Trophy wall cragging

The mighty Trophy Wall high on Mt. Rundle,
zoomed in from the trail head at the end of the golf course road.

Since the Golf course road was open for the last day of the season and little snow on the approach, Sepp and I decided to check things out on the Trophy Wall. From afar it appeared that the Terminator might somewhat connect with a few bits of rock in between, but we got shut down after the first pitch due to the lack of bigger balls.
Luckily there was plenty of ice to play around for the rest of the day, Post Scriptum is fat and there are at least three independent lines on the first part of the Replicant.
The best climbing of the day was without doubt the first two pitches of the Exterminator, Raphael's masterpiece on far left side of the wall. There is way more ice on it than on the first ascent and therefore provides classic mixed climbing with lots of transitions from rock to ice and vice versa.

2 hours later and almost there

I'd like to compare the rarely formed La Goute with China's industry,
very impressive and ready to collapse anytime. 

on the approach ice below Post Scriptum

Sepp on the first pitch of the Terminator.

lot's of ice and different lines on the first 45m of the Replicant

And before I forget, a big thanks to the organizers and presenters of this years Night of Lies.
A super fun event where I almost peed my pants a few times, and all for a good cause.

Ice climbing season is upon us

Sacre Bleu always makes for a good early season outing. The climb lies high in a shady bowl on Mt. Rundle and forms without failure early season. You wanna get it before there is too much snow in the huge avalanche factory above the climb. She's right in your face when you drive on the Trans Canada Highway from Canmore to Banff, so no need to walk for hours to check on conditions.

Therefore it was somewhat a surprise that, although she is standing proud since well over a week, we were the first ones up there this year. Given the fact that every ice climber in town is super keen to touch ice, it was a real treat to get virgin ice without line ups.

the first and last sun of the day

she's a beauty!

Sepp Hochlahner's first ice climb in Canada

A virgin on virgin ice.