Kaufmann-Bohren travelled to Canada in 1930, leaving Cherboug, France, aboard the
S.S. Montrose on June 5, arriving in Quebec City June 13, and in Banff June 17. He had been hired by
Oliver Eaton Cromwell (1892–1987) to do climbing in the Canadian Rockies. However, upon his arrival, Kaufmann travelled into the Yoho Valley to meet James Monroe Thorington (1894–1989), who says that "Kaufmann was loaned to me for the time preceding Cromwell's arrival." Thorington reported a very active 12 days of climbing with Kaufmann. Encountering heavy late snowfall near Twin Falls, they "were obliged to carry [their] loads" rather than using pack horses. On June 23, they met the guide Edward Feuz, Jr., who joined them the following day to "motor to Moraine Lake" and climbed Mt. Temple (11624 ft / 3543 m). The next day, June 25, Kaufmann and Thorington left Lake Louise with heavy packs, fording a swiftly flowing Mosquito Creek with a rope, and reaching the cabins at Bow Lake. Thorington comments: "Peter has long since forgiven me, but 25 miles with packs after a high climb, is not easily forgotten." After rowing across Bow Lake on June 27, Kaufmann and Thorington made a first ascent of
Saint Nicholas Peak (9,639 ft / 2,938 m) and a second ascent of
Mount Olive (10,256 ft / 3,126 m). And then on June 30, they made an eleven-and-a-half hour trip rowing down Bow Lake, fording streams, hiking along frozen lakes, and making a first ascent of
Dolomite Peak (2,860 m / 9,380 ft). On July 1, Cromwell met Kaufmann and Thorington at their Bow Lake camp; two other climbers, Dyson Duncan and Alden F. Megrew, also arrive from Lake Louise with three packers and fifteen horses. Megrew described the size of the expedition: "Our pack-train was increased here to twenty-seven horses, five packers and five travelers, and with this outfit we proceeded directly to the Freshfield group, which we reached on July 4th." and climbed Mt. Thompson (3,089 m / 10,135 ft). Then from July 5 to 15, 1930, Kaufmann and Cromwell made seven first-ascents: July 5: Unnamed Peak (3177 m / 10,423 ft). First ascent; at head of Pangman glacier, Freshfield group; descent east ridge. July 7: Mt. Skene (3,063 m / 10,100 ft). First ascent, Freshfield group. July 7:
Mt. Conway (3,098 m / 10,164 ft). First ascent, traverse from south to north; Freshfield group. July 9:
Mt. Barlow (3,143 m / 10,312 ft). First ascent, traverse from west to east; Freshfield group. July 9:
Mt. Lowe (3,054 m / 10,020 ft). First ascent, via south ridge. July 12:
Mt. Forbes (3,612 m / 11,850 ft): First ascent of north ridge, descent west ridge. July 15: Mt. Ayesha (3067 m / 10062 ft). First ascent, via east face and descent by west ridge, crossing from Bow Lake to Twin Falls and Yoho Camp, over
Waputik Icefield. Thorington and Cromwell had one major reason to visit Canada: To locate the real source of the Columbia River in the southern
Purcell Range. The geographer and explorer
David Thompson (1770 – 1857) had declared in 1807 that the River originated from
Columbia Lake. Thorington and Cromwell were determined to examine the creeks and glaciers that fed into Columbia Lake, and thereby discover the actual source of the
Columbia River. To achieve this goal, they had employed Peter Kaufmann and the renown Austrian mountaineer and wrangler,
Conrad Kain (1883–1934), as their guides. At age 47, Kain had reduced his climbing and had established himself as a wrangler, providing pack-horses for wilderness excursions. Having gone ahead with supplies and horses, Kain met Kaufmann, Cromwell, and Thorington on July 18, 1930, at Walter and Melrose Hawke's Justamere Ranch in the Windermere Valley. Although Kaufmann and his companions made the trip from Invermere to the Ranch in relative comfort by "motor-truck," the journey up Dutch Creek to the mountains of the Continental Divide was much more demanding, as existing trails narrowed and finally disappeared, forcing the group to leave its pack horses behind. Kaufmann