Canada Ice: Day 3 - Polar Circus

This was it... the big grandaddy of the trip. Polar Circus is one of the most popular and sought -after ice climbs in the Canadian Rockies. We were all feeling solid and decided to give this one a go on our third day of climbing. Jordan would be on point for the WI 5 pitches, and Matt and I would lead as much of the other ice as possible. The route is not too far from the highway, and has a relatively low commitment factor - you can rap off at any point. Nevertheless, it offers up pitch after pitch of solid ice in a huge cleft that has a very remote and rugged feel.


We started out with the guidebook recommendation of going up on the left and bypassing potentially thin lower pitches. Jordan was comfortable soloing over some low - angle ice, but Matt and I stopped for a quick belay. What the book described as an exposed snow traverse was pretty mellow, likely due to the fact that there was tons of snow up there.

The first roped pitch was some mellow looking ice, and I offered to take the first lead. It was just WI 3, very steppy and moderately angled. This route gets a lot of traffic, and many holes where previous parties had placed screws were visible. We had seen another party's car parked down on the highway, and hoped that we were far enough ahead that there wouldn't be an issue. As I brought Jordan and Matt up from the nice chain anchors in place, they informed me that the other party was moving quickly and not far behind. My heart kind of sank because I didn't like the idea of either slowing someone else down, or having someone climb through and knock ice down on us all day.






The next pitch was at the base of the Pencil (a formation that hardly ever comes in, but when it does it is a massive free-hanging pillar) that Matt led up. The other party came upon us when Matt was just about to the top. They were a couple of amiable German guys. I had seen them at the Drake Inn the first night at dinner, and then the gas station the next day. Small World! They were very courteous, and asked if they could climb through. I deferred to Jordan to see what he thought, and we offered to let them go through. They were obviously climbing fast, and hopefully they would move far enough ahead of us so as to not present any difficulties. The older member of the group said they would just simulclimb up what Matt had led. The younger member of the team then piped up in German, and they exchanged words that seemed to me to be "don't be such a wuss... just climb". They cruised on by. Matt brought Jordan and I up from a slightly tenuous ice tool belay, and we began traversing steep snow to the base of the next pitch.

It seemed like kind of a long traverse to get up to the next pitch, and the position was incredible, with views up to the higher sections of the climb, and a real sense looking below of how far we had already come. Despite being passed by another party, I felt good about our pace and efficiency. Climbing as a group of 3 allows the third climber at the belays who is not belaying to eat and drink, minimizing the need for a full stop of the team for refueling. Matt and Jordan are attentive climbers, and we seemed to operate very smoothly and efficiently in this regard. At this point in the climb, we were definitely feeling the stoke!

By the time we got to the base of the next pitch, the German leader was already about halfway up it. He was moving quickly and running it out quite a bit, probably placing screws only every 20 feet or so. Once they cleared it, Jordan roped up for a lead. This pillar was way tall, and it seemed like our 60 meter ropes were just barely long enough to get up the thing! He did a monster lead up this pitch, yielding what I think is the best picture of the whole trip - a shot Matt took from the edge of the gully that appears almost level with Jordan. Jordan appears to be groveling, but believe me when I tell you he cruised up like it was no big thing. This pitch was the real frickin' deal.

Up above was a short snow walk to the next pitch. This pitch had looked thin and dirty from the road, but upon closer inspection wasn't so bad. Jordan also dispatched with it most hastily. Quite a bit of ice came down off of it, but fortunately the belay was nicely sheltered. Again, the existence of chain anchors was a nice luxury to have.

The next pitch was another short 'move the belay' pitch which I took while Matt and Jordan made some nice self - portraits. The Germans were long gone ahead of us, occasionally heard but not seen. As I crested my short section, I could see the final pitches above us, a grand cascading waterfall that seemed impossibly steep and tall - it reminded me of the "Cliffs of Insanity" from The Princess Bride. You could see spindrift blowing down from the very top, and the setting was just stunning.



This was it; the final big three pitches. They were all rated WI 4 or 5, and certainly looked intimidating. We fueled up for a bit, and then Jordan roped up and took off. He went up the central portion of the main pillar, which looked to be in good shape. However, as he got higher, his progress slowed and he informed us that it was actually much thinner and more chandeliered than it looked from down below.

He asked us to watch him, and as he moved up higher, all of the sudden , he was off! It was the first leader fall on ice that I had ever seen. Fortunately, his first piece of protection held and his fall was clean - no snags of crampons or ice tools. Matt lowered him down to the ground so that we could all gather our wits. Jordan was very cool about the whole thing, which impressed the hell out of me. I think I would have shit a brick if I were in his shoes. He casually mentioned that the piece he fell on was a stubby screw with a regular runner on it, not a Screamer! In chandeliered ice, no less. Good stuff! It was nice and cold that day, which I'm sure contributed to the holding power of the screw.

Jordan was going to be our ropegun for the upper pitches, and he made it clear his day was done. I think we were all rattled and ready to call it a day. I was pretty pleased to have gotten so close to the top of such a climb, and to be in the company of such strong ice climbers. There was only one slight problem.... Jordan and Matt had been climbing in a leashless style this trip, meaning that their tools were not leashed to their wrists. Matt had an 'umbilical' system which connected his tools loosely to his harness so that they couldn't be dropped. Jordan, however, had no such system. He's been climbing a long time and has never dropped a tool, so that system worked great for him. Jordan's tools did not come down with him on the fall, and were planted firmly in the ice about ten feet above the last screw that he fell on. What to do,what to do....

The solution was obvious - either Matt or I had to go up and retrieve them. On paper, this was no big deal - we would be on toprope from the pro Jordan had placed, and only had to make a move or two above the pro to retrieve the tools. I volunteered to go up and deal with it. My plan was to place screws high and aid up to them; the terrain was steep and I didn't want to take another fall onto a piece that had already held. I went up, and everything worked according to plan. In my opinion, this was the best teamwork we displayed the whole trip. We planned out carefully how to do what we were going to do, then Jordan and Matt coordinated on the ground to make sure the correct rope was tight. I got the tools down, set a V-thread, and rapped. It was mighty steep up there, and thin as well. Jordan is one badass climber for venturing into that terrain and climbing so well. As I rapped, I felt like we had had an awesome day, even if we didn't top out.

On our way down, we were able to use fixed anchors for most of the rappels. Rather than reverse the long snow traverse a third of the way up the route, I suggested we use the rap anchor that went over the edge of the Pencil. Matt and Jordan were incredulous, concerned that it was so high up that the ropes might not even touch down. I really didn't want to do the snow traverse, so I volunteered to go first and check out the rap. My rationale was that I could prussik back up if it wasn't going to work out. As I edged back towards the top of the Pencil, I could see that the ropes didn't really 'touch down' in a true sense. However, if I angled the rap just right, I could touch down just to the side of the top of the snow cone. With rope stretch from the rap, I was comfortably down. You can see the feature in the background of the picture on the left. I was able to get up into an alcove in the back in case one of the guys knocked the massive top of the ice block down (which didn't worry me, really, but one should be prudent). Matt and Jordan enjoyed their free-hanging raps, I think.

The rest of the descent went without incident, and we got back down to the car with a lot of light left, around 6pm if I recall. The drive back to Canmore was tough, and we gorged ourselves on pizza in the hotel room that evening. Though technically not a total success in climbing terms, today was one of the most awesome days I've ever had in the mountains.