Louise Falls, Banff

Photo Information - Louise Falls, Banff

Return to the July 2001 Newsletter page.

Chris Kulp climbing ice on the first pitch of Louise Falls, Banff National Park, Canada. This particular section is a little variation which starts under a huge roof to the right of the main falls. It has a different feel to it than the wide open sheet of the regular route, more enclosed and frankly, more interesting.

To tell you the truth, the biggest reason we took this as our first pitch was to avoid any possibility of getting hit by ice from a pair of climbers who were already on the route above us. We were completely protected here, and by the time we needed to emerge from the protection of the roof overhead, the other climbers had finished the route and were walking off to the side.

Louise Falls is a justifiably popular climb and it often sees lots of traffic. Unfortunately, with the exception of this first pitch variation (which doesn't always have enough ice on it) those lower on the route are subject to the missiles released by those above. One needs to be careful here.