Canada - Random Shots...

I suck at skiing. Going uphill and along lakes is fine. Going down anything steeper than 10 degrees is bad for my freckle, and extremely hilarious for everybody else. I managed to get down the tree-lined trail from Healy Pass with only 2 crashes. Luckily Dan wasn't able to get any of the spills on film.




Skiing is one of the few outdoor activities I like doing when the temperature is 20 below. Craig at Kananaskis Village:


Enjoying sunshine and tucker after 850m elevation gain up Heart Mountain:


Slight problem with the windscreen squeegee:


This VW combi has been sitting in a paddock near Cochrane for decades. Apparently a couple living on the farm back in the sixties got divorced, and all she wanted was the van.

The myth was he built the roof, decking and walls around it, but later filled the van with concrete.

We jumped a fence and hiked up to check it out - there is no concrete, just a few hundred mice. Myth busted.


Thomas' first hike:

Nemesis [nem-uh-sis]

–noun, plural

1. something that a person cannot conquer, achieve, etc.: The performance test proved to be my nemesis
2. an opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome
3. Classical Mythology. the goddess of divine retribution
4. an agent or act of retribution or punishment

Definitely the most insane climbing I have ever experienced. The first 75 metres was steep, thin, funky ice - grade 6 all the way to the belay ledge. The next 50 metres was even crazier - traversing right and up on runnels, curtains and mushrooms.

Route: Nemesis - WI6, 150m
Location: The Stanley Headwall, Yoho National Park
Photos: Doug
Fun Factor: 5 out of 5

Just Another Day in the Ghost

The Ghost Valley is definitely a blokes place to go ice climbing. In addition to all the sharp, pointy climbing gear, you need a 4x4 with all the rescue equipment to get in there. The locals say that being in the Ghost Valley is an adventure in itself. Frozen creek crossings, snow drifts, big hills, shovels, jacks, tyre chains, cumalongs, slings... the list goes on and on...

It is probably the closest ice climbing to Calgary geographically, but access can be quite lengthy, especially when you get stuck in a snow drift. It took us 2 hours to dig and winch our way out of this one:

So with our plan to climb Hydrophobia well and truly snookered time-wise, we headed into the Valley of the Birds. This narrow canyon weaves it's way gently down to the Ghost river, but has a number of short, steep flows feeding into it. When properly formed, the valley makes an awesome day out in an awesome setting.

Hedd-wyn leading a very sun-baked, featured and detached pillar called Eagle (WI5, 30m):

This picture gives you some idea as to the condition of the ice. It's almost rotted out just above me, with the broken pillar a few metres below me. It was a pump fest seconding this. Hedd-wyn styled up with no dramas - not bad for a 62 year old.

Letting it all hang out

Route: Louise Falls - 110m, III, WI4-5
Location: Banff National Park, 30 minutes walk from Chateau Lake Louise
Fun Factor: 4 out of 5

The route climbs up to the curtain at the top of the photo, then steepens up. We chose to climb behind the left hand side of the curtain, and pop through the small hole, before climbing to the trees at the top. It was super exposed - quite the rush!


At the curtain, and the start of the exposed exit:

Bow Falls

Route: Bow Falls - 60m, IV, WI3-4
Location: Icefields Parkway
Fun Factor: 5 out of 5. The full adventure - skiing, climbing, avalanche terrain, cornices, wild weather. Bring your mountain head.

We skied up to the route, over Bow Lake, in perfect conditions. A slight breeze from the South West, and clear sunny skies. Bow Falls is the wide, fat flow on the left hand side of the cirque


The access slopes looked a little suspect - hard wind slabs. We skirted around the worst of them, and belayed across the rest.


Half way up the route, the wind picked up from the West, sending torrents of snow off the Wapta Icefield down on top of us. I climbed the last 5 metres by feel, as I couldn't see anything with the spindrift driving into my face. Part of the cornice to our right collapsed as Dan climbed up, sending tonnes of ice and snow down. The mountains put on a good show for us that day.


We rapped the route in gale force winds, shivering uncontrollably and covered in frozen snow. It was great fun!!!

The Professor Falls

Route: The Professor Falls - 280m, III, WI4
Location: Mount Rundle, Banff National Park
Fun Factor: 5 out of 5
Photos: Dan

The route tumbles down for 5 pitches:



It's a 7.5km walk from the parking lot, so a mountain bike with slick tyres and no brakes makes things much quicker:


The ice is fat, blue and never ending - 5 pitches of awesome:)

The Canadian Rockies Weight Loss Program

I weighed myself just before coming over here in February - a whopping 74kg (well, heavy for me anyway). After 8 days climbing ice and 4 days back-country skiing and eating as much food as possibly, I'm down to 70kg.

Could freezing your ass off and running around the mountains be the "next thing" in weight loss programs? Ha Ha Ha!!!


Brent on pitch 1 of Nemesis. We walked, swam and crawled up snow for 3 hours on Wednesday, sometimes chest deep, to get to the base of this mega-route:


The avalanche hazard was listed as "Moderate" last Thursday, but we suspected otherwise after the 30cm of new snow sheared off this creek bed when we skied up to it: