Hmm, where do I start????

I guess this picture sort of says it all….we had a good time…ok…a really good time!  So this is the 3rd year running the “ghost” camp, and the second year, sadly, that we did not run it IN the ghost!  Conditions were minimal in there this year and a recent snow storm had me very happy that I had pre booked the Pat Boswell cabin again as a back up plan.  What started out as a bit of a bummer, ended as a blessing in disguise, as the routes we were able to do were some fabulous opportunities that even the ghost would struggle with providing!

So, day one, the crew started in Haffner to get our tools swinging and scratching and the kinks out of our leading techniques.  I was surprised as I was putting up the ropes to look down and see the whole crew dressed up in an array of crazy garb…and leaving the BEST outfit…the fairy wings…for me!  A lightness followed us around all day…as well as some odd looks, head tilts and lots of smiles and laughs.  A playful day in Haffner saw Anne Hughes out of the gates crushing the mixed routes left right and center and Pipes, Kate, Amy and Lauren on a mission to perfect their leading skills and get a ton of mileage in.

First to arrive, last to leave…that’s the way we roll…

That evening John joined us and gave a wonderful tool sharpening clinic…which Kate lucked out on by having her tools be used as demos…she is a smart cookie that one…

Day 2 is normally a 1:3 ratio day designed for people to lead mulitpitch routes with the coaching of a guide.  We however were blessed with two special people this day.  One, Jenna, who jumped on the opportunity to fill (sadly) Kate’s last minute free spot, and Will…Gadd, who is currently going through the ACMG guiding process and offered us up a practicum day!! The original plan to go into the Ghost was kiboshed with poor driving conditions, so we headed towards the amazing Weeping Wall.

This area is known traditionally as a safe place in high avi hazard, but as we drove there, we realized that alot of snow had fallen over night!  John headed to the rarely formed Mixed Master with Annie and Piper, a cool traditional WI5, 5.8 route beside the weeping wall.

Meanwhile Will and I got after the left side Weeping Wall with Kate, Amy, Jenna and Lauren.  Will and I led the first pitch and then coached Lauren and Kate as they led it.

No problem for these girls, but all the fresh snow made the ice a little harder to read.  Will said that he first climbed the Weeping Wall almost 30 years ago…what an amazing opportunity for us all to spend the day on there with him. The next pitch got a bit steeper and the as the day warmed up conditions a bit sketchier.  Jack Tackle was also on the wall that day and all 3 parties started to get hit with numerous wet heavy sloughs.  Despite the apparent lack of a steep slope above this wall, the hazard of getting hit with these sloughs while leading was enough to have us turn around just shy of finishing the route.  This was a bummer, but the right call.  I was hit by one when leading and witnessed Jack almost get pulled off by one to the right.  I think when Jack says “it isn’t the most comfortable I have been in the mountains”, you know that we are pushing things:) Will and I arranged for a speedy descent and soon John was also heading down from his climb.  A great day, and lots of learning…followed by some stair/tool training at the Pat Boswell. Thanks again Will and Jenna for joining us this day.

Ok…daylight savings time really sucks…when you are already getting up at 4:45 and then you lose an hour on top of it.  This was a bit of a harsh reality, but in losing an hour of sleep, we gained an hour of daylight, and so, everyone made the most of their long days!

The next day groups headed in all directions.  John climbed Redman’s with Annie and Piper, another super cool traditional multipitch mixed climb, 5.10WI4+, and half of Whiteman’s.  Merrie-Beth climbed Whiteman’s with Sonja and Cheryl, an incredible looking structure of a climb, that gets graded anywhere between a 4+ to a 6 depending on the year.

Erica and Lauren climbed the ultra classic Louise Falls, with Lauren leading the lions share and doing a great job of it!  And myself, Kate and Amy, did a speed ascent of Carlsberg WI5, some shopping and coffee, and then Amy led all of Grotto falls!

