This past Saturday, Duane and I were invited to climb Mt. Athabasca (11,450 ft) with Jenna and some of her friends. I had never done any glacier travel before, so I will admit to a few nerves. I was super excited but also a touch nervous.

Duane and I went up on Friday night, because this is a mountain that requires a very early start (awake and gearing up by 4:00 am). I only mention this, because this required Duane and I to sleep in the back of his car. Have I mentioned that he drives a small Mazda Protege hatchback. Long story short, the only way to make the car long enough was to open up the hatch and tarping it off. It was cozy. And cold. It has been a long time since I had involuntary full-body shivers.

Anyway, we met up with them at the base of the mountain (Columbia Icefields). We started off with a night hike, and by the time that we could turn off the headlamps came up we had already gained 1,500 ft of elevation and geared up for our glacier travels. I have to say, there is a certain feeling of invincibility before the hike when one is wearing crampons, a climbing harness and holding an ice-axe. Truthfully though, I was quite alright to take up the rear position on this expedition – just try and absorb as much as possible.

I found keeping a steady pace to be quite interesting when roped to three other individuals. It was fine on relatively flat sections, but once things got steep it was harder. The reason being, the guy on the front would speed up once he got past the section, but I would still be in the middle of it. Just an interesting exercise in teamwork I guess!

Related posts:

1. Canada Day Weekend = Hiking!
2. TransRockies 2009
3. Where Have We Been Lately?!
4. Carling and Richard – Edmonton Engagement Session