Mountaineering Camp - July 2010

by Dave McCormick

The Section just completed it's 3rd Mountaineering Camp, held this year out of the Stanley Mitchell hut in the Little Yoho Valley of Yoho National Park.

A total of 21 people, many beginners to mountaineering, attended this camp and had fun meeting new people, learning new techniques and skills and getting a tremendous amount of exercise climbing up and down hills.

Pictures are being added to our web album space, where you can see what happened during our 4 days of activities. We hope to have more stories sharing individual perspectives about the camp posted here in the coming days.

A couple of notes: Access to Mt President and Mt Vice President is becoming increasingly difficult. The bergschrund near President Pass increases in size annually and this year the small route remaining was threatened from overhead by 2 large snow cornices. There appears to be a possible route near the left side of the 'schrund, but it remains problematic for large groups.

The circle route around Mt McArthur and Mt Pollinger was lots of fun with no serious issues other than the short climb near Mt Pollinger. It was a relatively long day, but the route and the conditions were nearly ideal this year. Everyone enjoyed it.

Mt Kerr remains an enjoyable scramble and this year we had good conditions for lots of glissading (ie: bum sliding), crevasse rescue practice, self-arrest practice and a bit of excitement caused by some lightning arriving late one morning. Nothing like being able to lose elevation quickly!

Thanks go to Joel for taking on the Camp Manager's role. Also to Jesse and Mark for sharing the leadership and instructional tasks with me. Kobus helped us understand details of sunscreen chemistry and Mark explained maps. Thanks go also to some of the more experienced participants (thanks Jeff and Greg) who helped by knowing where to be when some assistance was needed. And finally to everyone who helped carry ropes, set up ropes, clean the hut, chop wood and all those little things that make an activity like this possible.

Plans for another camp next summer are already in the development stages. Stay tuned.

Race Results - 2010 Urban Adventure Race

The Saskatoon Urban Adventure Race was held on Saturday, June 19th. By all accounts it was fun and the results are now available. To see these results as an Excel spreadsheet file, go to the Race webpage and follow the link given there.

Pictures have been added to the Section's Picasa pages.

Mountaineering - Training & Preparation

Mountaineering - Training & Preparation. Cooke, Bunting & O'Hara (editors)

review by Dave McCormick

[The Section received a complimentary copy of this new mountaineering book awhile ago, one which will find it's way into the Section's library shortly. Until it does, here is a short review.]

If you've ever considered organizing (or being part of) a mountaineering expedition, or just wanted more information about training, leadership and trip preparation to support your outdoor aspirations, this new manual should go a long ways towards answering your many questions and providing some useful guidance. The book's editors and contributors (over a dozen) have drawn from research and personal experience to put together this extensive and comprehensive manual on the topic.

The book first deals with expedition planning and considerations of how to select members of the expedition team. Included in this section are extensive descriptions of equipment selection, basic articles on first aid, medical kits, the effects of altitude, and even how to use bright lights to help the body adjust to time zone changes. Although specific training is covered later on, there is one chapter on physical preparation, including developing cold tolerance and hypoxic training.

Almost half of the book, not surprisingly, deals with conditioning and nutrition. There is advice on all the fitness and endurance training that is important in expedition preparation and the section finishes off with nutrition advice while training as well as what nutritional needs will have to be met during the expedition. Some of the contributors were part of the 2006 Everest West Ridge expedition, so there are examples given from their experience. These include sample menus, caloric requirements, and energy content of certain foods. The examples given have a definite UK "flavour", but it should be possible to find North American substitutes that would match the samples given.

The final section of the book addresses an essential part of any extreme physical adventure, the part that takes place in your head. Psychological pressures and attitudes, how well one can stand up to those pressures and how to motivate and support your fellow team members, will almost certainly have an important, perhaps critical, impact on the success of your expedition. There are even comments relating adventure training like this to other aspects of a person's life. As one trainer puts it: "...accepting and dealing with levels of punishment or levels of poor outcomes ... tells you something about yourself".

Most of us have been involved in at least some level of mountaineering and have almost certainly followed or read about various notable mountaineering expeditions. If you're looking for more information, this book would be a good source.