Lots of smiles in the cabin that night, with stories to share all around.  Another fabulous meal of Sonja’s, some great visitors, and a weeee bit of wine consumption:)

The final morning, despite having to pack up the cabin, everyone was up and at em and ready to take on their final challenge.  Amy, Kate and John started a bit earlier and ran up Guinness to Guinness Stout!,

Pipes led most of Louise Falls with Annie and I in tow,

and Lauren and Merrie Beth enjoyed a lap on Snowline.

Everyone met up at the end of the day at the Drake for some final beers, dinner and farewells.

Now as I sit and write this…I reflect on a great season.  It isn’t over yet, but this was the last of the Women ice camps for 2012, and with that a combination of fullfillment, reward and sadness resonates.  I obviously love running and working these…and when asked why Women’s camps…my answer often varies.  I believe that the answer this time though, is simple…..Fairy Wings….

Thanks again Outdoor Research for your amazing support…the Transfer jackets look and feel great, and these women will definitely put them to the test!!

What a great weekend!  With women coming from the East Coast to Colorado, the Pat Boswell cabin was soon filled with positive climbing energy and a stocked fridge of various beers.

The Girls met up on Friday morning and we headed off to Haffner Creek.  Luckily for us we were the first there and we made the most of all the great ice lines we were able to put up.  After a bunch of steep toproping, we set our sights on the smaller ice pitches in the back and worked on our leading skills.

A large focus of this camp is to work on leading, taking ice climbing to the “next step”, which is independence.  Of course leading ice is a hug jump from seconding ice, and being confident in ones’ ability to place a screw whenever you need to is a big part of taking that leap. The day was spent working on mock leads and some real leads!…and a bunch more climbing on the steeper ice and mixed lines.

Back at the cabin, we indulged in Sonja’s magnificent appies and dinner.  So nice to come back to a warm comfy cabin and home cooked meal after a day of ice climbing.

The following morning we got up early despite our close venues to ensure we would be first there.  Kris took Collen, Dara and Maija to Grotto Canyon, where the women led up Grotto in a couple pitches and also played on Hers and some mixed routes.

I went with Diana, Jess, Jodi and Cheryl to Chantilly, where they also led up the entire climb and ran the descent as well.  Very fun social day…and great leading by everyone!

The following morning we thought we would take a little trip into the Ghost.  I love this area and was excited to share it with everyone. The drive in had a bit of excitement right at the start, but all in all the driving was still pretty good!  Dara, Maija and I were dropped off at the Valley of the Birds, Erica, Jodi and Jess went to Beuwolf and Kris, Collen and Diana attempted to go to Fang and Fist.  Sadly someone had scooped them, so instead they played on This House of Sky. We had a great day in the Valley of the Birds.

It was quite cold though and the ice on Yellow Bird had a LOT of tension in it!  Dara and Maija had some great leads up the canyon and on the first pitch of Yellow Bird and we all played on the pillar pitch of Yellow Bird.  I love that canyon, water worn rock and cool notches…always peaks the curiosity of what is around the next corner!  Crossing the river had its share of adventure as well!

We met up with the rest of the crews and everyone had great stories of their climbs that day.  Lots of bouncy driving had us with a late return back to the cabin where Cheryl and Sonja were waiting with another great home cooked meal of Lasagna!  Such a treat.

Sonja and Cheryl meanwhile had a super day with Merrie-Beth on Essondale Right.  Sounded like a spicy pillar!

With only one day left, everyone was getting a bit tired, but also still very psyched to make the most of the trip.

The following morning, Colleen and I headed to Professors, Jodi and Diana to Louise with Kris and Dara and Maija with Erica to Chantilly.  More leading was on the menu for the final day, and Colleen did an incredible job of leading all the pitches to the final 2 pitches of Professors!

Amazing job!  As well, Dara and Maija led all of Chantilly!

It was a cold day, and unfortunately the Louise crew had some bad luck on their climb and were unable to do the route.  Thankfully though, everyone is safe and sound, and at the end of the day, that is the greatest thing to be thankful for!

