The trip is now over as I sit in a hotel room and relish at the last week of amazing ice and mixed climbing. Many classic routes went down, while many more are drawing me to come back. This is some of the best ice in the world with some of the best access in the world. Canada, you will see me again!
The Playground
The Playground is a little crag outside of Canmore, Alberta. It is a dry tooling crag that the locals use to stay in shape. I got on a few different routes there and all were great. The one shown in the pictures though….amazing! It is called Swiss Cheese and is appropriately named because the limestone looks like swiss cheese. This is the hardest mixed route I have ever tried, and it felt within my abilities. While I didn’t send, I am psyched to get back here at some point and give it a good effort. Very inspiring, Canada!
Mammut Ultimate Hoody
I put the Ultimate Jacket to the test this past week. While ice climbing in Canada we got some very “Canadian” conditions.On the uphill approaches the long pit zips comes in handy while the jacket still knocks down the wind.
Some of the climbs were still dripping and even though the jacket is marketed as windstopper, it sheds water very well and kept me dry.
I will be using this jacket later this month on Aconcagua and will report back then!
Here is the link to the tech specs: Mammut Ultimate Hoody
Wherever you Roam
I put this video edit together of Lindsay singing one of the songs she recorded a few years back. First real go at editing with very simple software. The Canon 7d shoots pretty amazing video for an SLR!
Climbing on Dirt
I went to Fisher Towers today for the first time. Many people say it is an acquired type of climbing; I would now agree. It is mostly climbing on caked together dirt with the occasional pebble thrown in for a good hold. The climbing isn’t why I would go back and probably not the reason anyone would – it is the position: some of the coolest features one can get to the top of with the Utah canyon lands surrounding you!
Travel to Utah
I left the AMGA conference around 10:30 a.m. MST on the 15th of November. Lindsay, Chris Werner, and I headed east to North Carolina. I had made arrangements to get Chris back to Boone, NC before I realized I had to be in Utah on the 17th of November. We drove straight through and got to Brevard, NC at 12:15 a.m. on November 17th. I got a few hours rest and then got up to unpack ice and alpine gear, do laundry, and repack an Indian Creek rack! I got to the Asheville airport and was on the plane by 4:30 p.m.
Days like this are becoming more and more common with my career. I am always planning for a couple trips, unpacking for one trip, packing for another, contacting clients about what they need for their trip a few months out or even for the next week. Today I have unpacked from the CO trip, packed and left for the Utah trip, emailed clients for a trip over Thanksgiving, contacted my mother to try to arrange a ski trip between to trips in the Sierra, started writing a needed gear list for the FMG Aconcagua trip, and tried to nail down the itinerary for the winter mountaineering course in New Hampshire. This job is a ton of work….
…and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
Diligently working away on the plane to Utah.
Another Day of Continuing Education
At the AMGA conference, there are many training opportunities. I have to attend continuing education every year to stay in the AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Provider pool, so today I attended the SPI Current Provider training. It is great to work with other providers from around the country to learn new tips and techniques. It also helps make sure we are all on the same page when giving courses and exams.
Hessi Chimney
Eric Wheewell, Lindsay Fixmer, and I went out to Hessi Chimney today. It was fairly cold, but with the sun out, we got warm on the approach. The climbing was really good with sinker tool slots but very little ice. Great mixed climb to get warmed up on for this coming winter!
Avi 3 Study Session
In guiding, there are many hazards that one must have great depth of knowledge about to be able to mitigate risk. Snow stability is one of them. Eric works for Colorado Mountain School, and they have random study sessions based on what training is coming up. He invited me to join a group of them studying for their Avalanche Level 3 course. I have to take this course in a year or so, and this was a great opportunity to refresh some of my skills from Level 2. One of the main points I took away from this evening was know the weak layer, know what is above it, and know how this relates in time and space.
North Face of Notchtop
Andrew Councel, Lindsay Fixmer, and I headed up to check out the North Face of Notchtop in Rocky Mountain National Park today with a great forecast! When we got to the base of the climb, there were splitter blue skies, and the route looked good. I started up on the first pitch, which was a little thin and had some mixed climbing (which isn’t normal). As I was getting into the crux, a storm blew in quite rapidly. I moved through the crux and on up to a piton and ice axe belay and put Lindsay on when the slope to our left cut loose. Andrew got a little bit of the sluff at the last belay but nothing to worry about. The bowl above us was getting wind loaded, and it would only be a matter of time before it would cut loose.
Andrew took the lead on the next pitch, and we started belaying two ropes to speed up the climbing. As he got about 100 feet off the belay with only one good ice screw in, the bowl let loose. I started yelling…
Andrew was below a bulge and could not see the sluff coming, but it was of decent size. He hunkered down on his tools as the snow moved over him and down towards us. Because of the slope angle to the left of us, it barely touched us. Andrew set a belay and brought us up to him.
Andrew kept leading as it would be the fastest rope management and flew up to the next belay. The bowl cut loose again…
This time it hit Lindsay and I pretty hard at the belay and knocked the rope coils down the slope. We made quick work of the next few pitches and got out of the avalanche danger. The slopes on the way down were wind-blown slab and stable which made for good cramponing. The winds steadily increased and made the descent very cold.
All in all a good day of climbing. With that being said ,it could have gone pretty bad with the moving snow.
Here is a picture of the route we took up the North Face of Notch top while the weather was still good.
The picture below is of the Crux.