Wilderness First Aid Course (3 days)

Dates: September 27 & 28, 2010 with the 3rd day in October to be determined

Time: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm each day

Cost: $275

Instructed by: J & T First Aid Consulting

Classroom sessions will be at 1375 Lorne St, Regina with the outdoor session location to be determined.

Note: If you already have Standard First Aid/CPR, including AED, and have re-certified within the 3 months prior to the October date, you may only be required to take the outdoor portion of the course (at a cost of $175) in order to attain your Wilderness First Aid certification. Please contact Colleen at J&T First Aid Consulting at 347-1020 or email j&tfirstaidconsult@accesscomm.ca for more information or to register for the course. Note that personal cheques are not accepted. Payment can be made by cash, debit, Visa or Mastercard, Monday-Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The SK Section's contact person for this activity is Brenda Desnoyers who can be reached at vertical@accesscomm.ca if you have questions about the course.

Stylin' With the Sask Section

The Saskatchewan Section is, after years of pleading from members, finally coming out with a NEW Section T-Shirt.

You can order your new Tee until April 30th, 2010, so don't delay.

All information is available by following the link to the Section Stuff webpage. An order form and all other essential information can be seen there.

Wilderness and Remote First Aid Course – December 2009

by Wendy White

In December 2009, the Saskatchewan section of ACC organized a 20 hour Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid Course that was put on by First Aid for Life Saskatoon. There were twelve participants with diverse interests from diving to climbing to backcountry skiing.

My husband Dick and I both took the class and found it to be very valuable. The instructor provided a wealth of information in a variety of formats that kept everyone engaged. The course included an evening at Diefenbaker Park at -10 C with a brisk wind that reminded us of the challenges that weather adds to dealing with any wilderness injury. Many of the participants had taken first aid courses before and there were often comments on the changes that have been made to suggested procedures to deal with some conditions. Obviously, the course evolves over the years and this highlights the importance of obtaining recertification. The certificate from this course is valid for three years. Participants receive a course manual as well as a handy field guide that can be tucked into a first aid kit.

Taking the course confirmed many of the things that we were already doing to prepare for backcountry travel but also added some interesting changes. Our medical kit is now updated, we feel more prepared to handle an injury, we made more concrete plans for potential bad weather conditions and put more thought into how we might evacuate a person if necessary. As always we planned for how we would communicate within the group and make contact with emergency services if needed (e.g. radios, satellite phone).

Stanley Mitchell Skiing - March 11-14, 2010

by Bette Boechler

On the evening of March 10, Bill Wotherspoon, Bob Hawboldt, Dave McCormick and I met at the Alpine Centre in Lake Louise before skiing in to Stanley Mitchell Hut. Stanley Mitchell (SM) is located in Yoho National Park, and in the summer, is accessible by the 13 km drive up the Takakkaw Falls road and then a 2 – 3 hour (9 km) hike into the hut. However, in the winter the road to Takakkaw Falls is closed so access to the hut becomes somewhat more difficult and longer. All four of us had skied into the hut before so we knew it would be a long day.

One of the ACC Facilities staff from Canmore planned to go into SM that day so Dave asked him if he could tow us on the skidoo as far as Takakkaw Falls. We weren’t sure if we were actually going to get towed so we started up the road at 7:45 a.m. The big debate when starting up the road is “skins off or skins on?” As usual we each had our own preference so Bob used kick wax while the rest of us used skins. After about 40 minutes we heard the sound of a skidoo and we ended up getting a ride/tow as far as Takakkaw falls. Although the ride was snowy and a bit chilly (mental note: always wear ski goggles and very warm clothes when being towed behind a skidoo), it cut about 3 hours off our time.

The up-track going to the hut was icy and quite difficult. Unfortunately, we somehow managed to go off the summer trail so we were on icy and steep terrain. We all arrived at the hut by 1:30 in the afternoon, and because we were the only group there, the rest of the day was spent getting wood, water and heating the hut. It was wonderful to have the whole hut to ourselves.

The next day was very snowy and we saw a number of avalanches, some quite close to where we were skiing. We were aware that the snowpack was becoming more unstable mainly due to the 10 cm of fresh snow that fell that day. We stayed in the trees and had a good day. Bob and Bill dug a pit which showed a very unstable layer about 50cm below the surface.

