Page 25 - 2003 AMA Summer

damp items. In essence a real home from home. The hut is utilised extensively by Yamnuska Guides the Canadian equivalent of Plas Y Brenin, for introductory courses in alpine moun­ taineering. Stories of moun­ taineering prowess could therefore be heard all around the hut as the evening drew on.
Day 3 would be a hard day from the Bow to Balfour hut but would prove to well worth the effort. A hard pull up from the Bow hut in cold but clear conditions towards the St Nicolas/Olive Col set the tone of the days efforts. The combined efforts of the previous days were
beginning to tell this coupled with dwindling food stocks focussed the real need to conserve energy levels. As the Col was gained a lengthy rest period was taken. This gave us all the chance to wonder at the grandeur of the scenery and savour the moment. A few hours later we made the Balfour hut. In the middle of nowhere and with the whole hut to ourselves we enjoyed a sense of solitude, which reinforced the team ’s depen­ dence upon each other.
Checking the route ahead from the comfort of the hut it was clear that we might encounter problems. The Balfour High Col lay ahead and conditions appeared to be less than favourable. An early start from Balfour
would be needed so we set off after first light in order to gain the Col before snow conditions deteriorated. As I climbed up a small snow ramp the snow pack under foot seemed to settle with a disturbing unease. We all stopped and I then move to safe ground to check the pack. A snow pit was dug and the slope was tested. When pressure was applied above the pit a 20cm slab of snow sheared off with little effort, all bets were now off!
Back at the Balfour hut a plan was hatched to stay in the hut overnight and head back towards the Bow hut before moving back to the valley. The Sat phone was sparked to life and the Alpine Club of Canada was
Crossing onto the ice Held.
contacted who stated that we could use the hut for a second night and once again we would have exclusive use, happy days.
As we planned a days
activity in and around the hut the weather took a turn for the worse and total whiteout again engulfed the hut. The correct decision had been made at the right time to back off, which is the art of mountaineering.
A full day’s training in further snow and ice techniques on a large piece of permanent snowfield took place before we retired to the confines of the hut. The main topic that evening was the remaining food supplies that we were carrying. The dry rations we were consuming were making our bodies crave for real scoff so thoughts of freshly baked Pizza's and steak and chips came to all.
An early start on the fifth and final day meant that good time was made. The ambient air temperature was -1 0 and patchy mist gave the early morning a sense of foreboding. We retraced our steps to the Bow hut and rested briefly before starting the long walk back to the valley. The descent back to Bow Lake and the safety of the valley lead us through forest tracks which hand railed a ravine. We were
now focussed on the possi­ bility of an encounter with a bear albeit a Brown or
Grizzly. We had seen a Grizzly on the road from Jasper 4 day’s earlier and so as much noise was made as possible to avoid such a meeting. Singing proved to be the best method of gen­ erating the required volume and people’s repertoire was becoming stretched as we arrived safely at Bow Lake and civilisation.
The expedition was now
drawing to a close but spirits were high and although Mt Columbia hadn’t been
gained the team greatly benefited from their experi­ ences, which made the venture a complete success. It has hopefully acted to increase the level of awareness within those, which attended to the aims of AT and raised the profile of the sport within the Regiment too.
Training on the icelield.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER