In February 2026, Dan and I were staying in our RV at the campground in Lake Louise. It was a great base camp for exploring the ice climbing on Icefields Parkway. The only problem was that the weather had been so warm. The climbs were becoming increasingly slushy and we decided we had to find a climb that was in a shady area.
The Ice Climbing app described a couple of climbs in a narrow canyon along Owen Creek called Unowen Dancer and Don’t be an Archhole. The grades of these side-by-side climbs were WI3 and WI4. The approach involved hiking the trail to the top of the canyon and then dropping into the canyon from above. We planned to lower into the canyon, using trees for anchors, and climb back out on top rope.
We hadn’t heard of anyone climbing them and we weren’t sure if they formed every year. But the “navigate” feature in the app would make sure we found the place where they came in. On February 8, 2026, we decided to go look for the ice climbs.
What we found led to one of the coolest, most fun days of our trip.
Beta:
- WI3 and WI4 lines
- single pitch
- lower from tree anchors at the top of the climbs
- climb back out on top rope
- we used our single 70 meter rope
Access
From the Icefields Parkway, turn onto Highway 11, the David Thompson Highway. A short drive (about 5.8 km) brings you to where Owen Creek crosses the highway. Park near here.
We pulled a u-turn and parked just off the road, on the right side of the creek which is where the trail starts.
Mount Wilson is in the distance.
And this road sign is near by.
The Approach
We found a trail in the snow leading away from the road, toward the creek.
The trail led to the creek and then turned to follow it.
Ten or fifteen minutes from the road, we reached the place where the creek emerged from the canyon.
Here the trail turned away from the creek and started uphill.
This steep climb would get us high above the creek, at the top of the canyon.
Near the top of the hill, nearly all the snow had melted.
We started to see some ice along the top of the canyon walls. The canyon was so narrow, we couldn’t see very far down.
A bit further on, we saw some promising ice.
We hiked past the ice, to a point where we could look back and get a better view.
From there, we could see some climbable ice. But we couldn’t see the bottom, where the creek was flowing.
This was about 0.8 km from the road about 75 meters of elevation gain.
The Climb
We decided to try the lines on the right (facing the ice).
We found a good tree for an anchor.
It was my turn to climb first and I walked back to the edge of the canyon. I slung a small tree near the edge for a directional, to make sure the rope would hang down where I wanted to climb.
It felt adventurous to be lowered into a canyon that I hadn’t been able to fully see into.
As I was lowered into the canyon, I could see that the ice was bigger and more impressive than I had imagined. This was going to be some great climbing!
The creek at the bottom was mostly frozen over. As I reached the surface of the creek, I radioed to Dan to stop lowering.
Looking down the canyon, the little creek was flowing ice-free. The canyon was so narrow. It was such a cool place.
I stood down there looking around for a few minutes, trying to take it all in. It felt like such a privilege to be there.
Ice climbing certainly takes you to some spectacular places!
The first line I climbed was on the far right. It was great!
The ice was great, no slush.
Near the top, it was a bit sun-affected.
We climbed the right side a couple of times and then moved our anchor to a tree above the left side.
We found a good tree for an anchor above the ice on the left side.
This is another look at the left side. It was fun, steep climbing.
The rock was almost as interesting as the ice. The creek had carved all kinds of curves and concavities in walls of the canyon.
Just over Dan’s left shoulder, you can see where the water carved a big hole in the rock.
Perhaps this is the “archhole” from the climb called “Don’t be an Archhole”.
The line on the left side. Fun, steep climbing.
This is the tree anchor on the right side. One of the great things about this day was being able to sit in the sun while belaying.
We had an amazing day at the Owen Creek ice climbs. Being down in the canyon was like being in a secret world. The ice was solid and steep. The approach was short and straightforward. We will definitely climb there again.
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