Canadian Rockies Alpine Guides

Bourgeau, Polar Circus Pencil, Weeping Wall

2012-01-27T12:26:00.002-07:00

Some pics from another great week of climbing in the Rockies.

Below Bourgeau Left in -30C with Steve Swenson, Freddie Wilkonson, and Rufus. I was there to set up ropes for Rufus who is making a climbing movie with Steve & Freddie.

Steve Holeczi a few pitches up Polar Circus.

The rarely formed Pencil (WI6) on Polar Circus.

Me leading the Pencil.

Mike Adolph on the Central Pillar of the Weeping Wall.

A look at the Upper Weeping Wall yesterday.

Mike starting up one of the lines on the right side of the Upper Weeping Wall.

Keep your picks on the ice,

Jay Mills
CRAG Head Guide
www.cdnalpine.com

Blessed Rage (WI6+, 5.7, 250m)

2012-01-17T09:53:00.003-07:00

Went raging up Blessed Rage on Saturday with Steve Swenson. Well, actually it was really fun and the "raging" was kept to a minimum, although I did curse at the compact rock a couple of times while trying to build anchors!

Foreshortened view of the route.

The route is located at the back of Emerald Lake in Yoho, and is seldom climbed due to it's serious location, difficult climbing, and the fact that it doesn't form every year. Snow conditions were great, so the 3 hour ski approach was reasonable right now despite crossing many large avalanche paths.

The climb started with a long pitch of rotten and detached but fairly low angle ice. Above this a short romp up a snow gully placed us below a mixed corner that looked easy. It turned out that exiting out the top of the corner was very tenuous and thin climbing, kind of like trying to stand on a Coke can without crushing it. After swimming up some steep snow above the corner, a bit of shell ice led to a cave below the meat of the route. Steve won the rock-paper-scissors so he led the very steep pitch of overhanging ice mushrooms and delicate icicles. The ice gradually improved to good quality near the top of the climb.

The sustained challenges of the route made it take alot longer than we expected, and by the time we rappelled back down it was dark. The snow quality was excellent for skiing, but it is always "interesting" skiing in the dark with climbing boots & heavy packs on.

I'm glad we got this route in while we did, the next morning the temperatures were on a rapid free-fall to the -30C mark!

More about Blessed Rage on the Canadian Rockies I.C.E. site.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Warm Weather Ice Climbing!

2012-01-12T10:01:00.004-07:00

The last week has been beautiful warm winter weather, making for perfect ice conditions and comfortable belaying!

The fun started with Pat & Susie joining me from Calgary for a day on Guinness Gully. They are always great to get out with and were psyched to be back on the ice. Despite it being a Saturday we had the climb entirely to ourselves!

Susie rappelling down the middle pitch.

The next day I met up with Dan & Tezla at the parking lot for Coire Dubh Integral, but the wind was raging so we decided that it would be better to head somewhere more sheltered. I've been on Coire Dubh before when the wind was causing rockfall and didn't want to repeat the experience! So, we headed into K-Country and hiked up to Moonlight & Snowline, two classic WI4 routes side by side and about 100m long. They were both in great shape, although we got pretty wet on Moonlight at the end of the day!

Dan rappelling down Moonlight in Evan Thomas Creek.

The next day I joined Steve Holeczi & Steve Swenson for a trip into the Ghost River for a lap on The Fang & Fist. It is a really aesthetic route consisting of two steep pillar pitches and a final curtain to the top. I think the route would often be quite challenging WI5 climbing, but in it's current hooked-out & warm condition it was as easy as ice that steep could possibly get. Nonetheless, it was lots of fun and I always enjoying getting into the Ghost!

Approaching Fang & Fist.

Holeczi on the crux first pitch of Fang & Fist.

The next day the two Steve's and I drove out to Field for some mixed climbing beside Pilsner Pillar (the pillar itself was uber-wet), and finished up with a quick lap on Carlesbourg Column.

Swenson on a mixed climb beside Pilsner Pillar.

On the same mixed route as above.

See you on the ice!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Holiday Ice Climbing

2012-01-06T13:14:00.004-07:00

I hope you all had a great holiday season and are busy planning climbing trips for the year! On top of all the visiting & eating, I have had a few great days of ice climbing with guests from around the world.

Just before Christmas, Shawn & Miluska flew in from Texas and joined me for a fun day at King Creek. Shawn has climbed with me lots before, but it was Miluska's first time and she did great. On her first try she was able to make it to the top of the first route, and continued to improve throughout the day. Shawn hadn't ice climbed since last year, but after a couple warm-up laps was able to get right back into leading and led 3 different routes throughout the day.

Miluska on one of her first ice climbs at King Creek.

After New Years, I drove down to Jasper to join Uday & Leanne for two days of ice climbing. Uday is originally from India but now lives in the UK, and Leanne is from BC but now lives in Switzerland. Neither of them had ice climbed before, but picked it up quickly and had lots of fun. For our first day we went into Maligne Canyon, which is a beautiful spot to climb near town. After rappelling into the base, we spent the day climbing up & down and working on technique.

Leanne climbing in Maligne Canyon near Jasper.

The Queen in beautiful Maligne Canyon.

The next day we headed down the Icefields Parkway to the climb Melt Out near theColumbia Icefields. The weather was absurdly warm and it was even raining at the Icefields! However, the rain soon stopped and we had a great day climbing on the lower pitch of Melt Out.

Melt Out, a nice WI3 ice climb near the Columbia Icefields.

Uday on Melt Out.

After a long drive back to Canmore (the Parkway was closed so I had to drive almost to Edmonton then down to Canmore!), Andrew joined me yesterday for a great day of ice climbing on Guinness Gully near Field. Andrew was visiting Canmore from Nova Scotia where he ice climbs & rock climbs regularly. It was another very warm day, and it made for very pleasant climbing up the route. We both had lots of fun and Andrew left psyched to try and move to the Rockies as soon as possible!

Andrew near the top of Guinness Gully.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Back on the ice!

2011-12-21T09:38:00.003-07:00

After an amazing honeymoon to the Nepal Himalaya's and the beaches of Thailand, I am back in the Rockies and psyched for a great ice season! From what I've seen so far, it looks like a good ice year with above average quantities of ice.

Holeczi at the base of Lesson's of Oka.

Yesterday I swung the picks for the first time this season with Steve Holeczi, and Steve Swenson up by Murchison Falls (WI4). Steve Swenson is one of the world's most accomplished Himalayan climbers, and it was neat to talk with him about the Himalayas after just having been there.

We started out with the steep ice of My Daddy's a Psycho (WI5) which is in fat shape this year but still has some steep and challenging ice. Afterwards we moved over to Lesson's of Oka (WI4, 5.8) which none of us had ever done before but proved to be a fantastic bit of mixed climbing up an icy corner with OK gear.

Once I have my photo's organized I will post a gallery of Himalayan peaks for you to drool over!

