vertical-unlimited

busy times in Patagonia

2012-01-23T13:38:00.006-07:00

I don't even know where to start, things are going off down south. One news flash after the next, that's what you get when you have a lot of strong climbers ready to strike assembled in Chalten and the weather is good.

First and foremost, Canmore's climbing community is in grief over Carlyle's tragic death on Exupery. I did not have the pleasure to know her personally, but those who did had only good things to say about her as a positive and inspiring person.

Amongst a lot of first ascents and fast repeats, in my opinion the highlight so far this season was the first ascent of the south face of Torre Egger. Make sure you check out the pictures on the link, what an amazing new route, and the style the two Norwegian's climbed! It just shows that there are so many more cool lines to do in Patagonia, besides getting hung up on the ethics of a route which has been done 42 years ago - which brings me to the next, rather complicated issue. Below a picture of mine from 1994 shows the 'controversial' top 500m of Cerro Torres SE ridge, taken from the summit of El Mocho.
Hayden and Jason made a fast ascent (or what they call 'by fair mean's' ascent of the SE ridge avoiding most of Maestri's line and bolts. On the way down they rappelled Maestris Kompressorroute and chopped most of the bolts in the upper part. Here is their official statement about the route they climbed and their chopping actions. It came to no surprise that this was the start of a lot of heated discussions and it seems to split the caring part of the climbing world apart.

A few days later the young Austrian David Lama (with partner Peter Ortner from my Austrian hometown) made a very impressive and ground breaking first red point ascent of the SE ridge, also with major variations to the 1970 line, and therefore also avoiding the majority of Maestri's bolts.

Of course everyone is entitled to his own opinion, now you can actually even vote on the issue - not that it will change anything though. Me personally I was always against erasing the Compressorroute, but I wanted to wait until the official statement of Hayden and Jason, because I highly respect them as climbers with great style and vision. After reading it I still hold on to my believes though. Every climber should have the right to make a first ascent in a style he chooses, of course in compliance with the local ethics, if such even exist. If other climbers don't agree with the style, they can stay away from the route or climb it in a different style. But never even climbing the route and then chopping it on the way down, during other climbers climbing up on it, seems a bit out there to me. Hayden and Jason climbed a major variation of Maestri's route in order to avoid the use of his bolts. They also used other bolts and placed their own last year, they made a pendulum traverse and aided on hooks, fine. David Lama also climbed a major Variation and free climbed everything, most of it on sight and the crux 13b pitch 2nd go, also good. And Joe Blow climber tries to full fill his dream and make the 400th repeat of the Compressor route, that should be fine too.

Outdoor Gym

2012-01-10T10:36:00.018-07:00

The kids are back to school after 16 days of a very nice Christmas break. Between a lot of visits from family and friends we went skiing to Norquay 7 times and played a lot of hockey. Nevertheless, this kind of exercise, combined with the usual oral pleasures of Christmas, did not help transforming me into a stronger climber.

Yesterday I got the bill presented under the unforgiving overhangs of the 'Hoar cave' in Haffner Creek. Ever since Isaac Newton invented the gravity, the extra pounds on my belly seem to increase the pull from the ground.

At least I got to watch and belay a more disciplined Raphael S. cruising all the lines as if the gravity switch was turned off during his multiple laps.

I'm definitely a bit unsure about the vision of this kind of sport - bolted rock climbing with ice tools and crampons and no ice - but it sure makes for a burly work out...

better than surfing with a surfboard without water, that's for sure.

Above and below- Raph on the classic Cave Man; once the hardest 'mixed" route in the world, now the scene of several burns in a row for the horizontally gifted.

Above is Raph catching the swing on 'Fire Roasted'.

The picture above is me on the crux of 'Fire Roasted', taken by a professional photographer named Wictor Skupinski. He dragged a big external flash light with a huge battery in there to lighten up the dark cave. He puts a lot of effort into his shots and it certainly shows. I particularly like the wide angle approach in the majority of his climbing work I've seen so far. You can see him below on his way to the cave with the flash light strapped outside a pack full of camera equipment.

witness the wetness

2012-01-02T19:52:00.008-07:00

On Dec. 29th I finally managed to get to play a bit again with Raph. We did have a different goal in mind, but due to high avi hazard everywhere we decided to go to Kicking Horse Canyon, close to Golden/BC, to try a route neither of us had done so far. The "Cookoo's nest" is a pretty mixed line through steep cliffs on natural protection. It all sounds good, if it wasn't for the location: a stone throw away from the Trans Canada High- and Railway, in the narrowest part of the Canyon. The warm and moist conditions created a west coast feeling with the smell of wet cedar trees and made us feel a bit out of place with all of our ice gear. After a long drive we were not about to turn around though, and we managed not to drown climbing through the multiple showers. Whoever was the bright and good soul to invent the hoody, a big thanks. And to all of the rest a fun and safe 2012.

Above, Raph approaching the route in the 'Schmack' and below, after 100m of unroped, low angled mixed terrain, leading the first pitch through the first shower.
This was probably the crux of the route, a short but steep cave to a detached dagger with ledge fall potential.
Me following the short pitch on less than aestethic ground.
On the next pitch I actually experienced my first lead fall on natural pro wearing ice gear (a few meters after the below picture was taken). After fumbling around way too long with a sling in a natural threat, I finally placed a perfect nut in it. Annoyed at myself that it took so long to figure it out, I tried to make up time with not paying attention to my dry tooling placements. A thin layer of wet ice gave away under my front points, and I was airborne in fairly easy terrain. Although I got away with a bruised shoulder and ego, I was mad at myself for this unnecessary but well deserved fall.
After finishing my lead I had to go out left to make a rock anchor under another shower, since the ice was too soft for great screws. Raph finished of the route on improving ice, actually the most fun part of the day. All in all a great route, not too hard, good pro and interesting climbing. Bring your Ipod to escape the noise and wait for a coolder day.

Man Yoga

2011-12-16T22:34:00.018-07:00

Raphael and I finally got around to synchronize a day off, which gave us a chance to try out the latest addition to the Stanley Headwall. Man Yoga is predominantly a rock route with a mix of bolt protection and lots of good natural gear. 4 pitches of this give you access to very aesthetic finish on steep ice. The picture below show the route on the day of our ascent, as you can see the rock is pretty snow covered, which resolved in a lot of time consuming cleaning and hard to find placements. Despite the less than ideal conditions Raph managed the first onsight ascent of the route, gratulations!

leading the all natural gear pitch one.

pitch 2 was probably the hardest lead of the day, due to the snow covered, slabby nature.

pitch 3

pitch 4

pitch 5

All the smaller images or the ones you can see a yellow jacket are curtesy of Raphael Slawinski.

Anorexic Queen

2011-12-13T08:51:00.014-07:00

Last weekend I finally made it out to the mountains again, and for the first time this year into Stanley Headwall. My partner Jon Walsh had to get a rope from the base of 'Men Yoga', so with no specific goal in our minds we skied up to the base. On route we looked around for options to climb, and it seemed like we both were attracted to the very skinny looking 'Uniform Queen'.

Below a few examples of how different this route can form, if it actually forms at all. This time around we had it obviously pretty thin, and 4 years ago I had it very fat. According to the guides book description I guess the first ascent was somewhere in between.

Above you can see pitch one as almost pure rock pitch, although the white spots are actually frozen snow. The pitch protects well on rock gear and is 50m long.

Jon following pitch 2, delicate climbing on a thin layer of ice with less than stellar protection.
Flash back to November 2007, this is when the route formed the last time to my knowledge. The same pitch was a walk in the park. Here is Marc Hammer enjoying his first time at the Headwall.

Jon leading out on the incredible 3rd pitch, something really rare to get as a Rockies Winter climber. Perfect rock and very fragile ice with great, natural rock protection. Already out of sight at the top of the pitch was the first and last ice screw placed on the first 3 pitches.

Flash back again to 2007, the entire pitch was iced over, I could only get one piece of rock gear in, the rest were bad screws. Still a great climb then, but an entirely different experience.

Suffer Machine in the center and the skinny pencil of the Uniform Queen to it's right, as of Dec. 10th. Fiasco is left and looks pretty thin too, but also got climbed last week. Game on!

Trophy Wall

2011-12-04T16:32:00.006-07:00

Almost a month ago, just after our Zion trip, Lisi and I planned to climb something on the Trophy Wall. We packed our gear the night before, but contrary to the forecast, temperatures in Canmore at 7 a.m. showed a way too warm +11 degrees with the wind threatening to uncover the roof of my house and blow it towards Exshaw. After a long breakfast, fruitlessly discussing alternative options, we decided to go for the hike anyways. If nothing else, Lisi would get to see the approach trail and we get some fresh air and exercise in. We used bikes for the dry golf course road and barely had to pedal with the wind in our back. The warm weather made me (unfortunately not my partner) strip down to my last layer an soon we arrived at the base of our goal, with little intentions to actually climb it. After a closer look with no visible running water and other climbing parties, it was hard to argue against "not giving it a go".

It's always amazing how different the Trophy wall forms each year, and how regularly you can climb there already early season. We initially wanted to climb the Replicant (center line) since it had not been climbed yet this season and appeared to be relatively fat. At the base I realized that I forgot my helmet (what else is new), so we decided to go for the Terminator (left line). At least from below it looked like that this climb had more sheltered belays to offer than it's neighbor to the right.
First pitch was surprisingly easy, the few rock moves are protected by 2 bolts and one pin, and the overhanging pillar is short and offers plenty of no hand stances, like it often is the case with mushroom features. The wind was annoyingly strong, but it was warm and the belays at least were sheltered from wind and falling ice, which were both plentiful.
Lisi arriving on the first belay and leading out the "false" amazing second pitch (below). This pitch uses a cool ice ramp out left and was really a variation between the Replicant and Terminator that avoids the continuos steep pillar of the latter. We later named it the "Termi-Cant", unbeknownst to Lisi what the second syllable might stand for.
The holy tree on the approach, just before the scrambly rock steps under 'ten years after'. I always give him a hug on the way by for good luck, so far it seems to work.

images of a mountain

2011-12-01T11:14:00.010-07:00

Mt. Rundle is probably the most photographed peak in all of Canada. Although by far not the highest - it's not even a ten thousand footer - it seems to attract the eye of any viewer. It even lacks a pointy summit, shear rock faces and a glacier, which should be classic trademarks of a stout peak.

The reason for the mountains popularity probably lies in the simplicity of the shape, something artists often strive to achieve but rarely succeed in.

My wife is gone for a few days and I got the kids, so before she left I went for a quick morning stroll up Mt. Norquay to catch a few more images of Rundle with the ever so important chinook clouds as a backdrop. As a reward I got some nice powder turns in down the Great American Chair. This was the last time I had a chance to be alone up there, the hill is opening tomorrow, by far the earliest in years. Ski season is upon us, even in the Rockies.

Because there is nowhere else to go?

2011-11-30T07:18:00.006-07:00

Recently we had some pretty bad avalanche conditions all over western Canada, and the roads were just a horror to drive. Naturally we had to stay away from the bigger stuff and hide either in a Pup, Haffner or Bear Spirit. It's somewhat strange that I never have the huge desire to go there, but after so many times I still have a good time playing around on those routes. It's actually a way better workout than climbing on the 'big' routes, and therefore gets you perfectly prepared for them. And on top of it you get to sleep in, which is not a bad thing since party season is amongst us.

Both areas, Haffner (above) and Bear Spirit (below) are formed almost perfectly right now for mixed climbing, with nice daggers and challenging transitions from rock to ice. But now let's hope the avi hazard goes away, so we can slowly get out in the 'real' mountains again.

The "unwanted" point of no return-part two

2011-11-25T09:28:00.003-07:00

Compared to part one, we had a bit of a bigger goal this time. My partner Jeff Relph and myself had never climbed Virtual Reality and we knew she's formed. Lisi and her friend Felix, both from Austria, joined us for the drive and climbed the mixed version of "but my daddy is a psycho". A brutal drive with lot's of new snow brought us to the trailhead. More snow and strong winds accompanied us for the approach, but nevertheless we started out climbing in these marginal conditions, thinking we can bail anytime.

Above you can see us on the approach with the fat 'Murchinson Fall' in the center and "Virtual Reality" to his right. When we reached the base of the fragile top pillar the winds increased to hurricane force, and the gusts were almost constant. Neither Jeff or myself had a big desire to make a mandatory sideways rappel past the overhanging mushrooms below us. Our "return" was cut off by a bad anchor, off fall line rappelling in gale forced winds with the high likelihood of stuck ropes and/or getting 'shroomed'. Therefore the only way out was past this hollow pillar with bad sticks and even worse pro. Frozen wood fingers and flying ice crystals which barely allowed us to open our eyes, a lead I'm not looking forward repeating. From the top we had to crawl in paralyzing winds over to the top anchor of Murchinson, which provided a still exciting, but much safer rappel.

On the way out the weather did improve a bit, and for the first time we could see the mountains on the other side. The drive home turned out to be another adventure with a maximum of 50km/h.

I know that in my 18th Winter in the Canadian Rockies I still haven't seen it all, but before this me fool assumed that at least wind wise I've had the worst already. Maybe that is why after all those years we still have the urge to go out there with our sore bodies, in the hopes of experiencing the unexpected.

the "unwanted" point of no return-part one

2011-11-23T10:31:00.005-07:00

Rather unintended I found myself in this classic "point of no return" situations in the last couple of days. What was supposed to be an "easy" day out on grade 4 ice turned out to be a thin lead on de-laminated styropor and 20m ground fall potential. The first picture below shows the point of return, the second shows the no return situation. I'd thought I'll get a screw in the fatter looking ice, but there was only air below a half inch layer. So the only way out of this was up, on a very thin smear of verglas.

