Mount Birdwood (NW ascent route) - Sep 7, 2024 - Banff National Park, Alberta

Mihail Iancovoi, Anton Sarapulov, and Doug Lutz climbing Mount Birdwood

Mounts Birdwood and Sir Douglas were the 2 mountains left in the Burstall Pass area that I hadn't ascended... and now it's just Sir Douglas. I didn't have Mount Birdwood on my radar to ascend, but when I saw the weather forecast of multiple warm days, followed by several rainy days, I knew that the summer climbing season could soon come to an abrupt end, and so I lined up 3 major ascents (for me), and sought partners to go after them.

I had intended to solo Mount Birdwood, and luckily Mihail suggested that we bring his 60 metre rope and rappelling gear. With the intent of soloing the ascent, and rappelling a few spots during the descent, this allowed me to build some much needed skill with rappelling. You see, I had only rappelled once on a short frozen waterfall in BATUS Canyon (Peskett Canyon) in David Thompson Country.

It's a bit unorthodox for someone to not practice rappelling before taking this to the field, but A) I don't own a rope; and B) The climbing/rappelling opportunities around Lacombe are not very abundant :D.

So, I found myself agreeing with excitement and trepidation to head to Mount Birdwood to ascend and in all likelihood, do some rappelling during the descent. The guys arrived AHEAD of me to the trailhead (yeah, this is a very rare thing - almost as rare as seeing me on a mountain without poles in my hands) - both happened on this adventure.

It was quite the experience, and one that I am thankful for - it opens the doors to other mountain adventures that involve rappels.

I hope that you enjoy the photos. Thank you Mihail and Anton for agreeing to join me on this route and for working with me on rappelling! Thank you Anton for carrying the rope all day!

*DISCLAIMER*
Soloing climbing terrain exposes a person to risk that can cause serious injury and/or death, so if you read this report and think "Ahhh! I HAVE to go do that", please consider the seriousness of the terrain and the consequence of a mistake - the mountain environment is unforgiving, and does not care who you are, or how cool you look on Instagram.

For those that are wondering what rappelling gear we were using, all 3 of us had ATC Guides with us, and Mihail used his Figure 8 device for rappelling. We all utilized prussiks below the rappelling devices, and if I’m not mistaken, we all added an extension to the rappelling device to keep the prussik away from the rappelling device.