherie Couloir on the triangle du tacul... beside the trois mont route on mont blanc

the crux pitch ~ WI 3-4

Joanna cranking out the crux

Tom is happy not to be under Joanna or any other parties for that matter : )

the last pitch of perfect ice and stone

an impressive glacier and valley far below

riding the Helbronner to the Torino hut, a mountain guide's dream of transportation

Bonjourno Dent du Geante and Torino rifugio

"getting dressed" in the morning

Aiguille de Entrevs ridge traverse from right to left

So many great ridge photos!

Joanna coming to grips with her fear of exposed places! WOW! impressive...

great views from the Helbronner

OUT OF THE MONT BLANC MASSIF AND ONTO THE AIGUILLE ROUGE SIDE OF THE VALLEY TO APPRECIATE WHERE WE HAVE BEEN….

its all about the vistas

Traverse of the Crochues follows the ridge from left to right starting at the 'V' notch

a superb ridge traverse

Next stop... Lac Blanc

the popular Lac Blanc, well worth the hike

sit down, relax, eat and drink: croute, omlette, tart, beer, wine and rose!

a tipsy bumble back to the top of the Index lift

a sweet ride down before the evening storm

Posted by  |  August 27, 2011 | Categories: Alpine Climbing, International | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

High Route from Chamonix to Zermatt

prepping for the glaciers

Great trails in all weather conditions

Amazing wildflowers this year

sometimes the bad weather makes for beautiful waterfalls and fog

Posted by  |  August 17, 2011 | Categories: Alpine Climbing, Hiking, International | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Mont Blanc

A photo story of climbing this prolific mountain from the Cosmiques Hut on the traverse of the three summits.

Mont Blanc from Lac des Cheserys

Early Morning Light on the Tacul du Mont Blanc

Weaving through the seracs on the Tacul du Mont Blanc

Perfect conditions despite the storm

the traverse from the tacul to the maudit

the technical cruxes of the route lie on the Mont Maudit

Pitched climbing on the Maudit

Amazing views of the Aiguille du Midi rising above the clouds

Castles in the Sky

SUMMIT! despite challenging winds, late start and adverse conditions ; )

descending the Gouter ridge

On the way down from the Tete Rousse hut in the morning

Walking the tracks when the train is under repair

On a recent trip, we summitted the Tacul du Mont Blanc under adverse conditions:

Walking out of the Aiguille du Midi requires full concentration

winds on the summit ridge

turn the volume down ; )

climbing to the summit of the tacul

a grateful summit without wind

rush hour on the aiguille du midi

Posted by  |  July 9, 2011 | Categories: Alpine Climbing, International | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Chicks with Picks in Ouray, Colorado

never enough jackets ; )

Nice form Beth!

Ya Maiija, rockin it

Diane showing us how its done : )

Kim and Angela are VIC's (very important chicks)another challenge

Good times

Posted by  |  March 26, 2011 | Categories: Climbing Adventures in North America | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Mt. Assiniboine in all its Glory

the mission

Michael and Jen

Barry Blanchard

Kai Larson

from the hind hut

perfect cramponing for the first third : )

Wakey Wakey, the sun is up and its a glorious day

takin a coffee break ; )

where the difficulties begin : )

Kai gettin busy

such a hard life, this mountain godding : )

Nearing the summit ridge

Yea! We made it... half way ; )

the spectacular east face beckons

you're faking it well, Michael ; )

A photo essay of an amazing trip to Mt. Assiniboine September 29, 2010. Unexpected good conditions and travel partners made this ascent serendipitous…..

A big thanks to Michael Penny who brought us up here, and my fellow mountain guide Barry and partner, Kai for blazing the path whilst entertaining us.

A big kudos to Sepp Renner and the lodge staff for all the support, including heli’s!

 

Posted by  |  October 7, 2010 | Categories: Alpine Climbing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Chris, the Bugaboos and a Grizzly Bear

Chris and I recently went to the Bugaboos and had a great adventure involving lots of fresh snow and a hungry grizzly bear.

starting in the RAIN

It wasn’t too hot or too buggy on our rainy hike up to the Kain Hut : )

a rest before the final leg up to the hut

its not hard to get your pack on the hangar with a meter of snow under your feet

On July 3, we hike up to Eastpost Spire via Appleby campground where there was a meter of snow still! We had about 20cm foot pen in the new fresh snow. Very skiiable.

a wee bit of neige

Summit Photo!

I summitted too!

We decided to make a day of getting back to the car and so we headed over the Brenta-Cobalt Lake Sattelite Spire Col to Cobalt Lake.

Chris said he would of gone for a swim if it was warmer ; )

Then the Grizzly incident. He was not scared of us. There was no bluff charge. He just wanted what he smelled and it was coming from our direction and that was all.

hungry bear

After Chris scared the bear off we got ourselves up and over Black Forest ridge and onto the donkey trail back to the trailhead. Good times.

we hollered for bears all the way back to the trailhead ; )

Thanks for the trip Chris. A Grand Adventure.

Posted by  |  July 4, 2010 | Categories: Alpine Climbing, Hiking | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Multi-pitch Skills

Cecile and Corina learning the ropes

Cecile and Corina learning the ropes

By breaking up some classic crack climbs into shorter pitches, we can learn a ton, in a very short time, about transitions on multi-pitch climbs. We had great weather and a super fun time learning these skills late in the summer in Squamish.

Posted by  |  September 30, 2009 | Categories: Rock Climbing | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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