Both pictures Marc Piche

From sand to ice

2011-11-17T20:43:00.003-07:00

A snow storm chased us home from Utah, just in time for some great early ice conditions. I find that every year it gets harder and harder to get used to the colder temperatures. This time around even more so, since we enjoyed T-Shirt days in the desert up until the beginning of November. -5 degrees Celsius seems unbearable in the fall, then in the winter it feels like a hot day. Early season ice is usually a challenge, but this fall it seemed a bit easier than usual, at least so far. Lisi and I had a very pleasant day on the Terminator about a week ago, and today I got my mandatory annual solo ascent of Bourgeau left out of the way, so now I'm ready for a few more multi pitch outings, before the ski season really kicks in. It sounds like some great early ski conditions already out west, I can't wait to get my first face shots.

The pictures today date a few years back, since my small camera, the Canon S95 is in repair the 3rd time this year, still under warranty but now they want to charge me for the same repair they have not been able to fix to begin with. CANON sucks, don't ever buy anything from this company!

Anyways, below the legendary Joe B. well into his fourties, still cranking at the Killer Cave.

Zion

2011-11-10T21:41:00.009-07:00

There is climbing and then there is sandstone multi pitch crack climbing. I understand that once in a while you have to step over your comfort- and pain level as a rock climber, but in crack climbing I have to do this all the time and I have not found sanity yet. Makes for exiting days though, there is never a dull moment.

A friend of mine, Lisi Steurer, finally made it over from Austria for a visit. After a couple of warm up days on Grotto Mountain we hit the road for the search of warmer temperatures and adventure, we would find it 2 days and 2000km later in Zion National Park.

Every climber we met down there told us that they have been in Indian Creek prior to Zion and that it was so much better quality. But Lisi and I were mesmerized by the shear beauty of the Canyon and the unbelievable amount of big walls surrounding it. Sure, there was some sand to be had, and the cracks might not be as "pure", but for our part we fell in love with Zion's "adventure" climbs for 11 days, and I hope I make it back down there again in the future. So much more on the wish list now, below and here a few impressions from down there.

"Freak Show" was one of those climbs. You've got to negotiate some pretty crappy terrain to gain two fantastic pitches up high. (above and below)

The endless layback on the 3 pitch Lab Dance, and the incredible 7th pitch of "Shunes Buttress" on Red Arch Mountain below.

Tears

2011-10-20T12:35:00.007-06:00

Last week I tried to spend as much time as possible with my kids with outdoor activities. As you all know, if you play hard, you can crash hard. Here are a few snap shots of moments before the impact, all of them resulted in tears.

Below Luka bike jumping, he learned that one hand on the handle bar and both feet off are not beneficial for the landing.

Bella misjudged the distance of this jump, or her jumping abilities. Not a soft landing either!
At least this landing was in the grass, and not in the gravel behind.
This time around it was not Luka crying, but the poor hoody kid got a soccer shoe right at the spot where it hurts most.
The last week was also still very climbable here, I was lucky to finish up all my projects at the Bellavista area. Both are hard to grade, but I think "Zeitgeist" is 12+ and "The show must go on" is 13-. They are both on excellent stone and ready to go, I left a few fixed draws on the bolts that are hard to clip.

I'm off to Zion for the next 10 days or so with Lissi, a friend from Austria. Looking forward for a little escape from the cold before I fully surrender to the upcoming Winter activities.

Five Fourteen for Echo Canyon

2011-10-11T19:59:00.003-06:00

On Turkey Monday me and Greg Toss (who bolted and cleaned the route) were lucky to witness the first ever red point of a 5.14 in Echo Canyon. Derek G. fired the 45m long "Stone Temple Pilots" in great style. If confirmed, this will be the 8th route in the Bow Valley with the exclusive 14th grade at the end, and it is the one with the longest approach, the longest fourteen without a no hands rest, the highest altitude and the shortest drive (if you live like me in Canmore).

Since I was belaying I show you a couple pictures of the climb from 2 years ago, when Derek came already close but got shut down by the early arriving Winter.

After this we moved up another 10 minutes to my "new" area called "Bellavista", where I almost send a new route called "Zeitgeist". My foot slipped off during the last move, but it was almost better for me going for the "flight" than finishing it. I have not fallen for some time now and it was good for my confidence. When finished, it will be the best route I ever drilled and climbed in Canada, and somewhere in the 12+/13- range.

Turkey Weekend

2011-10-09T20:52:00.004-06:00

We could not complain about the fall so far, pretty moderate temperatures and very climbable for the most part. But just before Thanksgiving Weekend we got a couple days of really bad weather, which dropped a lot of snow at and above tree line. A true test of the patience of those climbers who were not able to go on a trip with a 180ish degree bearing. But as soon as the front moved through, about 20 climbers did not shy the hike up to Echo Canyon enjoying some sun and a well deserved Vitamin D fix after the gray days. It feels good to know that I'm not the only wing nut out there who enjoys a long walk combined with good climbing and even better company. Happy Thanksgiving and let's praise the lord or whoever you believe in for all the good "moves" we were able to do this year.

A few of the main developers for new routes this year are Greg Toss (above), Ross Suchy (bottom) and probably the most active, Matt Pieterson (no picture since he is gone right now). Also a big thanks to Derek Galloway and Jon Jones, who put their drill and sweat into the fame less but long overdue retro fit of Upper Acephale and Carrot Creek respectively.

Yamnuska "Missing Link"

2011-09-28T21:29:00.027-06:00

Packing up for another mission on Yam. This time around it was meant to be special. Steve 'Holyski'(I wish) , Ben 'Fearth'(less) and myself were waiting long enough for this moment to mature.

And there it was. Years of preparation and careful planning into every imaginable detail paid off, all the required gear fits in the coffee mug.

As the tension builds on the approach trail, Steve undetermined spirit kept us going up to our ultimate goal.

A quick "do we have the Balls to do this?" check before we hit the point of no return.

Steves ball check seemed to work and ever so focused he moved on upward to whom ever beat he was listening to.

Pointing in the very future of Yams history. The line, the project and the soul, the golden triangle that feeds from each other. It all comes together right there, without even touching the stone yet. A truly historic moment, I will always be greatfull to be able to witness and feel part of it.

Ben got the short straw and the first lead. Although at the time I did not think it was the right tactical move, in hindsight I truly believe that nobody could have done a better job than him. A successful lead starts with the right prep. Different shoes for different needs, and sanitized gear makes one ease ones mind for such a demanding task. I never got the '2 finger pushing in and out your own fist' technique alongside the heavy grunting, but it seemed to work for him.

Ben "the Man" racing up the first few moves while Steve is busy belaying. At the same time he is able to be searching for his lost balls in the gravel-multi tasking at it's prime.

Clean climbing was our foremost goal, there is too much dirt on our climbing routes already.

Another prime example of our "leave no trace" ethic: natural, bomber and dynamic, just like our self.

So here is the ultimate proof of our successful, new style. The leader, in this case myself, chooses the center line. The followers move right and left and choose their own, completely independent line. This technique enables us to make 3 first ascents on the same go. Therefore we will be able to catch up with the number of first ascents with Andy G. and it will catapult us to the top podium of route developers on Yam.

If there is still disbelieve lingering amongst some readers, here is another proof of our new style. Ben cranking out climbers right, while myself snapping the shot from him climbers left (obviously in relation to Ben), and Steve taking the lead right trough the center without any compromise.

And now, back in my cozy living room, I find myself reflecting on this outstanding experience.

If you ever find yourself not knowing what to climb anymore on Yam, you think you have done everything 'worth your while' on the cliff, but you still have that ever so faint, and at the same time-pressing feeling-that you are missing out on something good that you have not done yet. So if this is ever happening to you in the future, don't be a fool! Don't climb "MIssing Link" on Yamnuska, it's not worth your while.

Mt. Baker

2011-09-26T19:22:00.012-06:00

Alright, I'm back. Back in Canada and back blogging again. After 3 months of absence, this is an attempt to keep in touch with the outside world again. Europe was awesome, crazy busy and just too much going on for writing a blog. Four days after our arrival in Canmore I found myself back on a plane for Seattle. The goal was to climb Mt. Baker, the most northern volcano in the US. Together with 2 more fun guides, Steve Banks and Mike Bromberg, both from Crested Butte, we were hoping to lead 5 climbers and 2 camera men up the north ridge. Long story short, a brutal storm prevented us to set foot on this beautiful summit, but we had a good fight and came close. In the end, everyone including the guides had a great adventure and we brought the team safe and happy back to civilization.

After a 4 hour car ride from Seattle we finally arrived at the ranger station of Mt. Baker, where there was high quality bouldering to be had. If I would have only known, I could have brought my crash pad - note the bone crushing landing to my right. Luckily, after a summer of guiding in Europe, I was so out of shape that I could not lift my second leg off the safe ground anyways.

Below you can see the only shot I got from the mountain we tried to climb, considering the fairly low elevation of just under 11000 feet, the glaciation is quite stout.

A 3 hour hike with heavy packs through a magic west coast rain forest got us to high camp on the Heliotrope ridge.
After pitching the tents I ran up for another 1000 feet to check out the approach to the north ridge, just to make sure I find it with my cheesy headlamp the next morning. The reward for my efforts was this beautiful sunset amidst all those fully blooming wild flowers. Just freshly arrived from Europe I did not expect such a "fauna-tic" color show above tree line by mid September.

Back in camp I ran into one of our "clients" updating his diaries. Chad was very special and inspirational in his own way. He found the mountains helping him dealing with his disability, and his focus is to pass the message on to other challenged folks, very delightful to be with him.

Maybe an hour before we turned around, Steve and Mike trying to make sense between a map, compass and GPS in the intense white out.

A new chapter

2011-06-14T08:50:00.007-06:00

There are a lot of rumors floating around lately, so I thought I clear things up. On the last day of April this year I got fired from my job with CMH, after 17 years of working for them. I've been told that the main reason was the lack of positive communication amongst the team which created an unhealthy and unsafe work environment. Although this was for sure unexpected and initially a shock for me, I try to put this chapter of my life behind and start a new one. I will always remember CMH as a great place to work for, meeting some of the most amazing people in my life, including my wife Kimby. On the other hand I will always be reminded on false friend ships, back stabbing and the surprising lack of peer support. No Light without shadows and as Thierry always used to say-no roses without thorns! Anyways, me and my family are looking forward to a new future, we are going to spend the next 3 months together in Austria, me partially guiding and catching up with family and friends. We'll return mid September to Canmore and then I have to start looking around for work, if anyone knows something, please let me know, any help is appreciated.Another reason I'm posting this is a CD I received in the mail a few days ago. It was full of images of one of my best weeks in the snow, heli assisted ski touring in the Adamants mid April. All the pictures are from my friend Topher Donahue, one of the best action photographers I've ever met, and they show me on my last days of work for CMH.

new route on Air Voyage wall - Lake Louise

2011-06-05T21:41:00.007-06:00

There is a new route on Air Voyage wall at the Back of the Lake, it received it's first and second ascent today. The pictures below show Derek Galloway at the latter one. They say it's about 13+, a bit on the hard side for me but fun to watch anyways. The start is a few meters right of Jason Lives, with which it shares the last couple of bolts plus anchors- so technically a variation.
For those of you who like crimpy quartzite with tiny feet, this one is right up your alley.
And there is the ever cranking Tree on the ever classic "Dewline", atop a half frozen Lake. I got the kids plus camera with me today, and still got a few 5.11 burns in. Luka and Bella got to make a few moves too and we got a little taste of Summer in today, very much needed since it's supposed to rain the next three days.

Upslope

2011-05-27T08:45:00.003-06:00

This is what it looks like from space when we get a wet and cold upslope storm in the Rockies. Upslope here in Alberta means basically that seasonally warmer air from the mid western plains of the US moves with the aid of a big low pressure system eastward and meets colder air from the arctic somewhere along the Rocky Mountains. This constellation generally happens in the springtime, when the jetstream is further south and people are usually seeking sunshine after a 7 month Winter. We are in this wet flow since well over a week now and it slowly starts to suck. This morning we woke up to almost a foot of new snow here in town and it's still dumping. On top of this Canmore is hosting the first boulder world cup in Canadian history today and tomorrow and the conditions could not be worse. Too bad for the organizers and all the volunteers who put so much effort into this event, I'll be down there regardless to show my support (I hear they serve beer!).

Transition

2011-05-24T12:57:00.004-06:00

There is not much going on with me right now, the weather kind of sucks lately but always turns out to be better than the forecast tells you. Last Sunday, May 15th, I had the pleasure to be guided through 2 classic multi pitch routes by the "Hausmeister" of Yamnuska. Raphael showed me two of his favorites up there, 'Yellow Edge' and 'Jimmy and the Cruisers', which are both excellent in their own character. On Yellow Edge we skipped most of the fixed protection in order to show that there is no need to retro fit the route. Please leave this one the way it is, bring a set of Camalots and Stoppers and enjoy one of Yams finest pieces of climbing history. Two days later I had to cancel a ski tour to Joffre last minute because my family got a bit sick. As it turned out I caught the same bug the next morning and was the first time out since last summer. Actually not totally out but a sore throat and a runny nose kept the energy level low. Now I'm finally ready to go again and the weather is barely good enough for mushroom picking. I searched for morels in a burn with no success, but ran into a peaceful grizzly instead. Although it was not the first time I had a close encounter with a bear, it is always a powerful experience to be so close to this impressive animals.