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
www.cdnalpine.com

Off to Nepal!!!

2011-09-15T13:19:00.002-06:00

In about 8 hours I am boarding a plane to Nepal for three months with my wife Jody! We are planning on hiking extensively throughout the Nepalese Himalaya's, and I will be sure to post some pictures of the world's biggest peaks when I return in mid December.

I will have periodic access to e-mail, and will strive to respond to all inquiries as soon as possible.

Take it easy, and see you on the ice!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Yam, Sport Course, Louis, and Louis!

2011-09-15T12:59:00.005-06:00

This year I cut my season a bit short since I had a few details to take care of in September, like getting married last weekend! The last few trips were lots of fun though, and we were spoiled with perfect blue skies every day.

A couple weeks ago, Aaron joined me again for an ascent of Chockstone Corner (5.8+) on Yamnuska. It was a really good route, with sustained 5.8 climbing and a wide variety of rock. Aaron led one of the pitches and did great!

Aaron leading on Chockstone Corner on Yamnuska.

Next I had 6 guests join me for a weekend Sport Climbing Course. Everyone had a great time as we practiced lead climbing, cleaning anchors, taking falls, lead belaying, and much more. We spent the first day at Wasootch, and the second day at Louise. At Louise a few of the participants even did a bit of gear climbing on the sweet quartzite cracks.

Sport course at Wasootch.

A few days later, Luke joined me for 3 awesome days on the rock. We spent the first day gear climbing at Louise and he picked it up really quickly, getting lots of leads in up to 5.8. The next day we tackled the incredible limestone corners of Homage to the Spider (5.10a) on Mt. Louis. I'd never climbed the route before, but it is probably the best alpine limestone I have ever seen and we had an excellent day. On our final day we went to Kid Goat where Luke got to practice more leading on the multipitch limestone gear routes. It went well but it was scorching hot in the sun!

Luke climbing at Back of the Lake in Lake Louise.

Luke on one of the excellent 5.9 pitches on Homage to the Spider.

For my final peak of the year (summit #22 for the summer I believe), Chris & Mark joined me for an ascent of the mega-classic Gmoser Route (5.8) on Louis. It's a big route for a team of 3 but we moved quickly and had a great time rock climbing in the sunshine! Both the crux of the Gmoser and the upper Perren Cracks provided lots of challenge and good climbing.

Chris & Mark on pitch 6 of the Gmoser Route on Mt. Louis.

J. Mills

www.cdnalpine.com

First Ascent - Mt. Cline South Buttress (IV, 5.10)

2011-08-31T08:26:00.004-06:00

Climbed a fantastic new route on Mt. Cline a couple weeks ago with Eammon Walsh & Steve Holeczi. I've been eyeing up this route for many years and was psyched to finally get in there to give it a shot. About 5 years ago I did the first ascent of the East Face on Cline (IV, 5.10-) just around the corner so I knew that the rock would likely be good. The various rock walls on Cline are true gems and have the best overall rock quality I have ever found on an 11000er in the Rockies. On both routes we carried pitons but never had a need to use them since the abundant solid cracks provide plenty of protection with just cams & nuts.

Mt. Cline, our route climbed on or near the right hand skyline.

We hiked a short ways in the evening before, and enjoyed smokies & scotch around the campfire as has become our tradition. Up early the next morning, we walked the remaining 3 hours to the base of the wall, which is about 450m tall and ends near the summit. We discussed various potential routes, but sub-zero temperatures lured us to the ridge since it was catching the morning sun. The first pitch was the only nasty one and has some pretty rank rock, but protected OK and was about 5.8 up the second dark chimney left of the ridgeline. I think it mostly felt really hard because we couldn't feel our fingers or toes, and therefore the holds, in the cold! Luckily it warmed up to reasonable temps as the day continued, and the rock quality improved dramatically. Most of the pitches were in the 5.8 to 5.9 range, with one pitch of of hard 5.10 and another of about 5.10a near the top. The first three pitches were just left of the ridge crest, followed by 3 or 4 to the right of the crest, and finally a few pitches on the crest of the upper buttress itself.

Steve leading pitch 3 with Eammon belaying.

Steve belaying about half way up the route. It was starting to cool down again at this point.

Eammon leading away.

Me on the crux pitch, it started to snow lightly about halfway through the lead, but luckily it was steep enough to stay dry.

We put the cameras away at this point since it was starting to snow harder, but the last two pitches joined the East Face route I did a number of years ago and went at 5.10- and 5.8. Water was running down the 5.8 pitch and we were glad it was the last of the technical climbing!

On the summit in a snowstorm, what a lovely day for rock climbing!

We took the normal route back down past the Cline Lakes and were back at the road just as it got dark. This is one of the better quality alpine rock routes I've ever done and I'd highly recommend it.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

AthaB N. Ridge (III, 5.5) & Louis Gmoser Route (III, 5.8)

2011-08-19T08:02:00.003-06:00

Spent four action packed days with Scott from Edmonton last week. Scott has a strong rock climbing background and was new to alpine climbing but seemed to be a natural!

We started out with a skills day at the Columbia Icefields and worked on alpine ice climbing skills, anchor building, rope ascending, and more.

Scott setting up his prussics to ascend the rope out of a crevasse.

The next day we climbed the excellent and rarely done North Ridge of Mt. Athabasca (III, 5.5). The route involves lots of exposed scrambling, a few steeper rock pitches, a few pitches of snow, and a bit of ice. Overall it's probably the most involved route on the mountain and provides a good mix of challenges. It has a reputation for loose rock, but if you stick to the steeper right-hand side of the ridge it's actually quite solid.

One of the numerous scrambling sections along the ridge.

The "Scottish Gully" high on the route. This pitch used to offer some steeper ice, but nowadays is pretty gentle snow climbing.

After a bit of a sleep-in we headed to a crag on the David Thompson Highway to work on alpine rock climbing skills such as complex anchor building, shortroping, and piton craft.

Pounding in a piton.

The weather forecast for Thursday was crappy so we took a day off and met early Friday morning to have a shot at Mt. Louis. We chose the classic Gmoser Route (III, 5.8) which has about 700 meters of steep climbing and is quite hard for the grade. The rock on Louis is superb and the day was nice and warm so we both really enjoyed the climb.

About halfway up with Mt. Edith in the background.

I'm pretty sure Scott is hooked on alpine climbing, and I hope to see him in the hills in the future!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Floe Lake Rockwall (IV, 5.9)

2011-08-11T12:05:00.003-06:00

Last week I took advantage of the nice weather & headed into the Floe Lake Rockwall in Kootenay National Park for some climbing with Eammon Walsh, Steve Holeczi, and Raphael Slawinski. The route we chose was the seldom climbed Grassman Spohr route which is described in the Selected Alpine Climbs guidebook. It turned out that the rock was pretty nasty (loose!), but it was a fun adventure in a very cool area.