We finished off with beers at the Drake.  Once again, 4 days goes by so quickly. Such a great group, tons of good energy, a willingness to learn and push themselves and enjoy a little piece of the Canadian Rockies.

Thanks for a great week!  And thanks to Outdoor Research for once again supporting these courses with amazing Rumor Hoodies!!!

Another great trip….Ken and Tim have been coming to the Canadian Rockies on 4 day ice climbing trips for 8 years now…and the last 4 I have been fortunate enough to be a part of.  Admittedly finding new routes every year for these guys is getting hard!  We were blessed this year though, with low avi hazard, and easy Ghost access which really opened the door for some good options!

We decided for our warm up day to head into the Ghost and climb Beuwolf.  This is such a classic climb.  Beautiful canyon, lots of fun steps and 2 longer grade 4 pitches.  Pretty stellar!

There was a dry line the whole way up the climb, but it was still impossible to keep the ropes dry.  By the end of the day we had 2 pretty heavy squeegies running through our belay devices. I’m always impressed with these guys.

They haven’t touched their crampons and tools in an entire year, but right away they make small work of each pitch.

The next day we headed to Field and decided to climb Super Bok, a beautiful long Grade 5 that has a bit of an alpine feel.  Luckily John had put the trail in last weekend during our Field camp, so we had something to follow!  Without that, things would have taken quite a bit longer!  It was a bit of an ominous weather day, with low fog and consistent snow fall.  The first pitch is pretty cool, as you climb under a rock arch!

After this pitch, there is some walking to the last 2 pitches. The grade 4 pitch was harder then I expected, being a bit hollower and steeper then it looked.

The final pitch was awesome, a 60m grade 5 pitch that had lots of variety.

We were psyched on the day, on the climb, and enjoyed great snacks back at the car!

Wisely, these guys know that climbing 4 days in a row is hard…and they are on a vacation, so day 3 was a day of rest.  I managed to squeeze in a few turns at Norquay with some fresh snow, and sleep ins were had by all:)

Our 3rd day of climbing, we thought we would venture to Fang and Fist.  I had spoken to someone who climbed it recently and he warned me of the first pitch, that it is pretty hollow and spicy feeling.  I was nervous about this, but we had a back up plan if I didn’t want to lead it.  We would do Chilkoot Passage.  It was a loong drive to Malamute basin, the farthest place you can drive in the ghost.  We were the first and only ones driving in that morning on fresh snow and the feeling of being quite deep in the wilderness was apparent as we drove over the river bed numerous times.

The hike in was gorgeous and when we first spotted the climb it was stunning!  I hadn’t climbed this route since the early 2000′s and it was much fatter then.  Looking at the first pitch, I had my doubts…I was aware that I would be soloing, but I felt confident in my abilities.

Still, it took a lot of deep breathes and slow movement.  The guys did great on this pitch and soon we were all hunkered in the cave of the second pitch.  This pillar didn’t look very long, but it was very hollow sounding, gongy, and required a delicate touch still.  Still a bit heady! Once again the guys did great, a pumpy pitch and they had to remove a bunch of screws.

The final pitch still looked steep, but once again didn’t look as long as it was in reality. What was great though, was the the sun just started to hit the last few meters of this last pitch, making for some warm temps!

We high fived and headed back down.  Always fun to look at the climb again on the way down. Give you a different perspective!  Not sure this climb will last much longer, but feel fortunate to have been able to climb it.

The final day, the guys needed to get back to Calgary so we started early and did a quick hit on Silk Tassle.  This route has major avalanche hazard, so it is a nice tick when conditions are right.  Today was that day, but we still started early and got off it early, giving it the respect it deserved!

A great, long and sustained grade 4 that is close to 60 meters in length.  Great views from the top and fun butt slides back down to the car. We all were very happy with our 4 days of climbing.  Once again four new routes, and next year we will break the 30 route marker.