and Kain's packer, George Rennenkampf, often moved ahead with axes, clearing a trail. Thorington observed wildlife (e.g., lynx, buck deer, mountain goats, and grizzly bears) and made geographical aneroid measurements, including training "the motion picture camera on the glacier [as] Conrad pointed to the slope above." On July 24, he was especially thrilled seeing the melting snow and ice as "hoary marmots sunned themselves on the rocks beside the baby Columbia river," the river's "ultimate source." Thorington detailed the source of the Columbia River: "Kaufmann, in order to gain a better view along the ridge immediately to our right, scrambled a little summit scarcely 400 feet above us. We have called it Trikootenay Peak (8,241 ft / 2,512 m), as it is the apex of the triple divide between the Columbia and
Kootenay rivers and Kootenay lake . . . , placing the glacial source of the Columbia river some 25 miles west and 4 miles south of Canal Flats at the upper end of Columbia lake." From July 24 to 30, Kaufmann made two first ascents with Cromwell and Thorington at the headwaters of Dutch Creek: Mount Findlay (10,299 ft / 3139 m) and another mountain they named Saffron Peak (10,018 ft / 3,054 m), due to its yellowish colored stone. Moreover, in addition to Trikootenay Peak, they named two other peaks in the area: Mount Rowand (8934 ft / 2723 m), and Mount Morigeau (8179 ft / 2493 m). The expedition ended on July 30, as the group travelled by truck from the Hawke Ranch to Golden, BC. On August 5, 1930, Kaufmann met Eaton Cromwell, Conrad Kain, George Rennenkampf (Kain's wrangler) at
Spillimacheen, BC, in the Columbia River Valley south of Golden, BC. Their goal was to climb the Bugaboos in the northwestern Purcells. They travelled up Bugaboo Creek to "the toe of Bugaboo glacier," and, on August 7, left camp for Snowpatch Peak (named by Cromwell) and Pigeon Spire (3156 m / 10354 ft), "leaving all impedimenta behind except a piece of chocolate and the Kodak" and reaching the summit after a challenging climb. Kain had become ill while attempting this climb. In a letter to Thorington he later said: "I was very sorry that I could not make the climb on the spire. I was not in trim and decided to turn back. I am now convinced that this spire was the most difficult ascent I have made in Canada." Cromwell and Kaufmann climbed Howser Peak (3082 m/10,112 ft) on August 8 and found a cairn left by Captain MacCarthy and Conrad Kain 14 years earlier. Conrad Kain had not accompanied Kaufmann and Cromwell on these climbs. However, on August 10, in honor of Conrad's 47th birthday, the three climbed Center Peak (2549 m / 8,363 ft), " an excellent and interesting climb." Cromwell explained: "Just below the summit, we were stopped by a vertical, holdless pitch some twelve to fifteen feet in height. This Conrad beat by taking a back-stand furnished by Peter and myself, inserting the pick of his ice-axe into the horizontal fissure and swarming up the handle until he could get his finger into the crack. From there he swung out to the right, found a small ledge, and was up. I did not find it easy, being the last. The axe came away, and I was left suspended like Mahomet's coffin, 'twixt heaven and earth, until a long pull, and a stout pull. Brought me also to the top." Although Conrad was one of the most capable mountaineers of his day, by 1930 he had reduced his climbing substantially, so that he wrote to Thorington in March 1931, "It would be to your and my advantage if you could find a third man to come along for the trip . . . if you bring a guide it is OK with me." In mid-August 1930, Kaufmann and Cromwell made their final climbs in the
Bugaboo group, including "two little peaks . . . Thimble and Flat Top," offering "sensational view of the
Howser Spires, which from this vantage point appear quite as impressive as the
Chamonix Aiguilles." Their attempt on Bugaboo Spire was a "non-success." == Professional climbing (II) (1931–1946) ==