Alpine Style - Baffin

Spirits of Asgard

jon walsh — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 23:10:00 +0000

It's been a busy summer as always and I'm getting behind on updating this blog. About six weeks ago, the video Spirits of Asgard was released, and has been very well received. It's been posted to Outside Television, as well as received a Vimeo Staff pick, so it's recieved a lot of views, which is pretty cool! A huge congratulations to Joshua Lavigne for producing it. Check his website for more photos of the trip as well as the July / August 2013 issue of Gripped which features some pics and a 2500 word story I wrote about it. Josh's words and images are also shared in the 2013 Canadian Alpine Journal. Although the video covers the "darker" aspects of our trip, such as a couple of close calls we had, it was very a fun and successful trip. Some photos and stories have been shared here on a blog post from last August, but I thought I'd take a few a minutes to share a few more images as I link the the video here, as an attempt to share a greater visual tour of the amazing landscape Baffin has to offer.

Spirits of Ásgarðr from ARC'TERYX on Vimeo.

The north side of Mt. Asgard and the reason for going here.

Ines and Josh enjoying perfect weather and spectacular views on the 60km approach.

One of the many stream crossings

Sunrise at Summit Lake

We were always hungry!

A cariboo skull and atlers on the Turner Glacier, and the first views of the 1200m high North Face of Mt. Asgard

Getting up the Turner Gl. required a lot of stream hopping, which sometimes required following them for a long ways before finding the easiest spot to jump.

Base camp on the turner. Asgard peaking through the clouds.

Our kitchen and living room for about a week

Ines getting started up the incredible south Buttress of Mt. Loki

Smiles on the summit of Loki

Getting high on Asgard. Mt. Loki is the highest rock peak accross the glacier and our base camp is on the strip of rock, directly below its summit. Photo by Joshua Lavigne

Josh and Ines folllow yet another pitch of perfect splitters

Josh getting western, a couple ofpitches below the summit

Ines at base camp below Asgard.

New Routing on Mt. Asgard

jon walsh — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 01:30:16 +0000

Auyuittuq 2012 - ascents of Mt. Loki and Mt. Asgard

Mt. Asgard's previously unclimbed 1200-meter north face was our main objective for the trip, with our line of ascent in red

On the morning of July 17^th, Joshua Lavigne, Ines Papert and I, got off the plane in Pangnirtung, Baffin Island. Three hours later we were cruising past the icebergs on the Fiord, propelled by the twin outboard motors on the back of our outfitters fishing boat. We soon said our goodbyes, arranged a pick up date, and began the trek up the Weasel Valley into Auyuittuq National Park.

After three days of rugged approaching, frigid creek crossings, and tantalizing vistas of the valley’s huge granite walls, we arrived at base camp on the Turner Glacier, directly below the North Face of Mt. Asgard. Another big day was spent returning to the valley bottom to retrieve a cache of supplies and equipment that had been placed in the winter by snowmobile, which was followed a much needed rest day. More rest would have been nice, but a second sleep-in would have to do. Great weather had us setting out up the nearby south buttress of Mt. Loki, the second most beautiful peak in our vicinity. A continuous crack system from glacier to summit enticed us, and we climbed it in thirteen 60-meter pitches. Old rappel stations were encountered the whole way. We suspect we repeated the only route described in the guidebook, put up by Kiwi climbers some 20 years earlier. It was likely the second ascent, first free ascent, and was very similar in quality and length to the Bugaboos ultra classic Becky Chouinard. If this route had been in the Bugs, it would see daily line-ups!

After another rest day we committed to our main objective, the 1200-meter unclimbed north face of Mt. Asgard’s south tower, with three days of food, fuel, and good weather forecasted. We started right at the toe of the NW prow and were soon making good progress, leading in blocks of three to five pitches. One seconder would usually follow on ascenders, while other would climb the pitch, except on easier or traversing pitches where both climbers would climb. After 12 pitches, we ditched our bags on a big ledge and began exploring options. Two and half traverse pitches were climbed towards the west face, where we were hoping to find access to a spectacular system of corners and face cracks, but to no avail. After reversing the traverse and deciding to bivi on the nice ledge sheltered by an overhanging corner, two pitches of difficult wide cracks were climbed, and 75-meters of rope were fixed to speed things up the next day.

With two sleeping bags zipped together and three people inside, it was one of the warmest bivis on a ledge any of us had ever experienced! The next day, we ascended our lines and continued to the top, eventually wrapping around to the west face. Here we found by far the best climbing of the trip. Although the stone quality had been excellent the whole way, it seemed to get better the higher we got. 150-meters from the top, dark clouds swept over from the south, and it soon began to lightly rain or snow. At 11 p.m., we all stood on the summit, shrouded by thick fog that limited the visibility to a mere 30-meters.