Mt. Victoria NE-Face

2011-05-14T09:39:00.009-06:00

Almost exactly a year after my first attempt with Andrew we lucked out with yesterdays weather and conditions and skied of the main summit of Mt. Victoria. It had just stopped raining when we pulled into the parking lot in Lake Louise at 3.30 in the morning, and the spirits were not too high. The 3 tequila filled girls from the Chateau were still on the hunt for some boys and did not make our departure any easier. A non supportive, half inch crust and lots of avalanche debris from days prior brought us to the upper bench below Collier and the start of the glacier, where we experienced the delayed sunrise to the east.

Our objective, basically just left of the Summit in the center, sees the first light at 6.30.
The weather is slowly improving and warm, moist air gets replaced by cold and dry. The finally supporting crust was covered with 10cm of new snow from last nights storm.
Big crevasses on the upper glacier bench call for caution, I would not want to be there during bad visibility.
This time Ross Berg was joining us, freshly imported from the coast and still keen to ski.

After crossing the bergschrund it was time to boot pack. Definitely one of the more exciting places to start up a steep face like this. You either want to make sure that you are absolutely certain about your stability assessment, or have no clue at all and just go for it. I personally thought it should be o.k., since Andrew and Ross started to follow me.
The higher you climb the face, the more peaks are starting to show. Here is Mt. Collier and the rocky Mt. Hector in the back ground center.
Andrew takes the lead through the shallow 55 degree section. Here our crampons and axes were scraping on the rock for about 10m.
Higher up on the face with the frozen Lake Louise way down there. A very intimidating exposure for ski touring, feels more like alpine climbing indeed.
And finally at the summit by 9 o'clock sharp, other people have a hard time meeting for climbing in the Summit Cafe at that time.
The views were almost out of this world, the Goodsirs in the left foreground, and the Bugaboos with Howser tower and Mt. Conrad to the right on the horizon. Mt. Huber is the little guy in front below.
Hungabee on the right, then Neptuak and the beautifully shaped Deltaform. The NE face of the Sickle below and left in the sun.
After a cold half hour wait on the summit, Ross dives in first, with Lefroy in the background.

Andrew styling down the face, he finally got his equipment issues sorted out and ditched his telemark gear.

Some impressions on the face from the boys.
Ross lower down on the glacier ripping the dry powder from the previous night.
A look back at the face, it looks soo much better after you've skied it.
Something strange happened on the way down below the glacier. We got ready for some shitty skiing on breakable crust above an isothermal snowpack, but instead we enjoyed real good corn snow all the way to the Lake. Even the Lake was more frozen than when we crossed it in the morning. After our early start in the warmer, rain soaked snow, it must have cooled down just enough to freeze more solid again. Good and bad is a very fine line mid May.

Corn alert on Mt. Smuts

2011-05-11T19:59:00.001-06:00

Good things take time, and this time I was patient enough to wait for the right time. Although there where glimpses of corn snow this year it was never perfect. There was either not enough melt or not enough freeze-or there was enough of both and not enough melt to soften the freeze, or it was limited to a narrow elevation band and/or the very right aspect-and then it snowed again. Today it was simply perfect and I hit my ultimate corn goal in K-Country for the season, the SE face of Mt. Smuts (picture below shows the face a couple weeks ago). If you ever wanted to ski this one, go do it NOW! Zero avalanche hazard, fast travel and secure skiing. Here is the time line which worked perfect today:

4:20 leave Canmore

5:15 leave car

8:00 Summit

8:10 start skiing from right hand summit

8:30 (optional) put skins back on and go for a second lap to peak lookers right, because it's too good to go home yet.

11:00 Cappuccino in Canmore

Since I was alone today I can only come up with some landscape shots I took on the summit, hope you still enjoy them. Below Mt. Birdwood and the NW face of Mt. Sir Douglas looming to the south, maybe one day a goal for some of Canmore's extreme skiers.
Looking in a NWerly direction, the mighty East Face of Mt. Assiniboine and Mt. Eon to the left.
Looking over Tent Ridge and Spray Lakes towards the best moderate corn snow objective close to Canmore, the south flank of Nestor.
Looking across the summit ridge towards the remote Royal Group. I skied straight down the right hand summit, since it is more easterly aspect and therefore corned up already.
1000m of perfect corn snow ahead, at least no challenging route finding on this one.Looking back towards the summit slope, you can see the barely penetrating footsteps bottom left. Crampons were very useful, if not essential, so was one ice axe for the way up.

Haddo Peak

2011-05-05T15:49:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was my first time ski touring in the Lake Louise area this season, which is pretty strange. I guess with highway 93 and K-Country being closer and in such good shape, there was no reason to go there this Winter. On the other hand, there is a reason why the mountains around Lake Louise are so popular, they are simply beautiful.

Andrew and myself always wondered if there is a way to ski off Haddo Peak. You can see it in a distance from the Highway, but the most upper cruxy part is somewhat hidden, until you are almost right there, so only one way to find out. Above you can see the line of ascent, we had to drop down from this point in order to gain a bowl behind the blue jacket. The rest is pretty obvious until the cliff band below the summit. 5 minutes after I took this shot Andrew lost one of his skies on the way down, and spend the next 3 hours looking for it.
This unfortunate incident left Ben Firth, Josh Briggs and myself the option to tackle the line without Mr. Steep.
The initial 500m of the climb are north facing, until the slope changes to a easterly aspect. Pretty serious avalanche country and spectacular surroundings, including a frontal view of Mt. Temples North face.

About 100m below the summit, from where I took the shot above, we made a group decision to turn back. The snow got isothermal in the heat of the day and we did not trust it anymore. We should have come earlier, but we did not expect it to be that hot at almost 3000m.

Ben in the lower part of the run, where we took a steep couloir far skiers left. Mt. Fairview and Lake Louise ski area behind.

The run down was actually really nice, some corn, some settled powder and a bit of hard crust lower down. After rejoining with Andrew we headed up to Surprise Pass for a bonus run and then skated out over the still frozen Lake to the Chateau.

In the parking lot I got a rare glimpse of some uncovered body parts of some of the most wanted men in the Canmore chick scene. No wonder those guys are so in demand, above "Mr. Sexler" showing just enough skin to make you crave for more, and below Mr. Firth just about to unveil his Big Ben. Gotta love those spring days!

Mt. Stanley-North Face

2011-05-01T11:50:00.002-06:00

It's been quite a turbulent life lately so I'm running a bit behind with my posts. Last Wednesday we had a real fun day out with a bunch of good people on a big face. We hit Mt. Stanley during a snowy day and got some fresh powder on it's steep north face. I did not get a chance to make nice pictures due to the white out conditions we had most of the day, but I hope these images give you a glimpse of what was going on up there.

The approach was more involved than I thought, for about 2 hours one must travel under constant objective hazards like seracs, huge cornices, man eating crevasses and 40 degree avalanche slopes ending on top of unsupported cliffs. One advantage of the bad weather was that you can't see what lurks above you.

A rare weather window allowed us to get a glimpse of the beautiful corn snow objective on the other side of the valley, the stunning south face of Mt. Whymper.

After all the hazards on the approach it was quite weird to have a comforting feeling in the 45-50 degree north face , I guess Marty was relieved too.

Jeff and Richard (Ducky) also came along, as well as Craig McGee. This made a total of 5 of us which was good for boot packing up the face and also made for fun conversations.

Ducky proudly presents his hair style, or should I say the lack of it. He says his head is the solar panel which charges the sex machine below. Not much charging going on that day though, hope he has a built in back up generator somewhere.

Marty Schaeffer in the summit white out. He did win the award of the best looking face under the ugliest hat, way to go!

Great snow and bad visibility on the way down.

As a 'bonus of the day' we decided to ski straight below the face all the way to the top of the ice climb "Nemesis", from there a sloping ledge brought us back to the main slopes past the Killer Cave. This way is less exposed to the hazards I described above and gives you better fall line skiing too. If I do the face again, I will also go up this way.

Commonwealth North Couloir

2011-04-30T09:50:00.006-06:00

This is one of the most striking and obvious lines as you drive from Canmore into K-Country and turn the corner around Mt. Buller. There where lots of rumors about it but I actually have not heard from anyone trying it yet. There are 3 obvious rock steps and is was not clear if one could could climb up it or ski down afterwards. On March 25th I finally had a chance to try it out, together with Andrew and Craig McGee. We were not really well equipped for such a goal, since we actually wanted to ski corn on Mt. Nestor.

The first rock step was no problem, since it was partially filled with snow on the left side, but the second step was impossible with the slim gear we brought. 2 ice tools and crampons would be needed for the short but difficult step. I'm also not a good enough skier to jump that step on the way down, so a rope and harness for rappelling would be required too. So about 3/4 up we had to abandon our goal, but still got an exiting run down the deep cleft.
Since the day was young we decided to at least climb the peak via it's west ridge, which was very worthwhile and it also gave us a chance to check out the upper part of the North couloir.
At the summit we finally got a nice break in the weather and we could soak in some rays and spectacular views.
After skiing down into Commonwealth Creek we still had some energy to skin up the steep south facing slope below the fist and drop into the "Fist Couloir" on the Northside. This exiting line brought us down into Tryst Lake and back to the car during another snow storm. All in all an unexpected fun day and the first intro to K-Country for the imported coastal-spoiled Craig, who called it the Mini Alaska.

Spray Traverse

2011-04-28T07:14:00.010-06:00

A few days ago, on April 23rd, Raphael and myself took advantage of the good weather and stability to complete the traverse from Burstall to Tent Ridge. A welcome change from skiing the steeps and a fine day in the mountains close to home with fantastic vistas and serious terrain.On the top of Commonwealth Col after our first climb, the remote Royal Group behind.

Still some nice powder on our first decent down into Commonwealth Creek.
Steep, southfacing climb below the Fist, reminds me on my home turf in the Dolomites. No Rifugios with Cappucino's and grappa's on the way though, on the other hand we did not run into any other people.
Just before the summit of Repeater Mountain, with the stunning north couloir of Commonwealth Peak in the back ground and French Mountain further back on the left. 2 days later I would be there, combining it with the Chute you can see in belows picture bottom left. You can also see the overhanging south face of the Fist in profile, shouldn't there be some rock routes?
The best run of the day was after our third climb, down the north side of Repeater Ridge.

Raph on the last hill of this 2000m vertical day, pointing back to all the terrain we've covered.
Last run of the day off the top of Tent Ridge, with the south face of Mt. Turbulent behind and Spray lakes below.

Mt. Patterson/Riptide Peak

2011-04-23T09:06:00.007-06:00

Yesterday I got out again sort of unexpected and got to join Triple-X-Wex, Ryan Creary and Fraser on a nice outing on Mt. Patterson. Out of the four of us I was the only one on regular AT gear, must be an age thing. BTW, my new nickname this Winter was "Geryatric", after whining too much about my problems with getting older. It seems like every time I get to go out with the young guns we have to do something steep and exciting with some overhead hazard. When we make plans the evening before it always sounds like: "nothing too big, nice line, super safe and ahjah, don't forget your helmet and bring your hockey gear if you got some". This time for a change the hazard loomed from the left for a change, which gave my neck a chance to adjust the other way. Next time I go with Andrew I should consider bringing my belay glasses I got for Christmas, might save me the Chiropractor visit. The pictures below are in no particular order and I had to steel a few from Andrew.This facial expression is part of the secret boot packer body language. It loosely translates to "thank you for the nice steps, brother, if you continue like this you can expect a BJ afterwards".
Here I'm diving into the top of the couloir, this is terrain with high consequences if something would go wrong.

Andrew walking the last steps to the summit with the upper part of the east ridge of Patterson in the back ground. Since it is a chilly minus 12 up there he is thinking of postponing his reward for the boot packing until later in the sheltered woods.

Almost at the top, watching Ryan boarding down the 1000ft couloir.
The headwaters of Mistaya River reflecting the sun rays. It's getting harder every day to cross it without getting wet.

Daycare Chute

2011-04-21T16:54:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago I finally got to do a real ski tour with my wife Kimby again. It's been around 8 years now that we had a chance to go out and make some turns together. That's one of the few downsides of having kids, one of us has to stay at home, and most of the time it isn't me. This time we took advantage of the perfect conditions above town, Luka beeing at school and finding a last minute day care spot for Bella. This 5 hour window allowed us to ski the Miners Gulley, which we aptly renamed Daycare Chute. After skiing all the way down to town we even had time to go for some Illy cappuchino at the Merchato. One of those magic days where I love living in Canmore.

Kimby has got to take her shirt of before she drops into the chute, the last thing you want is to overheat!
The upper part of the chute, just before it gets narrow, with the Town of Canmore below.

Mt. Chester NW-face

2011-04-19T17:26:00.007-06:00

After a grand finish with CMH in the Adamants (which I want to report on later) and a day at home with the family, I got out with Andrew yesterday for a little K-country adventure. Two hours of extra driving and a delayed start due to a forgotten transceiver (let's just say so much-it was not Andrew), we got on this really cool feature on the NW-face of Mt. Chester.One hour of fairly flat terrain brings you to Chester Lake, and from just above there it is a 800m vertical boot pack to a col 30m shy of the summit of this stout 10000 footer. There, a short rock face blocks the easy access to the summit, but who cares, the chute is what we came for, and a chute we got.

