[MCR] Louise Falls, Rockies

Hi all,

I guided an ascent of Louise Falls today January 6th. We enjoyed milder temperatures ranging from -9.0C to -5.0C and overcast skies. We were pretty lucky and had the climb to ourselves. The route is in good early conditions with two large pillars touching down on the steeper head-wall. We climbed the left pillar as it was both easier and drier. The difficulty on this section felt like grade 4+ or 5-. The ice was overall still very hard from the recent cold spell and required extra work to get good tool placements.  Ice protection was excellent without to much digging, a few 10cm ice screws were useful on the final thinner section. All the bolted anchors encoutered are in good shape. We opted for the walk off which had seen little traffic and provided good traction. Of note, there's a few threatening looking hanging daggers along the top of the main curtain which could be of concerns with big temperature swings. Lots of surface water running however, it was easy to stay dry.

Happy climbing!

David Lussier

acmg mountain guide

http://summitmountainguides.com/

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