Not too many people, even those that live in Canmore and climb ice a lot during the year have climbed as many different routes as these guys.  It is a big accomplishment. They always come motivated and see it through to the end.  Looking forward to next year already..and hoping for another great low snow year and warm temps!!!

What a great weekend!  A group of 7 motivated women, one amazing camp manager, and 4 hard working guides enjoyed 4 days of ice climbing in and around the Field area.  This year I thought I would book the Fireweed Hostel.  I had seen it on the web and it looked great…truth is…it ended up being WONDERFUL.  I highly recommend this place and wish I could use it for all my camps! A true gem in a mecca of a climbing area.  I booked the whole hostel, so we had ample room and quickly made ourselves at home.

The first day we started out by getting the rust off in Haffner.  Half the group however had already been getting after it this season, so it was fun to watch these women show their skills.  A beautiful day in Haffner had us climbing lots of ice and few fun pitches of mixed.  Its always a challenge to not go toooo hard the first day, but the knowledge of 3 more days of multipitching had us heading to the hostel with still a bit of energy to spare.

John Freeman joined us that evening and gave the most thorough and useful tool sharpening clinic.  Everyone packed their bags with smiles knowing that they would be swinging newly tuned tools the following morning.

The next morning John took Mary Ann and Andrea to Super Bok, a long sustained grade 5.  I went with Claire and Maria to the classic grade 5 Carlsberg and Jaime, Michele and Merrie-Beth enjoyed the day on Guinness.  That night we shared stories and enjoyed Sonja’s mega home cooked lasagna.  Soooo good!

The next day Sonja, LeeAnne and Gery headed to Super Bok, Maria and Claire headed to Masseys with John and Jaime and Michele conquered Carlsberg with myself. Mary Ann and Andrea headed off to Pretty Nuts with Merrie-Beth. Once again, great weather in the valley.  Mostly cloudy while on our climbs, but when we got down, we were blessed with amazing sun a real rarity in Field, and 2 days in a row!  Watching these women charge up these challenging routes, I was so inspired!  Carlsberg and Super Bok were likely most of the women’s first grade 5 climbs and they were no give aways that’s for sure!  Pretty impressive!

I think the best comment came from Gery over the radio while climbing Super Bok with Sonja and LeeAnne.  “We almost got pulled over by the mountain police, these girls are speeding up this route”.

Once again, the crew reconvened at the Fireweed and enjoyed another memorable meal a la Sonja!  The official BEST camp manager ever…chocolate fondue?  Homemade Carrot cake?  Chicken curry???  No one went to bed hungry that is for sure!!

Well, the 4th morning is always a little rough.  Everyone is getting pretty tired, but of course, we all still want to make the most of every day and so off we went bright and early. Today was only Kris and I so the ratios were 1:3 for the women who wanted to do some leading.  Kris went with Michele, Claire and Mary Ann to climb Silk Tassle…which can only be climbed in LOW avi hazard, so that was a nice tick! The group enjoyed this long 60 meter pitch and then Mary Ann and Kris also climbed the first pitch of Masseys!  Andrea, Maria and Jaime went with myself to Green Gully to work on their leading.  All three of them did some fine leads despite the very sun baked ice.  I was like a proud mother hen…:) We froze in the shade but when the sun came out, it was down right hot and time to get out of there!

We reconvened at the Truffle Pigs and shared our stories from the day and gave each other farewell hugs.  Till next year…looking forward already!

Once again, a HUGE THANK YOU to Outdoor Research for supporting these women’s courses with amazing jackets!

I recently found my Gravsports password and signed in rather then being a continual spider.  I had new mail….no wait…it was over a year old…and it was from Will.  Saying congrats on finally being a member and that next year I was invited to Spray camp for real.  Ha…how ironic is that…cause that’s where I just came back from!

Ok…I remember Will coming back from Helmcken last year and thinking, this spray stuff is weird.  I didn’t get it…ice climbing, but on bolts, on a roof, near a huge waterfall.  Why?

