International Basin – Horseman Spire & Malachite Spire

July 26, 2022

This is Day 3 of 6 days climbing at International Basin with the Alpine Club of Canada General Mountaineering Camp. All climbs are guided by ACMG guides and experienced volunteer leaders. To see an overview of climbs in this area, please click here.

This adventure starts the night before. I was tired after summiting International Mountain, and was hoping to climb one of the closer, non-glacier routes the next day. Unfortunately, I was late getting to the sign up sheets so Mary’s Peak was packed. Pressing my luck, I wrote my name in the margin.

The only other option was Horseman Spire, which was described as Advanced, with class 5.7 climbing. I put my name down as my “second” choice, knowing full-welI I wouldn’t be selected. Mike McMinn knows I’m not a technical climber, and I’d only spent one day with Hamish on an easy scramble.

It was after 9:00 pm and the guides still hadn’t returned the sign-up sheets. I was now really tired and decided to go to bed, safe in the assumption I would have an easy day tomorrow. I was just in my tent when Keith called me out. He told me we were going to Horseman tomorrow, and I needed to get ready. Apparently, my four-letter response rang out across the tents, and people watched as Keith and I ran back to camp. All I could think was “I’ve got to fix this. I can’t go to Horseman.”

When I entered camp, the guides saw me coming and all pointed to Hamish. I was about to argue my case, when I noted the decidedly firm set of Hamish’s jaw. He had made his decision, and it was final.

I quickly went into the gear tent and ripped apart my pack. All non-essential gear was gone! I then hunted around for food to pad my lunch, and went back to my tent. Did I sleep? Hardly!

Gear

Mountaineering boots, helmet, crampons, ice axe, harness, glacier rope, full crevasse rescue kit, and ice screw. Gaiters are an option depending on your pants. Most people carry at least one collapsible pole that can be stored on or in your pack. Both Horseman and Malachite Spires require a climbing rack.

Horseman Spire & Malachite Spire Overview

From camp, we followed the route to International Mountain – we crossed the creek on the Everest Ladder, and then made the long trek below Strutt and Sandilands Peaks. Once on the lower glacier, we roped up for the slog across to the ridge. We hiked up to the top of the ridge on scree. Once at the top, we put on crampons for the upper glacier traverse. Instead of going up to International, we traversed across the ice to the col between the spires. We climbed Horseman Spire, then Malachite Spire. We returned the way we came.

Totals – Downloadable Tracks on Gaia

Date: July 26, 2022
Group:  3 (ACMG Guide Hamish Sanderson, Alisen and Keith)
Distance:  14.0 km
Elevation:  863 m (2,848′)
Time:  12 hours 15 minutes

Malachite Spire – Horseman Spire Col Route

We got another early start, with an even longer traverse across the glacier. I was looking longingly at my friends who were lounging in camp, smug with their upcoming short day on Mary’s Peak. Hamish, Keith and I left camp around 6:50 am, but I think we were supposed to leave closer to 6:30 am. There were a lot of changes happening at camp that Hamish had to deal with.

As we left camp, Hamish told us to have zero expectations. Apparently no guests had been up Horseman Spire. Conditions were unknown, and quite possibly terrible. Within 30 minutes, Hamish was feeling a bit more optimistic. He mused that since we were hiking our sorry butts all the way across the glacier, wouldn’t it be a shame to miss out on Malachite Spire? Two for one!

We followed the same route as the International Mountain, by traversing below the Sandilands and Strutt Peaks, across the lower glacier and then hiked up the scree pile to the upper glacier. We donned our crampons, and roped up again to cross the upper glacier. While the International route goes up from here, we stayed lower and continued across the glacier.

For the most part, the traverse of the upper glacier was straight forward. However, we crossed an area where the glacier is quite steep and down-sloping as it descends into the valley. Hamish set us up in a line – he was on top, then Keith, then myself. As I was the lowest, it was up to Keith and Hamish to stay directly above me as we traversed across. I have to say, this area was very steep, and we had to concentrate on kicking steps, and ramming our ice axe shafts in deep for every step. There are no photos because A) both hands were busy with ice axe and pole, B) it was too sketch to linger and C) Hamish was on a tight schedule if we wanted to bag two peaks.

We finally got a short break at 10:00 am when Hamish had to make his morning call into camp. As we got a bit closer, the skyline provided a good overview of the two climbs. I was feeling tired and a bit overwhelmed at this point. Hamish is 10 years younger than me (and a fulltime guide!), while Keith is 20 years younger, about a foot taller than me, and is a real climber. He lives in Vancouver and climbs in Squamish. As we eyed up the two spires, I was feeling out of my league.

We hiked up to the col between the spires, and got organized for the climbing. We dropped what we didn’t need, while Hamish got busy gearing up.

Horseman Spire Route

From the col, we scrambled up a bed of churning … rock? It looked like petrified wood, and splintered like wood too. Keith was not happy about this. He’s all about the granite, and prefers his mountains to stay put. I can’t say I blame him, but as a Rockies girl, the constantly shifting scree and boulders is normal. I remember him saying “If this is what Malachite is like, I’m not going.”

Climbing Horseman was done in three parts, with a traverse from right to left in-between each pitch.

At the base of the climb, the first pitch was a corner. Hamish made quick work of this, and was up in three moves. I know, because I was watching him like a hawk. When it was my turn, I’ll admit that this was just about the end of my day. I could not figure out the first move, which was a lot higher than I thought. After struggling for a few minutes (or so it seemed), I calmed down and gave myself a pep talk. I did NOT just walk 7 km across a glacier to miss out on the climb! I dug deep, figured it out, and got to the top.

