Climbers Ascend Classic Rockies Alpine Route
The Slawinski-Takeda is one of the best fall alpine lines at the grade along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park
Fall alpine season has been a go over the past few weeks in the Canadian Rockies thanks to cold temperatures up high and clear skies. Alpine guide Ian Welsted has reported about a recent ascent of the Slawinski-Takeda on Mount Athabasca.
The classic multi-pitch M5 climbs an obvious line on the West Buttress of Athabasca, read about the first ascent in 2003 here. The West Buttress has three other routes: The McKibbin M5, The Abdominal Drain M6 and East Chimney M5 WI3. This is the perfect time of year to be looking at objectives like this because there’s a lower avalanche hazard than later in the winter and cornices have yet to build.
Welsted shared his thoughts about the route on the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides Mountain Conditions page here, noting, “Snowline was at the bottom of the gully, 2600 meters so the approach was on bare rock slopes. Once in the gully there was sufficient snow to boot up it easily but without avalanche concern. The route itself is liberally fixed with rappel stations and has noticeably good rock for the range. Expect short-lived moments of M5-6 climbing with easier terrain between.”
The last time that we reported about an ascent of the Slawinski-Takeda was back in 2018 when Brette Harrington and Rose Pearson climbed it during a strong visit to the Rockies that included the first ascent of Life Compass, read about it here.
McKibbin Route
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