A raven watched over us most of the time. Here he takes off from his exposed nest in this steep rock face, with Mt. Birdwood in the background.

The first turns into the run, Andrew styling on his tele gear. One day he will hopefully learn how to ski, so he too can enjoy outings like this.

The Chester Chute is probably one of the better of the steep road side attractions in K-Country, go get it while it's there.

Family Heli skiing

2011-04-10T14:02:00.004-06:00

An already perfect Winter season in the Bobbie Burns ended with a personal highlight for me on my last day of work up there. I got to ski with my son Luka all day in the Selkirks and finished with a family run with Kimby and Bella on a 1000m run called Intermezzo. I still can't believe this all happened, the wildest dream could not have been any better.Here is Luka, 7 years young, on his first heli skiing run, the top landing of X.T.C., and his first turns in powder below.

Getting the hang of it on the run Paradise in the South Selkirks.

The exposed landing of Vampire. He had to help me shovel out the landing in order to earn the turns, but is rather "leaning" on the job...sorta like his dad.

Ripping it up on Vampire, 35 km away from the lodge in the upper Laidlaw creek.
After 6000 vertical meters of first tracks a well deserved lunch with the Long Ranger.
The last run of the day with the whole family, on the top of Intermezzo. Bella with her tender fourandahalf years is probably the first heli skier ever to make it down a run like this without any help. Thanks to Ash the pilot who made all of this happen for us, I owe you big.

Mt. Storm

2011-04-01T18:22:00.003-06:00

With the plan to ski Mt. Cathedral, Andrew, Ross and myself drove up to the Alberta/BC border past Lake Louise. Since the weather was lousy despite a sunshine forecast, we decided to head back to the other Alberta/BC border on Vermillion Pass and try Mt. Storm. We were aware that the skiing might not be so great, but we wanted to stand on top of a real Rockies peak.On the way up we avoided the steeper section of the summit slope by scrambling up 500m vertical meters on the West ridge. The walking sucked for sure, but the positions along the heavily corniced ridge were awesome.
Here is Ross looking back down to tiny Andrew, who probably partied too much the night before.
The run down was initially a bit scary with all the recent storm snow sitting on top of a sun crust, but after we got our minds adjusted to it we could enjoy some wonderful snow on the first day of April on this steep, south facing slope.
Andrew in his element again, ready to party it up after those turns.

Rocket Man

2011-03-30T20:57:00.010-06:00

Rocket Man was always a big goal of mine. Multi pitch mixed climbing in a serious alpine envieronment, what more can you ask for. This is one of many routes put up from the legendary David Thompson in the late nineties, but certainly the most impressive. The route never formed again in the past 11 Winters-until now-exactly when I am in the worst shape in recent history. I teamed up with Jeff Relph from Golden for our annual adventure outing, equally out of shape but just as motivated and eager for the line as myself. We met in Lake Louise just in time for the every day grand opening of Laggans Cafe at 6a.m., absolutely no line up's, guaranteed. After realizing at the Saskatchewan River Crossing that we have gone too far in Jeff's fancy fast Audi, we made up for the delayed start with a speedy 1.5 hour approach.It was snowing pretty hard on the walk in and also for the rest of the day. Every few minutes we found our selfes in nasty spin drift showers and got to watch several size 2 avalanches flying over the rock face left and right of us.
Below you see me on the start of pitch 3, which looked easier than it turned out to be. The first time I took my fruit boots out into a longer route, basically I wanted to safe weight on my back on the approach, since we used our ski touring set up. They worked surprising well, considering I never really climbed pure ice pitches on mono points before. jeff relph photo
The climbing was thin, demanding, loose and a bit over our heads. The 2nd pitch had 8m of ice missing (read scary) and the third pitch (below) did not have the ever so important bolt protected pillar which gives you access to the WI 5 ice flow (read aid climbing on bolts, how gay is that). When Jeff followed the third he dropped one of his tools when a big junk of ice broke of the wall, luckily he did not get the bomb into his face.
After this exitement we decided to bail, the odds seemed to be against us. Only 3 tools on such a serious route, and foremost the heavy snow fall made me worry about the descent too. It was hard to rappel at 1p.m with 7 hours of day light left, but I think it was the right decision. In the end we both have 2 kids and a lovely wife to return to.
Cruising with style, Jeff's shiny Audi Quattro. What happened to the good old climbing bum generation? I certainly did not mind the heated leather seats on the way back to Laggans. After a refill and a cookie I had to step back to reality, which in my case was a cold and rattely Chevy Optra.

Above the Lodge

2011-03-23T22:05:00.004-06:00

It was an odd day today. Despite excellent ski conditions the everyone but 4 of our guest decided to go back to the lodge and take it easy. This was the first time in my CMH career I experienced this and I felt bad for the 4 keen ones, who came half across the world to ski the best powder in the world. As a lead guide I an not take four skiers out in a big 212 helicopter, we would loose a lot of money doing so. On the other hand it was Wednesday and we already skied 40 000m vertical in 3.5 days, people are getting tired and a bit short on cash for extra meters I guess.Nevertheless, most of us guides did not want to sit around the lodge in these conditions. Dellow, Yannik, Ryan and myself quickly skinned up the 900 vertical meters to the high landing of Mad Trapper and dropped in the fluffy, north facing backside aptly named Trappers Ass. What a treat to have such good ski touring available right out the front steps of the Lodge, with some sick lines without other keen competition. We were back in time for the last sun on the front deck, enjoying tea goodies and a Kokanee.
Typical when there are too many guides in the game, the first one in already triggers an avalanche. If in doubt, ride it out!

spring

2011-03-21T20:15:00.002-06:00

This fantastic Winter ended for me with a glorious day heli skiing in the Bobbie Burns. We skied nearly 14000 meters vertical in perfect powder from the Hatteras to Selkirks north and south and finished on Billy Goat. Every run I tried to remind myself how lucky I was to be part of a perfect Winter season and that this might be the last day of alpine face shots. Although at times a bit challenging, the ski quality was perfect through out. We did not have a single injury of note and no avalanche involvements, knock on wood. Today we had the first official spring day with all the head aches that come with it, like warm temperatures, fog layers and just simply schmuck. One more reason to remember one of the best Winter seasons I've ever had, at least snow quality wise. 2011 Rocks, or maybe I should say rocked!
My family came up for a quick visit, one night and one short morning. It was great to catch up with them, below you see my kids under the massive roofalanche of our staff house, which slid already 3 times this season. The reeling of the deck in the far left corner is 3 meters above ground level in the Summer, just to give you an idea about the snow we've had this year.

The show must go on!

2011-03-17T20:01:00.006-06:00

It just doesn't stop snowing this year. Mid March by now and 5 days worth of fresh fluff turns every ski run into an event. Unfortunately there are always a few guests who think they have been punished by God because the weather is soooo bad, but thats their own problem. Check out this and more pictures and judge for yourself.

This week was the first time this winter that I took my big Canon 5D out skiing with me, and here are some of the results. "Actor" Marty Schaffer from Revelstoke came along with me for a few runs of snow safety in I tried to capture the action. I forgot how much fun it was to hunt for a good image, I should bring the beast more often.

And today the sun came out for the first time this week and we made it up to the glaciers. Luckily the recent strong winds did not effect the ski quality at all and the poor folks who had to hide in the trees enduring face shots all these days got to ski what they came for. Marty and myself through 12 shots of explosives to make some safe skiing, dug out some landings, and did not have to try hard to have some fun times in between.

Face shot Highway

2011-03-10T20:19:00.003-07:00

Out again today on the Face Shot Highway, this time with the ever motivated Andrew Wexler. It was dumping all day, which gave us wet clothes and some exceptional skiing top to bottom. And the walking up through this magic forest was my favorite of the day.

Hard to believe that this is the Rockies, and that Chick Scott's guide book doesn't have a single tour along this Highway covered.
With conditions like this year we both agreed that the Radium Highway offers better, and more accessible skiing with less crowds than Rogers Pass. You can park your car almost anywhere along the highway, pick a line and go for it, no permit required.

Another amazing shift and finally back home

2011-03-08T12:42:00.007-07:00

This Winter just keeps on going. Everybody just waits until it craps out, but so far there is no sign of it. If there is one thing people might complain about, it's the unseasonal cold temperatures. But cold smoke comes with a price. By the way, I actually quit smoking 18 days ago. Right in the middle of the season, cold turkey. Of course I'm still not over it and it will be a long battle, but it's my first serious attempt in over 10 years.

Below you can see the tracks on a run called Purple Heart in the amazing Selkirks. If God would have had an architect to built the perfect mountains for exiting skiing, the Bobbie Burns Selkirk terrain would have been his master piece.
Back home for Sunday with the family and out yesterday for a quick ski tour up Mt. Whymper on Highway 93. I've always wanted to do this one but the snow coverage was never good enough to make it too appealing to me. Since 2003 the lower part of the mountain has burned and adds a lot of character. Unfortunately the majority of the route faces southeast, so after a sunny day you've got to deal with sun crust at this time of the year. It amazed me how all the cones are still attached to the burned trees, after being dead for 8 years now.

Two fantastic weeks in the snow

2011-02-13T16:37:00.007-07:00

After returning home from an unbelievable 2 week work shift my mind feels empty. If you wonder why, here is a low down of my typical routine as a lead guide: get up at 6:30, have a piss if I haven't already at 5, get coffee, check the weather and start guides meeting. Chewing through over 200 possible runs to come up with a safe run list takes up the majority of the 45min. Go for breakfast and try to answer the many questions of the guests, like-how is the weather, how is the skiing, where are we going to ski? My usual answer after 17 years is 'I can tell you better in the evening', because most of the time I don't even know where my first run is going to be. Go for a morning shit, put contacts in and get dressed (of course I brush my teeth too, but I guess you are not interested in all those details). Out the door by 5min to 9, walk 20m to heli pad, check transceivers , safety gear and AED, and lift off sharply at 9. Below you can see what happens next, unfortunately not every day.

All the images where taken by me lead guiding on the only sunny day last week, more pictures here. We skied the whole day in the Selkirks on big runs with up to 1800m vertical drop. After 12 runs and 13000m vertical of fluffy powder top to bottom we called it quits and where back at the lodge by 4:15, last group in at 5 sharp. 20min of paper work, a beer and some food at the bar, then a 20min Sauna and straight to guides meeting with another beer at 6:15. At 7 the dinner bell rings and we serve our guests a family style dinner at a big table of 12-14 people, besides a great meal you can expect some wine from the guests. This takes me usually until 8:30 or so, back to the guides office for some catch up work and some chatting with the other guides, ah jah, almost forgot the beer. And then, when everything is done, we finally go for drinks with the guests at the bar, a long day in the fresh air makes one thirsty. I try to be in bed by eleven, but I don't always succeed with this task. Before I do hit the sack though, I usually go outside for a last weather check and smoke.After 14 days of this it's not a surprise that I'm empty right now, but not empty enough to feel privileged to have a job like this.

The arctic air is back

2011-02-01T13:25:00.003-07:00

A couple of days ago the cold and dry air from the north moved in and we finally get to see the mountains again. The skiing has been fantastic to say the least, and the stability, specially below treeline, has improved dramatically. The picture above shows the views of our highest point in the area, Mt. Syncline. I had to go up there yesterday evening to clean of the rimed up solar panels of our radio repeater. Pretty special to hang out there for half an hour watching the sunset with nobody else around for about 50km. I was still thankful for the heli to pick me up before dark, minus 28 degrees and a stiff north wind made the good buy from this amazing spot easier.

These images both show the run Tetragon, where I got buried 2 winters ago by an avalanche. The guys on top with their beautiful figure 8ths are Michael from London and Robbert from Amsterdam, they ski with me every year the past 17 winters. Always special when they come and we can offer them some great skiing, it's like skiing with friends.

a crazy week in the snow

2011-01-23T10:40:00.005-07:00

Last week the unavoidable finally happened. The November Facet layer got overloaded by one of the bigger snowstorms in recent years. Over a meter of storm snow combined with high winds and warm temperatures did the trick. A huge natural cycle occured sometimes in the afternoon of the 17th and the morning of the 18th. Since we had clear skies on the 18th with a very limited ski program, we decided to get the groups in at 3 p.m. and go for a major bombing run to open up more skiing for the future. 40 shots produced many large avalanches, all of them ran either on the Facet layer or on glacier ice. Do give you an idea about the work we do and the magnitude of those avalanches, check out this video. Marty Schaeffer, a promising young assistant guide, combined his and my footage together in a short clip. Enjoy!I guess I did forget to mention that the skiing was great throughout the past couple of weeks. Here are some samples from Friday, for a change those images show me skiing in the Crystalline, and are taken from Marty Schaefer and Peter Lemiuox on the very bottom. As far as I remember these are some of the few images I have of myself, usually I'm the one behind the lens. It's been a really busy time lately either lead guiding or snow safety, so I haven't got my brain set to shooting mode yet.