Well, now I get it.  John Freeman and I decided to take Will up on the offer to come join for the week and see it for ourselves. Considering neither of us have climbed the hardest mixed routes in the Rockies (well John, more then me that is for sure!), and both of us have spent more time being mortal working bees on Grade 4 ice, we knew that we were going more as spectators then “contenders”.

Arriving at the Lodge after our 10 hour drive, we were kinda bagged, but psyched to meet some of the other folks that made the journey there.  Will had just beat us, Chris Geisler had been there a week already, and Tim and Klem had also just arrived.  Andrew Q and Alex had also made the journey to capture the scene on film.

The lodge is a wonderful vacation in and of itself and next year when i come back (yes I did just write that), I look forward to having a day off there and taking advantage of the cross country ski trails they groom.  The rooms are huge, the beds comfy, it is SO quiet at night, the staff is exceptionally nice, and the food is copious and wonderful.  What more could you ask for?

Day one we headed to the Falls.  First sight was one to take in.  Some walking and rappels got us to the base of the thundering water.  We were standing on a frozen cone surrounding this magnificent falls.  How deep it was, we didn’t know, but deep enough to form huge crevasses! The first time I entered the cave, I must admit, I was scared shitless.

I got to the part Chris claimed to be the “safe zone” and quickly decided for myself that this would not be MY safe zone and continued my journey beyond the hangfire to an area that no longer had spray ice overhead. The spray ice was huge and copious and very unpredictable, atleast for me who had zero experience with these things! Walking under them became slightly less daunting over the days but I still gave them a great deal of respect knowing that what held them to the roof was very little, but the weight of them was very great!

The first day folks gave the new Mayo/Geisler route a go, Chris also added bolts to it making it longer and we started to recover the bolts from Spray On.  After Will rode one icicle, he decided we needed to do a more thorough cleaning of the roof.  This made me happy, as I did not feel comfortable being under them at all!  After Tim and John got the first few bolts uncovered, I was given the opportunity.  I never really have understood trundling in the mountains, but I know most of my peers love it.  The act of pushing something big over and watching it collapse or fall, always kind of made me nauseous.  Amazing how this changed with the few swings of a tool into huge spray ice!

Hanging from my bolt I could tap a coffee table piece of ice and watch it plummet to the ground with ease.  Strangely satisfying! Ok, finding bolts with a metal detector on a horizontal roof covered with big icicles is no easy task.  I nearly gave up after much ab torching hovering, but the heckling of my buddies had me persist.  “Just swing your tool in the ice and hang on it so you can reach further with the metal detector”.  What???  But this is exactly what it took…and after I found my first bolt, I was hooked…atleast till the end of that day!

The next day we headed back into the cave.  Will and Chris put up routes on the Vertical ice, while Klem, Tim, John and I went back to the cave.  John and I were so excited to just “try” some of the route.  First go John did really well!  He was like a kid in a candy store and it took a nice little upside down whipper to get him to come back down:)

I gave it a go and found it to be very hard!  This type of climbing requires soooo much core strength.  Guess that is what I will have to work on for next time!

Both John and I had a few goes, while getting some useful tips from our pro hosts Klem and Tim.  Watching those guys on the roof is a real learning.  Such strength and calmness in a dizzying position.  That day, some mega ice was cleaned off the roof as well…impressive.

I decided to nickname Tim the human wrecking ball.  Swinging from the rope, he cast his curled up body at these huge masses willing them to release from their roots.  After they came down, you could hardly tell it had ever been there…just barnacle looking ice left behind.  So cool.

The last day John and I were psyched to spend some time on some attainable goals…the newly established vertical ice that Will and Chris put up the day before.  We climbed the first two pitch route on natural gear…spectres and some rock gear.

Felt sketchy, but so rewarding at the same time, and we were all smiles!

We did another top rope lap on another route and then decided to bolt the steeper line on the right that Will suggested.  This proved to be a ton of fun and with 6 bolts for nearly 100 feet of climbing, it still felt a bit spicy and pumpy.

That night we made the journey back home and realized that a 9 hour drive after a day of climbing was a bit rough!

