Mount Columbia

3747m, 12293ft
April 9-10 2026

Straddling the continental divide Mount Columbia is the highest point in Alberta and the second highest point in all of the Canadian Rockies second only to Mount Robson and is undoubtedly the crown jewel of the Columbia Icefield. While it's not nearly as difficult as Robson it lies on the far west end of the icefield making it necessary to cross it nearly in its entirety for the standard route and with unpredictable weather it can be a tricky mountain to time right. As a result the success rate for Columbia isn't great especially with a surprising number of parties that go for day trip efforts of the mountain and don't reach the steep southeast face early enough to climb it at a reasonable hour. Mount Columbia may not be all that technical in the grand scheme of things but regardless of how many days parties use to give it a shot it takes a sizable effort to get it done.

A bit under a week prior to our trip Darren Steffler had been passing through Canmore and we met up to chat trips for the year when he brought up a potential window near the end of the week. Those days were still a ways out and a couple days later the window had disappeared on SpotWx so we figured we'd have to wait until another opportunity but the morning of the 8th I checked again and it was looking very promising so I got to sending out invites for a trip for Mount Columbia given that the forecast was showing two days of solid bluebird conditions.

It was pretty last minute considering that unless we day tripped we'd need to be leaving the next day on top of the fact that many of my partners have long commute times but the window was hard to deny and Darren, Tim Hryshchuk, and Simon (AKA Foresty Forest) were all interested and started heading for the Icefields Parkway as soon as they could. Being based in Canmore I didn't have nearly as long of a drive to deal with so I left at a more leisurely time of 6pm for Big Bend where we'd be leaving a vehicle in case we decided to exit via the Saskatchewan Glacier.

While the Saskatchewan Glacier isn't very appealing for approaching the Columbia Icefield objectives because of the large distance you have to cover, it's a good alternative for descending considering that it only adds 2-3 extra hours and almost completely mitigates crevasse fall risk in comparison to skiing down the Athabasca. That being said the ski down the Athabasca Glacier is hard to beat taking only about an hour to descend so if the snowpack is good it's tempting to go for it but if it's not and your party has to rope up for the ski down it'll be a lot more time consuming.

links: STRAVA | GAIA
elapsed time: 34hrs
DIFFICULTY: AD-/AD, extensive glacier travel, remote, often multiday, winter camping, steep snow / ice climbing

Use the following links to jump to:

THE APPROACH
SUMMIT PUSH FROM THE TRENCH
THE SUMMIT & DESCENT
THE EXIT

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A post shared by Haldan Borglum 🏔 (@haldan.borglum)

Decided to pick up the Petzl Ride axe before
heading out, only 240g!

First time using my new camera setup on a mountain trip, performing pretty well in low light!

Simon & I at Big Bend, it's a clear night!

On our way to the Icefields Info Centre, Athabasca & Hilda Peak looking impressive!

THE APPROACH

After a relaxed wake up time the next morning we headed for the Icefields Info Centre and got geared up for the trip before heading out. Aside from a few clouds conditions were looking pretty mint and it didn't take us long to tell that the snowpack was solid. There were tracks from a day or two prior up the typical Athabasca Glacier route and having done the approach before there wasn't much to worry about through this section and after a few hours we were onto the proper Columbia Icefield.

From here the endless plod across began as we slowly worked our way closer to the trench and Mount Columbia came into sight. After 2-3 hours the slope began descending towards the trench so the hard work for the day was over and once we reached the bottom we decided to call it for the day and set up camp since there was practically zero wind and bringing the heavy packs further towards Columbia would mean having to haul them out for longer on our exit day.

Headed out, the iconic Athabasca Glacier view with Andromeda at left & Snow Dome at right

The large seracs off of Snow Dome visible at high right, the route that goes under them is a bit of Russian roulette

Headed left between the first & second icefall

Big glacial terrain on the Athabasca, one of the more serious glaciers you set foot on chasing 11000ers

Looking back as we wrap around the second icefall

The ramp in sight now, the final section of the Athabasca Glacier approach before we reach
the Columbia Icefield

Darren & Tim with the mighty Mount Columbia behind as we crest a high point on the icefield

The view to the right featuring Columbia alongside South & North Twin

You lose a decent amount of elevation dropping to the trench, this'll hurt on the way out

Camp with an awesome front seat view of Bryce

Snow Dome getting some of the evening light

SUMMIT PUSH FROM THE TRENCH

Once we set up camp we had a couple hours to hang out and make food and water before the sun set which gave us plenty of time to take in the awesome surroundings and the wild north face of Mount Bryce. Once the sun set behind the west slopes of the trench the temperatures dropped quickly so we didn't hang around outside the tents for long and made plans for a 5:30am start for our summit push day to try and mitigate how much sun the SE face of Mount Columbia would get before we'd be skiing down it.

The next morning it was properly cold and as usual starting the day with getting the frozen boots on wasn't so fun but after a few minutes of getting everything sorted we were off after another party of two and within 15 minutes we were out of the trench and starting to see Mount Columbia in the distance. Similar to the approach day Columbia was much further away than it seemed and it took us a good three hours to reach the point where we skinned across the bridged bergshrund near the bottom of the SE face slopes but soon after that we ditched the skis and began the bootpack straight up the face.

Some sweet morning colors with views to The Lyells, Alexandra, & Bryce

Alpenglow on our objective, it looks close but we're still a few kilometers away

This small peak is Shark Ridge, doubt it gets done much

Simon & Rocko taking in the perfect Columbia Icefield conditions!

