Home > News

Rainbow Serpent WI6 in Ghost is Formed

Ice climbing season in the Canadian Rockies started in mid-October

Rainbow Serpent, the classic WI6 ice route in the Ghost River north of Calgary, is formed and has been climbed. Tim Banfield, Kris Irwin and Jas Fauteux made an ascent on Nov. 13. The route was first climbed in 1992 by Joe Josephson and Brad Wrobleski and has become a must-climb test-piece with low avalanche hazard.

Update: Warm weather is creating dangerous ice conditions and a pillar collapsed in the Recital Hall, read more here.

The monster pillar forms in the Recital Hall above the ice route Aquarius. Irwin, a Banff ice climber guide, wrote for the Mountain Conditions Report, “We climbed Aquarius and Rainbow Serpent, both of which were in good shape. The approach ice to Aquarius was not in and we bypassed this by walking around climbers left side of the drainage.”

Watch a short video featuring Tanja Schmitt and Matthias Scherer on Rockies classics Whiteman Falls WI6, Shooting Star WI6 and Rainbow Serpent WI6 and check out this map of the ice routes in the Ghost below.

Ghost Ice Climbs

Rockies Ice

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

The Best Climbing Gear According to Our Editors – March

Every month we're bringing you our favourite gear so you can complete your climbing kit with the latest and best stuff out there