What a beauty! This rainbow was so close, that it felt like as if you could easily touch it.
Picture taken in Kakanaskis country in the Elbow Valley.

Andromeda

Linda descending mount Andromeda. Unnamed mountain in the background. Our ski tracks are visible on the right.
Linda on the col between Andromeda and unnamed mountain. The seracs of Snow Dome are behind.
While descending from the Columbia Icefield you have to ski below these seracs. The faster the better!!!

Kitchener

Open Crevasse on Snow Dome.
Linda and myself on the summit of Mount Kitchener with mount Columbia in the distance.

Camping on the Columbia Icefield.

Our camping spot on the Columbia Icefield.
Mount Columbia behind our tent. It took 4 days to get this view of the mountain. Climbing was to dangerous with 100 cm of fresh snow.

Waking up with 80 cm of fresh snow.

Columbia Icefields May 2- May 6th

On our last day we went up Andromeda and it was the third mountain from our tip at 3450 mtr. We left the ski's behind on the coll between Unnamed and Andromeda's South ridge and started the way up on foot. This picture shows once again the battle-field at the end of the Athabasca glacier.

We are definitely returning to this area sometimes as there are a lot of unfinished projects and some beautiful peaks waiting to be climbed.

Oh and by the way.... the morning we started working again, they reported a blue sky above the Columbia Icefields.

Columbia Icefields May 2- May 6th

This is our camp on 3000 mtr. on a 'sunny' afternoon. It almost looks like a castle and at the end of the trip the tent was lower than the snow surface. We dug ourselves in to protect us from the elements. Glad it helped.

Columbia Icefields May 2- May 6th

On the third day we were well rested and ready for an exploration tour. The visibility was getting better and we really wanted to move. About 10 minutes from our tent we met three scientist who were living for three weeks up the Columbia Icefields. So there are other people, and we even had neighbors!! The glaciologists measured 80 cm of storm snow and that made traveling and trail-breaking extremely heavy. After a few hours we were proud of ourselves as we had summited Snow Dome (3451 mtr).

On wednesday it cleared and we enjoyed the first glimpse of Mount Columbia. Our goal for the day was Mount Kitchener (3480) and as we were skiing towards the summit we got above the clouds. South Twin, North Twin, Stutfield and Mount Alberta all showed themselves to us and we felt delightful. The Columbia Icefields are a true wilderness area, no alpine huts, only a handfull of people..... and a duck! The duck was swept down onto the Icefields in a snow storm and was unable to take off again as these animals need water to depart. The area is 225 square km and the ice reached over 360 mtrs in places. There is a high concentration of BIG peaks. No need to tell that there is snow year round.....

Columbia Icefields May 2- May 6th

Once up the Icefields, the clouds kicked in and all that was left was Bram and me....

In these white-out conditions you can't see any difference between the surface you're walking on and the sky. Because there's no horizon, it is really difficult to keep your balance. The GPS and Compass were our friends for the rest of the day until we reached camp. Next day: same! Third day: same! We killed a lot of time making a huge windwall from iglo snow blocks. That was fun to do! In the tent we solved Sudoko puzzles and I listened to an audio book on my I-pod. We felt as if we were on the North Pole. Would there be other people? Also we were really curious about the views of the Icefield itself and the surrounding peaks. But we had to be patient.... Now and then there was a little hope as you can see on the picture with the milky sun.

Columbia Icefields May 2- May 6th

To go or not to go? That was the question as the weather-forecast was not very positive. Ready for adventure we made the final decision: Go!

We left Canmore at 5AM and we encountered several different weather types on the Icefields Parkway. One moment the car slipped in the snow.... Scary. The picture at the parking lot shows how heavy packed I was. I have never been carrying such a big pack on the glacier! Beacon, harness, ski-gear, camping gear, 5 day food etc. 10 km and 1000 mtrs elevation on the Athabasca Glacier was waiting ahead of us. As you can see, the views were amazing as we traveled below the well known seracs of Snow Dome. And the sun was still shining.....