Climb: 4hrs (Asc. 350m)
Return + Rappels: 3hrs10min
Total time: 8hrs 40min
We left camp at 0745h. I wasn’t too worried about needing an early start for this longer route. I was familiar with it (I climbed it last month) and the weather still seemed to be of no concern. Everything went smooth and not having to look at the guidebook for route descriptions saved us time. It was still great to do it a second time around. I was glad Pat got to do this classic line. We both approached in shoes to lighten the backpack during the climb instead of carrying boots. But this meant leaving the crampons behind for the descent down the steep and snowy Bugaboo/Snowpatch col on the way back. All went well during the descent. The snow was soft enough to kick my heels in until the slope lost some steepness. From there it was a quick and controlled butt slide down with the help of a mountaineering axe. What made the day was when two guys came up to the base of the climb to also do the North-East ridge and mentioned that Fred Beckey (One of two climbers that pioneered the Beckey-Chouinard route that we did two days ago) was staying at the Kain hut last night. He was climbing on Lions Way today (we climbed it on our first day) and he’s rumoured to be 88 years old!
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| Bugaboo Spire in the morning sun. The North-East ridge is on the right. |
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| Views across a broken glacier. The shadow of Bugaboo Spire bellow. |
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| Can you spot Pat? Click to enlarge photo. |
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| Summit photo. As we look towards the Howser Towers. |
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| Pat's throwing the rope down for the first of 5 rappels. |
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