All in all, I am so glad that i took this mini vacation.  What a trip.  What a place.  I would definitely like to return.  I really do think Will and Tim have something here with the idea of Spray ice.  I wonder where it will go…where people will find it next…how much harder it can get? Klem and Tim are still out there for another few weeks and I am sure they will continue to push the climbing in there as far as they can take it. Grades?  Who knows and who cares. What those guys are doing is hard.. its unique…it’s creative…it’s innovative…and its fun..and I think the last point is really what counts! Nice work Will finding once again another way to play on ice.

What a fabulous weekend!  Wonderful group of women, great weather and perfect conditions allowed for 2 days of learning and getting after it!

Day one, we headed to the junkyards.  A morning of learning the basics, followed by an afternoon of getting lots of mileage in.  Colleen even managed to do a lead!  So much for ice “intro”!  We did all laugh about this, as most of the women have actually climbed a fair amount already.  Despite everyone having climbed before, going back to the basics and learning proper technique proved to still be useful.  It is hard to second a climb and get feedback from your leader which is often the case if you are doing a multipitch.

Everyone at the Junkyards was easy going and we managed to get a bunch of laps in.

The next day we decided to head for some steeper ice and mixed climbing and spent the day at Haffner.  Once again, the few other parties in there were all psyched to share ropes and there was a great vibe in the canyon. We went over a bit more steep ice technique, pillar climbing and also some mixed climbing.  I was so impressed with how much everyone got after it!  These women were fearless, and jumped on the steepest pillars and mixed routes without hesitation.  A full day of ice and rock was had followed by a couple celebratory beers.  Thanks Janine, Kate, Colleen, Sarah,Liz and Stephanie for coming out for the weekend and having so much great positive energy.  This weekend really affirmed for me how much I love my “job”!  hard to call it that sometimes!  Hope to see you all in the mountains again soon.

Got out the past couple days off with some good friends for some personal days of climbing.  John and I were motivated to try Kitty Hawk and Unicorn…but as it rained on our drive down the David Thompson we soon had reservations about being under the bowl all day.  Kitty Hawk did not look in, but Unicorn looked like it might be?

We continued our drive and saw Oh Le Tabernac.  It looked beautiful.  It also though looked like the winds were nuking above the bowls…tons of spinning snow, had me fearful to be under that bowl. Regardless…we still started apporaching the climb, in knee to thigh deep wet and crusty snow.  Finally I was officially uncomfortable enough with the high winds to turn us around.  Oh well…we got a good leg work out in!  The climb isn’t going anywhere, and we would come back when the avi hazard was a little lower.

At this point it was 12:30…so we hummed and ha’ed and finally drove to the weeping wall.  With it all to ourselves, we motivated and were starting up at about 1:30.  Too bad we hadn’t started there at the beginning of the day!  By 3 we were at the top of the central line of the lower wall.  The upper wall looked enticing, and we both were a bit bummed we didn’t have more time.

Back in the car though, we were both just psyched that we even motivated to get out of the truck and climb!  It can be so hard after en early start, long drive and multiple false starts, to remotivate again to get out, get cold and wet and get climbing!  With good company though, the day is always worth it no matter what the climbing brings!  Thanks John!  We finished the motivation, but doing some drytool work in the stairwell of my building…who would have thought that stairwells would be so good for playing on your tools.  Thanks Gord for showing me some tricks to work on:)

Jen Olson was back in town….well, not really…she never REALLY is!  She just returned from Ouray, was off to Revelstoke to work, then heading to Switzerland for the World cup, then Scotland…maybe France, back to Revy, then Norway???  I don’t know…I can’t keep up!  Either way, she has a suuuper cool winter planned, but with that comes alot of added stress.  We both wanted to get out climbing together though, and so we met in Field, her from Revy and me from Canmore to go to Pilsner.  The best part about this though, is that we both had totally different agendas!  Jen was ready to dry tool, and I was ready to ice climb!  We discussed who was bringing what..but funnily enough we both spaced essential parts of the rack.  Jen didn’t bring screws…thinking she was dry tooling…and I forgot draws…probably subconsciously…as there is always that laziness on a day off, to just drive and not really climb! Luckily I brought “back up” screws, and together with our anchor material had enough stuff to make 8 or so draws.