The Floe Lake Rockwall. The route starts under the snowpatch in the middle of the picture, then follows the left leaning ridge feature to the top.

We hiked in the afternoon beforehand and spent a nice night at the lake. In the morning we started early and were soon at the first (and crux) pitch. We climbed as two teams, with me and Steve climbing one way through the crux band, and Eammon and Raph climbing another. Above the snowpatch we climbed the same line throughout. Most of the route consisted on low 5th class rock, but was frequently loose and insecure. The descent involves a long and challenging ridge traverse to a col between the Rockwall and Mt. Foster, and then some rappels & downclimbing back to the lake. Overall it was an exciting day but I can't say I'd recommend the route due to excessive loose rock.

Steve leading one of the steeper sections about half way up.

Steve on one of the highlights of the route, an extremely exposed knife-edged traverse. Floe Lake below.

Back at the lake after a very tedious descent.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Many many mountains!

2011-08-05T16:12:00.009-06:00

The last few weeks have been full of mountain climbing adventures with lots of great guests & fun times! The snowy season has presented lots of extra challenge, but so far almost every trip has worked out well regardless. The following are some highlights from the summer so far!

Shortly after my last Blog Posting, Shaun from Canmore joined me for a very fast ascent of the North Face route on Andromeda. It was a perfectly clear day and we enjoyed the best views I've had all season at the Icefields. Since starting climbing a couple seasons ago, Shaun has progressed rapidly and we were able to just about run up and down the mountain!

After the Andromeda day, I had a few good days in Kananaskis with a variety of beginner rock climbing groups. Unfortunately I don't have any photos to show from it but there were days at Wasootch, Back of the Lake, and my secret crag near Canmore.

In mid July, Jarrid from Edmonton joined me for 3 days of alpine fun. We started out with an ascent of the classic Eisenhower Tower route on Castle Mountain.

After a skills day at Back of the Lake, we had a good but long day on the rarely climbed East Ridge of Mt. Haddo (III, 5.4). I'd never climbed the route before but it is one I will likely do again since it has a wide variety of climbing in a spectacular setting. The route climbs the lower snow gullies in the photo below, then continues up near the left hand skyline to the summit.

Jarrid near the summit of Haddo.

A couple days later, Aaron joined me for his first multipitch rock climb. We did the NE Ridge route on Ha Ling (5.7), and he climbed so well that I wish I'd chosen a harder route!

The next day was the start of the 5 day Level 2 Alpine Skills Course. We had a horrendous weather forecast but it never got as bad as predicted and we managed to get tons of climbing in. Along with Aaron from the day before, Eric & Shawn from Calgary also joined me for the week. Our first day was spent learning a wide variety of alpine rock skills in Kananaskis. Among other things we practiced various techniques for belaying from above, lowering, rapelling, short-roping, piton craft, and a number of improvisational skills that come in handy on the big peaks. The next morning we started in the dark for an ascent of Eisenhower Tower on Castle Mountain. They climbed as a team of three and swapped leads throughout, while I climbed just above to help if necessary. It was everyones first time leading on this type of terrain but they all did excellent and were stoked with the day!

Climbing in the Dragons Back on Eisenhower Tower.

Aaron leading higher on the route.

Another air-guitar on the summit of Eisenhower Tower (Aaron was on the level 1 course earlier, see last blog post re. air guitaring!)

The next day we focused on rescue skills and everyone learned how to escape a belay, lower from above, raise another climber, and lots more.

We had planned on heading into Mt. Aberdeen for our last two days, but when we arrived in Louise it was raining so we opted to head to the Icefields instead so we could dry out in the campground between days. When we arrived we hiked into the Boundary Glacier and everyone practised leading on alpine ice, among other skills.

For our final day we made an attempt at the Skyladder on Mt. Andromeda, but only made it about half way up due to a raging snowstorm and concerns about avalanche hazard. In a way, everyone felt it was probably a better learning experience than if we had climbed it in perfect conditions. We were able to practice some whiteout navigation, and did a crevasse rescue scenario before leaving the glacier. Overall the course was an awesome time & I hope the three guys on it continue climbing for many years!

After 1 rest day, I headed up to the Neil Colgan Hut with Pat & Susie and Shaun, all of whom I've climbed with a number of times before and are always good company. The ascent of the Perren Route up to the hut is an excellent climb in itself and took most of the first day.

Shaun high on the Perren Route, Moraine Lake is visible below.

The next morning we started early and headed to the West Ridge of Mt. Fay, probably the best climb in the area. After crossing the bergshrund, we moved together up the few hundred meters of steep snow to the ridgeline. From here, we split into two teams so that Pat and Shaun could get some practice leading on alpine rock. The rock was dry and has some challenging sections up to about 5.4 in difficulty. Clear skies gave us awesome views of the Rockies, Bugaboos, Rogers Pass, and many other distant areas. The descent went smoothly and we were back in the hut before things became dangerously warm.

Pat on Mt. Fay.

Pat, Shaun, and Susie on the descent back down the West Ridge of Fay.

The next morning Pat & I cruised up Mt. Little above the hut before we all descended back to Moraine Lake.

For the last week I enjoyed relaxing in the Ghost River with friends for my bachelor party (getting hitched in September), and then an ascent of the Floe Lake Rockwall in Kootenay National Park which I will writeup soon!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Alpine Skills Course & air guitar practice!

2011-07-06T11:11:00.005-06:00

Apart from lots of great climbing, June's Alpine Skills Course was a really good time thanks to Luke, Linda, Aaron, and Andrew who made everyday fun, and at times funny! For example, we are likely the first people in the climbing history of the Rockies to play air guitar on two 11000 foot peaks in just four days, see photo's below.

Learning alpine ice climbing skills at the Columbia Icefields.

Practicing at the toe of the glacier below Mt. Athabasca.

Air guitar on the summit of Mt. Athabasca.

Descending the AA Col route after summiting Athabasca.

Learning to build rock anchors on day 3.

Ascending the first part of the "Owen Gully's" route up Mt. Cline.

Enjoying the very exposed crux on Mt. Cline in winter like conditions.

Yup, felt like winter! Also at the crux on Cline.

Air guitar on the summit of another 11000er, Mt. Cline.

Descending the upper ridge on Mt. Cline.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Icefields & Rock Climbing with Andrei & Galena!

2011-06-17T09:53:00.006-06:00

Just finished up three days of climbing with a couple of great guests from New Jersey. We based out of the Icefields & had to deal with some "interesting" weather & conditions but managed to get a bunch of great climbing in regardless!

On Tuesday we found ourselves starting up Mt. Athabasca by headlamp and were soon on the glacier. We were hoping to do the Silverhorn but there was a minimal overnight freeze so we opted for the slightly faster North Glacier route in order to try and beat the daytime warming. It ended up being good conditions and we enjoyed the route!

On the summit ridge of Athabasca.

