In mid-November I had some great adventures completing a couple of big, new mixed routes with strong partners on the lower northeast face of Capricorn Peak. This mountain is just north of and behind Mt. Patterson along the Icefields Parkway. The routes are both about 300m long, with mixed climbing and very thin ice climbing. They do not reach the summit, topping out at the ridgeline.

I completed the first route on November 16 with Steve Holeczi and Eamonn Walsh. The route appeared to have the fattest ice on the cliff, and we named it Big Ears Teddy (300m, WI4 R M4 X). On November 20 I climbed a second route, with Rob Owens, and we named it Space Goat (320m, WI5+ X M5). Space Goat had one of the thinnest and most run-out ice pitches either of us had ever climbed—hard to grade and certainly adventurous! Both routes require an extensive rock rack, including pitons, Peckers, and short ice screws. No bolts were used. We rappelled back down both routes using V-threads and piton anchors.

To approach the climbs, park on the side of the highway near the south end of Mistaya Lake. Bushwack to the lake and then up snow slopes to the routes. It takes about two hours. Space Goat is the farthest right line, and Big Ears Teddy is located just left. During the same time, the extremely talented and bold team of Jonny Simms and Mike Verway almost completed the obvious line farthest left, but found the final pitch too unprotected. As far as I know these routes hadn’t been tried before, although climbers had been scoping them for years. Most years they appear quite thin, but there is some ice every season.

– Jay Mills, Canada