An Unassisted Adaptive Ascent of the South Howser Tower, Bugaboos
This July, adaptive climbers Nat Vorel, Jim Ewing, Mo Beck, and Seneida Biendarra headed to the Canadian Rockies to complete an unsassited adaptive ascent of the South Howser Tower in the Bugaboos. Before the trip Nat stated, “The primary objective of this expedition is to highlight the self-reliance and capabilities of adaptive climbers, breaking barriers in mountaineering and inspiring others with physical challenges to pursue their passions independently. Additionally, we aim to raise awareness about the abilities of adaptive climbers and contribute valuable insights to the broader climbing community.” Below are additional details about the trip through Nat’s trip report.
I arrived in Calgary late on the 10th of July, after a harrowing two days of delayed flights and a rebooking. We all immediately crashed, ready to drive up to Canmore for a day of chill climbing, then off to our great adventure in the Bugs. We arrived in Canmore, did a quick Tim Hortons run, and went to Grassi Lakes to sport climb. I had contracted a sinus infection from being in so many places in 48 hours, and the extreme exhaustion caused by airline delays prevented me from getting a full night’s sleep. I attempted to have fun, but every route caused a fire in my lungs, and my head would not stop throbbing. After climbing, we went to get groceries, and then stayed with a friend of Jim’s, who was kind enough to lend us any gear that we didn’t remember to bring. We had a lovely dinner, packed up, and tucked in to get a good night’s sleep before flying via helicopter out the next morning.
We woke up to beautiful morning weather, and drove off to Golden, our final destination for the helicopter. I slept the entire way, desperate to get over my sinus infection. Once we got to the helicopter place, we loaded up, able to bring almost everything, except one camp chair. And then we took off. The helicopter was an incredible experience, not only because it saved my legs from total destruction, but also because we got to experience fantastic views of the bugs as we entered, and live a life of luxury in camp with our extra gear. Once we landed, we unloaded, set up camp, and settled in for the evening. Mo graciously dehydrated 94 servings worth of food for our main meals, all of which tasted delicious, so we were set for the trip. We cooked a wonderful dinner, dug out the toilet which was still encased in snow, and went to bed.
We woke up early the next morning to test our mettle as a team on Pigeon Spire. The route was only 5.4, but would show us how we all moved together in the mountains. I roped up with Seneida after taking a brief nap at the base so the route could move into the sun. We moved slowly at first, understanding how each of us moved in this terrain, and then quickly on the descent. We arrived back at camp and met some lovely Norwegians, who were tearing up the Bugs, doing more routes than anyone else in true European style. We decided to take a rest/scouting day the next day, to check out our main objective for the trip: the Beckey Chouinard Route on the South Howser Tower.
After an incredibly chill rest day, we headed off in the evening to check out the approach to the BC (Beckey Chouinard), and, satisfied with our findings, headed back to get an early night’s sleep. We woke up the next morning at the terrible hour of 3 AM, and packed up to head up our major objective. However, as we moved slowly on the approach but fast on the climbing, we were passed in the last hundred yards by another party following in our tracks. This party then proceeded to take an hour to lead a 30m 5.5 pitch, and let two other parties pass us without asking, so we decided to bail and try the next morning. But the next morning, we woke up to reports of storms the following day, so our plans changed again, and we decided to pursue another objective, Surfs Up on Snowpatch Spire, a seven pitch 5.9.
After hiking over the col and to the base of the route, it became apparent that Mo was not doing well. After deliberating for a time, it was decided that Seneida and I would head up the route before we lost daylight, and Mo and Jim would head back to camp, as they had already climbed the route previously. We started up the first three pitches, through adventurous route finding. As I pulled through the fourth pitch, I arrived on a beautiful ledge with gorgeous hand crack running straight above. We decided how to break up the pitches between us, then headed up stellar hand cracks to the summit. After some wandering to find the rap anchors, we simulrapped down a fantastic rappel, and headed back to camp.
Arriving back at camp in the dark, we were greeted by Jim who had pre-cooked us a wonderful bagged meal of taco mac and cheese, and told that Mo had most likely gotten heat exhaustion, so she was passed out and recovering in her tent. Luckily, we woke up the next morning to a normal, healthy Mo, and had another fantastic rest day in the mountains. The next afternoon called for storms which never arrived, so that day was all a rest day, which we spent eating, hydrating, and lounging around to our hearts delight. With a perfect weather window for the next two days, we decided that the following morning would be our attempt on the BC. So we went to bed early, packs packed and ready for our 2 AM approach.
This go around was much better. We did encounter another party, but they were respectful, and although they did go around us, were very quick and efficient. Mo and I decided to rope up, since she didn’t want to lead, and I was down to take the whole route if possible. We followed up right behind Mo and Seneida, then made our first mistake of letting a party pass us who said they would be quick, but were not. This put us an hour or so behind. We proceeded up the moderate terrain, trying to catch up to Jim and Seneida, but the sandbagged grades and high altitude kept us at bay. After leading ten pitches in a row, I decided that I had been through enough and could not continue to lead every pitch without destroying my body, so we met up at the top of pitch ten and switched partners, so I was now with Jim. Jim headed up the crux pitch, pulling off an incredibly impressive lead. I followed up, flailing my way along, and finished out the rest of that pitch. We proceeded up, trying to move quickly so we could get off the route before dark. But fate did not have that in its plans for us.