Mount Sir Sandford making an appearance, high on my to do list

Our track with Mount Saskatchewan & Castleguard looking impressive at center

Getting close now! Note the faint bergshrund line on the lower slope, we skinned until we
crossed it and then started boot packing

View towards The Twins with one of the Stutfields photobombing on the right

After getting across the bridged bergshrund, taking a snack break, and switching to crampons and axes we started the boot pack up. Initially we were following the party of two ahead of us but it didn't take long to catch them as breaking trail was hard work in the conditions we got and soon after we were leading the charge up the face in knee deep snow. The SE face of Mount Columbia is a big one and to put things in perspective from where we started boot packing we were already at 11000 feet but we had a solid 400m of gain to go from there and it definitely dragged on with how much effort breaking trail took.

About 90min after starting up the face we had reached where the slope begins to ease off slightly and conditions got a bit more firm which made it easier to gain ground. A few minutes later we were passing the large cornice esc feature and not long after we were standing on top of the second highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies! Darren was punching through our steps up the face so he had his work cut out for him but we knew he'd make it and sure enough 15min later he joined us on the summit.

Starting up the steep SE face with Tim
& Simon close behind, it's a slog

THE SUMMIT & DESCENT

Mount Columbia summit! #7 for Tim, #11 for Simon, #23 for
Darren, & #48 for me!

First ever dog to summit Mount Columbia?! Rocko's 8th 11000er

With the perfect conditions we had as well as having my new camera setup with me it seemed like an obvious choice to go explore the north ridge so Tim and I headed over to a better vantage point of The Twins, Mount Alberta, and the massive drop to the remote valley below. The photos were sweet but it's hard to beat the shots Simon got from his drone, the perspective is next level in a place like this.

After enjoying the summit for close to an hour we decided it was probably a good time to ski down and after getting into downhill mode we began the descent. Considering that the SE face had been getting hammered by sun for the past couple days it was obvious it wouldn't be nice powder but since temperatures had been quite cold recently and it was still only 1pm the snow was better than expected and we were able to ski all the way down to camp from the top without much issue at all on the steep sections aside from a bit tougher leg workout.

Some summit drone shots thanks to Simon, Mount Columbia's west face with The Twins & Mount Alberta
visible behind

Columbia's north & east faces with Sir Sandford at left & Tsar Mountain at far right visible in the distance

Upper north face view of Columbia, with views stretching as far as Forbes, The Goodsirs, & Sir Donald

The north & west face of Columbia with the vast expanse of the Columbia Icefield really put into perspective

Summit view towards King Edward with the truly remote 11000ers Tsar, Tusk, &
Clemenceau visible in the distance

Looking back at the summit as we head north to explore the ridge

And a look straight down the north face to the valley 2000m below

And the ski down begins! Not perfect conditions but not bad for descending at 1pm

A look back only 40min after leaving the summit

One last look at Shark Ridge, that's a big cornice

Andromeda & Androlumbia on the far side of the Columbia Icefield that we'll be
passing later

THE EXIT

By the time we returned to camp it was after 2pm and we weren't in any crazy rush so we decided to make some lunch before packing up camp. Once we headed out it was back to good ol elevation gain and it was not short lived. False horizon after false horizon was quite mentally frustrating as you'd constantly be thinking you're nearly there just for another higher point to show up 500m away when you reach it but that's the Columbia Icefield for ya. We decided not to rope up crossing the icefield with the heavily used skin track to follow along with the solid early spring snowpack and this made slogging to the high point a lot more enjoyable since we could go our own pace and weren't constantly tripping over the rope.

After 2-2.5hrs we finally reached the high point and after regrouping decided that we were confident enough with the snowpack to ski down the Athabasca Glacier unroped. Definitely a bit sketchy considering some of the accidents that have happened on this glacier in the past but the group was feeling good, we had already decided against the Saskatchewan Glacier exit earlier in the trip, and none of us were in the mood to deal with the shenanigans of skiing out while roped up so we sent it. Thankfully all went smoothly with only the first 10-15 minutes being the high risk sections and an hour later we were back at the parking lot.

Headed back out of the trench, elevation gain on the way out always hurts a bit more

A look back at our tracks with Darren grinding up the switchbacks

Mount Columbia finally starting to look far away again

Tough to get a guage for distance on the icefield at times, took this photo a number of
kilometers later

Finally at the high point before descending the Athabasca

Clear views to Forbes, a couple of The Lyells, Castleguard, & Alexandra

Starting the ski down, we bumped into another skier that day tripped Mount
Columbia solo that joined for the ski out the Athabasca

Looking right as we ski past the final icefall

Now just a bit of gain back to the parking lot

I found Mount Columbia quite enjoyable for the most part. The ski descent was awesome along with the perfect conditions we managed to take advantage of, and while I can see the appeal of day tripping it so that you can move faster and aren't slogging for as long, spending a night out on the icefield and getting to enjoy the experience more is pretty special. This is actually my last 11000er trip on the Columbia so unless I plan to do a repeat or go for one of the lower peaks anytime soon it may be a while till I return but I couldn't have asked for a better crew to finish off my Columbia Icefield missions with! If you'd like to see some footage from the trip you should go check out Simon's video here, some epic shots in there!

Following this trip we got some variable weather and conditions in the Rockies with a bit of warming and then a proper snow dump but a few days after that when a good window showed up I decided to go for the last low hangin fruit 11000er objective left on my to do list.

Mount Columbia

Follow the journey

THE APPROACH

SUMMIT PUSH FROM THE TRENCH

THE SUMMIT & DESCENT

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THE EXIT

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