After a more leisurely start on Wednesday, we headed into a nice rock climbing area on the David Thompson Highway which I developed a number of years ago. They had never rock climbed before, but after a couple of initial shaky climbs, they quickly got the hang of it and climbed well all day. Even when it started raining they were keen to keep on climbing, so we did!

Rock climbing on Hwy 11.

Lots of bears in the valley bottoms these days!

For our final day, we woke up to heavy rain so had to change our plans unfortunately. However, we were still wanting to get up in the Alpine so we made an ascent of Boundary Peak in rather wild conditions. We took the route that goes up the glacier to the Boundary/Athabasca col and then followed the ridge to the top on snow covered rock. Despite not being able to see much, it was still fun to be up high in full-on conditions, and we all enjoyed the climb. Hopefully they can make it back in the future for an ascent of our original goal, Mt. Andromeda!

On the summit of Boundary Peak in a blizzard!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Andromeda - Skyladder

2011-06-07T17:58:00.003-06:00

Part way up the Skyladder

Had a great day out at the Icefields with Tezla & Dan from Calgary. We set out at 3:00am for the Skyladder Route on Mt. Andromeda , which doesn't get climbed anywhere near as often as Mt. Athabasca. The snowpack was soft at the parking lot, but became more supportive as we gained elevation. By the time we reached the glacier, conditions were excellent and we moved quickly. After avoiding a few crevasses on the lower glacier, we crossed the bergshrund and kicked steps up the Skyladder as fast as we could. We cruised the route and were on top in no time.

On the summit!

We descended back down the route and were back at the car before 11:00am!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Glacier Travel Course & Mt. Athabasca

2011-05-31T09:03:00.005-06:00

Just finished up a few great days out at the Columbia Icefields with some really fun guests!

On the weekend, six climbers from around Alberta & BC joined me for the first Glacier Travel Course of the summer. It snowed a little bit on Saturday morning but after that it was beauty out for the rest of the weekend. On Saturday we went to my usual crevasse rescue site & practiced all sorts of crevasse rescue skills. By early afternoon everyone had a good handle on how to build snow anchors, escape the system, set up a rope rescue, and get someone out of a crevasse. We then practiced using the rope to hold a partners slip or fall on moderate angled snow slopes. Finally, everyone learned how to ascend a rope out of a crevasse with a couple pieces of cord and a few biners.

Climbing up the lower tongue of the North Glacier.

Sunday, we started earlier and headed up to the North Glacier on Mt. Athabasca. We did a nice long tour on the glacier & everyone learned how to rope up, travel efficiently with the rope on, identify likely areas of crevassing, and avoid a variety of other mountain hazards. We finished the day with some glissading & self arrest practice.

Practicing self arrest below Mt. Athabasca.

On Monday, two of the course participants, Tyler & Mark, woke up at 1:00am with me so that we could climb Mt. Athabasca before the sun weakened the snowpack. It turned out that there had been a good overnight freeze and conditions were perfect for our ascent of the Silverhorn route. We moved quickly across the lower glacier & were kicking steps up the Silverhorn as the sun rose. Tyler & Mark climbed steady & efficiently so we reached the summit at the early hour of 7:30! The view was awesome and we could see as far as the Selkirk Mountains in B.C., as well as hundreds of peaks in the Rockies. A quick descent down the Ramp Route (N. Glacier) while the snow was soon frozen had us back at the car just eight and a half hours after we started.

Just a quick word of caution to other climbers attempting climbs at the Icefields in the next few weeks that a good overnight freeze will usually be essential for safe travel conditions. There is still plenty of snow to produce high avalanche hazard, especially if it is warm & sunny or lots of snow is being transported by wind.

Tyler & Mark on the summit of Athabasca!

Overall it was an excellent first trip of the season to the Icefields & I'm looking forward to many more fun days out there this summer!

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Rock Climbing Season!

2011-05-27T09:43:00.003-06:00

Rock climbing season is in full swing! Climbers have been spotted dancing around on cliffs throughout the Rockies, and those who fled south for the Spring have mostly returned to the Bow Valley.

For my part, I had a fun day up on Yamnuska with Soo from the United Kingdom. We climbed a mix of a few routes on the West End and did a total of 7 pitches up to 5.8. It was a bit cold in the morning but once we were on the cliff the sun warmed us nicely. Soo had never multipitch climbed before but she did awesome and we both had lots of fun!

The West end of Yamnuska. We climbed near the left side of the photo.

I've also had a few fun days dangling from overhangs at the crags around Canmore, and am hoping to push my sport climbing abilities a bit further this summer. A couple days ago I went up to Guides Rock near Banff for the first time and I would highly recommend it as a dry & scenic crag with some really cool climbing.

Rock climbing at a fun secret crag on Saturday.

On the weekend I taught the first Intro Rock Course of the season and we were lucky enough to have good weather throughout. On Saturday we avioded the May Long Weekend crowds by going to my top-secret rock crag which I have developed over the last couple years. It was nice and quiet for learning to climb & belay. On Sunday we headed to Wasootch and climbed like mad for most of the day!

Rock climbing at Wasootch.

Off to the Icefields now for a Glacier Travel Course & some alpine climbing!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Ice, Ice, and more Ice!

2011-03-23T09:49:00.004-06:00

It's been an awesome couple months of non-stop ice climbing here in the Rockies! Due to prioritizing climbing over computers, breaking 2 cameras, and just being super busy in general, I haven't posted anything here for quite some time. So, without any further delay, here is some pics from the last couple months. This is only a sampling of the routes I've been climbing & guiding, but there were some good ones for sure!

Terry from Scotland on Finishing Hammer Gully in February.

Terry below 570 after climbing SAR's on Ice.

Mythological (WI6), the best route in the Okanagan. I never thought I'd drive all the way to the Okanagan to go ice climbing, but this route was well worth the drive!

Chris D. leading the first pitch of Mythological.

Me starting up one of the crux pitches on Mythological. Photo: Dave Edgar.

Chris & Dave hanging from the wild overhanging branches on top of Mythological.

Climbing in Grotto Canyon on the Ice Skills Week in February. It was an awesome week with everyone learning to lead climb, mixed climb, and multipitch!

Shawn on one of his first ever leads during the Ice Skills Week!

My Daddy's a Psycho (WI5+) beside Murchison Falls. This is one of the best routes I've guided this season, super fun!

Tyler rappeling into a cave on the descent from My Daddy's a Psycho.

On top of these trips, I've had lots of super fun guests over the last couple months, and appreciate everyone making the effort to get out ice climbing with me in the Rockies this winter!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

January Ice roundup.

2011-02-05T13:52:00.004-07:00

It's been a few weeks since I've posted on here, mostly because I've been working lots on an online ice climbing guidebook at http://www.canadianrockiesice.com/ . However, rest assured that I have been ice climbing lots and have run some fun courses & trips! Avalanche conditions were out of control for much of the month, so I explored a number of low-hazard but hard to get to areas that I'd never checked out before including Green Monster & Slurpee, Ya-Ha-Tinda Ranch area, and lots more.

