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Waddington Wild
Climbing a fang of ice-covered rock
July 19, 2004

Climbing the headwall
Photo by Mike Long
Click on photo for more pics of Mt. Waddington!

North of Vancouver, British Columbia's Pacific coast is a rugged mountain wilderness, heavily covered in rain forest and deeply indented by fjord-like inlets. The valley bottoms are thick with vegetation, and the many large rivers (not too mention a healthy bear population) make backcountry travel difficult and often dangerous as moist air from the Pacific Ocean brings heavy precipitation in form of rain or snow. The heavily glaciated Coast Range stretches northward into Southeastern Alaska and forms the Alaska-British Columbia boundary, protected on the U.S. side by Tongass National Forest. An expedition to this region is a true wilderness experience.

Exploratory mountaineering has thrived for quite some time in the Coast Range, and even today there are many unclimbed summits and large numbers of peaks that have had only one or two ascents. The area presents a wide variety of climbing objectives, from general mountaineering and glacier travel to technical rock and steep snow ascents. For a taste of the most spectacular peaks, the Mount Waddington Range offers many possibilities, including four mountains that exceed 12,000 feet: Mount Waddington (13,177'), Mount Tiedemann (12,798'), Mount Asperity (12,205'), and Mount Combatant (12,142').

"...we learned that no other parties had succeeded on the mountain this season because of dangerous conditions on the upper mountain."

Mount Waddington, the highest peak in British Columbia, is a spectacular fang of ice-covered rock that was first climbed by Fritz Wiessner and William House in 1936. It is a demanding climb by any route, culminating in a dramatic summit tower that demands technical rock skills. Ascending to the summit, which happens only occasionally, depends a lot on timing and weather, and conditions can vary dramatically from one climb to the next.

Our expedition of four western Washington climbers - Chris Martin, Brian Gilbert, Dave Walker and myself - arrived in the Coast Range in early July for an attempt on this impressive mountain. Having read several expedition accounts describing bad weather and difficult snow conditions, we were not initially overly optimistic about our chances, but the desire to visit the area outweighed our basic common sense to attempt something with a better reputation. As we drove across the border and continued deep into the heart of the province, we understood that our success would at least depend on the fickle Coast Range weather.

Upon our arrival at Whitesaddle Air Services for the flight to the base of Mount Waddington, we learned that no other parties had succeeded on the mountain this season because of dangerous conditions on the upper mountain. As our helicopter rose above an intervening ridge on the approach to Tiedemann Glacier, the summit did in fact appear covered in rhime ice. But snow conditions might be decent on the lower mountain between base camp and Bravo Headwall, and may have even stabilized above towards Spearman Col following an extended period of high pressure, which could put is in position for a rapid ascent of the final 1,000 feet. As most climbers probably know, the first day of an expedition usually abounds with such optimism. After landing our team near a suitable location for base camp, our pilot lifted off and quickly disappeared. We found ourselves alone on the glacier; not another party in sight.

Having established base camp next to a convenient pool of melt water in the middle of the glacier, we decided to take advantage of uncharacteristically good weather and begin our ascent early the following morning. At 5:30 am we walked the deceptively short distance to the base of Rainy Knob, then climbed a moderate snow slope to reach the top of this rather benign feature. After gaining only moderate altitude on the lower route the view began to expand in all directions, and I realized then how truly vast and remote an area we were visiting.

The climbing conditions were excellent and we rapidly gained elevation, making a short traverse from Rainy Knob to the base of the next obstacle as the first crevasses began to appear around us. The Bravo Glacier has occasionally been compared with the Khumbu Glacier on Mount Everest, and we found a few sections worthy of caution - a menacing ice tower, several weak snow bridges, areas of unconsolidated snow - yet at a significantly lower altitude and much smaller scale than anything comparable on the world's highest mountain.

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