This massive limestone rockslide is surrounded by spectacular peaks, views of the Athabasca glacier and is utterly undeveloped. The rock is exceptionally clean, of decent quality, and landings are reasonable. To climb at the Kitchener Slide you need to be willing to explore and look for adventure. It's well worth it!

Access

The Kitchener Slide is in Jasper National Park and you need a national park pass.

Guidebooks

Seriously, you’re on your own. Go explore.

Seasons

The absolute dead of summer. It’s high in elevation and you seriously do not want to cross that river when it's even a little chilly out.

Location

The Kitchener Slide is located just north of the Icefield Center, on the Icefields Parkway (93) in Jasper National Park. It’s 1.5 hours south of Jasper, 3.5 hours from Calgary, and 5 hours from Edmonton. From the Icefield Center, drive north following the river for about two kilometers and park at the pullout on the right, just before the guardrail starts.

Approach

Figure out how to cross the river. It’s really, really cold and can be moving pretty fast, so be sure to find a manageable location. We found it best to wear shoes and to cross where the river was widest. Once across, follow the bank downstream, past the few teaser boulders on the shore, to the first large, climbable boulder. From here, we went up the meadow that follows the base of the slide, but there are more boulders in the woods (dirtier) and up on the plateau closer to the Glacier Skywalk (the metal monstrosity sticking off the side of the highway). Have fun!

Accommodations

There are two campsites just south of the Icefield Centre, The Columbia Icefield Campground and the Wilcox Creek Campground. They have water and pit toilets.

Food

The closest groceries are in Jasper, which also has a good selection of restaurants. The Icefield Centre has a cafeteria.

Gear

Gravity Gear (618 Patricia St.) in Jasper has a reasonable selection of climbing gear and a limited selection of guidebooks.

Geology

The boulders are the result of a large landslide on Mt. Kitchener. They're limestone and the climbing feels similar to Frank Slide.

Distractions

Icefield Center is an exceptionally popular tourist destination and offers bus tours of the glacier (sigh), tours of the glacier skywalk (which, as far as I saw involved a lot of standing in line and riding on buses) and walking tours of the glacier. There are also ample opportunities for hiking, scrambling and, obviously, mountaineering. There are some excellent bolted slab routes (<5.8, 1-4 pitches) about 11 km south of the Icefields Center.