Jen crushed a mixed a route on the right.  It was pretty fun all in all, but I hate following her up routes, because she always makes it looks like there are feet…when there really aren’t.  I think I need a footwork clinic from her, because I have noticed this OFTEN.  Anyway, she made it look easy…and it wasn’t, I was quickly pumped out!

We watched our friends climb Pilsner and afterward decided we would take a look.

Since Jen only had fruit boots, and I was apparently the ice motivated one, I got to lead it.  it had a weird brown look to it, lots of features and completely dry.  It looked intimidating…and the fear of going into the “unknown” almost held me back.  It ended up being very fun though with great feet and a great route in the shape it was in. We joked that it was a good thing we didn’t get cell service…cause my long lead might have driven Jen to get some “things done” in the mean time!

We rapped down and headed back to the cars, laughing at Jens fruit boots and all the stuff we spaced that day.  Fun to climb with a supportive partner despite having to both drive our separate ways back at the car.  Thanks for the day out Jen!  See you as you pass back through Canmore!

Maria and I were fortunate enough to get into the Ghost a week ago and climb Beuwolf.  Thanks to friends Toby and Rene who were also driving in that day, we caught a very early ride and managed to get ahead of the group of Calgary ACC’ers that we knew were camping there.

Pretty cool really that Calgary ACC does an ice review in the ghost.  They bring a porta potty in and set up quite the base camp at the bottom of the big hill.  Warm weather had 52 participants!  Wow! That is a dedicated section of Ice Climbers!  Good on you guys!

Despite knowing this, we thought we would take the chance and see if we could beat the crowds.  Sure enough, we got there about a half hour ahead of the first two crews.

Beuwolf has always been one of my favorite climbs in the ghost.  It is a classic narrow water worn break in the rock that features numerous pitches of climbing up to grade 4.  Super aesthetic. Finding it can be a challenge if you have never been there or if there are no trails in, as it actually starts from an unlikely break in a drainage that is slightly hidden from the road.

In the past, I have always found myself the only one there, but apparently it has really grown in popularity, likely due to the road improvement. When we arrived, we noticed quickly that it had seen numerous ascents the day before.  Despite its slightly “travelled” nature, it was still super fun as usual, and Maria and I enjoyed each pitch and step as if we were the first to encounter it:)

After we climbed the final steps, we high fived and headed down to meet and greet all the parties following behind.  Many hellos, sharing ropes for the descent, and quick catch ups made for a social descent.  We were going to check out Devils Punchbowl, but Toby and Rene ran up ahead of us and told us not to bother.  Too bad, I always wondered if it was any good up there!

Toby drove us back out safely and with ease. Sometimes the drive is the most exciting part of the trip, but the road was in great shape today! A pretty darn pleasurable day in the Ghost!  Thanks Maria for a fun day out…nice work despite feeling under the weather!  Those new nomics are going to have a great season!!!

 

I had the wonderful opportunity to get out for 4 days again with Jo and Steve during their holiday here in the Rockies.  This was their 4th year coming out ice climbing and this time we really had some great weather!

Day one, we headed to Haffner Creek to get the arms and legs swinging again.  Didn’t take them long to find the groove and we each probably climbed at least 8 laps!  Sadly though we did leave a tad earlier then we might have wanted to.  A group of people were trying ice climbing for the first time and decided to do this leading!  Needless to say, despite some friendly attempts from many other climbers, this group persisted to do the most crazy and dangerous things, clipping into their tools with daisy chains, choking up on their tools, while placing screws above their heads. After a couple upside down whippers of narrowly missing their heads, most people decided to leave the canyon.  I hope everyone was fine the rest of the day, but I really didn’t want Steve, Jo, or myself to have to witness an accident that could make the thought of ice climbing the next day a very bad one.

