Andromeda adventure. Dec.26/05

I was visiting my parents back in Calgary for the holidays but planned to get in some skiing and climbing while there. I went skiing with my Dad up to Burstall pass which was a great 16 km round trip. We found some great powder and had a blast. Not bad for a 77 yr. old guy!
Anyway, I had brought all my gear with me and had hooked up with a local guy named Josh from the M.E.C. board. We decided to go up to Mt. Athabasca and Andromeda for 3 days and see we could do. Both North faces and the practice gullies looked very tasty.
The weather forecast didn't look to bad and we were pretty pumped over the whole thing. A 4;30 A.M. start out of Calgary got us to the Columbia Icefields parking lot and on our way up by 9 A.M.
There wasn't much snow cover on the scree down low so the sidehilling was kind of tedious. The fun started at the icefall. Chest high snow in the gap up through then on to the glacier. The wind was picking up the higher up we moved but we were making pretty good progress. We could see the cirque and the upper glacier would probably be a good place to set up camp. It looked like a safe place from Athabasca and Andromeda rockfall and avalanche from the AA col and reasonably protected from the wind.
I secured the tent and we zipped up to eat something and relax a bit. The time was 4:30 P.M. and daylight was starting to fade. The temp. was -12C. An hour later the wind really started to blow. We kind of joked about it at first like, "I hope the tent doesn't rip." By 6 P.M.
I was bracing 2 walls and the poles against the violent gusts that were pummelling us. My tent is one of those Black Diamond ultralite models built on a Bibler Awahee plan. It felt as though a giant hand was knocking us first one direction then the next. You could hear the wind howling higher up, then we'd get smacked a few seconds later. It's hard to describe the intensity. Somewhere between a speeding freight train passing inches from your face and standing behind a jet taking off.
We put our boots back on and gathered up mitts, balaclavas and other important gear we might need if the tent ripped. We discussed our options. Tough it out? Dig a snow cave? Go down? We have 14 hours of this until daylight returns. That wasn't a pleasant thought.Will it snow a ton and be wicked avy danger by then? It wasn't until Josh got smacked in the head when one of the poles deflected under the wind load that we decided to bail out and descend.
So at 7 P.M. in pitch black night we packed up, made up a short rope and started down. The winds and spindrift were unreal. Twice I was knocked off my feet and three times to my knees by the wind. It was like some linebacker smacked me down. We knew we had to keep to the right to avoid the icefall and cliffs so we stayed high and wound up about 30 ft. from the spot we needed to be. A little to the right and down the ramp and below the icefall. Kudos to Josh for the routefinding in difficult conditions!
Once past the icefall it was just a 2 hr. slog over the scree and finally on to the sno-coach road. Finally back to the truck and out of that wind. Back to Calgary by 3:30 A.M. I will not soon forget my Andromeda adventure.