| Ref: Eric
Coulthart in the Canadian Rockies |
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Normandy Peak from the top of Ardennes Peak. |
| Scramble:
RT 9.5 (includes Ardennes Peak); 50 minutes up. Normandy Peak is an easy
ascent from the Normandy-Ardennes Col and it's a short
distance away making it hard to pass up! Since the weather was nice and
Charles didn't mind waiting at the col after twisting his knee,
Fabrice and I decided to give it a go. The toughest part was the
snowbound connecting saddle, the snow in the trees was mostly
supportive but when it wasn't, we postholed right to ground. Above
treeline, we ascended dry ground going left around vertical slabs. Our
summit stay was relatively short, Charles was waiting below. Once
reunited, we backtracked in the drainage still on firm snow and carried
on down the gully past our earlier traverse. We were thrilled to be
able to follow the creekbed to the rubble in the forest we'd seen in
the morning. This was a very nice outing, we'll have to come back and
attempt Stan Waters Peak! |
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| The objective from the treed col. |
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| Ascending easy terrain. |
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| Ardennes Peak. |
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| Circumventing slabs climber's left. |
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| Straightforward. |
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| Looking back. |
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| Last bit, the top is just ahead. |
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| Whoot, whoot! |
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| A close look at Ardennes Peak, hard to believe we just went there! |
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| Stan Waters (left) and Rhine Peaks. |
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| Elliot Peak and Abraham Lake to the north. |
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| Heading down. |
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| Just following the drainage. |
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| Looking back up. |
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| Back at the snow-filled ascent gully. |
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| Good times. |
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| Rejoined with Charles, we continued down the drainage instead of backtracking on our earlier traverse. |
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| The gully grants good access. |
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| Bushwhacking back to the trail. |
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| Approaching the suspension bridge. |
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Normandy (left) and Ardennes Peaks. |
| Back to home page |
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