The next day, avi hazard was high.  We decided to try Louise Falls since they hadn’t climbed it before.  We were surprised but thrilled to find ourselves second in line with no one else behind us all day!  The climb was in great shape and the pillar fat.

Leaving the cave can always be a bit of an adventure, lots of exposure, lots of air under your crampons and usually leads one to question why the hell they left the comfort of the big ledge they were just standing on!

Steve and Jo did great and we all enjoyed a great otter slide down back to the main trail.

We enjoyed a New Years day off, and got out again on the 2nd.  Once again avi hazard seemed a little suspect for some of the objectives we were hoping to do, so we opted for Coire Dubh, which was also new for them.  I also hadn’t been on it in years, so it was a fun adventure.  We could see headlamps up high on the route as we left the car and we knew that some early birds were well on their way! We only wanted to climb the ice and the first rock pitch so we weren’t in a big hurry.

The day was gorgeous and we had great views of the foothills and Yamnuska.  On route we ran into a few other friendly climbers, all having a great day in the mountains.  As we headed back to the car we were warmly greeted by my buddy Sylvain and his friends.  These were the headlamps we saw earlier on the route.  They sailed up and down the route and were enjoying a restful afternoon in the van.  Always great to run into friends in the mountains and back at the parking lot!  Hope you guys had a great day on Red Mans the next day!

We had one more day left and with the still iffy conditions we decided to head back to Evan Thomas Creek for Moonlight.  The first year we did Chantilly and the second year, Snowline, so we still had Moonlight to tick off!  We had a very early start, knowing that getting there after another party kind of has you waiting a long time.  We were definitely the first there, and this time all the “Bourne” trees had been removed off the roadway so I didn’t feel lost and boobie trapped like I had last time I was there!

The route was in great shape. I would have liked to break the first pitch up in two, but there didn’t feel like a great place for 3 people to camp out anywhere in the first 60 meters, so we did a long pitch.  Plastic ice and great climbing for our last day.  Sure enough a group of 6 other climbers were at the base not too long after we arrived, so I was happy with our early start time.  They recognized our pink Sterling Ion Rope as they had been on Coire Dubh the day before as well!  Small world…but a super friendly one!

Thanks Steve and Jo for another great trip and for trusting me with your hard earned vacation time! Every year you improve so much in such a short time! Looking forward to next year:)

 

Had a fabulous day on Guinness Stout with Colleen shortly before Christmas.  After much humming and haing over snow conditions, avalanche hazard, wind and temperatures, we decided to give Guinness a try with the hopes of continuing on to Guinness Stout but feeling it out as we went.  By the time we actually left the car it was probably 9:30 so we knew we were going to have to boogie a little to get it all done.

Despite it being Colleen’s first day on the ice this year, I knew that if anyone was up for the day, SHE would be, and be more then capable!  Of course she proved me right!

The first pitch this year is fat!  Wow, what normally can be a little marginal for pro, this year takes full length screws and hearty swings the whole pitch!  Nice treat.

The second pitch was also nice and fat and before we knew it we were heading to the final pitch of Guinness.  Another great longer pitch of ice, in some less then ideal snowy conditions.  At the top of this pitch we realized that it had been a few days since anyone else had ventured higher to Guinness Stout.  There was an old trail though, and this really helped make the travel easier.  After about 45 minutes of pretty steady uphill trucking we arrived at the final 2 pitches of Guinness Stout.  It looked blue and beautiful and our watches said 1:50, so we couldn’t pass it up.

Great climbing and definitely a bit more “Stout” then the rest of Guinness:)

As we rapped back down we high fived our buddies who climbed behind us all day and tried to make it back to the car and get a bit of driving behind us before it got dark.  4pm found us back at the car and psyched from the day.

Thanks Colleen for rallying for the fun day out.  Always impressive how strong you are “off the couch”:)  Looking forward to the Next Step camp in February!