March 11-12 2023 Angus and I and his friend Alex went into the South Ghost looking to climb Anorexia Nervosa, Wicked Wanda, and The Joker. Possibly there were some others on the list.
Biggest worries going into the weekend were the winter camping and the drive in. The rental truck was impressive enough at a glance RAM 1500 5.7 LITRE HEMI OFF-ROAD with it’s plywood-lined box and covered seats. Great for a boys ski weekend at the resort but the “Winter Rated” tires would not be getting you far. As for winter camping, I had just never done it and was not looking forward to shivering in my sleep.
Angus arranged for us to meet up with Brett Gilmour, Kevin Riddell (red F-150) and their friends in the white Chevy at The Ghost Turn Off because they could get us out of trouble if needed. (For Google Maps, search Benchlands or Waiparous Village). Here the RAM 1500 5.7 LITRE HEMI OFF-ROAD really stood out like a power lifter showing up to the 100m backstroke. Brett said:
“I think I’ve pulled this exact Dodge Ram out of the ditch before”
Not encouraging.
But not much trouble in the end. We had to park far from the ice but the “campsite” itself was free and flat and gave us a great view on the Real Big Drip, The Devil’s Gap, and the entire valley.
Skied from camp Saturday morning, scraping skins on partially covered rocks of the Ghost River bed. About 3 KMs/1.5 hours to the Banff National Park boundary and the clearing where Brett and co. park their machines. From here we skinned and hiked another hour to Wicked Wanda and climbed the most 3 dimensional ice I’ve ever seen. Angus did a duck-and-weave traverse to a wet vertical section about 10 meters long. An incredible lead with screws placed into something like a cross between Swiss Cheese and a spider web. The most delicate and interesting top roping I’ve ever done.
The three of us elated, we rappelled (on a bolted anchor), I re-led pitch 1 for practice, and we went back to camp. Had a brush wood fire for as long as we could and then went to the tent one at a time, each of us staying at the fire until his turn. I slept on top of two Thermarests (Zlite, then another self-inflating), and inside two sleeping bags (one good, one cheap Canadian Tire), and a Nalgene of boiled water next to my body.
There were tons of off-roaders in the Ghost on Sunday morning. A seriously impressive array of vehicles. My favorite were the 2 lifted Porsche Cayennes with no front or rear bumpers. White Chevy was on it’s way in again as we were leaving camp so we got a sweet ride down to the parking lot.
From there a massive slog into Anorexia Nervosa. The 3 of us were on completely different levels too. Alex was hungover from a week of 10 hour work days, Angus had slept terribly, and I was feeling fantastic.
By the time we got to Anorexia Nervosa Alex had pretty much thrown in the flag. The climb is incredible but I remember being pretty damn cocky when I saw it. The first pitch was said to be rated R but it wasn’t nearly as scary as I had dreamt it to be.
We dragged our way further down the canyon because we could see it filled with sun around the corner. We might as well climb something, so we went all the way to the end to head up the 1 pitch wonder called Peanut Gallery. Ice was super brittle from the cold night before. I guess I was still cocky because I initially went for the steepest sections and was immediately cowed by the thundering gun shot pops I was making with my ice tools.