To the Top of Alberta in a Day - Mount Columbia May 19, 2021
Not that long ago I became aware of Alberta’s highest peak, Mount Columbia. At 3,747 meters it is Alberta’s Highest Peak, and is the 2nd highest of the Canadian Rockies. To summit, requires much Glacier Travel, good weather conditions and good timing. It is a summit that is on the “to do list” of most mountaineers, and many never get it ‘bagged’.

In the past weeks, friend and trip leader Alex, has been monitoring the weather models closely. In the lasat days prior to Sunday, he put together a group of 6 who he knew were keen and motivated to ‘get to the top’ of Alberta!

We car camped Saturday night at the Columbia Icefields Trailhead. I set my Alarm for 1:25am, and we were off at 2:07am walking to the toe of the glacier. Before sunrise, we were above ‘the crux’ of the day - the dangerous crevasse filled icefall, and away from the potential falling seracs.

About 14km later of glacier travel infrequently in cloud and hail and much up and down vertical gain, all we had left was the steep push to the summit (in the clouds). As we book packed these final 400m, Alex was hopeful the cloud would dissipate and we would have views.

Jason led the book packing with me following a good distance behind. As we climbed, it got steeper and steeper. The wind was strong, and the visibility decreased. While my Garmin watch indicated I was about 2700 meters and near the top, I could see nothing, and was a bit cold and scared. I added a few layers, and rested looking down below me for signs of the rest of our group.

Jason and I waited. I expected they may or may not arrive. Regardless, we would likely turn back … as there was zero visibility, it was windy and scary. Very soon, Alex, Shelly, Brandon and Billy appeared and without hesitation - continued past.

Wow - I thought … there are going higher into ‘no visibility’. (I love my group!) I followed, and in about 5 minutes, and 15meters later we climbed over the cornice and were at the summit. The sky immediately broke - we were at THE TOP OF ALBERTA - The views!

We enjoyed a half an hour of incredible summit experience, before some of us donning our ski’s and skiing off the summit. Wow! I’ve dreamed of skiing a line like this pretty much my entire life! (Regrettably, my ski bindings were ‘acting up’ and I could not ‘charge it’!)

From this point onwards, the sky was bluebird … the temperature was perfect. 6 hours later, we arrived back to our cars.

The Beta:
43.78 Km, 2,358m of Elevation. 2am Start, 18 Hours car to car. 1 peanut butter and honey sandwich and 7 Power Bars (not recommended!)
CMSC Club trip - we were 6 - 1 native Albertan (Brandon), Shelly from Toronto, Jason from Saskatchewan, Billy from US, myself (PEI) and Amazing Alex (North Bay) … 2 from our party started skiing in past 2 years.
First Ascent: 1902 by James Outram and guide Christian Kaufmann via the south ridge from Thompson Pass.