Here are some photos from the last month!

Dave Edgar on the 1st pitch of the Weeping Wall's Central Pillar (WI5+)

Paul Tiere climbing out a hole onto the WW's Central Pillar.

An Intermediate Ice Course with Trevor & Lori in Haffner Creek.

The next day at Wedge Smear.

The Sorcerer (WI5) in the Ghost. The route was in great shape when we climbed it a couple weeks ago.

My Mom ice climbing for the 1st time in Grotto Canyon.

Mom kicking butt on Hers in Grotto Canyon.

Mike K. practicing ice skills on a secret climb a few weeks ago.

Due to tragic camera failure, I missed about 10 days worth of climbs, but the problem is resolved and there should be more stories & pics coming soon!

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Grotto Canyon & Moonlight with Rick

2011-01-14T11:26:00.003-07:00

Rick joined me last weekend for a great couple days of ice climbing. On Saturday we headed into Grotto Canyon and did tons of laps on "His" (WI4), "Hers" (WI3), and "Grotto Falls" (WI2). "His" was in quite challenging conditions and involved a bit of mixed climbing & some overhanging ice to gain the pillar! Rick was doing awesome so we even did a lap on one of the M6 mixed climbs at the end of the day.

Rick on "His" in Grotto Canyon.

On Sunday we hiked up Evan Thomas Creek and climbed the classic Moonlight. Due to wet ice in the middle, we climbed a harder WI4+ line on the far left that was steep & super fun! Rick had only ice climbed a few days before, but he gave it 100% effort and did great.

Rappelling down Moonlight.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Bridge Too Far & Tasting Fear

2011-01-10T12:20:00.004-07:00

The first pitch of A Bridge Too Far.

Had a good day of ice climbing with Andy last week. We headed up Galatea Creek behind Mt. Kidd & climbed A Bridge Too Far (WI4) which was in good shape. Next we traversed across to take a look at Mountain Dew, but decided the avalanche hazard was too high to climb in the tight slot canyon. So, we dropped back down to the trail and hiked up to Tasting Fear, a really fun single pitch route in a cool little canyon.

More pics & info on these routes can be found on the Canadian Rockies Ice Climbing Encyclopedia.

Andy on Tasting Fear

J. Mills

www.cdnalpine.com

Virtual Reality/Murchison Falls

2011-01-07T16:22:00.005-07:00

Steve leading a long ice pitch on Virtual Reality. Photo: Rapheal Slawinski.

Had a great day up in the Murchison Falls cirque with Rapheal Slawinski & Steve Holeczi on Tuesday. We were hoping to find a mixed variation to the unformed Virtual Reality (WI6), but after climbing to the top of the ice, we were unable to get through the rock section. Instead, we traversed over to the top pitch of Murchison Falls and climbed a fantastic but short (15m) mixed pitch of about M5 and finished up on Murchison.

Climbing the fun mixed pitch just to the right of Murchison Falls last pitch. Photo: Rapheal Slawinski.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Sea of Vapours

2011-01-03T13:36:00.003-07:00

The Trophy Wall on Mt. Rundle. Sea of Vapours is the righthand line.

Had a great day up on Sea of Vapours at the Trophy Wall on Mt. Rundle last week with Dave Edgar and his buddy Chris from Washington. It was -25C in the parking lot at 6:00am and didn't warm up too much during the day. Despite the cold, the climb was in excellent shape and went at about WI5 with only one move of mixed climbing. We had 70m ropes so we managed to do the route in 2 and a half pitches with sheltered belays.

It was great to get up on the Trophy Wall again, it always feels like a big wild place up there!

J. Mills
www.cdnalpine.com

Intermediate Ice Course - Step Right Up & Haffner Creek

2010-12-16T13:29:00.004-07:00

Got a really fun group of 4 climbers together for last weekends Intermediate Ice Course. Everyone ended up having fairly similar experience levels so it worked out great!

Ice climbing on Step Right Up on Saturday.

On Saturday we went into Step Right Up (WI2-3) and climbed all day on every single inch of it. There are a variety of lines to take so it is a great place to work on skills & techniques. By the end of the day, everyone was climbing with style and ready for more challenge on Sunday.

Ice climbing in Haffner Creek.

Sunday we headed into Haffner Creek to climb some steeper ice. There was already a large group in there, but fortunately Haffner has lots to go around and we found a number of fun routes to climb. Some of the climbs had sections of thin ice, so it was a good chance to learn some different techniques as well. We also spent some time practicing skills with ice screws, v-threads, and anchors. It was a full day out and by the time we made it back to Canmore it was dark. Only another week until the days start getting longer again!

Trying some mixed climbing in Haffner Creek.

Thanks to Trent, Justin, Donna, and Luke for a fun weekend!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Louise Falls with Shaun

2010-12-16T13:08:00.003-07:00

Louise Falls from below.

Last Friday Shawn joined me for a great day of ice climbing on Louise Falls above Lake Louise, Alberta.

Midway up Louise Falls.

After a quick hike around the lake we plowed up to the base of the route through a few feet of soft snow. Two pitches of WI3 led us to a cave behind the crux pillar. The crux pitch was in much more difficult shape (WI5) than it is later in the season, but had some really good climbing. Above, a final pitch of harder-than-it-looks ice took us to the top. We decided to rappel the route instead of walking off.

Rappelling the bottom pitch.

Back at the base, we top-roped the bottom pitch a few times so Shawn could practice placing ice screws and get some more climbing in.

As always, it was a fun day on the ice!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Three days of ice climbing with Jarrid

2010-12-09T11:12:00.003-07:00

Spent the last three days climbing like mad with Jarrid from Edmonton. He has done some ice climbing in the past & is a quick learner so we were able to get lots of good climbing in!

We started out with a day in Haffner Creek working on technique. We climbed every ice route in the canyon as well as practising some anchor building skills.

Climbing one of the ice routes in Haffner Creek.

On Tuesday we decided to do a multipitch climb and headed to the classic Guinness Gully (WI4) near Field, BC. The route is well formed but is a bit more difficult than usual. It provided good challenging climbing on every pitch, culminating in the long last pitch of sustained WI4. In order to practice more skills, we rappelled the route instead of walking off.

Topping out on the last pitch of Guinness Gully.

For our final day we attempted the route Masseys near Field, but encountered extremely fragile ice on the first pitch. After climbing the first 15 meters we decided to call it quits and head somewhere else. The climb will likely fatten up in the next few days and should be good to go pretty soon. After walking the short distance back to the car, we drove to Grotto Canyon where Jarrid did his first lead of the season on Grotto Falls. He cruised the route and it was a great way to end our three days!

Jarrid leading on Grotto Falls.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Intro Ice Course - King Creek & Wedge Smear

2010-12-09T11:04:00.003-07:00

The first Intro Ice Course of the season was a great success! Six new climbers from around Alberta joined me for a weekend of learning how to ice climb, and everyone did excellent.

