Sask Summit 2005 - The Plan

The | Plan

Early in May of 2005 the team will fly from Saskatoon to the city of Whitehorse in the Yukon. From here we'll travel by road to Kluane Lake where we'll get flown in by ski-plane. We'll likely have to wait a few days for good enough weather to fly. We'll land on the Logan glacier, near Mt. Logan, the highest mountain in Canada.

“As our pilot set us down on the Logan glacier … little did we realize that before us lay 35 km of some of the most difficult skiing that any of our party had undertaken … It would take us fully six days to cover the distance to the base of Mount Manitoba, since considerable time had to be spent reconnoitering a route through the enormous piles of moraine and over the magnificent gaping crevasses before the sleds could be man-hauled past the obstacles. … we all agreed that few cartographic features have ever been so aptly misnamed as the “Prairie” Glacier which ascends over 500 m from its intersection with the Walsh Glacier to the cwm at the head of the valley. It took us two days of arduous effort to cover the six km around and sometimes over the considerable “moguls” which characterized the glacier.”
— 1992 expedition report

In 1967 the climbers flew by helicopter directly to base camp. We decided not to do this, partly because of the high cost, and partly because it seems like "cheating". Instead, we'll follow the same approach route as the Mt. Manitoba expedition in 1992. Based on their reports, getting to the mountain may be almost as big a challenge as climbing it!

We'll travel by skis, using packs and sleds to carry all our equipment and supplies. We'll need to travel roped up because we'll be travelling on glaciers with a multitude of snow covered crevasses. The first major obstacle will be crossing over from the Logan glacier to the Walsh glacier. The Manitoba team had to negotiate some tricky ice cliffs on this section. Then we'll travel down the Walsh glacier to where the Prairie glacier joins it. The main obstacles on the Walsh will be the moraines (piles of rubble) that we'll have to cross. The final challenge will be negotiating the Prairie glacier - a broken ice fall similar to the famous Everest ice fall. The Manitoba team took six days on the 35km approach with two of those days on the final 6 kms up the Prairie glacier. Finally, we'll arrive at our base camp at the foot of Mt. Saskatchewan.

“In 4 hours, after cutting through an overhang, we were on the ridge which ran in steep, lacy undulations up into the clouds above us. To the northwest it dropped sharply for about 1500 feet to the valley below. Behind us it ran down to the col joining Manitoba. In many places crevasses cut across the ridge made progress difficult. About 120 feet along the ridge I surmounted a 10-foot wall of ice covered with rotten snow by cutting steps on a diagonal traverse. As I stepped over the top I saw a 20-foot pinnacle dropping off on both sides and two more rock towers ahead of that … It was obvious we would have to get on the ridge above these obstacles … the rotten rock would not hold a piton and there were few belay spots … we found ourselves negotiating a very narrow crumbling rock section. The rock rose sharply and nowhere on that rotten mass of rock could a hand or foot hold be found that did not move and threaten to bring the whole thing down.”
— 1967 expedition report

From base camp, we'll have to find a route up the mountain. The 1967 team attempted several routes up Mt. Saskatchewan, in each case running into insurmountable obstacles high on the mountain. We're hoping that with the advances in climbing technique and equipment since then, that we'll be able to overcome these obstacles.

As with any major climbing expedition, the biggest factors will be weather and conditions. With global warming and shrinking glaciers, conditions may be considerably different from when the last people visited this area in 1992. The maps and arial photographs we have studied can only give us a rough idea of what we'll encounter. And weather will play a huge role. It will determine when we can fly in (and out) and when we'll be able to travel or climb. Storms could easily pin us in our tents for a week or more. Although we're allowing extra time for these factors, it's hard to know if it will be sufficient.

We're excited to be travelling to one of the most remote mountain ranges in the world, in many ways more remote and less travelled than even the Himalaya. We'll carry a satellite phone, and in an emergency it might be possible to evacuate someone directly from base camp by helicopter, weather permitting. But otherwise, our only exit will be by the same route we came in - down the Prairie glacier, along the Walsh, and back to the Logan glacier to await pickup by ski plane, again weather permitting.