Chimney N1
"Chimney N1 over Boom Lake"
Vern DeWit on Boom Lake, snapped a couple of years before on our return from another ascent in the area (Bident Peak, hiding behind the pine tree frame right) The stratified rock wall of Chimney N1's southeast face is on the skyline above Vern, just right of center frame.
"Parking"
We were able to step into the boards at the trailhead on the other side of the highway
"Approach"
A few shots of rain over the last few days left the pack supportive enough for Devan to walk in. I was on skins
"Chickadee Valley"
The view of the valley along Chickadee creek
"Chickadee Valley / avy runout"
Nearing a slide path from a recent avalanche. There were several slides like these (and larger!) last week. We're enough out of the cycle for risk to be more tolearble, especially below the tree line.
"Foreshortening"
The depth collapses to make this slide's source look much closer and smaller than it is.
"In sight..."
Our objective pokes up like a thumb, just left of center. Substantial foreshortening makes the summit appear up top a rock wall when it's actually much further back than it looks from here
"Looking back"
A look back down Chickadee Valley from near the col
"Chimney N1 (3076m)"
Another look at our objective. The true summit looks like a snall white bump on the 45' rock slope
"Another look back"
(from further up the valley)
"Chick-a-Boom Chicks!"
A local pair (from Canmore) transitions their gear for the ski back down the valley. It’s just coming up on noon and the day’s fantastic spring skiing conditions will continue for the next few hours, then the soft snowpack crusts and solidifies and doesn’t ski nearly as well.
"Chick-a-Boom"
It’s a scene from the approach to one of the larger, though more obscure peaks in the region. The approach is part of a stunning ski-traverse, a personal favourite. The snowpack is HUGE this year, and we’re looking at a couple of locals (from Canmore) up top the Chickadee / Chimney col preparing to ski back down. One leg of the traverse gains this col through Chickadee Valley on your right, the other from left along Boom Lake. They join to form the idyllic “Chick-a-Boom Traverse”. But Devan (climbing buddy, not in the shot) & I aren’t heading down just yet. Our objective is Chimney Peak’s first subsidiary to the north which, if you’re curious, and oddly enough, has more elevation than its main peak. It’s a ski tour to here but now the climbing starts, with sections of technical climbing involving mixed tooling on ice and rock. But you can’t see any of that stuff in this shot. It’s behind me. And frankly, it’s boring. At least, it doesn’t make much of a shot. That said, I’ve got shots of Devan climbing that face. His friends might think it’s cool. His mom would. But for you & I? It’s kinda “ho hum”. This scene is much better. 😎
"quick traverse..."
Devan traverses a small rockband near the col between Chimney peak and its northern subsidiary
"Practical Concessions"
You might recognize the last snap’s location below? I’m on top a short wall. Our Canmore friends are long gone, happily slicing up the sublime spring snowpack on their way back down by now. A quick look at that shot should lend scale to this scene: distances and objects are much further and larger than they appear here — “foreshortening”. Do the boards make the shot look cool? They’re Devan’s, not mine. 85mm waist!!! Way too narrow for me, though they weigh much less than my setup. The trade-off: I can ski stuff that’s steeper, deeper and more challenging. But it's a lot more work packing them up here. Mountain sports are like that: a study of of practical concessions. It’s an art. And a big part of the fun!
"Moraine plateau"
Tracks descend from the col toward a large, snow-covered moraine plateau and Boom Lake, whose east shoreline is just visible below.
"V"
Chimney's north ridge seen from its northern subsidiary's south ridge
"Chimney from N1"
Another look at Chimney from further up its northen subsidiary's south ridge. My boards lend scale sticking out of the snowpack below, center frame
"Boom Lake"
Another peek at the large moraine plateau and Boom Lake further down
"Chimney N1 from an upper plateau"
"Plateaus" are definitely a theme this trip. I'm on one, there are at least two more
"summit snap 1"
Devan's in there, just visible roughly center frame. Our route contours the rock face that moves out of the frame on the right -- some mixed tooling in there. I managed with just one tool and a ski pole, though there were a couple of spots I'd wished I'd packed a second tool!
"summit snap 2"
Here's a wider view from the summit Devan's barely visible, just left of center. By the time I caught up with him he'd already exhausted at least two options that wouldn't work, marked the route with cairns AND summited. There was no posted track nor route for this summit. All he had for beta was a snap from Chimney Peak (just right of center), his snap, from when he'd summited it two years earlier (it's posted on summitPost) This guy is a BEAST. Beta warning: (...so maybe boring stuff if you don't plan to climb this thing) Make SURE you probe through to solid rock along the summit traverse. Otherwise it's a nasty drop!