Waffl Canyon

It took four years to complete the Waffl Canyon project. It is a 1,200 metre descent with 51 waterfall rappels. The first day is a steep, 1.5 kilometre vertical hike with backpacks full of dry suits and harnesses so we can rappel in the frigid water, waterproof containers with sleeping bags, so we can camp along the way, webbing, ropes and back up gear for the obstacles along the way. The first evening we shelter at the forlorn Ralph Forester Hut. The second day we traverse along cliff bands, and cross couloirs, passed the ominous Wishbone Arete, a prominent rock rib route to the summit that is complicated, treacherous and swallows lives when the weather is not in the mood to permit passage. By the afternoon of day two we are in the canyon until the early evening, we find a patch of trees and sleep hard and short. On day three we organize gear and start again by descending the canyon by 8 a.m. The September 2020 team: Greg Horne (Jasper), Guillaume Coupier (Field), Matt Kennedy (Jasper), Colin Magee (Canmore), and myself, Katie Graham (Calgary) completed the canyon by midnight and camped near Kinney Lake.