On Saturday morning we woke up and saw slides on almost every slope surrounding the hut. The pit from the day before was a good indication of what was actually happening. We initially thought we would be safe skiing in the trees again but when we looked at what had happened overnight, even that seemed too risky. So…. what to do? Bob, Bill and I decided to try and ski to Kiwetinok Pass. On the way there Bill set off a small avalanche (see photo) and although he managed to get to the trees, we decided the snow was too unstable to spend time on any slopes. It was a beautiful sunny day so we toured behind the hut to the bowl below Isolation Col. We also did a 3 hour tour through the trees to the east of the hut and came back to the hut via our up-track from Thursday. Dave had gone out for a couple of hours in the morning and re-tracked that part of the trail.

On Sunday we left at about 7:30 a.m. and were back at our cars by 12:30. The trip out was slower than expected, mainly because of the new snow.

Overall how was the trip? Bob and I have been backcountry skiing for about 12 years and this was the first time the snowpack was so unstable we really couldn’t ski anywhere. As we drove back to Saskatoon we heard about the avalanche in Revelstoke that killed two and injured 30. However, if the sun is shining and the weather is good, there’s more to backcountry skiing than doing turns.

What did I learn from this trip?

- The importance of taking avalanche courses, digging pits and practicing with beacons. Most of us have taken at least one avalanche course and practice regularly with our beacons. We made good decisions. All of us have been to this area many times in both the summer and winter and on this trip, we saw avalanches on slopes that we never thought would slide. You just never know.

- If one person in the group is uncomfortable with going somewhere, the whole group needs to listen.

- You need to be strong and fit to get into the hut but you don’t have to be a particularly good technical skier. There is lots of terrain that will suite every skier.

For another story about this trip, look at Extreme Backcountry.

Ice Climbing Adventures - Choppers Weekend Jan 2010

Ice Climbing Adventures

by Robin Silver

When I was first asked by my friend Drew to go on the ice climbing trip I immediately had two thoughts...

1. There is no such thing as ice climbing, it’s just a fancy way to ask me to help him clear snow from his roof

2. You should never use the word "trip" when talking about climbing

After Drew convinced me that it was indeed a real sport, and could actually be a lot of "safe" fun... I was intrigued. A little bit of research and a little bit of reassurance that anyone could do it and I was in. I then spent the next 3 weeks planning, and reassuring my wife (and myself) that I would be fine.

Finally the weekend had arrived! Drew and I both had Friday off work so we would be departing Friday morning early. Funny thing about climbing... can't really do it that easily on the prairies... so off we go on a “short jaunt” to the Mountains by way of Calgary. Calgary took a "bit" more time than we had anticipated... but of course you have to have an obligatory drink with friends that are nice enough to lend you gear, and are unable to come climbing right? So needless to say... 14 hrs later we arrived in Nordegg, AB! First thing I was greeted to was a large group of enthusiastic climbers and the appropriate level of heckling of Drew (hey... he was driving!) for being the last ones to arrive. (Already I was liking the group!) Introductions were given, gear was sorted, and the new climbers (4 of us) were introduced to “crampons”. Nifty little devices they were!

The next morning we awoke and began to gather. Greg and Karla, our fantastic lead climbers took off with an advanced group to set the lines. We would be climbing 2 o'clock falls... which is located about 1 hr west of Nordegg. After a 15 minute hike into the falls I was quite immediately blown away. The falls were a series of cascading rises, each about 20-30' high. If the ice wasn’t spectacular enough, all you had to do was turn around and see a magnificent view of the Abraham Lake valley and surrounding mountains. C’est magnifique! We donned our gear and were given basic instructions on how to walk on ice with the crampons. For us newcomers, the first few steps were mostly the same... tentative stomps back and forth across the ice shelf learning how to balance and walk without tripping. That gave way quickly to confidence walking... so how hard could climbing be?

We were taught the basics, tied in and told to climb. Being 240lbs roughly, I first eyed the rope... looked strong enough.. I then eyed my belayer... looked a bit light....thank goodness they were attached to the ice also! I began climbing and after 5 furious minutes of kicking and chopping with my crampons and ice axes I hoped that my climbing friends would not be too amazed and envious by how far I had gone... I then looked down. Well to be more precise... I looked mostly to my left.... my belayer was still not more than 10’ below me. Hmmm... little bit harder than I had thought! So back to it I went! I spent about 10 mins climbing my first pitch. By the end I was near the top, about 25’ up and my forearms were cooking! I was taught to use my legs but it was hard telling my brain that my feet were more secure than my ice picks. I could “see” the picks in the ice after all ;).

