Visit a Classic ACC Hut and Experience a Journey on the Wapta Icefields

This program is designed to open up our incredible hut network to people who otherwise wouldn't be able to access the more technical huts. Maybe you’ll gain a newfound sense of appreciation for Canada's alpine environment. Maybe you’ll be able to reach places and travel in environments you never thought that you’d visit. Maybe the taste of what’s possible will inspire you to continue your mountaineering journey and acquire the skills to reach these places independently. Either way, our Hut Discovery program will provide a unique and memorable experience.

You'll hike to the Bow Hut, perched just below the toe of the Bow Glacier on the Icefields Parkway, on the first day. From there, you'll review the basic rope skills that you'll need to tie in and travel on the glacier. 

The second day you will head out onto the Wapta Icefield. Crevasses are present on the icefield, and navigation can be extremely challenging in whiteout conditions. Having an experienced ACMG alpine guide to lead this trip means that you can focus on the scenery and your own enjoyment while getting an introduction to glacier travel and techniques. 

The real treats of this trip are getting to access places that are normally only possible for mountaineers: the side trip to the top of the Onion (conditions permitting) provides spectacular views of the Wapta icefield in all directions.

Itinerary

• Day 1 Morning: Meet at 8AM in Bill Peyto's Café in Lake Louise. Your guide will go over the itinerary, collect waivers, and answer any questions. Drive in individual vehicles to Bow Lake parking. Hike in to Bow Hut.
• Day 1 Afternoon: Snow school: learn the techniques you'll need for safe travel on the glacier.
• Day 2: Wake up bright and early, head out onto the Wapta Glacier to learn about glacier travel and get up close and personal with the crevasses. A side trip up the Onion Skin for a view of the Icefield may be possible.
• Day 3: Hike down from Bow Hut to Bow Lake. Trip complete.

Introductory

This program is designed for people who want to experience a stay in an ACC backcountry hut but don't yet possess the skills in alpine travel required to get there independently and safely. No previous mountaineering experience is necessary, although you willl require a good basic level of hiking fitness and experience.

Food

To keep the cost of this course as low as possible for participants, food will not be provided as part of the course. Please brink along your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (or favourite alternative), a packed lunch and some snacks for both days. As wekk as two dinners and 2 breakfasts. See the Bow Hut Webpage  for details on what cooking equipment the hut has.

Accommodation

The Bow Hut is fantastically scenic, perfectly situated and is an excellent base for exploring further onto the Wapta Icefields in winter or summer. It is the easiest and most natural route onto the Wapta and gives access to the Peyto Hut to the north, and the Balfour and Scott Duncan huts to the south. The peaks of the Wapta are an attraction for summer mountaineering as well and many climbers have learned or honed their glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills within sight of the hut. The hut itself is bright, spacious and fantastically scenic. It is the largest, best equipped and most accessible of the four huts on the Wapta.

This hut is normally a happening place with room for 30 people however your group will have an exclusive booking and the room you need to relax while keeping that nice 2 meter bubble from others on the course.
 

Guiding

Our guiding ratio will be a maximum of 6:1 to give you plenty of one-to-one learning time with our excellent guide.

This camp is guided by ACMG-certified alpine guides.

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