a great day to look at the undertow
My partner Mike and I had a very long day yesterday attempting to climb, the very worthy ice climb, called Undertow.
After a 3 AM departure and 3 hours of driving, we found above freezing temperatures at our destination. We hiked and climbed the approach efficiently, only to be greeted by much post-holing travel conditions to get to our desired route.
Easily turned around by fatigue and lack of fitness, we dropped the packs and let go of our mission. Second prize for me was a much shorter mission – just to SEE the climbs. It was worth it. So was the crawling over the moist snowpack to avoid post-holing.
The following videos give a view of this spectacular area and a taste of the troublesome travel conditions.
Mike having an early lunch break at the bottom of shades
The sushi tasted excellent back in Canmore over 12 hours after we left!
“failed attempt” what a weird saying….
maybe successful attempt, but failed climb? failed attempt refers to not getting out of bed – which sounds fun too!
Any attempt made by Jen Olson is an effort worth recognition. Not every attempt leads to a successful climb but generally fun and good stories! -good on you for trying in the first place.