Rogers Pass to Bugaboos (April 1990)
Article from Can. Alpine Journal.

Photos

Chic’s vehicle: “The beast”. Here I am tying on the muffler with a coat hanger.

Glacier Circle Cabin, our home for the second night. It was hard to find:

A view of the Deville Cliff as we descended the Illecillewaet to Glacier Circle.

Approaching the Deville cliff, which we climbed at left in two pitches. Almost all parties now do this south to north, and rappel this section. The climb was not bad, though it did take a day to get from Glacier Circle cabin to camp atop the cliff:

Chic Scott shouldering the load. The two guides carried quite heavy packs all week:

Roddy takes a break.

Descending a steep part of the Grand Glacier: Stan belayed by Roddy. Photo by Tom Whitesides.

Leaving McMurdo Cabin on Day Nine, heading to International Basin and the Carbonate Icefield below Malachite Spire:

The view of Malachite and Horseman Spires from the pass above McMurdo heading down into International Basin. There is now a hut high in this basin.

The view north from below Horseman Spire. That is David Peak in center, which many years later I climbed in summer. It is named after my sister’s father-in-law, David Hope-Simpson, who was a mining engineer in the area around 1950 and who made the first ascent of the peak. The shallow valley at far right is the valley in the foreground in the image above:

Roddy after one of the few descents where he had some fun skiing. This was our ill-fated camp below Climax Col:

Roddy with Climax Col behind. We camped near here in nice weather, but a storm came in overnight and we had a near-serious avalanche on our climb of Climax Col the next day:

After the avalanche. The large crown is visible: about 300 yards wide and a foot and a half deep. Chic was at or very near the fracture when it happened. We were below the rocks at left and were struck by the falling snow. We are booting at the time. Only consequence was one lost pole:

Crystalline Peak from our camp below Climax Col, on the afternoon prior to the storm and avalanche. This area had a great alpine feel.

Approaching the Malloy Igloo after traversing the Conrad Icefield. This was our 14th night out, our last:

The end at Bugaboo Lodge. We were pretty happy to be there. Chic, Roddy, me, Tom: