Two New Bold Winter Routes on Remote Peak

The Canadian Rockies have had an unusually low snow fall for November and the result has been stable backcountry conditions. This has allowed keen climbers to find often inaccessible new routes.

Jay Mills, owner of Canadian Rockies Alpine Guides (CRAG), teamed up Steve Holeczi and Eamonn Walsh to climb the new Big Ears Teddy WI4R M4X 300 metres and with Rob Owens to climb the new Space Goat WI5+X M5 320 metres on Capricorn Peak.

For more photos visit Canadian Rockies Alpine Guides

“Last week I had some great adventures completing a couple of big new mixed routes with some strong partners along the Icefields Parkway,” wrote Mills on his CRAG Facebook page. “The routes are located on Capricorn Peak which is just north of and behind Mount Patterson.

The routes are both about 300 meters long and have a number of pitches of mixed climbing and very thin ice climbing. Space Goat had one of the thinnest and most runout ice pitches either of us had ever climbed, hard to grade but certainly adventurous. Both routes require an extensive rock rack including pitons, peckers and stubbies. No bolts were used.”