Last monday my buddy Jiro and I made the slog into a newly climbed route called "Undertow", on the backside of Tangle Ridge on the Icefields Parkway. A big congrats to the first ascentionists - Mike Verway, Jay Mills, and Steve Holeczi(who taught me how to ice climb in '05).
This was a big rig with over 600meters of ice in the WI 4 to 6 range. There was 3 steeper pitches, but most of the climbing was closer to WI4. The exit pitch over the dormant serac at the top was short but burly and very unique, toping out onto low angled ice and snow. The summit views were incredible! A full pano of the Columbia Icefields with Mt. Kitchener in front and centre.
With a good overnight freeze we were able to hike into the base in 3 hours, climbing the popular "Shades of Beauty"(WI4, 120m) along the way. Add that to the overall length and your looking at nearly 800m of ice!! All that fat waterfall ice at this time of year is just awesome. We used a 70m rope and topped out after over 9 long rope-stretching pitches. Every pitch was unique and fun. After enjoying the summit views and playing the peak naming game, we casually descended the south ridge back to Tangle Falls and the Parkway. We had been on the go, non-stop for 15hours and feeling a bit tired, but mainly thirsty. Its hard on your body to exert for that long on just 1.5 litres of water and a few snickers bars, but you gotta keep the weight down in order to travel quicker.
I would say that "Undertow" is one of the best pure waterfall climbs that I have done! If you're into this sort of thing, make the slog in and enjoy one of the very best ice climbs in the Canadian Rockies.
