Location: Alberta / British Columbia border
52.149231 N / 117.445278 W
Sections
Mt. Columbia - Highest Peak in the Alberta Rockies
Mt. Columbia Exploration and History
The Mt. Columbia Trailhead
Approach to Mt. Columbia
Climbing Season in the Columbia Icefield
Climbing Routes on Mt. Columbia
Conditions and Weather in the Columbia Icefield
Red Tape, Fees and Legalese in Jasper National Park
Camping and Backpacking in Jasper National Park
Hazard Warning and Mountaineering Accidents
Columbia Icefield Centre
Maps
Mt. Columbia Acknowledgements and Photo Credits
Mt. Columbia - Highest Peak in the Alberta Rockies
At 3747m, Mt. Columbia is the highest peak in theColumbia Icefield , as well as the Alberta Rockies. The mountain is located in the Sir Winston Churchill Range on the Continental Divide, at the head of the Athabasca River Valley, southwest of the Columbia Glacier. This major peak in Jasper National Park lies on the Alberta - British Columbia border. Mt. Columbia is the second highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, second only to Mt. Robson in British Columbia. It is situated on the northern rim of the Columbia Icefield, ten km west of the Athabasca Glacier.
While the east side of Mt. Columbia is a classic, non-technical ski ascent and a favorite with ski touring groups during the spring months, its steep, awesome North Face rises up relentlessly from the valley below, gaining almost two thousand meters of huge vertical relief. The area of the valley at the foot of the North Face is called the Black Hole by climbers and backcountry enthusiasts, and is ringed by other icefield giants of Jasper National Park; North and South Twin, Twins Tower, Mt. Cromwell and Mt. Alberta. The sight of Mt. Columbia is a surreal presence from the top of The Trench, which is the name for the thousand-foot-deep slash running north/south across the Columbia Glacier down to the Bush River. The mountain appears to sit alone like a ghostly apparition in a vast, undulating blanket of white snow. The legendary weather of this area has put an end to countless attempts at the mountain's summit with its unrelenting winds and frequent, notorious whiteouts.
Although Mt. Columbia can not be seen from any highway, interested persons wishing to view the highest mountain in Alberta and the Columbia Icefield may do so on a clear day by driving the Icefield Parkway to an area 2.6 km south of Ranger Creek to a viewpoint on Ranger Hill. The mountain can be seen from a small hill on the south side of Ranger Creek by walking up the hill for five minutes to a cairn, which is built to mark the spot for the best view.
Photo by Brad Harrison
At 3747m, Mt. Columbia is the highest peak in the
While the east side of Mt. Columbia is a classic, non-technical ski ascent and a favorite with ski touring groups during the spring months, its steep, awesome North Face rises up relentlessly from the valley below, gaining almost two thousand meters of huge vertical relief. The area of the valley at the foot of the North Face is called the Black Hole by climbers and backcountry enthusiasts, and is ringed by other icefield giants of Jasper National Park; North and South Twin, Twins Tower, Mt. Cromwell and Mt. Alberta. The sight of Mt. Columbia is a surreal presence from the top of The Trench, which is the name for the thousand-foot-deep slash running north/south across the Columbia Glacier down to the Bush River. The mountain appears to sit alone like a ghostly apparition in a vast, undulating blanket of white snow. The legendary weather of this area has put an end to countless attempts at the mountain's summit with its unrelenting winds and frequent, notorious whiteouts.
Although Mt. Columbia can not be seen from any highway, interested persons wishing to view the highest mountain in Alberta and the Columbia Icefield may do so on a clear day by driving the Icefield Parkway to an area 2.6 km south of Ranger Creek to a viewpoint on Ranger Hill. The mountain can be seen from a small hill on the south side of Ranger Creek by walking up the hill for five minutes to a cairn, which is built to mark the spot for the best view.
Mt. Columbia Exploration and History
Discovery and First Ascent
Mt. Columbia was named by the explorer and climber,J. Norman Collie during his1898 expedition to the icefield area, when he made the first ascent of Mt. Athabasca with Herman Woolley . They became the first men to view the Columbia Icefield beyond the headwall of the Athabasca Glacier. The expedition's primary purpose had actually been to find the legendary peaks, Mt. Brown and Mt. Hooker.