Despite the poor visibility but with previous knowledge of the descent from a few years back, we decided to begin the rappels down the normal descent route of the smaller south side of the mountain, hoping to escape the exposure of the summit before the conditions worsened. The wind was gusting hard as the storm intensified, and it was the darkest park of the arctic night, yet we hadn’t anticipated the crux to be on the relatively easy / straightforward decent.

The technical rappelling, interspersed with loose slippery down climbing went by slowly but surely. We were making good progress, but already cold and wet before it started raining and eventually snowing in the early hours of the following day. With only 300 meters of 4^th class slab scrambling to go to reach the glacier we had no option but to huddle under the 8x10 foot tarp we carried until conditions improved. Finally, after about six long hours of shivering, the sun came out and warmed us just enough to continue safely to the glacier, where we were able to eat, drink, and recharge for the hike back around the mountain to base camp.

All 29-pitches of our route were free climbed, on-sight, except for a five-meter section of icy squeeze chimney with verglassed walls. Had it been dry, it would have been a straightforward bit of 5.10. It was the only aid on the route save for one wet move on the final pitch. Technically, the hardest climbing had been 5.11+, which was certainly easier than we had expected, and the route would be a good candidate for one-day, all-free attempt, for a two-person team.

After some rest we moved back down to the Weasel Valley, intent on spending our last week on some other peaks we had eyed up on the way in. However, the sad news of my father losing his 8-year battle to MSA, a rare form of Parkinson’s disease, reached us by satellite phone and put a quick end to any climbing thoughts. The new task for me was to make it to his funeral in just three days. A three-day hike had to be made in one huge day, and then flights needed to be changed. So with heavy packs, and heavier hearts, a difficult and rainy trek began back to civilization began. Joshua and Ines had no issues with accompanying me on this for which I was grateful. We considered ourselves lucky to have had the weather and conditions at the start of the trip, and all felt satisfied with what we had just accomplished. With the cold, low-pressure weather system that had just settled in and that was also forecasted for the week ahead, it was perhaps just as well to be leaving, this special and spectacular land.

Trip summary:

-First Ascent of the North Face of Mt. Asgard’s south tower - 5.11+ A1, 1200m (Lavigne, Papert, Walsh) July 24^th-26^th, 2012, 60 hours round trip from base camp

-First Free Ascent of the south buttress of Mt. Loki – 5.10+, 650m (Lavigne, Papert, Walsh) July 22, 2012

Without the generous help from the following sponsors, this trip would not have been possible and we’d like to deeply thank:

Arcteryx, Mountain Equipment Coop, The Inspire Award, Black Diamond, Scarpa, Lowa, Vega, Julbo, Gore-Tex, Stoked Roasted

Also, a big thank you to the staff at Auyittuq Park in Pangnirtung, for being so helpful and considerate surrounding the difficult circumstances we faced at the end, and to our outfitter Peter Kilabuk for the boat services.

Perfect boating conditions on the Pangnirtung Fiord

Hiking near the entrance to the Weasel Valley

Mt. Thor on the left and Mt. Odin on the rightprovide stunning views along the trail

One of the many frigid creek crossings

Summit lake at sunrise. This was the view from our second campsite

Ines poses in front of Mt. Asgard on the Turner Glacier with a cariboo skull and antlers

Coffee time at base camp!

Me, jumping one of the many streams on the Turner Glacier

Ines navigating crevasses on the way to Mt. Loki

Ines leading on the South Buttress of Mt. Loki

Perfect rock on Loki

The view across to Mt. Asgard's 1200 meter high north face

Summit group shot

Mt. Loki from Mt. Asgard with our camp and line of ascent

Asgard in all it's glory

The last rays of sun at base camp

Gearing up below Asgard. Our route would more or less follow the sun shadow line to the right hand summit

Josh leading the first block

The bivi site, halfway up the wall

Josh leading on the second day

Me following

Ines following

Josh and Ines at the belay. Ines is putting her shoes on for pitch 26

The storm is closing in; a couple more pitches left.

One pitch below the top, anticipating high winds and stormiy conditions on the summit, we took advantage of a sheltered belay to eat and get organised for the descent ahead

Ines downclimbing the final slabs after the shiver bivi

Josh showing off his backcountry crepe making skills

Hiking back down the Turner under crippling loads

Ines fording the creek below the Cariboo Glacier. Fortunately this was about 20-30 cms lower than on the way in.

