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MT. KITCHENER

The route Rights of Passage (5.7 M5 WI7+, 800m), which can be seen from a pullout on the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93), was attempted several times in the late 1980s and early ’90s. In the middle of October Philippe Pellet and I followed the main drainage of the Stutfield Glacier for two hours to some shallow lakes, then continued along moraines until the route’s initial chimney became visible. Continuously snowy couloirs with ice and mixed steps brought us to the route’s crux. A rising tube led to a good stance under an ice roof. We traversed right under the roof to the steeps. Hold on to your hat! Two WI7+ pitches, each twenty-five meters with perfect ice protection, followed. (If you are some kind of mutant, link them.) These outrageous pitches were followed by a traverse left to ascend a really cool, narrow, icy chimney between a rock wall and a glacier. This led us to a wide aquamarine ice rink that gently rose to the col. It took us about nine hours to climb the route and three or four to descend. We rappeled the route from V-threads, bolts (two raps) and pins (two raps).


— Eric Dumerac, Canada