In 1901 the magnificent North Face of Mt. Columbia was seen for the first time byJean Habel when he reached the headwaters of the Athabasca River. Bad weather prevented him from making an attempt on the mountain. It is unlikely that he would have attempted to climb the North Face, in view of the progression of mountaineering in the Rockies at that time. The North Face would await a first ascent until 1970. The first ascent of Mt. Columbia was made by James Outram and his guide, Christian Kaufmann in 1902 by way of the East Face . They approached Mt. Columbia from the Columbia Icefield via the Athabasca Glacier, the now-standard route taken by modern-day mountaineers and skiers approaching the peak.
Photos by Dan Ronsky
Discovery and First Ascent
Mt. Columbia was named by the explorer and climber,
In 1901 the magnificent North Face of Mt. Columbia was seen for the first time by
Photos by Dan Ronsky
The Mt. Columbia Trailhead
The trailhead is the Athabasca Glacier, just west of Highway 93, opposite the Columbia Icefield Centre in Jasper National Park. It is located 103 km south of Jasper, Alberta, or 189 km north of Banff, Alberta. If travelling from Banff, you must drive on Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway, to Lake Louise, then turn north on Highway 93, the Icefield Parkway, to reach the mountain.
To reach the headwall of the Athabasca Glacier, you have two options; follow the Snocoach Road through the first set of metal gates. These gates will be open at night to allow access to climbers and backcountry users; but during the day they are closed, and you must stop in front of the gate to wait for the next passing Snocoach shuttle driver to open the gate for you. This is not a problem as a shuttle bus will pass through the gates every fifteen minutes or so; do not attempt to open the gate yourself. Follow this paved Snocoach road uphill to a second gate, which is always locked, (just past a small bridge) and pull into the left side, where there is a small gravel parking lot, and park. Walk through the second gate up the paved, uphill road for a mile or more to the Snocoach station, and follow the suddenly-dirt road down the steep moraine to the glacier. The route up the headwall should be obvious here. Some parties head to the left side of the stepped icefall to avoid climbing under the seracs ofSnow Dome , which threaten the right side. However, the left side takes longer and has its own hazards, such as a big crevasse field.
The second option to reach the headwall is to drive to the tourist parking lot close to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier near tiny glacier-fed Sunwapta Lake, walk the short distance to the glacier, climb up the toe and don skis. Head straight for the icefall several kilometers away, watching out for the deep crevasses of the Athabasca Glacier, and gain the headwall. On a clear day, from the headwall the summit of Mt. Columbia will be seen in the distance, a solitary white pyramid under a blue sky. Above the final steep step of the headwall, the magnitude of the Columbia Icefield becomes overwhelmingly clear. To the south a vast plain of snow slopes towards Mt. Castleguard, while to the north lies the gentle white slopes of Snow Dome, a hydrological apex of North America. Looking to the west you will see the highest point of the divide before The Trench. The approach to the base of Mt. Columbia's East Face starts here.
Left photo byAdam's Gallery
The trailhead is the Athabasca Glacier, just west of Highway 93, opposite the Columbia Icefield Centre in Jasper National Park. It is located 103 km south of Jasper, Alberta, or 189 km north of Banff, Alberta. If travelling from Banff, you must drive on Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway, to Lake Louise, then turn north on Highway 93, the Icefield Parkway, to reach the mountain.
To reach the headwall of the Athabasca Glacier, you have two options; follow the Snocoach Road through the first set of metal gates. These gates will be open at night to allow access to climbers and backcountry users; but during the day they are closed, and you must stop in front of the gate to wait for the next passing Snocoach shuttle driver to open the gate for you. This is not a problem as a shuttle bus will pass through the gates every fifteen minutes or so; do not attempt to open the gate yourself. Follow this paved Snocoach road uphill to a second gate, which is always locked, (just past a small bridge) and pull into the left side, where there is a small gravel parking lot, and park. Walk through the second gate up the paved, uphill road for a mile or more to the Snocoach station, and follow the suddenly-dirt road down the steep moraine to the glacier. The route up the headwall should be obvious here. Some parties head to the left side of the stepped icefall to avoid climbing under the seracs of
The second option to reach the headwall is to drive to the tourist parking lot close to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier near tiny glacier-fed Sunwapta Lake, walk the short distance to the glacier, climb up the toe and don skis. Head straight for the icefall several kilometers away, watching out for the deep crevasses of the Athabasca Glacier, and gain the headwall. On a clear day, from the headwall the summit of Mt. Columbia will be seen in the distance, a solitary white pyramid under a blue sky. Above the final steep step of the headwall, the magnitude of the Columbia Icefield becomes overwhelmingly clear. To the south a vast plain of snow slopes towards Mt. Castleguard, while to the north lies the gentle white slopes of Snow Dome, a hydrological apex of North America. Looking to the west you will see the highest point of the divide before The Trench. The approach to the base of Mt. Columbia's East Face starts here.
