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.....