Mixed emotions

2011-01-15T20:43:00.003-07:00

It's been a wild Winter so far, at least regarding my job as a heli skiing guide. Although we had some of the best skiing I've had since a few years, there is this lingering bad feeling of uncertainty in my stomach. Is it the aftermath of last years catastrophic snow pack or just plain good judgement of a devastating facet layer, who know's. I don't want to get into details about our snow pack structure, but I have to say that this could be one of the worst Winters regarding avalanche hazard in the last decade. Everyone working in the snow related industry thought that last year was as bad as it could ever get, but I truly believe that this Winter will be even worse than last. This is simply due to the fact that the weakness in the snow pack is very deep down, and the potential of triggering is fairly low. But God help you if you do find the sweet spot, or if you are simply happen to be at the wrong place at the right time. The picture above shows Andrew Wexler having a blast on the 1400m long tree run called Little Sister in the Selkirk Mountains. Below you see the other side of the coin, a massive avalanche ripping all the way down to the summer ice on a run called Finally. How much load does it need to trigger something like this 3 meters below your skis? I am certainly not the one who want's to find out. Play safe out there and good luck!

Thierry is gone

2011-01-11T13:01:00.002-07:00

This picture was taken today from the deck of the Bobbie Burns Lodge, where Thierry worked as a guide for over 25 years. Pretty much at the same time Thierry passed away in his home in Invermere, about 80 km behind those mountains. Our spirits were with him.In the evening after a great day of skiing in the north Selkirks, Thierrys favorite place, everyone who knew him up here lit a candle to lighten up his journey. Since I'm not good with words I pasted a statement of Rob Rohn below, which pretty much sums up my feelings. "Another good one gone"
Hello everyone – Earlier today our good friend, colleague and mentor Thierry Cardon passed away at his home in Invermere after a relatively short battle with cancer. Our hearts and best wishes go out to his wife Sylvie (yes they were married last week!) and his daughters Emily and Gillian.
Dr. Jeff Boyd and Anne-Marie Fischer were with Thierry and Sylvie during his last hours, and Roko has been a constant companion and helping hand over the last several weeks. Many thanks to them, and to all of you who helped out in so many ways. Let’s not forget that Sylvie will need all our love and support through the tough times ahead.
Thierry always lived life on his terms, including those final days. I feel very fortunate to have worked closely with him over many years. I learned so much – about guiding, about the mountains, and about life and myself. I left him after my last visit feeling inspired by his personal strength and his serenity and courage. It was wonderful to reminisce and laugh with him. He had no regrets. He was headed on his greatest expedition yet. Take care my friend; I have no doubt that you’ll reach the summit.
Let’s all take some time to reflect on and share the special times we spent with Thierry. His legacy and spirit will live on.
If you would like to send a note to Sylvie and the girls, their address is:
RR#4, 1426 13th Avenue,
Invermere, BC, V0A 1K4
Canada
With best wishes to all of you,
Rob

Thierry Cardon

2011-01-05T20:39:00.002-07:00

Thierry was diagnosed with severe cancer 3 weeks ago and he refused any further treatment. He is at home right now with his partner Sylvie and waits for the departure, as he puts it, for his biggest journey of his life.
When I started as a heli skiing guide 17 years ago I had the fortune of having Thierry there as my mentor, teaching me-in his very own way-the ins and outs of the intricate heli guiding challenge and furthermore, everyday life.
If only a fraction of what he thought me in all those years will stick in my mind, it will make me a better guide and person. For those who had a pleasure to meet him, please send him lot's of positive energy, he certainly needs it right now.

the kids are alright

2011-01-04T12:11:00.001-07:00

My son Luka turned 7 today, pretty scary how time flies. Not too long ago he was my little baby, now he is a young man I can have normal conversations with. And he can swallow his Birthday cake just like his old man. We took him out of school to go skiing to Norquay with him, and even when I ski as fast as possible I don't have to wait for him anymore. It's probably not going to be too long that he has to wait for me.

Christmas

2010-12-24T17:06:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas to all of you out there, I truly hope you have a joyful 2011 and play safe in our wonderful mountains.

a few days in the Bugaboos

2010-12-23T13:23:00.002-07:00

I just returned from a 4 day trip to the wintery Bugaboos. CMH hosted the annual Guides training session up at their luxurious lodge. Like every time I've been to those sessions I enjoyed beeing up there with so many fellow guides, catching up with everyone and at the same time learn a lot of new skills for my profession. The skiing was great and the fun level high, I'm looking forward to a new Winter season in the neighbouring Bobbie Burns.

Ghostly ghost

2010-12-17T09:06:00.005-07:00

The cold air is back! After fairly warm temperatures for the past 10 days we are back in the -20 range. My annual outing with Marc Piche brought us to the South Ghost, and for our first climb we choose "Malignant Mushroom". Looked like we were the first party to climb it this year, and the quality was so good that we decided to do a second lap on it in the warming sun.

After this we switched to the other, shady side of the valley and climbed "Wicked Wanda", which was also in nice shape. Of course a bit colder over there, but luckily no wind, which is rare for the Ghost.

We drove to the park boundary, but I would definitely recommend a heavy duty pick up truck for this.

Sacre' Bleu

2010-12-12T21:42:00.010-07:00

Today I got a chance to get out climbing with Raphael Slawinski and Steve Svenson from Seattle. We "seatteled" for Sacre' Bleu after it's been reported to be in challenging conditions. As it turned out, the climb was worthwhile the long walk, very different to the fat ice you usually encounter up there. Below Raph on the first pitch, climbing the thin ice during moderate snowfall and spindrift.Raph is at the spot where Steve and Barry turned around a few days earlier. He then took the left hand pillar onto a ice glaced run out slab. A total of 55m gets you to a bolted belay on the left.Steve Svenson leading into the virgin ice of the steep last pitch, another 55m to a very rusty bolt belay on top. Since I was the youngest in the party today, which rarely happens lately, I had the pleasure of being guided by two strong "oldies", thanks!
Raph is doing a last second check of the anchor as Steve leans back. I kinda like the look on his face.

Super hero ice on Bourgeau

2010-12-07T20:01:00.005-07:00

Out for my first ice climb this Winter, probably the latest I've started the season in a decade. Well, at least it was worth the wait, as the climb is in perfect shape right now with one swing plastic ice top to bottom. The top pitch is as easy as it get's, only short steps of vertical, intercepted by little ledges. Very warm temps today with no overnight freeze made the ice a bit wet though, the picture on the top is taken on the approach, and you can already see wet streaks everywhere.

Views from top of the last pitch-the advantage of climbing alone is that you don't have to place any screws. The downside, you still got to drag a rope in order to get down.

The first time today that I noticed an ice pillar back in Healy Creek, seen right from the parking lot of Sunshine ski area. Is this "Faux Pas" or a new line, does anybody know???

By the way, Bourgeau right is not in, actually not even close. And the Icon of Sunshine road, the plentiful Bighorn Sheep, obviously enjoyed the warm weather too.

desperation ski touring

2010-12-05T22:59:00.004-07:00

Lately I've gone up a couple times to Norquay for some ski touring labs out of sheer desperation. There is just not enough snow around here in the rockies to go on a regular skitour without major damage to your equipment or yourself. Norquay works actually surprisingly well if you want to focus on the uphill and getting some fresh air in. You can start at the Juniper and gain 720m to the top of the American Chair, which is closed right now. Coming down is industrial at best, but so far I have not hit any rocks yet. Do it before 2 p.m., otherwise you are in the shade most of the way. A decent outing right above Banff, no people and great views. Watch out, I saw some fresh Grizzly bear tracks up there, something you would not expect at this time of the year.

It doesn't look like we're getting snow anytime soon, at least not here on the east side of the Rockies, so this might be something to keep the frustration level at a minimum.

Heli Crash on Ama Dablam

2010-12-01T09:03:00.003-07:00

Another sad day for mountain rescue, this time in Nepal. This accident cought my attention, since I was at the same mountain on the same spot years ago (1997). Those days we could not even imagine that someone would attempt a rescue from this exposed mushroom ridge, and the equipment has not changed since then. A pilot and an engineer had to give their young lives for someone who was not even hurt or in any particular danger. That is the sad part of this story for me.

arctic air

2010-11-23T10:20:00.004-07:00

Since about a week western Canada is under the influence of cold arctic air with (hopefully) the peak temperatures today. At least the wind shifted from NE to SW, which is always a good sign for warmer air down the road. The slightly waning moon allows for some wicked morning shots once every 28 days. Due to some cloud coverage in the east there was no alpenglow on the peaks this morning, but the resulting softer light makes a nice substitute. The moon (or correctly said the earth rotation) moves actually faster than you would think, about 3 minutes for the distance of it's own diameter. This fact only comes apparent to the human eye when he is close to the horizon.In this cold weather I'm not inclined to go outside the house at all, unless I have to. My only activity lately is getting fire wood downstairs and clean up the toys from the kids.

first ski tour

2010-11-21T11:57:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, after a few brutal days of indoor sessions at the managers meetings in Banff, I finally got out to enjoy the wintery landscape we have right now here in the Bow Valley. Since there is not enough snow right now in the rockies to do a proper ski tour without hitting rocks, I went to Sunshine ski area and up the still closed Goats eye mountain. After escaping the minus 22 at the parking lot with a chilly northerly wind, I was pleasently surprised by warmer air up high with almost no wind. I even managed to have a long hang at the top without even putting a jacket on. Great to see the magic winter wonderland again.

As you can see, Bourgeau left is in great shape right now with no signs of previous activity. I was surprised that with all the desperate climbers out there looking for some smears of ice 3 hours up some wired drainage, that such an obvious classic has not been explored yet. The picture below shows the starting zones of the bowl above the climb. I think you are safe climbing it right now, but I would keep an eye on it if there is more snow or wind in the future. I don't trust the Nov. crust layer at all and with more load it might become a serious issue. Play safe and have fun and let's hope for more moderate temperatures in the near future.

Anniversary

2010-11-19T08:40:00.002-07:00

Exactly 10 years ago, my parents, four friends and myself set out for a "good bye" ski tour close to my hometown Lienz in Austria. I was supposed to fly out the next morning for yet another half year of heli skiing in Canada. It was a splendit day with lots of powder and smiles on the way up in a tranquil winter land scape. Almost at the summit, we triggered a huge size 4 avalanche and we all went for the ride of our lives, which turned out to be over 1000m in elevation over rocky terrain for most of us. It was a miracle that all but one survived, and that's what I'm celebrating today. My father died with the age of 60, doing what he was so passionate about in his beloved mountains. The doctors said there was no pain.

Bellavista

2010-11-13T09:25:00.013-07:00

Regarding my previous post, I had a request for more information on the location of the new routes, so I thought I might as well post them.

A-The flame turns blue proj. 37m
B-Dream Machine 5.11, 40m (60m rope works when lowering to mid anchor)
C-Wet Dream 5.11+, 20m or 42m into B
D-Halloween parade 5.10+, 17m
E-Zeitgeist 5.12+, 30m or 45m into F
F-The show must go on 5.13-, 45m (60m rope works to lower to Zeitgeist anchor)

As you can see, there is a lot more potential up there, and the cliff band continues. For motivated drillers, there is a fixed line up route B which gets you all the way to the scree ledge on top of the routes for more development. There is also a fixed line on the far left side of the picture, close to the obvious corner. This one is a few years old and left by Ian Perry I think, it looks very brittle and I would not trust it anymore.

The views from up there and the obvious white trees at the base of the routes. I think if you would bring a battery powered coffee grinder, you could probably make chalk out of it.

Time to move on!

2010-11-11T19:12:00.003-07:00

Well, there is not much going on for me right now, sorta transition from developing a new area and waiting for snow. The ice was slow to come this year but I bet with the recent cold temperatures there is some fun stuff to play around right now. I brought my drill down from "Bellavista" yesterday, someone told me it's bad to leave it out all winter, and I think I've done my fair share of swallowing dust this fall. My time off between work and family the last 3 weeks were pretty much occupied with drilling, cleaning, trail building and lots of walking. Since the new area is a 770m hike from the car and I've done it 12 times, I could have gone to Mt. Everest from sea level. The result of all of this are 6 beautiful routes, one will be really hard, one really easy, two in the 11 range and two in the high twelves or so. 80 bolts, 3 drill bits and 6 anchors with chains and biners, plus my Ipod were sacrificed. I hope it will pay off next year, as a little sanctuary when the Lookout gets crowded. Regarding my Ipod, I forgot it up there one evening, and when I showed up next morning it was gone. Since I knew exactly where I left it and there where no other human beings around, I have a feeling a pack rat took it into his "shiny item collection". I truly hope the rat has the same musical taste like me and he can enjoy some austrian hump ta tah songs until the batteries or the thief itself dies.

If anyone is into some ice or mixed climbing, please let me know. I have the next 9 days off and I'm looking forward for a new challenge again.

the definition of alpine climbing

2010-11-02T14:48:00.002-06:00

When I climbed my first routes in Canada such as the north face of Chinamans (sorry, Ha Ling now) or Yamnuska I called it alpine climbing. Cliffs like that in Europe were considered as alpine climbing, simply because it was happening in the alpine (above tree line more or less). Now here in Canada I've been told that this is not alpine climbing, maybe alpine rock climbing at best. Not that I want to argue with this, but nobody to this date was really able to tell me what ingredients are needed to call an outing alpine climbing. Although I heard comments like: there has to be ice somewhere on the route, like the picture above, or you have to suffer a cold bivy (or suffer more with spending a night in a snow cave with a chain smoker like me).If you look in the canadian alpine bible-Selected alpine climbs in the Rockies-there is a wide variety of climbs, a lot of them resemble what Chinamans or Yamnuska has to offer. What is the difference between Brewers Buttress on Castle versus Direttissima on Yam? Or a Gmoser Route on Louis or the East face of Mt. Bable, the list goes on and on. Anyways, if someone could help me out in describing alpine climbing to me in a few sentences, it would be much appreciated. Whoever comes up with the best description which makes the most sense, I will by as much beer as he/she can drink in one evening in a local pup of your choice.