Next, was the Squeeze, which is a crack in the wall. Hamish’s instructions were, and I quote: “Reach in with your left hand and grab a hold. Smear with your left foot on the inside of the crack. Reach up with your right foot (above your head!) on the outside of the crack, and lever yourself up. Reach around with your right hand, and grab a hold above the crack to pull up.”

Yeah. No. With full-shank mountaineering boots, there was no smear. Instead, I shoved my body into the crack, and slowly inched myself up higher and higher until I could get the right foot hold, and reach up for the right hand hold.

Once at the top of the crack, I climbed up to and around Hamish. I am known to be ‘handsy” and will gladly grab my well anchored partner to make a move. Unfortunately, how Hamish was anchored, and how I had to get around him, I ended up grabbing his inner thigh to climb around him… I am so sorry Hamish. Simon would get a huge laugh out of this story tomorrow on Miners Peak.

Once past the Squeeze, Hamish traversed across to the final summit block, setting gear along the way.

While we waited for Hamish to do all the hard work on the summit block, Keith and I hung out and took photos.

Once Hamish was at the summit, he got set up, and brought us across and up. I should have just kept climbing straight up the front, but somehow managed to get around to the other side. There were no foot holds, so I had to crawl up using the “beached whale” move 🙂 Once at the top, I was sitting with both legs dangling down on either side of a small rock shelf. That’s when Hamish said, “And that’s why they call it Horseman.” 🙂

I made myself comfortable behind Hamish (keeping my hands to myself as I passed him), and waited for Keith.

This summit was 100% possible because of Hamish and his amazing guiding skills. He is so calm, efficient, and confidence inspiring. I really felt like I was in safe and capable hands, which allowed me to let go of any apprehension and go for it. Having an experienced climber like Keith behind me also made a world of difference. If I had any questions, Keith had the answers.

From the summit, Hamish lowered us down the same three pitches. As with the way up, the second pitch around the Squeeze was the issue. There is an overhang, plus a bit of a turn, so some rope management was required. Hamish lowered us right down to the base of the snow moat.

Malachite Spire Route

Once off the solid rock, we made our way down the scree to the col. I could tell that Hamish was super keen to do Malachite Spire – probably because he did not want to travel across that glacier again. Keith was a solid no, mainly because it was scree scramble. I was now pretty tired, and not really sure if I had enough in me to do another summit, plus trek back across the glacier.

We offered to wait at the col while Hamish ran up Malachite, but I could tell he was not happy with this. Either someone was going up with him, or he wasn’t going. Again, Hamish being the strong silent type, this was all convened via sheer force of will.

This was when I remembered my friend Deb. Deb had some big athletic goals this summer, and I was helping her achieve them. When she was struggling, I told her that it’s amazing what the body can do, Somehow, you just dig real deep, and get it done. During the gran fondo ride in Drumheller, there was an endless 11 degree hill climb above the ferry crossing. It was brutal, but Deb didn’t stop, and didn’t push her bike up like a lot of other people did. She dug deep, made it up that hill, and had a great ride.

Now it was my turn to dig deep. I was so proud of Deb, and now I wanted to do her proud. I told Hamish to lead the way to Malachite Spire!

So Keith was right – it was a scree fest to the base of the climbing wall. Again, it was that splintered wood choss, that is a pain to walk in but nothing too crazy for the Rockies. I was way too tired to take photos, but Julie Muller climbed Malachite when she was here during Week 1, and captured the choss pile beautifully. She had wet and slippery conditions and got a belay up, while I was lucky with blessedly dry and grippy rock.

I was quite happy to finally see the rock wall we would climb. Hamish quickly got the ropes and gear ready, and then he was up. No photos of him, because I think I was belaying him. On the summit, we grabbed a few photos. Hamish then lowered me down, and he followed.

Horseman & Malachite Spire Return

As Hamish and I were hiking back to the col, Base Camp radioed and wanted our ETA. It was now 5:00 pm, and supper would soon be served. Hamish confidently said that we’d be back in camp for 7:00 pm. I wasn’t quite sure how we were going to manage that, but I would soon find out!

We joined Keith, put our packs back together, donned our glacier gear and rope, and then SHOT OFF across the glacier. I was last, and was basically tractor-pulled across the snow. I felt like one of those flappy armed, blow up waving thingies you see on the side of the road, advertising used car lots. The only reprieve we had was when Keith had an issue with his crampon and needed to adjust it.

As we neared camp, I was despairing that there wouldn’t be any food left. I was positively starving. I needn’t have worried. Not only did my friends save me a big plate of food, but the camp was keeping an eye out for us. As we neared the slope above camp, we could hear the cheers of the GMCers as they spotted us. Then the cooks blew the big horn three times! It was such a joyful welcome after an awfully long and hard day. THIS is what the GMS is all about! People genuinely happy and excited for others. I am truly thankful I found this group.

How did we do time wise? Hamish got us into camp at exactly 7:01 pm!

Over the next two days, two more groups would successfully summit Horseman Spire. My friend Amber did it with an all-female rope team. As everyone else who went were technical climbers, they all did great with considerably less issues than me.

Horseman and Malachite Spires are a long ways from camp, but they provided an awesome adventure. While most people usually did one or the other, I am thankful Hamish insisted that we do both. This was definitely the highlight of my entire mountaineering experience, and I will never forget this day.

Join me for the next adventure of climbing Miners Peak.

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Alisen