Jim ended up taking the next three pitches, showing his mastery and skill for trad climbing, and I did my best to run up behind him to save time. I ended up taking the last pitch, and arrived at the summit just as the sun started setting. Jim made his way up, but Mo and Seneida were far behind, at the base of pitch fourteen. Jim and I decided we would start the approach to the true summit, and bivy there, while Mo and Seneida reached the top of pitch fourteen, and decided to bivy at the base. After collecting snow to melt for water, Jim and I found a small bivy site and cuddled up for the night. I woke up at some point with my head on my pack, hearing it rustle around. I shook it a bit, but the rustling came back a few minutes later. I announced to Jim, “Jim, I believe we have a creature.” And he turned on his headlamp to reveal a packrat trying to get to my last precious bar.
After a night of shivering, we were incredibly psyched to see the sun slowly move over the mountains toward us. We continued on toward the true summit, and took a nap in the sun while waiting for Mo and Seneida. Soon, we were all on the true summit together, beaten down, hungry, and tired, but happy. We found the rappel stations, and it was determined that I would go first, as the team-voted rope master. Both Jim and I were in a good deal of pain at this point, him from his stump and mine from my back and paralyzed leg, so I put in my best effort to get us down as fast as possible. Around the eighth rappel, we heard a walkie call that no one ever wants to hear while rapping as a party of four: our second rope had gotten a core shot. Now, we would be a party of four rapping on one rope.
Luckily, we were only three raps from the ground, so we proceeded on, just more slowly. I finally finished the last rap, stepping over onto the glacier, and waited for everyone to get down. Our non-leg disability friends, Mo and Seneida, were incredibly helpful and kind, and offered to take a lot of the weight on the hike back, saving me and Jim from an even more painful time. We thus began the long drudge back down the col back to camp, glissading when we could to save energy. Finally, we made it back home, and refueled after a very hungry 36 hours. Laying down was the most incredible feeling after being upright on a not-so-sturdy spine for so long, and a good night’s rest did much to heal the damage that I had done to my poor paralyzed muscles.
The next day was obviously a rest day, as we were all pretty beat up. We sat around, ate as much food as possible, and drank the rest of our libations. It was a great day to rehash the route, joke around, and spend quality time together, as we would soon be leaving our little paradise. The next day was the helicopter ride out, so we just hung out and enjoyed the moment we were spending together.
We woke up the next day and begrudgingly started to pack up camp. As the helicopter landed, we quickly approached and loaded it up as best we could, and got in. The smoke from the nearby forest fires made the air very cloudy, and I think we all felt a tinge of sadness as we took off from our temporary but incredible home. After landing and unloading, we all gathered and did one of the things we had all been waiting for: we turned our phones off airplane mode. All of us were bombarded with news and messages, and we learned of what had happened while we were gone, after only hearing the smallest bytes of news via the InReach. After spending a sufficient amount of time catching up, we headed to a restaurant to eat real food for the first time in ten days, and then on to Jim’s friend’s house for a shower and to sleep in a real bed.
The next day featured sport climbing at Lake Louise, which was incredibly pleasant after a trad trip pushing things to the edge, and a rooftop hot tub at our hotel near the airport. We bid Jim farewell, as he was trying to drive over the border back to the US, and settled in. I had a very early flight out of Calgary, so I left on the shuttle early, leaving dear friends, but with a head full of dreams for the future.
Nat received an Adaptive Adventure Fund from Paradox Sports to help fund this trip. If you’d like to learn more, apply for a scholarship, or donate directly to the Adaptive Adventure Fund to help others create impactful experiences in the outdoors, you can find more information here.
Photo Descriptions:
Photo 1: A group photo taken before the group headed up Beckey-Chouinard. They are all sitting side by side (L-R Jim, Mo, Nat, Seneida) and smiling at the camera. Jim, Mo, and Nat are all tied into ropes that are flaked on the ground in front of them. It’s early in the morning and the sun isn’t fully up so they’re all wearing their helmets with headlamps on them. In the background is a snowy valley and a large, rock face. The mountain slopes are covered in snow.
Photo 2: An image taken from the valley looking up at the South Howser Tower and Minarette, the Beckey-Chouinard on the left ridge. There is a steep, snowy hillside leading up to the base of the tall, rocky tower. In the bottom right corner of the photo, some tents are set up in a small, rocky area. The sky is a dark shade of blue with a few clouds.
Photo 3: A group photo of Nat (back right), Mo (back left), Jim (front right) and Seneida (front left) after topping out on the Beckey-Chouinard. The group is sitting together on the top of the route and smiling at the camera. The ridgeline is rocky with some snow still left on the summit. Behind them are multiple large, tall rock formations jutting up out of the snowy valley below. Further in the distance, other mountains can be seen.
Photo 4: A shot with Seneida in the foreground at the beginning of the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire for the group’s warm up day. Seneida is facing away from the camera and looking down. She is wearing a black helmet, light blue jacket and her harness has gear on the gear loops. The formation beyond her is tall and rocky and further in the background a mountain range can be seen. It’s a sunny, blue sky day.
Photo 5: Starting the rappel off the Beckey-Chouinard. The photo is looking up towards the summit block of the route and a yellow rope is set for the rappel, running down along the middle of the rock face. The peak comes together in a triangular shape and there are two large boulders sitting in a notch at the top of the peak. Above those boulders, two of the group’s heads can be seen waiting for the rappel. There is some snow at the ledge in the bottom left of the photo and the sky is bright blue.
Photo 6: Another image of the South Howser Tower from a different angle with the Beckey-Chouinard on the left ridge. The ground goes from snow, to rocky terrain to get to the base of the tower.