The entire day was spent at 2 o’clock falls. We all took turns climbing, belaying and heckling. A few really interesting notable events happened that day! First, the safety rope stretched along the bottom came in handy. An unnamed climber dropped his axe but it was caught by the rope as it tumbled down the slope! It was all good though... he bought us some beer because of it. Another cool event was Solange, another beginner climber, persevering to crest the top of the water fall. Her rope was getting caught in some ice and she was tiring at 25’ up approximately. Despite this, she managed to get over the top with a lot of determination. In a subsequent climb, her crampon came loose TWICE on a challenging pitch. Both times she just came down and re-attached her crampon and tried again! Very fit lady! Finally, one of the coolest sights was Greg climbing a pitch that was part rock, part large icicles. He managed to scale it with ease...even stopping to do a Figure-Four for the camera!

Exhausted we returned to the Hostel in Nordegg. Right away I won a nice prize... Drew offered to do the gear if I would make us nachos for supper. DEAL! (lot easier to drink beer making nachos than sorting frozen wet ropes and gear). During supper preparation we got to talking with the Edmonton climbing crew that were there also and had some good laughs with them. We had a lot of good food, drank a few drinks and spent the better part of 2 hrs relaxing in the hot tub. Well... it was more of a warm-tub. Apparently having upwards of 15 folks in there doesn’t play nicely with the fuses.

Sunday we were up and off to Cline River for a few hours of climbing before getting back on the road. There was an amazing waterfall area in there that was much more challenging than 2 o’clock falls. Unfortunately, I had left my boots back at the Hostel so spent the day watching them climb and driving back to get my boots. But the group definitely had a fun time based upon their cheer at the end of the mornings climb. It was more challenging and unique pitches this time around... I was jealous!

Overall it was an incredible experience that I would recommend to anyone to try! A big thanks to Drew, Greg and Karla for organizing and leading the climb! It is definitely a lot easier to climb when you have such skilled leaders guiding and coaxing you! I made a lot of good friends that weekend... and I have to say once more... VERY sorry for being the snorer in the room!

Introduction to Backcountry Skiing

by Don Chodzicki

On Feb 4 to 7, 2010, ten ACC SK members took part in the first Introduction to Backcountry Skiing trip offered by the section.

Day 0 was primarily a travel day from Saskatchewan to Canmore with minor diversions to pick up alpine touring skis and avalanche safety equipment. Three members were the first to arrive at the ACC’s Boswell cabin and as we settled in we were immediately impressed with the accommodations. We were uncertain when the other members would arrive and since it was too early to go for supper we decided to have a drink while we practiced with our avalanche beacons.

With 3 beacons at our disposal we decided to hide one in the area around the cabin and perform a practice search with the other 2. After having some degree of success we decided to hide 2 at the same time. This scenario proved a little more challenging but I think it helped build our confidence in using the equipment.

Morning of day 1 we visited Sunshine Ski resort for normal skiing on various groomed runs. We also gained more experience using the avalanche beacons in the beacon practice area. Despite not having fresh snow to thoroughly cover previous users "rescue digging" this practice environment proved quite fun and educational. There were multiple beacons buried throughout the area some of which were deeper than others which also justified our practice using the avalanche probes.

In the afternoon we started our official backcountry experience by touring away from Sunshine Ski resort into a far more beautiful and natural environment. We used our "skins" to move over horizontal and uphill terrain and spread ourselves out as we crossed one potential avalanche zone. Eventually we arrived at the top of what would be our first run and all around us we were faced with beautiful sparkling white snow. The more experienced skiers picked their steeper lines downhill and through trees while the less experienced skiers discovered that the snow plow technique of skiing still works in powder. Most people did 2 runs in this environment before we skinned back to the resort area and returned to the hostel.

On Day 2 we drove to the Burstall Pass area near Spray Lakes in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. We started our 16km round trip by skinning across the Burstall Lakes and Burstall Creek area, eventually entering the forest and starting our uphill climb through the trees. After about 500m of vertical we reached the area where we would start "yo-yoing" from. Apparently yo-yoing is the term used for going up and down and on this trip most of us had 2 trips to the top and down and a couple were quick enough to squeeze in a third run.