On Saturday we headed into King Creek and soon everyone was bashing away at the ice and working their way up the routes. Throughout the day we did five different climbs and everyone saw a vast improvement in their skills by the end of the day.

Sunday we hiked up to the Wedge Smear and had the area to ourselves! There is lots of variety in the difficulty of climbs, so everyone was able to challenge themselves on some steeper routes. We also spent some time practicing with ice screws and anchors. Enthusiasm was high and everyone climbed non-stop all day long.

I hope to see everyone from the course again in the future!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Yoho Valley Ice with Eric

2010-12-08T18:19:00.004-07:00

The Pillars as viewed from Field of Dreams. Eric is just visible at the base.

Had a great day on Friday climbing some ice with Eric from Calgary. We headed into one of the most underappreciated ice zones in the Rockies, the Yoho Valley Road leading to Takkakaw Falls. The closest routes are only an hour of easy walking (or skiing), are visible from the Transcanada, and are really good!

After the approach, we started with a nice WI4 route called The Pillars or Ogden 7. Due to wettness, we took one of the harder lines on it and were rewarded with a good pump & some steep climbing. After rapelling off, we headed up a route just to the right called Field Of Dreams (WI5) which was in very difficult shape but provided some interesting climbing. We still had some daylight left so we walked a bit further up the road and climbed one of the many unnamed routes in the area. Eric led the first pitch of nice WI3, and we finished up a short steeper bit to the top.

Eric on Field of Dreams.

Overall it was a great day of climbing and we had all the routes to ourselves!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Nemesis (WI6) at the Stanley Headwall

2010-11-18T13:03:00.004-07:00

Steve on the first pitch of Nemesis.

Climbed the mega-classic ice route Nemesis on Tuesday with Steve Holeczi. The climb was in more difficult shape than it usually is and we were challenged by the early season ice features. With 70m ropes we were able to do the route in two long pitches. On the second pitch there were some wild overhanging ice mushrooms to negotiate, followed by a long stretch of steep chandeliere ice, lots of fun! The other hard routes at the Stanley Headwall still need some time to fatten up, although Suffer Machine looks close.

Me on pitch 2.

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Red Rocks & Joshua Tree

2010-11-16T13:44:00.004-07:00

Had a great 3 week road trip down to Nevada & California with my fiancee Jody. We climbed nearly every day and met up with a bunch of friends while down there. In Red Rocks we did a bunch of fun multipitch routes and then headed to Joshua Tree for some granite crack climbing in the Dr. Seuss like landscape.

Jody took some kick-ass photos, here's a few of them:

Me on a 5.12b in Red Rocks.

Hanging with friends from Canada in Red Rocks.

Me climbing on the sweet granite of J-Tree.

Sunset over the Joshua Trees.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Two new ice routes in October!

2010-11-14T10:39:00.003-07:00

I just got back from a really fun road trip to Nevada & California, but before I left I was super-duper psyched to get some ice climbing in! As much as I love mountaineering & rock climbing all summer, I still spend much of the summer looking forward to ice climbing season!

My new route on Mt. Burstall climbs the thin ice near the center of the photo.

Anyways, for my first day on ice this year I took a drive down the Spray Lakes road by myself with the intention of climbing R&D. However, as I was passing Burstall Pass parking lot I noticed a cool looking line on Mt. Burstall. I had my bike on the roof so the approach only took about and hour, and soon I was picking my way up some slabby rock onto the thin ice. The ice turned out to be pretty good grade 3 or easy grade 4. The hardest climbing was at the bottom but I continued up all the way to the ridge line, from where I spotted the route I did 2 days later with Eammon. I descended the ridge (1 rappel) back to the Burstall Pass trail.

Moyen Monster (WI6, M5R) is the sliver of ice in the very middle of the picture.

The first pitch of Moyen Monster from below, with the second pitch partly visible up and left.

Two days later, Eammon & I headed down the same trail with out sights on a sliver of ice I'd spotted on Snow Peak, just right of Burstall Pass. A couple hours later we were at the base nervously looking up at 60 meters of vertical chandeliered ice. I decided to give it a go, and it was indeed full value! The climbing was sustained WI6 and was mostly too airy for good ice screws. There were some super cool features though, and it rekindled my addiction to steep ice.

Above this pitch, we traversed left a short ways and Eammon did a great job of leading through some overhanging & unprotected M5 climbing onto a strip of WI4 ice to the top. We continued up snowslopes and short rock steps to the summit and easily descended the ridge. Last winter Eammon, Steve Holeczi & I started our season with a new route we named "Facile (easy in french) Monster", and since this one was significantly harder we named it "Moyen (medium) Monster".

Eammon's feet above the M5R overhang.

Eammon making faces for the camera on the summit, as usual.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

2 weeks on the West Coast.

2010-10-24T17:27:00.003-06:00

The Joffre Group from Duffy Lake.

Enjoyed the first couple weeks of October on the West Coast rock climbing in Squamish & guiding in the Joffre Group.

The guiding was 2 five day mountaineering courses with groups of 10 students on the Capilano University Wilderness Leadership Program. We mostly worked on snow & ice skills, and managed to summit Mt. Hartzel both weeks. Before and between work, I climbed as many granite cracks as I could with friends Jody Sutherland and Paul McSorley.

A group of CapU students descending Mt. Hartzel.

Big crew on Hartzel's summit.

Jody Sutherland near the top of the mega-classic Exasperator.

Jody again, this time on Caboose.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Yamnuska - Yellow Edge (5.11b)

2010-09-29T09:51:00.004-06:00

Yellow Edge climbs near the sunny arete on the right.

Had a great day in the sunshine up on Yamnuska this week. Eamonn and I climbed the super classic (although often feared!) Yellow Edge route. This route was originally climbed as an aid route but was first free climbed in the 80's by Peter Croft & Colin Zacharias. Today, much of the loose rock has cleaned off, and the gear is pretty good. Many of the cruxes are protected by drilled pitons that I'm guessing were placed on the first ascent, I'm not sure I'd want to take any big falls on them!

The climbing was really fun and provided lots of challenge with every pitch coming in at 5.10 or harder.

Now I'm off to Squamish for a few weeks of guiding in the Joffre Group and climbing sweet granite on the days off!

J. Mills
www.cdnalpine.com

Mt. Coleman scramble

2010-09-24T12:56:00.003-06:00

Had a nice day out last week looking for early season ice. We didn't find any but we did scramble to the top of Mt. Coleman along the Icefields Parkway. It is mostly a hike with a tiny bit of scrambling near the end. Sweet views of Alexandria, Cline, Columbia, and lots of other big peaks.

Eamonn & Raphael near the top of Mt. Coleman.

This was my 26th summit of the summer, I think it's time to give the legs a break and start working the arms! Come on ice climbing!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Glacier Travel Course & Athabasca climb.

