New Route - "Facile Monster" IV M5 WI5, 420m

Had a super fun trip a couple weeks ago with Eammon Walsh & Steve Holeczi into a remote drainage behind Mt. Murchison on the Icefields Parkway. The objective of our trip was an unclimbed ice route I'd spotted a couple of years ago.



"The Facile Monster"

Since the approach is quite long (about 4 hours) we decided to hike in the day before and camp in the forest below the climb. In the morning we got up at first light and walked the remaining 20 minutes to the route. The first pitch was good climbing on rock and thin ice and turned out to be the crux of the route. Above the first pitch a long gully with a few short ice & rock steps led to four pitches of excellent ice climbing culminating in a steep & exciting, but short, grade 5 pillar. We quickly rapelled the route and walked out in fading daylight. Overall it was a fun exploratory trip to a rarely visited valley.

Our camp for the night.

Eammon on the first pitch.

For the complete route description from Steve check out gravsports.com

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
www.cdnalpine.com