Ice Climbing - ACC Ice Review Jan 11/12

With less than optimal snow conditions in the Rockies, what better activity to take up than ice climbing?? We managed to secure a spot on the ACC Ice Review in a beginner group where we met up with some experienced ice climbers who were willing to literally "show us the ropes". We started the day nice and early in the Grassi Lakes parking lot and walked in to the Junkyards climbing area to get our first taste of ice. The approach was amazingly short and within minutes we were strapping on our crampons and gearing up. The guides set up some top ropes for us newbies and basically gave us free reign to try out the tools on a variety of pitches ranging from really easy to getting vertical!

Kyle practicing his technique

Thunder Meadows Trip Report (Dec 29-31)

The original plan for a hut trip at the end of the year was to return to Tunnel Creek, but the hut was already booked. We managed to snag Thunder Meadows Hut instead and planned on going in with a big group of 7 or 8. In the end, there were 6 of us who were going in, 4 from the top of Fernie Resort and 2 from Island Lake Lodge which requires much more touring and route finding. Since we were taking the easy way, we decided to bring in some extra goodies, including steaks for dinner, whiskey, fireball and some fireworks.

Joel with the 4 L of wine and box of fireworks

Bonnington Half Traverse (Grassy and Steed Huts)

To kick off the Christmas holidays, we headed to the Kootenays to explore the Bonnington Range. Due to the technical difficulties of doing the whole traverse (car drops etc.) we decided to save a bit on gas by just do an out and back to Steed Hut, stopping at the Grassy Hut on our first night and on the way back out. We drove from Fernie, arriving at the Bombi Summit on highway 3 around noon. There were lots of sledders out and about, making the ski into the hut really easy as it was basically groomed. We followed the alternate directions into the hut by following the forestry road instead of going directly under the powerlines. It was a much more efficient way to get in, I highly recommend it! After passing the East Munson spur (just after 6km on the logging road - all the km's are marked), we turned right onto the next spur, following it up into the woods towards False Grassy. The book said that it was 9 km into the hut, but our GPS said we actually traveled 10.9 km. The climb up to the ridge was surprisingly steep, but once we got up there, it was easy to find the hut thanks to all the tracks from the guys that had come in the day before us. Having a GPS is a good idea - looking in the hut log it seems like it can be pretty tricky to find.

Skinning up the forest service road at 2:30 on the shortest day of the year!

Egypt Lake Shelter via Healy Pass Nov 30/Dec 1

I have been following Alex Wigley's blog (http://skitheory.blogspot.ca) for the last few months and a recent post really resonated with me. It was 10 tips on how to have the best season ever. One of the tips was to do one hut trip each month. With this in mind, we realized that November was about to end very soon! It was looking like the one hut a month challenge was going to be over before it had even started due to poor snow conditions and a lack of ski buddies that wanted to go ski hardpack all weekend. Resigning ourselves to a day touring trip, Kyle noticed that there was a Parks Canada shelter very close to our destination. Somehow, the stars aligned and we grabbed some of the last spots in the hut for the night of November 30th. I guess the challenge is back on!

We had a relatively leisurely start of around 9am from the Sunshine parking area for a ski out to Healy Pass with the CSMC. We had a big group of 10 plus a dog, but it also had not snowed in a while so we weren't too worried about getting fresh tracks. The trip was more of a nice walk in the woods with skis on.

Leaving the sunshine area en route to Healy Pass with the CSMC

Early Season Ski Touring - Fernie and Highwood Pass

Winter is here! As December draws closer, ski hills are finishing up their final preparation for the season and skiers everywhere are itching to get out and play. Fortunately for me, I didn't have to wait for the hill to open and was able to get out in the backcountry for some early season turns over the last two weeks (Nov 9, 10 and 16th). Although I have been sick with mono for the last 2 months, I got the go-ahead to return to activities a few days before a tentatively planned trip to Fernie. Since I hadn't really done anything for a long time, I was expecting to have a really hard time with the touring. Luckily, everyone was also fairly out of shape and more than happy for an excuse to wait up and take breaks. 

My first day of the season! Still recovering from mono but just happy to be out playing

Fall Activities

Somehow the fall zoomed by and it is already winter! Here is a bit of a recap of what I got up to before the snow started to fly:

Yummy Thanksgiving dinner with my parents

Three Sisters Hike (Fernie)

To celebrate the last day of summer and take advantage of the last few days without too much snow in the alpine, we decided to hike the Three Sisters Trail in Fernie. We were a pretty large group of 8, armed with many cans of bear spray, bear bangers, bells, flares and a shotgun, just in case a grizzly decided to get curious. Luckily we didn't have to use anything! We started up Hiko's Trail around 9:30 in the morning and it definitely did not feel like summer. Only when the trail suddenly started to rapidly gain elevation did the layers start coming off. About 30 minutes into the hike, we had already zig-zagged across a creek a few times and reached the top of a waterfall.

Looking up the creek and waterfall