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