Left photo by
Approach to Mt. Columbia
Having gained the headwall, the approach begins with a long, fairly flat section of glacier that gives way to a gentle slope leading down to the Trench, which separates Mt. Columbia from the rest of the Columbia Icefield. You will be heading in a westerly direction towards Mt. Columbia. The final descent to the Trench is a little steeper. It takes competent skiers at least seven hours to reach and cross the Trench from the headwall. Some route finding through crevassed areas is necessary, and the approach to the Trench takes much longer than initially thought at first glance.
About a thousand feet of elevation in total will be lost and regained crossing the Trench. Climbers generally will want to camp on the far side, to make the following day's ascent easier. Spring being the most popular time to climb this mountain, it will not be unusual to see other roped skiers on the glacier en route to the mountain. Many climbers report this to be a three day trip, car to car. The itinerary usually works this way: first day, approach to the far side of the Trench from the toe of the Athabasca Glacier. The second day, make the ascent, then descend back to high camp. The third day will be spent skiing back to the headwall, routefinding back down the stepped icefall and skiing to the car at Sunwapta Lake, near the toe of the Athabasca Glacier.
Photos by Dan Ronsky
Having gained the headwall, the approach begins with a long, fairly flat section of glacier that gives way to a gentle slope leading down to the Trench, which separates Mt. Columbia from the rest of the Columbia Icefield. You will be heading in a westerly direction towards Mt. Columbia. The final descent to the Trench is a little steeper. It takes competent skiers at least seven hours to reach and cross the Trench from the headwall. Some route finding through crevassed areas is necessary, and the approach to the Trench takes much longer than initially thought at first glance.
About a thousand feet of elevation in total will be lost and regained crossing the Trench. Climbers generally will want to camp on the far side, to make the following day's ascent easier. Spring being the most popular time to climb this mountain, it will not be unusual to see other roped skiers on the glacier en route to the mountain. Many climbers report this to be a three day trip, car to car. The itinerary usually works this way: first day, approach to the far side of the Trench from the toe of the Athabasca Glacier. The second day, make the ascent, then descend back to high camp. The third day will be spent skiing back to the headwall, routefinding back down the stepped icefall and skiing to the car at Sunwapta Lake, near the toe of the Athabasca Glacier.
Photos by Dan Ronsky
Climbing Season in the Columbia Icefield
The mountains of the Columbia Icefield can be climbed year round, but the main climbing season runs from June until September. Ski touring season is busiest from March to June, although winter conditions will often still be prevalent at times during these months. Very few ascents are made of Mt. Columbia in winter due to brutally cold temperatures with high wind chills, frequent storms, heavy snowpack, and avalanches. The icefield area is a pretty lonely place in the winter, and as a result the rate of tourist traffic out on the Icefield Parkway slows to a trickle as well. The Columbia Icefield Centre is closed from October until May, resulting in even less human presence in this wild and beautiful area.
Even summer climbs can be subjected to storms and winter conditions, which have resulted in dumps of snow a foot deep on the highway in the valleys (during the month of July), heavier snowfalls at higher elevations, and even occasional frostbite injuries to climbers during the summer months. Early summer can be a very wet and stormy time of the year in the icefield. Winter conditions and spring avalanches often continue right into June. Often, a very cold wind will blow across the icefield, chilling the entire area, even in summer months.
Photos by Dan Ronsky
The mountains of the Columbia Icefield can be climbed year round, but the main climbing season runs from June until September. Ski touring season is busiest from March to June, although winter conditions will often still be prevalent at times during these months. Very few ascents are made of Mt. Columbia in winter due to brutally cold temperatures with high wind chills, frequent storms, heavy snowpack, and avalanches. The icefield area is a pretty lonely place in the winter, and as a result the rate of tourist traffic out on the Icefield Parkway slows to a trickle as well. The Columbia Icefield Centre is closed from October until May, resulting in even less human presence in this wild and beautiful area.
Even summer climbs can be subjected to storms and winter conditions, which have resulted in dumps of snow a foot deep on the highway in the valleys (during the month of July), heavier snowfalls at higher elevations, and even occasional frostbite injuries to climbers during the summer months. Early summer can be a very wet and stormy time of the year in the icefield. Winter conditions and spring avalanches often continue right into June. Often, a very cold wind will blow across the icefield, chilling the entire area, even in summer months.
