Wapta Traverse

So I have had the opportunity to tell some of you about my trip and I think most of you have at least heard about it but let me explain it in more detail. The Wapta Ice field is a large series of glaciers located between Lake Louise and Jasper. To do the traverse there are a series of huts that Parks Canada has constructed just off of the glaciers at strategic points spaced out about 10km or so. The trip is hard there is a lot of elevation, crevasses in the glaciers and avalanche danger (much more than I realized). It took us 3 nights and 4 days. Here are some of the pictures with a brief synopsis
Day 1- Day 1 we skied up to the first hut and didn't actually get on the ice field. There was only one little part with avalanche danger but day 1 was breezy compared with what we had to deal with later. The 1st hut was definitely the best because it had 2 wooden fire stoves and is much more spacious than the other huts.

Day 2- This is where we had to climb up onto the ice field and then up and over a pass and down the the second hut. It was extremely cold. Over the pass with wind chill I think it was close to -50 degrees. Any skin exposed for about a couple of hours would have had frost bite I'm pretty sure. I made the mistake of removing my googles and face mask for a photo at the top of the pass and my face and nose got very very cold. Luckily it was clear and we had good visibility and the scenery was amazing the photos really don't come close but it gives you a good idea.

Day 3- Day 3 was the hardest day two big climbs, we had to rope up to go over a few crevasses and it was the longest day. Once again the photos are amazing. The solitude was also amazing because at this point we did not see anyone else on the trip until we made it to the trail head.

Day 4- Day 4 we woke up and I was a little scared because the wind was really blowing, visibility was bad and it was very cold. The wind was blowing so hard that when the door to the outhouse was open the wind began to rip the hinges from the door. When you went to the bathroom you had to hold the door shut with your hand and then we tried to do the best we could to seal it shut when we left but I wouldn't be surprised if the wind ripped that door right off and sent it flying into a crevass below where our hut was. On our way out we also ran into some really sketchy avalanche chutes but luckily we made it out safely without incident and after an hour of battling the elements the day really did clear up and the sun was out as we finally made it to the car. I included a couple of pictures it was definitely a very exciting trip.

I went with Ken and Randy Lucas both good friends who took excellent care of me. Even though we found ourselves in a couple of pretty tight spots I'm glad I was there with them because they are more experienced than I am. It really was a life changing trip I definitely had an amazing time.