Northern Faces
Legendary Ice Climber Aims to Protect Glaciers
Canadian Rockies-based Jim Elzinga is one of Canada’s few elite alpinists whose focus has always been searching for new, difficult routes on the world’s most challenging mountains, including Mount Everest. Today, the world’s highest peak is climbed mainly by the route Sir Edmund Hillary followed in 1953, but Elzinga led an expedition in 1986 up an unclimbed line by fair means; without the use of traditional Sherpa support. He started climbing in the early 1970s near his hometown of Calgary.
In the Canadian Rockies, he made the first ascent of Slipstream WI4+ 1,000 m with John Lauchlan, the first ascent of The Elzinga/ Miller 5.9 WI4+ on Mount Cromwell, the first ascent of the Northwest Ridge of Mount Alberta 5.9 V with Barry Blanchard, dozens of new ice and mixed routes over the past 45 years and more. With Lauchlan, he made the second ascent of cmc Wall, a classic 300-metre 5.11 on Yamnuska. On Mount Robson, he, Barry Blanchard and Ward Robinson made the first winter ascent of the north face in -40 C temps in 1989. He also made a -40 C ascent of the Ramp Route V+ on Mount Kitchener with Lauchlan in the dead of winter.
In northern Canada, Elzinga made the first ascent of the South/ Southwest Ridge VI of Mount Logan in 1979 with Raymond Jotterand, Alan Burgess and Laughlan over 15 days. After the bold ascent, Jotterand wrote, “Two nights later, still waiting for decent weather, all hell broke loose; a small slide came down from the rocks, ripped through one tent, burying A1 and throwing me down the face for a small, unwanted ride. Two hours later, with the tent mended, scared silly and braced against the wall, we couldn’t decide whether there was more snow inside or outside the tent. The weather allowed us to pack up. Jim broke trail again with his usual burst of energy. John led into the thick of the rock band while A1 and I retrieved the ropes and ferried the packs.” They descended on skis that they carried up the technical buttress.
With Steve House, Elzinga climbed the previously unclimbed southwest face of Brahamasar II up a 1,000-metre alpine line. On the mighty Nuptse, Elzinga and Peter Arbic climbed within 350 metres of the summit after spending nine days climbing The Southeast Pillar. It’s the high-point for an alpine-style attempt on the grade-vi wall. He travelled to China in 1983 and after three weeks of negotiation with the government returned to Canada with a permit to climb the mountain in the spring of 1986.
He called the expedition Everest Light. Against enormous odds in extreme conditions, over 61 days, Elzinga led a small, dedicated team in climbing a new route up Everest, enabling Sharon Wood to be the first North American woman to reach the summit. In the last 21 years, only two other new routes have been climbed on Everest and despite seven attempts no other expedition has successfully climbed the Everest Light route. On Nov. 7, 2007, shortly before Sir Edmund Hillary’s death, Elzinga received an award of recognition from the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation for his outstanding leadership of the Everest Light Expedition.
In 2019, Elzinga, who continues to climb regularly, founded Guardians of the Ice, a multidisciplinary art project about the Columbia Icefield. The massive icefield feeds six major glaciers and is located on the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies. Elzgina said it “is a significant bellwether of the accelerating effects of climate change.” Of the highest mountains in the Canadian Rockies, 12 encircle the Icefield. “Probably 80 per cent of the mountain glaciers in Alberta and British Columbia will disappear in the next 50 years,” said David Hik, professor of terrestrial ecology at Simon Fraser University.
“It is retreating faster than ever, and we are facing an unknown future, charged with stories of hope and prophecies of doom, and therefore rich with opportunity,” said Elzinga. “The purpose of the project is to capture the Icefield at a moment in time to give people an opportunity to think and feel more deeply about such places that are at the forefront of climate change and are directly and indirectly affecting their daily lives. The story of what is happening at the Columbia Icefield is a global story. We must tell that story because it presents such immediate evidence of the action and consequences of ongoing climate change in our own backyard.”
The Columbia Icefield is the source for the nearly all of the ice on routes in the area, such as Slipstream, Grand Central Couloir, Athabasca Glacier and the climbs on Mount Columbia and the Twins and many more. “Our intent is to sharpen awareness of this synergy by synthesizing our own perspectives and responses, artistic and scientific, to the beauty, majesty and vulnerability of the Icefield,” said Elzinga. “Not to point the finger of blame, nor to sound the knell of despair, but to ignite hearts and minds in the discovery of possibilities yet unrealized.”
Elzinga said that millions of people visit the Icefield each year and that it drains to three oceans: the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic. Meltwater from the icefield feeds the North Saskatchewan, Columbia, Athabasca and Fraser. Working with Elzinga is glaciologist Dr. Alison Criscitiello who will be working with her collaborators to “provide a holistic ‘glacier-to-table’ understanding of how freshwater quality and services are changing, from their western Rocky Mountains headwaters downstream to end-users.”
Elzinga’s focus is now split between searching for bold new ice and alpine routes and gaining support for Guardians of the Ice. To find out more about Guardians of the Ice, visit guardiansoftheice.com—gripped