Mount Columbia, South Face

The difficulty in skiing Columbia is the marathon ski tour it takes to get there // [o] @bjarnesalen

 

Elevation: 12293’ 3747m

Aspect: Southeast

Vertical: 2000 on face

Coordinates: 52°09’00”N 117°27’00”W

First descent: Unknown

“Mount Columbia is the highest summit in Alberta and located in Jasper National Park. While Columbia has been skied in a day, a more common approach is to utilize a series of camps on the glacier approach and then wait for good weather for a summit push.” (FCSDofNA)

Overnight success usually takes about fifteen years.
— Steve Jobs

Mt. Columbia sits atop the hydrological apex of North America and is the highest mountain in Alberta, Canada.

The difficulties of climbing and skiing it don't come in the form of technical steeps or scary exposure, but more from the marathon of a ski tour it takes to get to its base and timing a perfect weather window in a zone known for instantaneous weather changes and blinding whiteouts.