David Lama-response to Cerro Torre

2010-10-30T17:52:00.004-06:00

This is already old news, but I thought I post it here as a bit of a defence of David Lamas actions on the Compressor route of Cerro Torre. I am also impressed with Davids blog, well worthwhile reading. This guy evolved from a pure gym climber, winning pretty much anything on plastic before he had the first signs of pubic hairs, to a great all rounder in the mountains. Don't underestimate the guy, I'm sure we will hear lots of him in the future.

drilling and stuff

2010-10-27T16:36:00.005-06:00

Last week I went up to the major cliff band, which is the continuation of the Lookout, to drill another route there. I started the new development before my first aid course with a 40m line of perfect stone. As we know since a few years, the potential up there is almost endless and so is the work. So since everyone else is out there searching for ice right now, I decided to have my workout closer to home and at least start this fantastic new area with a few lines, so we can hit it next spring. I hope more people get encouraged by this and join in with some hard labour. If you don't have a drill and want to help out, mine is hanging up there and I even charge the batteries for you. Since this area is separated by a good 10 min walk from the Lookout, I thought it deserves it's own name. "Bellavista", which is italian for beautiful view.
Right now I'm sitting at the lodge, struggling with Power Point in preparing a presentation for guides training on last winters helicopter accident. I would like to share the picture below with you, all I can say is the 3 passengers walked away with no scratch, which is quite unbelievable. There was definitely a bit of alcohol involved that evening.

seasonal closure

2010-10-23T21:15:00.003-06:00

Last week would have been a perfect week to play around. One could go rock climbing, ice climbing, alpine climbing, hiking, mountain biking and God knows what else. This is the time of the year what makes living in the Rockies so attractive, this is the reason why I chose to live here a long time ago. And what do I do? I spend the whole week in indoors at a "advanced wilderness first aid refresher". After the test, which I still doubt that I passed, I got the wildest stomach flu, which pinned me down for the last 24 hours. Although I enjoyed learning a lot of useful skills on the course again, I'm just not used of sitting from 8 to 8 in a class room anymore. As soon as I felt a bit better this afternoon I started packing away my rock climbing gear for the winter. If you can trust the forecast, this will be the end of a great climbing season for me. I've had the pleasure of climbing lots this year, sharing my excitement with a lot of wonderful people on tons of different cliffs, and full filling most of my little climbing goals I set myself in the spring. A big thanks to all who shared a rope with me this year, and sorry for all my smoke you had to inhale. You are the reason I still try to keep going. And now let's make the most of the upcoming, long Winter.

photo Derek Galloway

What a great fall

2010-10-16T16:39:00.008-06:00

I keep on telling myself that this is it, this is the last day of rock climbing this season, and then catch myself touching rock again. Although I was working the last couple of weeks up at the Bobbie Burns, I got out for Thanksgiving weekend and could not stay away from the Lookout. Since I have climbed every single route at the upper Lookout already, Greg T. was very kind in giving me one of his projects, although he could have easily climbed it himself. "Burn one down" is a very good 12+ to the first anchors, which accommodates a sit down no hands rest. But after this, the extension is one of the best routes of the wall (how often did I say that now?), and I was blessed to get the first ascent on this one. The rock quality and the moves would fit really well to the lower wall of Acephale, like the upper part of Nemo. I think the grade of the extension is no harder than 12d, so two 12+ stacked on top of each other. I'm sure it will become another classic up there again.

Simon and I had a great day on 3 brand new routes for us on Thanks giving Monday. First we bagged the first ascent of my new route left of Tetris, it's called "wasted on the way" and goes at 12-, slightly harder than it's right hand neighbor. Then we went downhill to finally visit the Echo Cave, where I was able to flash a partially wet 12c called "Morpheus". Juggy, overhanging climbing suits me and the route felt more like a 12b to me. For our last goal of the day we chose "Destination Unknown", which was really hard and awesome. Although only a few meters apart, the route has a completely different character than Destination, and since I'm not a good boulderer, it felt like a solid 12d. I would highly recommend this little subarea to anyone heading up to Atlantis wall, very unique climbing with unbelievable pockets for rockies standards. There is plenty of potential for new route development, so don't forget to pack your drill. Remember, those batteries don't get better sitting in your garage for a long period of time.
And then there is always the family, I know I have not been the best dad and husband lately, too much caught up in my own goals. I'll sure try to make up for this selfishness as soon the weather craps out for good ...does this sound like selfish again? But first I have to endure a 5 day first Aid refreshers indoors with the best weather forecast imaginable, oh would I love to go to the Ghost for a few days and do some of those grand multi pitch lines.

Kurt is gone

2010-09-29T10:10:00.004-06:00

Kurt Albert, the "Albert Einstein" of free climbing, died today after a 18m fall on a minor "Klettersteig" in Germany during guiding work. With Kurt we lost one of the most important and influential climbers in history. In the late 60ties at the age of 17 he climbed already the hardest routes in the Alps, including the Walker Spur on the Jorasses, and with 18 the Eiger North Face, years before Messner did it. Besides all his live time achievements in the forefront of hard Alpinism over 30 years, he is probably best known for his invention of the Red point rules in 1975. you wonder why his nickname was Einstein
Kurt on "Fight Gravity", a 5.12 free solo in the mid eighties, when most people did not even know of the existence of hard routes like that.
Kurt was always involved in the evolution of climbing. He started with the age of 14 with hard Aid, then painted red points at the bottom of old established Aid routes as a sign that they have been free climbed. He was a top boulderer in the late 70ties, when the world boulder did not even exist in Europe. He made countless rock climbing trips around the world, climbed the first 12+ on the big dolomite faces in the eighties, made ground breaking first ascents all over the world, like Royal Flush on Fitz Roy, Raiders of Storm in the Paine and Eternal Flame on Trango, to just name a few.

When I heard the sad message from Scott's cell phone at the Lookout, I was just heading up for another try on the hardest sport climb so far for me in Canada. I told myself that this attempt I dedicate to Kurt's spirit, so I gave it all, like Kurt would have done, and surprisingly succeeded. Kurt, you where the man I was looking up to when I started climbing as a teenager in the mid eighties, and I thank you for that. The worlds climbing community lost one of it's best.

rainbow without rain

2010-09-28T10:39:00.004-06:00

I know it's getting old, those sunrise shots, but I just love this time of the year. It's not like summer where one has to get up at 4 in the morning to catch the magic light. Now you can crawl out of bed at 7:30, make yourself a coffee, take a few shots and get lucky with a rainbow framing it.

Done Deal

2010-09-26T18:03:00.003-06:00

Shortly after this gorgeous sunrise we headed up to Yam again. Derek was offering me a belay on Yamabushi and I could not refuse. The weather was chinooky as you can see on the pictures. We had it all, heat, strong winds and a little rain. I still don't know why it went so well today, but maybe it was the pressure of being my first and last chance this year to red point the route. And so I did, leading every pitch first go, like Derek 4 days ago. A big thanks to Will and all his partners for putting up such an outstanding climb, I know it's a lot of work and hope that it will get climbed way more often in the future. The line deserves so much more traffic with the way it's set up as a multi pitch sport route, fully bolted. And also a big thanks to Derek for beeing my belay slave, I totally appreciate this.
Here are my suggestions for the grade, a little different than Will, but he also mentioned that he had a hard time with the grading after having spend so much time on the wall. P1/5.10+, P2/5.12+, P3/5.11+, P4/5.12-, P5/5.12-, P6/5.12, P7/5.12, P8/5.11+. Although the grading is not super hard, it is still demanding until 5 meters below the rim. Despite the overhanging nature of the route, the climbing is very varied and most of the cruxes are actually quite technical. We used 13 draws (some back cleaning), a 60m lead line and a 50m twin rope to haul the little bag and to rappel "Lord of the rings" afterwards. On P2 we left 3 hard to clip draws in place to make it easier for repeat attempts, please leave them there, it's for a good cause.

a little weather hint

2010-09-23T16:43:00.003-06:00

This early morning view of Mt. Lougheed never fails. When you see this cloud cap over the highest peak in the viewing range of Canmore, be sure to bring an extra layer and at least a wind jacket. Even if the forecast calls for sun all day, be sure she's gone by latest noon.

50 days

2010-09-22T09:09:00.006-06:00

Time runs by, even when the weather is bad. It's been 50 days since the last time Derek and I have been up on Yamabushi. Nevertheless, Derek managed to red point the rig, leading every single pitch. This was probably the second red point after Will Gadd did the first ascent in 2006. A very impressive effort on Derek's part, since he did not know the route very well and he had to clip all the draws on lead, where Will had it rigged top to bottom. Derek also had to deal with damp holds in the crux section of pitch 2, had to haul a bag almost every pitch and had to belay me following the route, where Will had someone jugging. Don't take me wrong, I don't want to downgrade Wills achievement, I think it was an astounding effort on Wills part. Not only he put multiple days in to actually establish one of the finest sport routes on Yamnuska, he also had the vision of freeing it in one single push very late that year with lot's of time pressure before the winter arrived. I've personally never been a big fan of rope bags on alpine rock routes, but I must say it came in handy today. The flap provided the only place where we could flake our two ropes and were able to change into rock shoes without soaking them.
After weeks of bad weather we had some wintery conditions to deal with. Lot's of snow on the approach and on the few ledges on the route. Like the last time, we opted to rappel the nearby "Lord of the Rings", which paid of big time and saved us from hiking down in the snow on the back side.
Above you can see Derek leading out of the morning mist into the roofs of pitch 2.
From the belay ledge after pitch 3 you climb 3 pitches in a row through the upper roofs. 12a/b/12b/12c and after that (picture below) a 35m vertical crimp and search fest which is hard to rate and to memorize, feels like another 12c. This second last pitch has probably some of the finest rock Yumnaska has to offer, and the exposure is unbeatable. It is mid afternoon by now and all the snow below on the approach slopes from this morning has melted of already.The view from the parking lot in the morning versus the evening, it's amazing how much a nice day of sun can do to the snow.
Now it's time for me to put in my first red point attempt, I'm looking forward to the challenge and hope I don't have to wait another 50 days for it. My time is running out soon, got to go back to work in October. If anyone is keen to go up there with me, please let me know, you will not regret it.

One day weather window

2010-09-19T11:11:00.002-06:00

Despite the long stretch of rain, snow and cold temperatures the hard core of climbers here in Canmore still manage to squeeze the odd day of climbing in. Yesterday 8 of us climbed at the Lookout again and took advantage of a short weather window. -5 degrees celsius in the morning with a centimeter of ice/rime and snow did not seem to inviting, but once we reached the Lookout the sun came out and we had a pleasant day with T-shirts and perfect climbing conditions. That makes the Lookout so special, even after 3 days of rain and snow in a row the cliff stays dry with a few exceptions and catches the sun from 9 a.m onwards. The pictures below are from the clearing in the evening the night before. Soo good to see blue sky again, but it's pissing and 4 degrees as I write this.

September rain and new route

2010-09-17T08:52:00.006-06:00

This is definitely the worst September I ever experienced in the Bow Valley. It just keeps on raining and snowing with now high pressure system in sight. After a mediocre spring and a even worse summer everyone thought we deserve a nice September, but it ain't gonna happen. Considering the bad conditions I actually did pretty well so far this month. I got the majority of my home reno's done, climbed "Diamonds on the inside" and "Fresh Prince", and even drilled a new line up at the Lookout. After spending 4 brutal cleaning sessions 3 hours each on it, I thought it was time to give it a lead burn. To my surprise I was able to red point it first go and I think it is one of the best lines in this grade at the Lookout (I might be a bit biased with my opinion though). Sure, it's still a bit dirty and some of the holds or footsteps out of cleaning range might break, but it will clean up nicely with more traffic. 36m long, 16 bolts, power endurance climbing on mainly good holds, and feels like a 7c (+/-) to me. I named the route "burn to shine" after a (not so much known) Ben Harper song, to stick with the Greg Toss theme of nearby routes and to honor this great artist.

A weekend with Roko

2010-09-11T10:09:00.011-06:00

Our family finally made it out to Wilmer for a long weekend visit with Roko, Adrienne and Jakob. Roko owns quite a few acres on top of a hill between Wilmer and Panorama, with great 360 degree views of the Columbia Valley, the Purcells, and the Rockies. This is Roko's house above Wilmer, it used to be the old Bugaboo Lodge staff house. If it would not be for Roko, it would have gone into the dump.
A cozy place to hang out, the kids fell in love with Jakob's Lego.
driving a Bobcat as a 6 year old must be quite exciting, below he is in with Jakob, Roko's 13 year old son. Jakob was awesome with the kids and spend a lot of time playing with them.
Roko giving driving lessons on the quat, after a short while Luka figured it out.

