French Kiss - Dec 2

We met up with Jollin and Claudia to check out the Quick and Dirty area's ice. Suprisingly enough, I had never been into this area because of scheduling conflicts in previous years. The weather was finally cooperating for ice as it had been cold all week long.


The walk into the climbs was a dream compared to our previous two weekends of ice climbing - only 15 minutes! We arrived at the base in no time. Brad and I headed to the left most side of the amphitheatre to climb French Kiss, while Jollin & Claudia stuck right on the main Quick & Dirty route. The climbs were very, very wet, In fact, at times it was like standing in the shower as everytime I looked up I got water in my eyes. My gloves were squishy soaked by the end of the route, and the rest of me was equally wet. The lead was fun and varied, although I dropped a tool ahlfway up and had to come down to retrieve it.

After I descended, we pulled the ropes so that Brad could lead the route. This was his most challenging lead on ice to date, and after a case of the Screaming Barfies he reached the top.

We never had a chance to switch routes with Jollin & Claudia, as everyone was wet and ready to go. Another day!

Wall Lake - Nov 16-17

Again , early season ice fever had taken hold. And for good reason too! We had scouted the climbs behind Wall Lake in Waterton on a ski tour last January. However, these climbs are threatened by a large avalanche slope so early season ascents are essential. As much as we hoped that our timing was good, the weather had not cooperated. Weeks of warm weather had created marginal conditions for ice climbing.

Brad, Jarred, and I left the car on Friday night with our ice climbing and overnight gear in our packs. We hoped to spend the weekend in the Wall Lake area exploring various smears. Mother Nature had other plans for us. Right from the get-go, things were troubled. As we walked down the now closed Akamina Parkway, it started to rain. The rain continued as we climbed the Akamina pass trail out of the National Park and into BC. This was not our only barrier, as violent winds earlier in the week had blown down many large trees over the trail. After hiking for 2 hours and hurdling 30-40 trees, we arrived on the shores of Wall Lake. We set up the tent and settled in for the night.

In the morning, we woke up and packed up our ice gear with high hopes. It didn't last long though - on our way over to the climbs we heard a loud noise that was unmistakeably the sound of an avalanche roaring over our climbing path. That sound, coupled with the likelihood of encountering unconsolidated mush ice encouraged us to turn around. We abandoned hopes of ice climbing and went back to pack up our tent and sleeping bags.

On our hike out, we ran into Scott and Willis. They continued on to the lake to have a look at the ice, but it wasn't long before they joined us at the Kilmorey for a beer. You can't win them all, eh?

Black and Blue

Yay! Ice climbing season had arrived - or so we hoped. We were desperate to climb some ice, and although it was very early season nothing could deter us. We headed up to K-Country with Willis and Madeline to try and find something that would be formed enough to climb.

After waking up at 4:30 (!), we stumbled into the Library parking lot in Canmore to meet up with Willis & Maddy. It was important for us to get started early to beat the crowds and the forecasted mid day heat. Excited chatter filled the van as we headed out of town on the Spray Lakes Road towards the climb. Before we knew it, we arrived at the intersection with Hwy 40 in K-country. We had accidentally drove 20 minutes past our climb due to our excitement - whoops.

By the time we arrived at the pullout (6:30), two cars were already parked in the darkness. We were a little bummed out by this, but loaded up and started the long walk in to the Trick of Treat area. We had a few difficulties routefinding, and ended up way left of our destination. After traversing across the slope and racing another party we finally arrived at the base of Black & Blue - 4 fours after we had left the van.

Willis took the lead as the route, and dispatching he first pitch of the route easily (4 or 4+). I was sure glad he did, as the steep first section kicked my ass. I wasn't sure I would make it up! Brad led the second pitch, and I headed up after him to set a rappel anchor at the top. Minor frustrations held everyone up, from dropped belay devices to rappells that were 10m too short to reach their destination. We all arrived back on solid ground by 5:00 and packed up to head out.

The walk out was 2 hrs shorter, but it was much more unpleasant with bushwacking and rockhopping in a snow covered creek. It seemed that we would never arrive back at the road, and when we did it was 7:00 - 12 hours after we had set out. That's the price you pay when hunting for early ice!

Everyone was too beat up to head out the next day, so we went to Banff to check out the Mountain Film Festival. A great way to end a great weekend.

Crowsnest Mountain

We headed up to the Pass on September 23 to have a go at scrambling Crowsnest Mountain. We were originally supposed to be in Glacier on a multi-day backpacking trip. However we decided to pull out after a late start, permit hassles, fatigue, and super windy weather. Instead we went to Crowsnest with Jarred, and his brother Jordan & friend Caleb who were visiting as part of a 4 month road trip.

Conditions down low were beautiful for fall. However, as we started to ascend it became more and more winter like. Several frozen scree slopes and snow filled gullies led us to the crux gulley. This gulley is intimidating to some people in the summer, and as a result a chain has been installed to aid with ascending and descending safely. We couldn't find the chain buried in the snow, and so we precariously began our way up the gulley. I was in the lead, trying to clear hand and footholds of snow and ice. It was difficult finidng places to go, and there were several instances where I felt stuck. We finally stopped the chain, and Brad made a ballsy reach across the gap to bring us to a safer route up.

Once we finally reached the top of the gulley, we were only a scree slog away from the summit. By this time we were frozen, and both Jarred and I were almost hypothermic. Dark storm clouds were rolling in, and we turned around and headed down. Although we didn't tag the summer, it was still a fun and successful day. Of course, it was beautiful weather by the time we got back to the car!