Donnie and Sue met us in the parking lot at 5 a.m., and car-pooled with us into the Ghost. They were headed for This House of Sky and we attempting Cryophobia. If you have the right vehicle you can drive in via the Waiporous Creek and reach the climb in just 30 min. Without the requisite monster truck, you have to walk in via Johnson Lakes and the Ghost River Valley. Though the approach is straight-forward, it is 3 hrs long with 2.5 hrs of bushwacking. Remind me why I don't do something easier like skiing?
We finally rounded the ridge and saw this:
The Hydrophobia cirque is pretty incredible. I want to get back there either later this year or in the Spring for some plastic-ice climbing. Hydrophobia is the, ahem, obvious feature on the left. Cryphobia climbs rock that connects the discontinous ice features to the right. I took the first pitch which meant I would also get the crux. Marcus got the second pitch which meant he would climb two M7+ pitches.
Marcus gunning through the roof on the second pitch.
Yep, it is that good...
We didn't get the send, but we did get close to half-way up the route before pulling the plug. On the bright-side we know what areas need work. We have every intention of training hard and getting on this route again.
We didn't get back to Canmore until 9 p.m. After 6 hrs of walking (as well as some hard climbing) we didn't feel like waking up early again. We opted for the B-shift and started up for Guinness Gully + Stout at 11:30 a.m. It ended up being perfect timing as the party ahead of us was rapping the final-pitch as we started climbing it. We did something like 6 pitches of climbing in an easy afternoon that got us back in time for the end of Sunday Night Football.
Marcus on the first pitch of Guiness Gully.
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