2010-09-19T14:34:00.003-06:00

It felt like winter at the Columbia Icefields last weekend, complete with snow in the campground each morning and all! However, that didn't stop us from having a fun and successfull weekend.

Crossing some crevasses on Sunday.

On Saturday & Sunday, 5 climbers joined me for a glacier travel & crevasse rescue course. We practiced tons of skills including how to rescue each other from a crevasse, ascending a rope, traveling roped up, some navigation, and, most importantly, how to cross glaciers without falling into a crevasse in the first place! We also worked on some basic snow & ice climbing skills by climbing an ice slope and then later on climbing in and out of a crevasse.

Travelling roped up on the North Glacier below Mt. Athabasca.

On Monday, one of the participants, Jon, stayed for an ascent of Mt. Athabasca. There was lots of fresh snow so we climbed the AA Col route which has the least amount of avalanche hazard. The weather was pretty good and we enjoyed the ascent! It was Jon's first big peak but he has great fitness and the right attitude so the climb went smoothly & quickly.

Jon on Mt. Athabasca.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Yamnuska - 2 routes with Ryan

2010-09-19T14:26:00.003-06:00

Ryan near the top of King's Chimneys on Mt. Yamnuska.

Had a great day of rock climbing up on Yamnuska with Ryan from Ontario. We started out with the Unnamed route (AKA the Pumpkin Route) which is one of the best 5.7 climbs on the wall. Despite it being Ryan's first multipitch climb we made it up the route super fast and were keen for more! After a quick bite to eat we ran back to the base and climbed Kings Chimneys, another fun route on the west end of the mountain. It went smoothly too and we were soon shaking hands on top. In total we climbed about 450m of rock, mostly in the 5.4-5.7 range. I think Ryan is now hooked on multipitch climbing and I hope to be able to climb with him again in the future!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Ramblings with Eamonn

2010-09-06T11:08:00.004-06:00

Took some time off from guiding the last while to do some climbing with my good friend Eammon. Our original plan was to try the North Face of Mt. Gekie in the Tonquin Valley near Jasper. The weather however had other plans and it rained or snowed most days so we stuck a little closer to home.

After a couple days cragging at Back of the Lake & Grassi Lakes we had a fun day on Yamnuska climbing Unforgiven, a mostly bolted 5.11c route to the left of Grillmairs Chimneys. Although rock climbing is super fun, we were both keen to get up into the alpine despite the snowy conditions.

We settled on trying to traverse as many peaks as we could in 3 days, starting with Mt. Sarbach by the Saskatchewan River Crossing on the Icefields Parkway. We had a very civilized 1:00pm start, but managed to make it up and over Sarbach to a high bivi below the Kauffman Peaks well before dark. The views of Forbes, the Lyells, and the Freshfield peaks were jaw dropping!

Eamonn near the top of Sarbach looking over the peaks we would traverse the next day.

Our rad bivi site between Sarbach and North Kauffman. Mt. Forbes is the biggest peak behind.

In the morning we started up the steep North face of the North Kauffman and were pleased to find solid (although snowy!) rock and not too much difficulty. It took less than an hour to reach the top, but getting down the other side was much trickier! This turned out to be the trend for the trip, and in every case it took longer to get down the south sides than it did to get up the North.

Eamonn on top of North Kauffman looking at the N. Face of South Kauffman, which we climbed next.

Eamonn climbing snowy rock somewhere along the way.

We ended up climbing North Kauffman (10200ft), South Kauffman (10200ft), and Eppaullette (10300ft) that day before descending into the Howse valley and camping at the river. All in all, we scrambled up and down tons of snowy rock, up to about 5.4, and did a few rappels. The only climbing section we belayed was one short bit between the two Kauffmans. I would highly recommend this trip, but you need to be very solid with your downclimbing & rappelling skills.

Eamonn on another snowy rock band.

The peaks we traversed, we stayed on or near the ridgeline the entire way.

In the morning we hiked out the Howse river to the car on a trail that was hard to follow since it was mostly buried under fresh bear crap.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Eisenhower Tower with Chris & Jamie

2010-09-06T10:56:00.003-06:00

Jamie climbing a steep section on Eisenhower Tower.

Spent a super fun day on Eisenhower Tower last week with Chris & Jamie from Stoney Plain. Chris was keen to practice his leading skills so he ended up leading almost the entire route!

The route.

We started up the trail at dawn, and it was a beautiful clear morning. The approach went quickly and we were soon scrambling up the lower tier of Castle mountain. Once we reached the Dragons back, Chris led some of the sections & I led the others. The steep 20 foot crux (that the guidebook neglects to mention) provided some extra challenge as always. Upon reaching the headwall, Chris & Jamie climbed as a team of two with Chris leading while I climbed just ahead to provide tips and keep us on route. Both Chris and Jamie climbed really well and we moved smoothly up the mountain. Chris basically led the entire way to the top and was psyched to get so much practice leading in the mountains.

Chris leading on the headwall.

The descent went smoothly and we were back at the car having a celebratory beverage in no time!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Temple East Ridge attempt.

2010-09-06T10:44:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago, Kevin joined me for an attempt at the East Ridge of Mt. Temple. I knew there was a storm system moving in but I thought we might be able to beat it to the summit! Unfortunately it didn't work out that way but we did have a fun and adventurous day anyways.
We started up the route at just after 2am, and cruised up the lower slopes and into the quartzite gullies. Kevin has superhuman fitness so we moved very fast and were way up the route before sunrise.

An easier scrambling section as we moved up to the snow line.

It has been spitting on and off all morning (night?) but it changed to wet snow as we reached the Big Step. We decided to give it a shot anyways in the hopes that things would clear up. We climbed 2 steep pitches with boots & gloves on before calling it quits. Retreating off the East Ridge is a daunting prospect to most people, but there is a way to go into a large bowl to the South-East that only requires a few rappels and a bit of downclimbing. It went smoothly and we were back at the car a few hours later.

Kevin cruising up wet 5.7 quartzite with his gloves on!

Hopefully if Kevin gets a chance to try the route again in the future, he won't need to wear gloves on the crux 5.7 climbing!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Alpine Skills Week!

2010-08-25T12:16:00.003-06:00

Last weeks Alpine Skills Course was a huge success with tons of climbing, lots of skills training, two major summits, and of course a healthy dose of fun! Thanks to Riel, Mike, and Justin's natural ability, good fitness, and great attitudes, we were able to achieve all our goals for the week.

Once the glacier travel course was over, we progressed onto steeper snow & ice climbing skills. On Monday we headed up to the Boundary Glacier and spent the day on it's steep snow & ice slopes. The lower part of the slope was snow so everyone took turns leading up and practicing belay techniques for this type of terrain. Once we reached the steeper ice up high, I set up some topropes and everyone had a bunch of turns climbing up and down the 45 degree glacier ice. Finally we did a full 60 meter pitch of steeper ice and then learned how to rappel back down it using a V-Thread anchor.

