Great Cairn Hut (10 days; April 18–28, 1994)

Personnel: Stan Wagon, Tom Whitesides, Rodden McGowan (guide), Joe McKay (assistant guide).

4/18/1994: Flew in by helicopter from Golden. Great weather. Another party of 6 was there, but they camped in tents and left the next morning. Two of them were on Mt. Sir Sandford and one made the summit; other waited 500 feet below.

The hut is amazing, as it was built in 1963 using stones from the great cairn built by a Harvard group many years before. Small. Sleeps six, but was fine for four. It is in a great location for ski mountaineering with several glaciers nearby.

4/19 Skied up the Howarth Glacier to Redan Pass, then on to summit of Alpina Dome. Whiteout at top, but terrain was benign. Good ski back to hut. This glacier is very safe: no icefalls and essentially no crevasses. One screw on my binding was not biting, and it took several days using epoxy, steel wool, and matches to get it to lock in.

4/20: Up the Guardsman Glacier to near the summit of the Footstool. This route takes off right from the hut and provides a 4500 foot descent all on good ski terrain. We were now seeing what heli-skiing is like in these parts, as these tours were on the sort of runs that heli-skiers would do. The guides had randonée bindings and it was fairly clear that our cable telemark bindings and skis were not really up to the task. We managed, but the trip raised serious questions about using this sort of gear. Perhaps fatter telly skis with releasable bindings would have been better, but it is starting to seem to me that alpine touring equipment is best.

4/21. Up at 2 a.m. to attempt Mt. Sir Sandford. Out the door at 4. Great weather. The Long Slope went well (steep stable snow, 48˚, occasionally hit a little bit of ice) and brought us to a resting place where we could savor the views and put on crampons and get ice axes out. Then up the Hour Glass, which has the same grade as the Long Slope but is a little icier. Lots shorter though. Then easy cramponing on gentle ice and snow brought us to the summit ridge. But a storm rolled in quickly and surrounded us in whiteout conditions only 100 vertical feet from the top. We waited in the tent sack for 30 minutes, but there was no improvement, so we retreated. So close! Our tracks were wiped out in spots and we had to be careful about routefinding. We set up belays for the Hourglass (2) and the Long Slope (5), using ice screws (twice) or deep T-slots in which to bury an ice ax. Slow business, and we got a little lost at one point, but only temporarily. The storm continued and spindrift blew down on us heavily from time to time. At one point I removed my pack having forgot that Joe had stuck his shovel behind my shoulder straps. Good-bye shovel. But then we are on the long ramp below the Long Slope and had an easy walk back to our skis near Ravelin Mountain. Back at 7 pm. almost 6000 feet total climb this day. An air of disappointment, but we had seen just about everything Big Sandy had to offer that day. And we were just a few feet from the top really,

4/22 rest day at hut. Dry out clothes, etc. I am deep into the bizarre novel, Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn.

4/23. Up at 4 am for another trip up the Haworth Glacier, and on to summit of The Citadel (9620 feet) a beautiful peak whose north snow ridge is visible from hut window. Used ice ax and steps in steep snow on this ridge, but easy. No belays. Great weather at summit. Incredible view of the density of peaks in this region. I do not think another area of North America has such peak and glacier density in such a large area as the northern Selkirks. Great ski down the shoulder of Citadel and easy ski back to hut. Total climb: 4200 feet.

4/24 6 am departure up the Silvertip Glacier beside its beautiful icefall to gain Silvertip Pass and a good route to summit of Belvedere Mt. (9742 feet). Again, steep snow and steps on final summit push, but no belays. Snow very stable. Great ski down, especially through the icefall, which had large ramps. Again, a very clear day with great views. Total climb: 3770 feet. Back at hut by noon.

4/25 Poor weather (snowing) so slept late. But ok to travel so we went to Sir Sandford Pass, a bump on its north side, then back to the good ski slope on Citadel and the ridge north of it. Fine day for ski touring. Returned to hut via Sir Sandford Glacier. Clearly the Haworth Glacier is better for both going up and down, because of the ice fall on the Sir Sandford Glacier. Saw a ptarmigan though, but I did not have my telephoto, which is essential for wildlife photography. Total climb: 4600 feet.

4/26 rest day. Hunted ptarmigan with telephoto in a.m. No luck. Tried again in p.m. on east side of hut and had success. Shot 20 pictures. They just are totally unperturbed no matter how close one approaches! Great for photography.

4/27 Repeated route of 4/20 but went all the way to the top of the Footstool. Tremendous views of the north face of Sir Sandford. Great ski down, though conditions slightly less good than before.

4/28 Helicopter arrives around 10:30. Don McTighe takes us on very scenic tour back to Golden including a pass through Minaret Col and a 360˚ spin around the Minaret itself (a rock spire). Again, tremendous views of everything. Clear day.

Summary: Maybe 10 days was too much at one hut. We had planned to build an igloo elsewhere for a side trip, but we were seduced by the comfort of the hut. Tom’s and my telemark gear (cable bindings) were not really up to the sort of skiing this area offers. Randonée equipment would have been better. The hut sleeps six, but was fine for four and would be tight with six. Many beautiful and large glaciers nearby (Sir Sandford, Guardsman, Haworth, Silvertip, and Redan Glaciers). Easy runs that heli-skiers would do (though in fact heli-skiers stay away from icefalls and crevassed areas, while we did ski through several of those). It seems as if we chose the absolute worst of the 9 days for our Sir Sandford attempt! Total climb for week: about 31,500 feet.

Miscellaneous notes: Prior to the Great Cairn trip I did a two-night trip to the Bow Hut with Richard and Louise Guy (77, 75, resp.) of Calgary. They were inspirational! 4 hours to the hut, 3 hours out. The hut day was stormy so we did not venture very far. Very large, new hut. Louise surprised a group of us returning from a tour by appearing alone on the slopes above the hut to practice her turns, in a white-out. Met a group of 10 Seattle Mountaineers led by Jim Heber. They started off to the Stanley Mitchell Hut on the day we went out, but returned in a few hours because of bad weather.

Then Tom and I did a tour at Burstall Pass in K-country. Very nice. And then a day at the Lake Louise ski hill before going to Great Cairn. Nice new hostel in Lake Louise where we met the Seattle group by coincidence.

After the trip I drove back via Idaho and Utah. Turned out to be about 100 miles longer than the trip up through Cheyenne and Billings, but it was a nice drive. Two full days. 1300 miles.