Josh hiking in damp and misty conditions on the trail out

Baffin ski trip and post winter ramblings

jon walsh — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:33:57 +0000

It's been a while since I've posted here mainly because life has been crazy busy, with work, family, skiing and climbing, a slideshow for the Calgary Mountain Club, writing an article for Gripped Magazine which just came out, training hard, and organizing an expedition to Baffin Island. Currently, I'm actually bivouacking in the Ottawa airport, halfway through four flights to Baffin, where a little ski adventure will start in about 24 hours from now(more about that shortly). So, I thought I'd take a few minutes to quickly recap the last three months. Living in Calgary this winter has been a little different than what I'm used to after 20 years based in B.C. ski towns. There's a lot of traffic, concrete, wealth and opulence, and no real mountains anywhere within about 100 kms. Although I feel distant from my tribe of mountain freaks, and somewhat ski deprived (I can't blow mornings off work anymore to shred the fresh powder), there still have been lots of quality outings, and many miles on the highway getting to and from the mountains. I have to admit I've felt a little bit caged to say the least, but this trip should help sooth the soul, as getting back to nature typically does. That said, the city isn't all that bad and I'm taking advantage of new opportunities to train, heal old injuries, and experience some new opportunities. It's been a good place to organize a big trip from too...

January and February were particularly good for deep powder skiing around Kicking Horse and Rogers Pass, and I logged a reasonable amount of days where face shots were plentiful on just about every turn. It's been an exceptional snow year! As usual, I also gave in to the pull of the Stanley Headwall on several occasions for ice climbing adventures, and also as usual, the headwall remains incredibly inspiring, even after dozens of days there! March on the other hand has been challenging. Lots of extreme avalanche danger combined with bad weather on my days off have kept any big plans from getting off the ground. I've still managed a few good sessions of ice and mixed climbing, and have dedicated a lot of time to rehabbing old injuries, training in the climbing gym, and cross training in the weight gym. I think all of this is paying off as I'm starting to feel pretty in shape, as the balance is slowly starting to come back, and I'm psyches to continue the program for a good while. I can hardly wait to test out its effectiveness while testing my limits in the arctic!

Here's a few pics from the last little while:

Troy Jungen ripping some sweet powder at Rogers pass. January and early February was a blur of flying snow!

Ian Welstead on the first pitch of Extreme Comfort, at the Stanley Headwall. A really fun four pitch M7, WI 6!

Simon Parson climbing Exterminator, a new mixed route left of the infamous Terminator

Doing some photo work with Andrew Querner, photo: Rafal Andronowski

Andrew and his gear getting covered in ice!

JW on Last Call, a mixed route behind Pilsner Pillar photo: Rafal Andronowski

Another one from Last Call

My daughter Zoe at about 15 months, eating an apple, out for a winter walk in prairies

Chris brazeau near the sumit of Mt. Asgard, Baffin Island on our 2009 trip. The couloirs, peaks and snow faces seen in the background provided the inspiration for the trip I'm currently on. Every summit we stood on had revealed incredible ski potential.

More about the Baffin trip:
In 2009 I spent a month climbing in Auyuittuq National Park. One of the things that really blew my partner Chris Brazeau and I away were the abundance of steep ski lines, and the potential for interesting glacier circuits to connect them all. Looking back at the photos with topographical maps in hand, it soon became clear that this trip needed to be bumped to the top of the list. Finally it's actually happening!

My partners this time are Conor Hurley and Claire Seiber of Revelstoke. The plan is to have the Inuit outfitters that we've hired, tow us 70 kms by snowmobile to Summit Lake, where we'll commence the journey by skiing a loop around Mt. Asgard, and then back south towards Pangnirtung via a circuitous network of glaciers. The goals are to ski some of the most inspiring couloirs and peaks that we see (we have quite a few in mind already); explore some rarely seen sections of the park, to document the journey through video and photography; to survive without succumbing to injury, frostbite, or getting eaten by polar bears.

Some of the challenges we expect to deal with include crevassed glaciers; whiteout navigation; difficult snow conditions which include everything from avalanche prone slopes to potentially icy conditions; intense wind / wind chill; arctic temperatures; melting all of our water / cooking in cold conditions; towing heavy sleds with all of our food and gear; possibilities of encountering a polar bears; preserving and recharging our camera batteries; having enough energy left over to ski tour about 100 km and hopefully have enough energy and drive ski somewhere between 6-8 epic runs!

There are so many variables and unknowns on this one, that there is no doubt, Claire, Conor and I are about to experience one of the adventures of our lifetime!

As we'll be entirely self sufficient and winter camping above the Arctic Circle, it's a very gear intensive trip. We have lots of warm gear, extra camera batteries, dehydrated food, and hopefully everything we need to survive. I'll write a much more detailed gear list, food and gear review, a trip report with photos, soon after I'm back, or maybe even on the way back.

A huge thank you to all of the trips sponsors who have helped make this all possible: Arcteryx, Scarpa, Vega, G3, MEC, and Stoke Roasted Coffee!