C’était la troisième tentative d’ascension du troisième sommet le plus haut au Canada pour l’équipe financée par la SGRC.
Les Canadiennes Pascale Marceau et Eva Capozzola forment la première équipe entièrement composée de femmes à atteindre le sommet du mont Lucania, le troisième plus haut au Canada.
Le duo est parvenu à la cime le 26 avril 2021 à 15 h 34 (HAP), ayant commencé son ascension moins de deux semaines avant.
Le mont Lucania est niché dans une zone indéniablement venteuse et froide dans les profondeurs du parc national et la réserve de Kluane au Yukon et il est situé seulement à 65 kilomètres au nord du plus célèbre mont Logan, le plus haut au Canada. D’une hauteur de 5 226 mètres, le mont Lucania n’a été escaladé que par peu de femmes.
Le 15 avril, Pascale et Eva sont parties en avion avec Icefield Discovery à leur camp de base, Walsh Col sur le Donjek Glacier, à 2 743 mètres. Le moment était palpitant avant le départ pour ces deux femmes qui se sont préparées durant deux ans, et qui ont été ralenties par les procédures de quarantaine liées à la COVID-19 et les retards attribuables aux conditions météorologiques.
On Day 4, Marceau and Capozzola made it to “dome camp,” at 4,267 metres after battling through a wind storm and getting “cliffed out” trying to make it to camp.
Listen to their call-in from Day 4 here.
Just a few before the summit attempt, the two moved camp through the “crux and connect” terrain of their journey, closer to the summit of Mount Steele.
“We’re in a phenomenal spot on Mount Steele,” said Marceau in that day’s call-in. “We moved our supply cache further up so we could move camp [again] tomorrow. We’re doing great! We’ve acclimatized really well … the wind has been strong, but we have the right gear, so we’re comfy.”
Fellow Michael Schmidt, on a flyover with Icefield Discovery caught a great photo of the team as they moved camp.
On Day 10 of the expedition, the duo made it to Camp Steele, at 4,694 metres, despite unending winds. Their climb was simultaneous, carrying another five days worth of food and fuel with them.
After traversing Mount Steele to the base of Mount Lucania, landing at High Camp at 4,724 metres, the team was in position to make an attempt for the summit — but an unstable weather window brought concern to the team on the ground.
“The plateau was perfectly firm,” said Marceau about getting from Mount Steele to Mount Lucania. “We’re exhausted, even though it was a short day today … we’re just done from going so hard. We’re going to rest up today so we can do the big summit day tomorrow. It’s a race against time.”
Marceau also noted that the weather would need to hold for the descent from the summit, to make it safely back to camp — and hold it did. The women did a 914-metre climb to the summit on April 26, with a live tracker updating their progress every 30 minutes. They made it to the peak at 3:34 PDT.
As a Royal Canadian Geographical Society-funded expedition, the Society sends congratulations to Marceau and Copozzola. The pair was also supported by Lonnie Dupre, the Society of Women Geographers, Forty Below and Tola Point. All RCGS-funded expeditions also receive gear and assistance from MEC.
Watch for more updates as the women return safely home on their blog or on social media using #RCGSExpedition.
