Slawinski Sends Big New Mixed Bride of Frankenstein in Rockies

It wouldn’t be a fall in the Rockies without Raphael Slawinski adding a new difficult mixed route to the area’s growing list of test-piece lines.

His newest addition is on Mount Wilson and was attempted a number of times of the past few years. His final send came with Juan Henrique and Landon Thompson.

The route is found on the same cliff band as Mixed Monster, right of Lady Wilson’s Cleavage. It’s the first obvious icicle (Stairway to Heaven being the next one).

It's that time of year. Raph getting started on a possible project. This pitch went mostly on trad gear and what it lacked in solid rock it made up for in wide cracks. In all seriousness, it was actually pretty fun. The line is top secret, 5 stars, 1000m (at least). #lies #itissecretthough #tradisrad #mixedclimbing #iceclimbing #canadianrockies #alberta

A post shared by Landon Thompson (@landonthompson87) on Sep 29, 2018 at 4:43pm PDT

Approach up the Cleavage, then up a narrow avalanche chute to the base of the rock, which is contoured to the route. The approach takes around two hours, more or less depending on snow conditions.

Slawinski maintains an excellent blog and no social media. On his blog, he wrote a long story about the route.

“With the approach having taken longer than expected, by the time we both stood atop the third pitch the sun was getting low over the Divide peaks across the Icefields Parkway,” he wrote.

“Not wanting to selfishly force Landon to rappel in the dark, I suggested we head down. But he wouldn’t have any of it: “You don’t want to have to come back another time, do you?” And so I set off on the last pitch, clipping a couple of Dave’s old bolts, twisting an upside-down screw into the underside of the broken dagger, and then running it out on smooth ice above.

Read Slawinski’s full story and check out some great photos here.