A sweet southfacing deck, probably bigger than most condo's in Canmore.
A need collection of antic machinery, these are just a few of my favorite samples. If they ever run again, you would have to cut down some trees in order to get them out. This should give you an idea how long they've been there.

first frost and snow

2010-08-29T11:20:00.004-06:00

It's not even September yet and yesterday morning, after a mean cold front moved through he valley, we got our frost frost. A short summer indeed, since the forecast for the next week promises more rain, snow up high and cold temperatures. Luckily I was able to take advantage of a short weather window and got to climb at the Lookout in perfect conditions. I was not the only one trying to get out before the weather shut all climbing activities down and it was good to see about 15 keen climbers up there. The biggest difference to other busy climbing days was the fact that out of the 16 routes (excluding projects) at the Atlantis sector 15 got climbed by various climbers. There was never a line up anywhere and a very positive vibe throughout the day. I lucked out too and climbed my first "new" 5.13 of the year, which came as a real surprise to me. "Diamonds on the inside" with it's 40m of very overhanging, athletic climbing is one of the best of the grade in the Valley and I'd highly recommend it to everyone. Let's all pray for a nice fall!

Luftreise

2010-08-21T08:23:00.002-06:00

Luftreise is the german word for Air Voyage. Climbed there today with Derek with an 8 a.m alpine start. A chilly walk brought us to the cliff in perfect timing, as I was leading the first route the sun started to hit the face. We enjoyed the first few hours of tranquility before the weekend crowds showed up. Eric Dumerac looking scared on Scared Peaches, a ueber classic 5.12 gear route. We got on the route earlier and climbed the extension, which is probably one of the best single pitch gear routes in the Rockies. Although never too hard, after 40m of climbing I always arrive trashed and very happy at the top anchors.
The haze in the morning air is actually smoke from the BC forest fires.

is this Summer now?

2010-08-16T08:22:00.002-06:00

After some back problems, rain and some great family holidays I got out for a climbing session again. For a change Derek and I had perfect weather and we had to battle the heat. Although I climbed a lot in Lake Louise, I managed to get 4 or 5 new routes in I have never been on before. We mainly hung out on the shady left side of Blob Rock, which is in Lake Louise terms a 5.12 paradise. Although it was sunday, we did not see another climber all day, except the girl in the picture. They showed up just before we moved on and I was able to catch a few shots from her on "Unforgiven", a 12a on the left side of the cliff.

perfect family holidays

2010-08-14T09:55:00.006-06:00

We've just got out from a great 3 day vacation at the CMH Bobbie Burns Lodge. Although we had some marginal weather we were still able to pull of some awesome days with the aid of the helicopter. I got to climb the full Via Ferrata with Luka, who was with 6 the youngest person to ever do so. Coincidently we had a guest of 80 years of age who did it on the same day, and therefore set the age limit on the other end of the scale. When we build this thing a few years back we never envisioned that this would be possible. It's great to see so many people enjoying the product of so many days of hard labour.

Luka and myself got a private pick up from Chris after a cold day on the Ferrata.
The next day Bella, Luka and myself got to join the kids group and we hiked around fantastic places like Iceberg Lake and the Conrad Icefield, which was a lot of fun for them.

A special thanks goes out to the entire Bobbie Burns crew, who made us feel like very welcome, despite a full lodge of guests. You guys rock!

Yamabushi

2010-08-04T19:24:00.005-06:00

Had a great day on Yamnuska today with Derek. Our intention was not clear in the morning, but we headed out anyways to check out Yamabushi. We thought we only try to work on the lower 5 pitches or so, but everything went pretty smooth and before we knew it we topped out. We did not bring our shoes to walk down, so we rappelled the nearby "Lord of the Rings" back to the base. Derek impressively freed the whole route (the much feared pitch 7 on sight!), but since we swapped leads it doesn't count as a red point. Hopefully we make it back soon to finish the business for him, it's hard to get the right conditions for it in the summer since it's solar aspect. Since I'm not playing in the same league like Derek, I will need a "few" more visits to red point the entire thing, but it seems like an achievable goal anyways. Non of the pitches are desperately hard, but there are 8 of them and non are a gimme. The future will tell.This is obviously not a picture from Yam, but since I brought my camera with an empty battery, I'll through that one in. At least a mountain that nobody will recognize, although you saw it already hundred times.

Mosquito invasion

2010-08-02T09:07:00.000-06:00

They love me but I hate them. One reason I live in Canmore is that there are usually no Mosquitos. We even took our mosquito screens out last fall, since we have not seen any of the monsters in the last few years. But this summer, for some reason, they returned, stronger than ever they combine forces in millions to make my life hell. At the most unexpected places like scree slopes and rock cliffs, they can be anywhere, anytime, and they take no mercy on the innocent climber. I can't wait for the first overnight freeze, which is probably the only way to get rid of this unwanted species.

This picture shows me at the base of "Tall Storey" in Echo Canyon, and it's 10a.m., you can imagine how I looked like 8 hours later.

going light in the Bugaboos

2010-07-28T13:46:00.003-06:00

11 years after my first private visit to the Bugs I finally made it back again to this amazing granite spires. The goal was to climb "Sendero Norte" on the 500m east face of Snowpatch Spire as free as possible in one day car to car. With Topher Danahue from Colorado I had a strong and motivated partner and the weather was in our favour.
After leaving the parking area at 3:45 we got our first view of the full east face of Snowpatch Spire at the toe of Snowpatch Glacier, where we filled our water in the last stream.
Magic light on the final approach below the impressive East Face
Since we where both in less than disireable physical shape, we tried to go as light as possible. 1x60m 10mm single rope, 1x60m 8mm haul line, 6 draws and 4 runners, 3 lockers, 2 ATC, Camelot 4, 3, and Mini Cams single, everything in between double, set of rocks 1-8, light rain jacket each, 2 liters of water and lots of bars, 2 head lambs and 2 helmets, well needed toilet paper and sunscreen of course.
Topher, the crack specialist, made an impressive effort to on sight pitch 2, which is certainly the crux. He went for a good 10m whipper after slipping out of the moist crack 2 thirds into it and then aided the rest. This was fortunately the last time we had to refer to aid, except one bolt on the upper crux roof a few pitches later.
Below is the good looking 3rd pitch, a hard 11+, which Topher was able to on sight.
I was lucky to get to lead the awesome split pillar of the route, a 55m corner which is probably one of the better granite pitches in the 5.10 range in Canada.
Topher following the upper part of this amazing feature. Although the last 15m were wet, it was still quite climbable due to the face holds on the right side of the corner.Perfect clean granite was the theme of the first 8 pitches of the climb.

The short 5.11 pitch below the roof was tricky and wet going to the anchors. Overall we found the rating quite stiff, on the other hand we probably did not have the perfect conditions due to wet or moist cracks and heat.

I got to lead the second crux pitch through the roof at mid height. Everything went well on this entirely bolted pitch, until the boulder problem past the roof. I kept slipping off the micro crimps on the sun baked right side of the corner and had to use one point of aid to get through this spicy section.
Below Topher works his way up the following pitch, a perfect hand crack which gains the lower angled upper part of the route.
We left everything on the top of this pitch and I led a long 70m pitch (63m according to the topo), which was a real challenge for me. A very thin corner with micro cams and mini stoppers, only rated 11-, but for me as a sport climber it felt more like 5.13. We did not double up on the small sizes and I had to pay the price for it with some run outs. I also chose the wrong feature in the upper part of the pitch and we had to make a tension/rappel traverse back to the line, which cost us 20m and a stopper. Now it was Topher's turn to climb the short 15m pitch called the "changing corners". Although he tried for half an hour to figure out which way to go, he finally gave up and came back down to the belay. It was not an easy decision for him to give up so close to the top with lot's of daylight left, and I was not motivated enough to give it a go either. Burning toes and heels plus some darker clouds with distant thunder helped us with the decision to bail.

For me it was still a splendid day out in the high country with good company and as a non crack climber a big challenge. And what the heck, we even made it down to Bugaboo lodge for dinner, thanks again to the awesome crew in the CMH Bugaboo lodge for being such great hosts.

I would also like to thank Jon Walsh and Chris B. for their cleaning and bolting efforts and their vision for this grant free line. And last but not least, thanks to Topher who pushed me to step out of my cozy cragging comfort zone to join him for this adventurous outing.

Alpen glow at the Notch

2010-07-25T10:20:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Derek, Tak, Ryan Creary and myself hiked up to the Notch in the afternoon heat. The goal was to climb and also to wait for the perfect evening light for shooting. Ryan and Derek took care of the latter and I got to climb lots. At the very end I got a chance to take this (unaltered) shots, just to give you an idea about the surreal light up there.This swing by the way is not posed, it's mandatory for "Fire in the Sky" 12b

Cerro Torre controversy

2010-07-22T10:57:00.008-06:00

There is something I have to get of my chest right now. For those who followed the recent controversy about the Red Bull film project on Cerro Torre with David Lama, I would like to bring some of my thoughts forward. First off, in most articles and responses there are again a lot of bad words used about the first ascent of the compressor route by Cesare Maestri. Although everybody is entitled to his own opinion, I find it really sad that there are so many people out there who have never even been in Patagonia commenting bad on Maestri and his route. I have been there, I was fortunate to climb the route in 1992, and I climbed a lot of routes Maestri put up in the Dolomites and the ones he did the first free solo ascents. Maestri was one of the leading climbers in the 50ties and 60ties in Europe and was mostly known for his bolt free solos of big limestone walls in the Dolomites up to stiff 5.9. He also made it a habit to down climb every route he soloed up, which is, even in today's standards very impressive. Maestri was also one of the first climbers who viewed climbing as his profession, and therefore had to self promote his ascents. Most other famous climbers in that period made their living as mountain guides or hut keepers. Due to this fact he was always perceived as a controversial person within the climbing community. In the case of Cerro Torre, he found an unusual sponsor, who financed the at those days very expensive expedition. Atlas Copco, who built the infamous "Compressor", was willing to pay the big bugs if Maestri would actually bring the 400 pond monster up the wall and actually use it too. And did he ever use that thing, and parts of it are still up there just 50m shy of the summit, a testimony of human will power and the ability to suffer.The Compressor route on Cerro Torre is still one of the best alpine routes I have done, despite the controversial style, and I have out most respect for Maestri's tour the force. Nowadays the style is easy to criticize, but in the late 60ties and early seventies it was almost normal in Europe to put up routes in that style in the Diretissima area. We all know know that it was a dead end road, and luckily the climbing community learned form it's mistakes in the past. Please respect the fact that climbing was evolving over the decades and still is, what we consider as kosher these days might get criticized or even laughed at 30 years down the road.
Not only in Europe we went through this "darker age" of climbing, North America is full of bad examples too and we should take a close look at our own climbing history before we down talk an era which had it's time and place in climbing history. So please stop badmouthing Maestri and his achievements, he was always one of my climbing heroes.Now back to the Red Bull topic. I really don't understand the huge fuzz a lot of people make lately because of a few bolts. Those are not the first bolts added to the route, in 1994 a German team of strong climbers (Robert Jasper and Joern Heller) bolted a rappel route down from the shoulder to make the descent safer. There were at least 2 fatalities I know of in this section due to failed anchors, and I almost died there too. Luckily I hit a ledge after a 25m fall and got away with a broken pelvis. The above mentioned rappel route got widely excepted by climbers and got used regularly on the way down and nobody raised a big stink about it. Due to glacial melt back this rappel route got harder to use over the years and the mountain guides from red bull reestablished a new, safer line.
This is not the first route which got altered after it's original ascent. Although there are many bolts already on the route, these are only 6mm bolts and just hammered in a 6mm hole with no expansion device. Considering this and their 40 years of age, you can imagine their holding power. Big parts of the line Maestri choose don't follow a natural line, so in order to free climb it one must choose variations away from the blank granite. These variations might require additional bolts in order to free climb them safely. Although Lama did not apply this action yet, I would support it. Even ultra classics like the Nose on El Capitan had bolts drilled for the first free ascent, and nobody dared at the time to give Lynn Hill a hard time about it. There is hardly a classic route in the Bow Valley anymore where there are no bolted anchors. Other routes like Kahl Wall, where the previously run out crux pitch was turned into a sport pitch with multiple bolts, mutated to one of the most popular routes on the wall. The NE face of Ha Ling has every anchor bolted and there are at least 5 protection bolts in 5.6 terrain, and nobody seems to care. There are many routes in the Valley who got established top down with a Hilti and it seems to become a widely accepted practise, at least Maestri bolted ground up.
Don't take me wrong here, I am not intending to criticize any of those actions, all I'm trying to say that we should not preach water and drink wine.
To lighten things up, this is my climbing partner Hannes Wallensteiner in 1992 demonstrating the at that time way more colorful outfit. It's amazing what climbers got away with those days. In 92 Hannes summited Cerro Torre already twice, the only person at that time besides Ermanno Salvaterra, the patagonian legend. That year Hannes and myself also made the first reported 1 day ascent of the Compressor Route, with strategic help from Ermanno.

Lady MacDonald SE Ridge

2010-07-18T15:01:00.005-06:00

Although I see the upper part of the ridge from my house, I never got around to climb it. As it turned out, it was a very worth wile scramble close to home. I left home at 9 and got back for lunch, just before the first rain shower. Still very unsettled weather in the Bow Valley, which prevents me from trying some of my bigger goals.The view back the ridge towards Grotto Mountain about 3 quarters of the way up. Some cool fossils can be found right on the ridge about 100m below the summit.

The famous and abounded Teahouse on the regular hiking trail is always a bit of an eyesore to me. Although I like the principal idea of it, I don't get it that someone gets away with this. The half finished building is rotting away up there since over 15 years, and nobody from the town officials seem to make the builder clean up his shit.

