Combo Falls

Combo Falls, something else, Chantilly Falls attempt – January 26, 2008

Ice climbing with Mark.

Kevin Barton, having recently completed a number of first ascent ice climbs up Evan-Thomas Creek and being very knowledge about the area, suggested this trip to us: Combo Falls followed by a short step across the creek.

Having completed Chantilly Falls in 2007, we hiked past it, opting to save it for last if we had the time and energy. Combo Falls started off okay, but didn’t finish well. Mark led the first pitch, up very brittle ice. Beyond that pitch, the ice disappeared under a thick layer of snow or in fact there was no ice. We slogged our way up the gully, but found nothing to climb. We did eventually find a very short, but steep step to ascend, but we still remained confused as to where the rest of the ice was. I took an easy route to get above this step and then belayed Mark up. After that, we decided to abandon any further attempt to find ice to climb up this gully. From this vantage point, we could at least see the other piece of ice suggested by Kevin - “something else”. It stood across the creek.

This very small ice climb was terrific for us. Set in a scenic little canyon only a few minutes away from Evan–Thomas Creek, the ice that made up this step was stellar. Again, Mark led the 10m climb. We then set up a top-rope and did the climb a couple of times each. In truth, I could have spent all day just going up and down that little WI2 step and had a thoroughly satisfying day (perhaps an indicator of how high my ice-climbing ambitions go!).

On return, we reached Chantilly Falls again and since there wasn’t anyone doing the climb, we decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, our waning levels of energy, and therefore confidence, prompted us to bail about halfway up. Once again Mark led the first pitch and most of the second, but when he discovered the ice was very unwilling to easily accept ice screws, we both decided that turning tail was the best option.