[MCR] Rockies Ice: Canmore Junkyards

I ran up to the Canmore Junkyard to check out conditions yesterday afternoon and was a bit depressed by what I saw. It is definitely in early season shape right now.

The main flow has only two really climbable lines right now. When I got there yesterday a party of two had rigged their rope in such a way that both lines were in use by them leaving only very sub-optimal lines for anyone else that wandered up. (This was OK at the time as the place was nearly empty late afternoon on a weekday. Had it been a weekend this would have been a problem for anyone else showing up.)

The undulating flows on the right side of center were soaking wet and very thin in many places. This section has not filled in yet and is not very steep. Anchors on top would be difficult to rig as the ice up above is thin with running water underneath.

I rambled up twice to check it out and soaked my gloves through in two quick climbs. In addition, I bent the tips of my picks on rock even though I was trying to be extremely delicate.

The two gullies on the left side of the main flow were very sketchy and looked like scrappy and spooky dry tooling. Marginal protection would be all you could expect. Some of the ice is wet and does not look well attached at all. I didn’t bother even trying to head up these lines. My tools were already banged up enough!

Synopsis: The Junkyard ice is still pretty junky with the exception of the single section left of center. Needs a couple of weeks of cooler temps to fatten up before the area will support the normal weekend hoards that show up here.

Stay Cool

Cyril Shokoples
Mountain Guide