On February 13, 2024, we climbed Oliver Twist, a single-pitch WI3 ice climb on a mountain called The Orphan in Kananaskis. We read about this climb on Facebook. It was fun climbing but unfortunately, we had to suffer to get to it.
Beta
- WI3
- single pitch
- the approach is 1.4 km to 2.0 km and takes 25 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on conditions (more on this below)
- a trekking pole is useful if there is deep snow
- the Facebook post said you can walk up to set up a top rope
- there is a two bolt anchor at the top left side
- descent: we rappelled
- if you have not hiked up this valley before, wait to go until there is hardly any snow or there is a trail to follow through the snow
Our mistake was going the day after a snowstorm. We had never hiked up this valley before and we had no way of knowing if there was any sort of trail buried under all that snow.
The Approach
Park just off the road on the east side of the Smith-Dorian Spray Lakes Trail at a drainage coming down from the Orphan. The approach is to hike up the drainage to find the climb.
We followed some footprints in the snow for about half a km. The fresh snow and wind obliterated any tracks after that and we post-holed slowly up the creek, tripping and slipping on buried rocks and boulders. This slowed us down considerably.
We tried hiking near the creek and then on a bench above the creek but couldn’t find an easy way. We tried hiking in the trees but climbing over deadfall was even slower. Traversing the slopes above the creek ended up being a slide on snow-covered scree.
I think we ended up going 2 km when the Facebook folks only went 1.4 km because we zig-zagged around looking for the path of least resistance. The Facebook folks got there in 25 minutes while it took us an hour and a half because we were post-holing, falling down hidden boulders and slab and navigating deadfall.
So after all that, was it worth it? You decide:
Please sir, can I have some more (ice)?
If you go, I hope you can find a trail or a better approach path than we did. Here’s ours, showing where to park and where we finally found the ice.
The Climb
The ice was nice and steep when we finally got up there but the steep part was only about four body lengths high. There are many possible good lines and it would be fun to run some laps here. The ice is wide enough to accommodate a couple of parties comfortably.
We learned/earned a good lesson this day. If you’ve never been to a climb before and you don’t know if there’s a good approach trail, don’t go when the snow is fresh and deep. Or expect to spend a lot more time and energy on the approach.
I think I will try to come back here in the summer and see if there is a trail or figure out the easiest route to the place where the ice formed. There could be a few lines of fun climbing here next winter. I will be certain to avoid days after snow storms!
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