The Professor Falls
Posted on January 5, 2011 by Scott in ice climbing
The Professor Falls ranks with Cascade as one of the most popular waterfalls in the Rockies. It was named after the eccentric Eckhard Grassman took a fall on the first ascent.
Buried under the deep shadow of Mount Rundle with a constant water supply, The Professor Falls is one of the first routes to form and the last to melt. Its tiered nature and usually good ice make it an introduction for many people to steeper multi-pitch ice climbs.
Despite popular conviction this route DOES have some avalanche hazard. At least one party has been three-quarters buried at the base of the last pitch. Other avalanches have been seen to clear the Bow River. Beware.
If you are at all unsure about your ability to use this information safely, hire a guide to assist you.
STATS
Grade: 280m, III WI4
First ascent: Jack Firth (solo), Eckhard Grassman, John Lauchlan, Murray Toft; March ’74
TRAILHEAD
Drive through Banff, following signs for the Banff Springs Golf Course. Park at the Bow Falls view point lot near the Banff Springs Hotel.
APPROACH
Walk or mountain bike across Goat Creek Bridge and continue along the golf course road for 3km to a fork. Take the right-hand fork for another 1.5km to a hiking trail branching right. From the start of the hiking trail, follow the trail for about 3km until you see the obvious blue pillars of the The Professor Falls gully about 400m up a relatively clear streambed. 45-60 minutes from the start of the hiking trail. Usually there is a well-defined “donkey trail” to the base.
The crux of Professor Falls in fat conditions. | (c) Jorg Wilz
ROUTE DESCRIPTION
Three steep tiers of ice offer wet, but good climbing. A number of bolt/chain anchors have been added to the first three pitches although you can walk off any pitch. Several shorter steps and 150m of snow lead to the final crux pitch — a full 40m in excess of 85 degrees, sometimes quite thin and technical. Get there early or go later — slow crowds and falling ice are a real drag in this narrow gully.
DESCENT
There are several options for the descent.
From the top of the route, traverse out left and descend through steep trees, avoiding any rock slabs. It is possible to traverse back to the gully below the final pitch and downclimb the intermediate steps to the top of the third pitch.
Otherwise, continue down steeper terrain just left of the gully with two half-rope rappels or a full-rope rappel to near the top of the third pitch. Be suspect of loose rappel trees. If you traverse to far left before rappelling, it gets quite ugly and steep with numerous 10m rappels.
Once atop the third pitch, you can either rappel from a bolt anchor on the right or from below the large rock in the gully. Otherwise traverse left 20m and lower from branches down a 3m slabby corner to an easy traverse right to the base of the pitch. From here, traverse out of the gully and follow easy ledges down, using several lengths of fixed rope to lower off the steeper sections.