The view of the snow and how it settles on the surrounding mountain areas was mesmerizing to someone who has never been in such a winter environment. It became easier to understand why people are lured into potentially dangerous terrain every year. At the same time it was reassuring that there are agencies that offer avalanche awareness courses and avalanche forecasts, technology such as avalanche beacons existed, and volunteers with back country experience that are willing to share their knowledge with other individuals for moving safely in such terrain.

On Day 3 we drove to the Tent Ridge area, again near Spray Lakes. This morning was slightly colder than the last couple, but skinning up the mountain we quickly warmed up and removed many layers. Our path was once again through the forest till we came to an area that had the look of an avalanche run out zone with smaller trees than the surroundings. At this point we really started to gain in elevation as we skinned up through a gully and eventually decided to create our own switch back through sparse trees. At one point the group took a short break for a snack and water. The view and powder was once again visually stunning but underneath the snow was a bit of a crust which for me (a beginner powder skier) made things even more challenging. I decided to take the easier method down via a gully while the more experienced skiers gained a little more vertical before they turned around and made their single run down through the trees. The tour back to the vehicles was a little easier this time consisting primarily of easy downhill skiing on paths through the trees. In the end we completed a 6km roundtrip with 400m of vertical.

Reaching our vehicles we celebrated our successful weekend of adventure by consuming the remainder of one participant’s birthday cake and slowly accepting we now faced an 8 hour drive home.

Big thanks to Bob Hawbolt for arranging and leading the trip.

Pictures of the trip are posted on Picasa.

Film Festival - Another Successful Evening

The Banff Mountain Film Festival's World Tour had another successful evening on it's stop in Saskatoon on January 18th. The final results aren't completed yet, but it appears there were close to 800 people in attendance, some even spilling over to the upper balconies.

Comments indicate that attendees enjoyed the videos on the evening's lineup as well as the displays set up by our local sponsors. Parks Canada (a National sponsor) was in attendance and people seemed to have a good time looking at the displays and talking to the sponsor reps.

Once again, we would like to sincerely thank our local sponsors because without them, hosting this show simply would not be possible. Our local sponsors were:

• Eb's Source for Adventure
• Climb 306
• Outter Limits
• Table Mountain
• The Bike Doctor
• Escape Sports

In addition, we had several media sponsors who designed and/or sent out advertising. They were:

• CFCR Radio
• Deanna Miller Design
• Saskatoon Fastprint Ltd
• Planet S

Finally, thanks to the many volunteers who planned and organized this event. It takes many meetings and a lot of work to coordinate this one evening and planning begins months in advance of the showdate.

We have booked the date for next year's Film Festival already - Monday, January 17th, 2011. There is always a need for volunteers to help organize this event so if you are interested in getting involved, let us know and you can be part of the action. Contact us at accsaskinfo@accsask.ca

A Rope Awakening

One of the blogs we occasionally follow is The Mountain World. A recent post of theirs told the story of some rope testing results.

The story should serve as a reminder to all of us who use ropes for climbing (I have an old one I use only for winching down trees, so it doesn't count!).

The message is: ropes wear out and need to be retired, probably more often than is actual practice.

It's a short story and interesting reading. See if your ropes qualify to be withdrawn from active duty.

Tis the Film Festival Season

Yes, it's that time of year again. The Banff Mountain Film Festival is coming, once again , to Saskatoon.

Hosted by the Saskatchewan Section of the Alpine Club of Canada, this year's Film Festival will be held on Monday, January 18th, 2010, at TCU Place. (That's the place that once was called Saskatoon's Centennial Auditorium).

Doors open at 6 pm and the show starts at 7 pm. A selection of videos (see a tentative list here) lasting about 2.5 hours will fill out the evening's entertainment along with door prize draws during the intermission.

Tickets have been available for a couple of weeks now from all the local sponsors, TCU Place and even Table Mountain. For other related information, ticket prices and such, you can visit the Section's Film Festival page.

In past years, and there have been quite a few, the Film Festival has provided a great evening's entertainment with videos featuring outdoor adventure in its many forms. Join in the fun on Monday, January 18th. See you at the Festival.