The ACC Sask's annual Choppers Ice Climbing trip took place in February 2011. 20 participants headed out to Nordegg, Alberta for ice climbing combined with hot tubbing as a recovery.
Day 1 had the group head out to Balfour Wall to accommodate an unexpected Adventure Race at one of our planned locations. The day started with a 1 hour drive west and a hike in minus 30 temperatures up to the wall. Thanks to our rope leaders 6 or 7 ropes were already set up for us and after a safety briefing we were able to get climbing fairly quickly to stay warm.
Balfour Wall offered a beautiful sunny exposure with excellent views, truly a treat. A number of people also explored 2 small ice caves and a few even attempted "dry tooling" and mixed climbing where climbers use their ice axes and crampons on rock. One climber unfortunately ended up with a cut on their forehead when an axe slipped off a rock and hit them.
Day 2 the group went to 2 o'clock falls, just west of Nordegg. This was another fun day of climbing, though the ice sits in the shade throughout the day making for slightly cooler temperatures so participants generally stayed bundled up. The ice was a bit crumbly on certain routes which resulted in a few people chopping a fair bit to get to the good stuff and also resulted in some significant piles of ice around the belayers.
Once again Choppers proved to be an adrenalin filled activity that left no one with regrets other than it had to end so soon.
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