Photos by Dan Ronsky
Climbing Routes on Mt. Columbia
There are two established routes on Mt. Columbia. The East Face (grade II) is considered the standard route. It is a non-techical ascent; climbers usually ski roped together to an area between the Trench and the base of the mountain, drop their skis and dig in a high camp. The climbing consists crossing the bergeschrund and kicking steps for about 400 m of climbing, all the way up to the mountain's flat, gently rolling plateau and twin summits. The actual ascent from high camp near the Trench to the summit will take about five or six hours.
The climb takes a line up the left side of the East Face, avoiding the crevasses that plague much of the face further to the right, all of the way to the summit plateau. The less-technical left side ascends a forty-five degree snowfield, and is basically a snow climb, with the possibility of encountering ice further up. The angle eases near the top, but the crevasses don't, as there are even crevasses present between the two summits, which are nothing more than a pair of low, snowy, corniced humps projecting out over the North Face. Care must be taken to avoid walking too close to the fracture zone of these cornices , formed by the stiff winds that rake the highest peak in the Columbia Icefield. A thousand feet below, and about six miles to the northeast are the gentle slopes of Snow Dome and Mt. Kitchener, while across the valley to the northwest known as the Black Hole, the high summits of North Twin and South Twin can be seen several miles away. Four miles northwest of the Twins is Mt. Alberta,with the ice cap running to its west side, and on the horizon is the summit of Mt. Edith Cavell, south of Jasper.
After descending to the base of Mt. Columbia it is possible to ski all the way back to the Trench, as it is all downhill. On the third day most parties are skiing back to the headwall, then to the starting point at the Athabasca Glacier parking lot, collecting route-marking wands if any were placed on the approach. Wands must be used, and should not be left in the Icefield. To flag all the way to Columbia from the top of the headwall could require in excess of fifty wands, depending on how often they were placed.
The second route on Mt. Columbia is the North Face (grade V 5.7 WI 3), a challenging, remote technical route consisting of just under 2000 m of hard climbing on alpine rock from the deep valley below, with enough ice thrown in to make this a difficult alpine route, especially in the type of weather often present in the Columbia Icefield. The first ascent of the North Face was made by G. Thompson and C. Jones in 1970.
Photo by Brad Harrison
There are two established routes on Mt. Columbia. The East Face (grade II) is considered the standard route. It is a non-techical ascent; climbers usually ski roped together to an area between the Trench and the base of the mountain, drop their skis and dig in a high camp. The climbing consists crossing the bergeschrund and kicking steps for about 400 m of climbing, all the way up to the mountain's flat, gently rolling plateau and twin summits. The actual ascent from high camp near the Trench to the summit will take about five or six hours.
The climb takes a line up the left side of the East Face, avoiding the crevasses that plague much of the face further to the right, all of the way to the summit plateau. The less-technical left side ascends a forty-five degree snowfield, and is basically a snow climb, with the possibility of encountering ice further up. The angle eases near the top, but the crevasses don't, as there are even crevasses present between the two summits, which are nothing more than a pair of low, snowy, corniced humps projecting out over the North Face. Care must be taken to avoid walking too close to the fracture zone of these cornices , formed by the stiff winds that rake the highest peak in the Columbia Icefield. A thousand feet below, and about six miles to the northeast are the gentle slopes of Snow Dome and Mt. Kitchener, while across the valley to the northwest known as the Black Hole, the high summits of North Twin and South Twin can be seen several miles away. Four miles northwest of the Twins is Mt. Alberta,with the ice cap running to its west side, and on the horizon is the summit of Mt. Edith Cavell, south of Jasper.
After descending to the base of Mt. Columbia it is possible to ski all the way back to the Trench, as it is all downhill. On the third day most parties are skiing back to the headwall, then to the starting point at the Athabasca Glacier parking lot, collecting route-marking wands if any were placed on the approach. Wands must be used, and should not be left in the Icefield. To flag all the way to Columbia from the top of the headwall could require in excess of fifty wands, depending on how often they were placed.
The second route on Mt. Columbia is the North Face (grade V 5.7 WI 3), a challenging, remote technical route consisting of just under 2000 m of hard climbing on alpine rock from the deep valley below, with enough ice thrown in to make this a difficult alpine route, especially in the type of weather often present in the Columbia Icefield. The first ascent of the North Face was made by G. Thompson and C. Jones in 1970.