Reprobate

2010-07-16T18:25:00.008-06:00

This morning I went for my annual East end of Rundle tour and soloed the classic Reprobate. I must have done this outing at least 10 times over the years and although it might sound boring, it always presents the necessary challenge for me. It's not like you remember every move or even pitch, since there are probably 12 or 14 of them on this 400 meter wall. I actually never climbed the route on a rope so I can only guess. This time it took me 2.5 hours from my house to the top, riding my bike to Whitemans Gap, which is 20 minutes longer than a few years ago. I'm not getting any younger and the cigarettes certainly don't help either, especially on the ride up.What I really don't get is that classic routes like Reprobate don't get climbed more often. In my opinion EEOR offers longer and better climbing than Yamnuska with a shorter approach and faster walk off. Or have you seen water runnels like this on Yam before? Eeor's Tail, the route just to the right of Reprobate, is another one of my favorites up there, go check it out, you will not be disappointed!
When I took of my climbing shoes on the top my mind was wondering back 7 years. At the time I did not have kids and I came to this wall more regularly. One afternoon I was able to solo the 3 routes side by side each other, Reprobate, Quasar and Eeor's Tail, 1200m of good limestone climbing. Today I was quite happy to go home after one route, got to have melt cheese sandwiches for lunch with the family and crazy Aussie Simon Bew (if you don't know who he is, it's probably better anyways).

Stampede, rain, cold

2010-07-15T07:50:00.005-06:00

The first time for me in 17 years of Canada to visit the famous Calgary Stampede. Pouring rain all day and a high of 10 degrees in mid July made we wonder why I moved here.After the Canadian anthem the Cowboys were ready to play with the poor cows. Although impressive what those guys can do, it left a bitter taste in my mouth after witnessing the harsch treatment of these animals.

Luckily the next day was way nicer and we saw the sun again after it's 2 day absence.

Planet X

2010-07-12T15:39:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I finally had a good day climbing back at Planet X. Besides climbing lots of routes I was able to shoot a lot of pictures too. There were about 15 climbers back there, which is quite busy for Canadian standards, unless you go up to Grassi lakes. All in all a fun day with good company.Marc Bourdon, who came from the coast for a 2 week vacation with his family, flashed "Shooting Star", 12d (above) and is seen below onsighting the beautiful "Meconium", 12a
Kirsten A. on the first pitch of "After Dark", 11b, a classic warm up.

Derek G. makes the upper crux sequence of my route "Cosmos", 13c look like a walk in the park.

first taste of Summer

2010-07-08T22:43:00.003-06:00

In my opinion, and I'm not very picky, today was the first real day of Summer. No shirt all day and shorts, and you appreciate a shady place or some water where you can hide from the heat. And it wasn't even close to 30 degrees yet. I biked up to Grassie Lakes and climbed the NE ridge of Chinaman's Peak today, I haven't done an outing like that yet this year, so I figured it is about time to get some exercise. I haven't done anything aerobic since my last ski tour, and it definitely showed. The beautiful day left with a gorgeous sunset an hour ago.

not much going on these days

2010-07-04T21:52:00.004-06:00

That's right, not much going on these days worthwhile mentioning. After a week of renos, family and marginal weather I got out today again with Derek. After contemplating where to go we decided that the Lookout would be our best bed. The hole day was unseasonable cold and it was drizzling rain all day long. Up there we met up with Greg and Aaron, and we got treaded from them with a nice smoky, including a warming fire. We did manage to check out a very cool, new project from Greg, called "Diamonds on the inside". This route, 45 meter of overhanging climbing on perfect rock, will become another classic at the Lookout, probably in the 13a or b range. So much to do, so little time.

Tall Storey

2010-06-27T16:46:00.002-06:00

Out again with Derek today, we thought we should check out the new multi pitch route in Echo Canyon. "Tall Storey" is the name and it was established over the last 5 years by the Perry family. It tackles the right hand, shady side of the Canyon and you can see the town of Canmore from start to finish. Since the route is completely bolted you only need to bring 10 quick draws and a single 60m rope. We decided to walk off but rappelling is no problem either. The 7 pitches are predominantly 10+/11- climbing on excellent rock, with the crux pitch 2 in the 11c range. The line should become a classic pretty soon and is perfect for these hot summer days.

new test piece on Yam

2010-06-26T20:15:00.003-06:00

Today Derek Galloway rewrote history on Yamnuska and red pointed the so far hardest route on the cliff. "Blue Jeans" goes something like 12a/b, 12c/d, 12c, 13a, 13b, 11d and 10 something. It took him 5 days within the last 6 weeks or so in less than ideal conditions, which is a real good effort in my opinion. Since I don't have a single picture of the climb from the 2 days I spent up there with him I put in a couple pictures from yesterdays full moon mood and from my lovely daughter Bella this morning. Although I took the shot at 9a.m., she is already in her 3rd outfit.

fourtyone

2010-06-25T21:27:00.006-06:00

Another year went by in a hurry and today I turned 41. When I turned 40 last year I had a bit of hard hard time accepting that I got older and I'm probably not the only one that feels this way. The phenomena is called mid life crises and it happens to everyone out there sooner or later. In an effort to overcome my "crises" I set myself a bunch of personal goals on my 40 B-day last year, the few I achieved I will list below, the ones I didn't (and there are lot's) I keep for myself.
-climb a solid 8a without too much projecting
-climb an M10 without too much projecting
-climb a hard multi pitch water fall ice route with alpine character
-on sight a 5.12 multi pitch
-free solo a long 5.10 alpine rock route
-guide a week of ski touring
-spend more time with my lovely family
-survive all of the above
The pics below are from my B-day party last year in Austria. 20 of my my best friends from the "old days" had a get together at a private alpine hut and we had ourselves a grand catch up. With the aid of beer, wine and schnapps we even got to sing the best mountaineering songs of the old days, and in our minds the even sounded great. A night I will never forget and a big thank to everyone who made it happen!

Zig Zag

2010-06-24T10:26:00.004-06:00

Up on Yamnuska for the 3rd time this year, Andrew wanted to check out Zig Zag, a route his buddy Jon Walsh put up a few years back now. The few who did it so far reported good rock and airy positions, as it turned out they were right. Definitely a nice addition to the Bowl Wall with mainly sport climbing character. 10 draws, a couple of small cams and a set of nuts will do fine for adequate protection. We rappeled the nearby "Greyscale" with a 70m single rope, which brings you back to the Base in half an hour. The hike to the base is really pretty right now, every plant is soaked in rich green and the montaine flowers are in full bloom. Lady Slipper, Wood Lilly and Indian Paintbrush to name a few.

Andrew has put up a lot more and better images on his blog., which is a recommended read for people playing in the Rockies.

Raven Crag

2010-06-23T19:43:00.000-06:00

This morning I joined Derek and Todd to go to Raven Crag above Banff. For some reason I never made it up there in all those years of climbing in the Bow Valley. The cliff sits 40 min. up on Sulphur Mountain overlooking Banff and the Vermillion Lakes and is always in the shade due to it's NW facing exposure. There is only a small selection of hard routes, but most of them are reported to be excellent. Unfortunately we picked the wrong day, most of the cliff was seeping due to the recent heavy rain storms, and even the dry holds had a smeary feeling, which forced us to over grip. Since this was not much fun, we packed her in after two climbs and I went back home, where I focused on my never ending construction site. I'll be back though to give the cliff another chance to win my heart.This is Derek on "the Mask" 12d/13a, he was the only one to send it. I was challenged enough to red point to the first anchor, which is probably a soft 12a.

Amazing weekend in the Rockies

2010-06-20T21:49:00.002-06:00

Finally the rain gave away to some blue skies over the weekend. I was fortunate to climb 3 consecutive days with a verity of motivated partners and goals. Saturday I went to the Lake with Derek, Todd and Luka. I took it easy and climbed a bunch of nice elevens, Luka got to climb a few burns too, but the rest of the day he got to play hard with his buddies Lukas and Isaac.
Sunday I finally got the opportunity, a special thanks to Ladykiller Andrew Wexler btw, to red point the Full Scared Peaches, an old project of mine which I checked out a few years ago with Jeff Relph and instantly fell in love with. This line is probably the best single trad pitch I've ever climbed. Since I'm not much of a trad specialist though, this comment does not mean much. Nevertheless, this 45m line on the Air Voyage wall at the Back of the Lake is probably one of the best single pitch trad lines in it's grade, at least in the Rockies. The only downside of the route are the 4 bolts in the upper part, which sorta give a bit of a bitter taste to the upper part. Although they come in really handy when checking out the route ground up, they should be unneccessary on a "true" redpoint ascent, since the gear up there is adequate. Having said that, I should make this as my goal the next time I get a chance, I'm already shitting my pants thinking about it though.
Below a few impressions of climbers around us.

Cerro Torre - never ending controversy

2010-06-17T09:05:00.007-06:00

For those who have not heard already, this is one of many links to the latest, greatest uproar down there in Patagonia. Check out Will Gadds blog for updates on the issue. http://gravsports.blogspot.com/

magic evening light

2010-06-14T21:50:00.003-06:00

After a whole day of rain a little window last evening allowed me to make these shots from my back deck. 10 minutes after I took them it was pissing again, so not enough time to set up the tripod.This picture below certainly has the look as if it's photoshopped, but it's completely unaltered.

sunshine again

2010-06-14T17:03:00.005-06:00

Finally, after another week of rain we got blessed with a couple of nice days over the weekend. The last rain shower went through town Friday evening and said good bye to the bad weather with this rainbow east of town.
Saturday I went with Derek up to the Lookout, where we enjoyed the Sunshine amongst 20 other climbers. This is definitely a new record for this area, usually you are up there alone. therefore I got a chance to photograph some other faces, which was a nice treat. Unfortunately their outfits match the ones from my regular climbing partners, so the climber as the main object does not stand out as much as you hope for. Thanks Scott, no shirt is better than a grey one, maybe Catherine (shown above on Midget, a popular 11b warm up) can do the same the next time as an eye candy.
Sunday I joined Andrew Wexler for a training day at Back of the Lake. The weekend combined with the beautiful weather certainly draw the crowds to this popular spot, but we still managed to get a big day of climbing in, I'm still sore from the strenuous climbing there. We were the last climbers to walk out and we got to see a Grizzly bear mum with two cute cubs, the first ones for me this year and hopefully the last. The result of the two day weather window: 20 pitches of sport climbing in the 11b to 12c range, which should give my weak endurance a bit of a boost. Looks like we are in for another week of rain though.

Buffet Royale

2010-06-10T21:54:00.004-06:00

The weather really sucks right now, my last day out was 5 days ago and I'm getting a bit itchy. Last week I managed to get a couple good days of climbing in at the upper Lookout with Scott and Todd. Besides climbing a lot of other new routes in the 5.12 range, I got a chance to give Buffet Royale a closer look again. What a great route and a truly awesome 45m long journey. I've been on it a few times last September, but a very cold October shut down the climbing season in the Bow Valley.The picture above shows main developer Greg Toss on the lower crux sequence, and the picture below shows Derek on the upper crux, which is a bit of a Nemesis for me. Last time I fell exactly on that move and will probably fail a bunch more times. At least it happens after 40m of climbing and although you fail on the red point, you still feel like you have climbed a big route.

gray on grey

2010-06-06T21:10:00.008-06:00

Despite some pretty bad weather lately I got lucky on a couple of climbing days with weather and partners. This is a picture of Todd a few days ago at the Hideaway, the area at the entrance to Echo Canyon. Excellent, compact limestone with about 20 hard to read routes in the 5.11 to 12 range. Surprisingly I've only climbed a couple of routes there so far a few years back, although I must have walked by the cliff on the way to the Coliseum or the Lookout at least 40 times by now. This time around we finally made the Hideaway our destination, and we climbed a few really good routes up there. Still a lot to explore so close to home.Since Ryan was with us I had a chance to try out my lens a bit, but after the gray fashion show of my conservative Canadian climbing partners I gave up pretty quick. A picture without colors is like a dead desert, nothing there of interest. The picture above gives you at least an idea of the excellent rock quality of the featured stone you can encounter up there.

New Lens and soccer...

2010-06-01T20:20:00.007-06:00

This morning after I returned from gymnastics with Bella I received my long awaited 70-200 IS lens from Canon. Finally the lens I can do better close ups with a deeper depth of field. I was always a fan of capturing the landscape surrounding the main object, which becomes actually less dominant in the overall picture. My most favourite climbing shots are usually wide angle.This evenings soccer game from Luka was the first test ground for the lens and considering the bad light she did pretty well I thought.
Luka was the dominant player on the team and shot 3 goals, no wonder Papa is very proud right now.

Bella watching her big brother at the soccer game.

last climbing day for a while

2010-05-25T13:34:00.003-06:00

Despite the marginal forecast Todd, Derek and myself managed to get a good day of climbing in at the Lookout today. This was very important to me, since I have not been out climbing for myself for 6 days and the forecast is for loads of shit for a while. A perfect time to do some house cleaning and put on some extra weight. The picture shows Derek on a new 12b called Respected Silence, a very nice addition to the Atlantis Wall.

first multi pitch climb for Luka

2010-05-24T09:41:00.001-06:00

I finally took the time to bring Luka on his first real climb out on Rundle Ridge, right above the Banff Springs golf course. I was a little worried that it might be too much for him, but he was soo psyched about the climb as was almost vibrating all the way up. Bella got to do some top rope labs on one of the practise boulders at the base and she did really well too. We certainly have to go there more often this summer.