Top-roping the glacier ice on the Boundary Glacier.

Up at 3:00am we scarfed down some cereal and coffee then began our ascent of Mt. Athabasca! The Silverhorn route was looking too icy, so we opted for the classic North Glacier route. This turned out to be a perfect climb to give everyone a chance to lead the way and put all the new skills into practice. The day was very smoky due to forest fires in BC, but otherwise the weather was perfect and we made good time up the route. After high-fives and a break on the summit, we descended back down the same route.

Justin, Mike, and Riel on the lower part of Athabasca en route to the summit. The smoke in the air caused a strange reddish glow all day.

On the final part of the ridge with the summit in the back.

On Wednesday we said goodbye to the land of snow & ice and moved to the David Thompson Highway where we began the alpine rock climbing portion of the week. We started off with a rock skills day at a roadside crag. We practiced rock climbing in boots, anchor building with cams, nuts, and other trad gear, multipitch belays, and a variety of other skills.

Thursday we packed our bags and made the trek into Mt. Cline basecamp. Once there, we had a fun afternoon of rock climbing on the giant boulders and making improvements to the camping area. In the evening we enjoyed a feast of fancy cheeses, dry salami, crackers, and an Indian curry dish to help refuel for the next day.

Rock climbing on the giant limestone boulders below Mt. Cline.

Up early again we began the ascent by headlamp on another perfect weather day! We soon reached the scrambling gullies, which are snow earlier in the year, and climbed a few hundred meters of 4th class terrain. This route isn't in any guidebooks but is definitally the best of the moderate routes up the peak. Once on the upper bench below Mt. Owen, we crossed the small glacier & snowfields to reach the harder upper South Ridge. Some more scrambling brought us to the two notches that gaurd the upper slopes. The first notch requires some careful downclimbing and then a few moves of 5.4 rock climbing up the other side. The thousand foot drops on either side make this section quite exciting! The second notch is crossed via a rappel, although some foolish climbers have jumped this notch over the years! Why? I can't imagine.
An hour later we reached the 11000 foot summit! On the way down we had to reverse the notches and then continued down the normal route to the Cline Lakes. Back at camp we packed up and made the hike out to the highway.

Nice scrambling on the lower part of Mt. Cline.

Crossing the first notch.

Rapelling the second notch. Someday I'm going to sit on top of that tower in the back!

The team on the summit!

Descending the upper slopes back to the notches.

Overall it was a fun & succesfull week, and I was glad to see that all three of the guys are now hooked on climbing! I look forward to getting out with them again in the future.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Glacier Travel Course!

2010-08-23T14:44:00.003-06:00

Had another great group of people out for a glacier travel course a couple weekends ago! We all camped out at the Icefield Campground and headed out for our days from there.

On Saturday we went to a good practice spot and learned how to rescue each other from crevasses. Starting with building snow anchors, we progressed through the skills until everyone was able to use the rope systems to efficiently & safely haul a fallen climber out of a hole. Later in the day we practices self rescue techniques such as climbing up a rope using prussics & biners.

Learning to rescue each other out of crevasses.

Sunday was spent learning how to travel on a glacier without falling in a crevasse, a much more important skill! Snow line is quite high right now so we headed up to about 8000 feet on the North Glacier below Mt. Athabasca. We did a fun tour on the snow & ice and crossed a number of crevasses along the way. In the afternoon we found an open crevasse which we took turns lowering each other into and them climbed out. To finish off we did a couple of long rappels down a steeper ice slope and practiced a number of techniques along the way.

Traveling on the glacier below Mt. Athabasca.

Ice climbing in a crevasse!

It was a fun weekend at the Icefields, and also the start of a week long Alpine Skills Course, more on that later!

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Yamnuska with Mark & Chris

2010-08-12T19:50:00.004-06:00

Our lines (approx.) on Yam!

Had a sweet day of rock climbing in the sun with Mark & Chris yesterday. It was their first time on Yam so we chose the classic Unnamed (5.7) route, AKA "the pumkin route" due to a large pumpkin spraypainted on the last pitch!

At a belay on Unnamed.

Everyone was climbing strong and we cruised up the 6 pitches of the climb in no time. A couple of the corners & chimneys provided some challenge and overall it was lots of fun. Since we were up the route so fast, we decided to go play around on the 2 pitch routes near the East end of Yam for the afternoon. The routes tend to wander so we just linked a few of them together for a nice challenging 5.9+ route that was about 80 meters long. It was a perfect way to end the day!

Mark on our east end variation (5.9+).

Mark & Chris are in the area climbing all week and I'm sure they will have some more good adventures!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt Temple - East Ridge (IV 5.7) with Greg & Dennis

2010-08-12T16:48:00.004-06:00

Dodged the rainstorms last week and hit a great weather day on the classic East Ridge of Mt. Temple with Greg & Dennis. They had just returned from a trip to the Bugaboos and were keen to try out a big Rockies alpine climb.

They both have lots of experience climbing, and it sure came in handy as we quickly scrambled and rock climbed up the lower quartzite bands. In what seemed like no time we reached the Big Step and started up the steep and difficult crux pitches, it always feels harder than 5.7 to me! The climbing through this section is some of the best alpine rock in the Rockies, and we enjoyed five long pitches of challenging climbing.

Scrambling at dawn, a few hours into our day.

Steep climbing on the Big Step.

Above the Big Step things have dried out considerably since I was there last month, and we were able to scramble up moderatly angled rock to the start of the infamous Black Towers. Having been through them a few time before, I finally feel like I have found the best way and we were able to avoid too much nasty loose rock. In places the climbing is actually quite enjoyable, and at least the belays are solid! After 5 pitches in the towers we emerged on the edge of the upper glacier and were treated to excellent views of the surrounding peaks! Mt. Deltaform, Mt. Victoria, Mt. Lefroy, and Mt. Fay were just some of the hundreds of mountains we could see.

Scrambling towards the Black Towers.

Climbing limestone on the Black Towers.

An hour or so of snow and ice climbing led us to the summit! It was super nice out so we relaxed for a while before heading down the scramblers route.

Climbing the last part of the glacier near the summit.

Smiling on top!

Not wanting to waste the last of their vacation time, Greg & Dennis flew into Mt. Assiniboine the very next day and reached the summit the day after that! That's some good motivation!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Robson - Furher Ridge (IV, 70 degree mixed) with Brad

2010-08-09T17:08:00.008-06:00

Mt. Robson with the Fuhrer Ridge on the left, the North Face in the middle, and the upper Emperor Face on the right. The Helmet is the partially visible peak on the far left.

Had an awesome trip to Mt. Robson (12971ft) with Brad from July 30 - Aug 2nd. Mt. Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies and one of the most challenging peaks in North America! Brad is one of my strongest & most determined guests so we chose to try a more difficult & rarely climbed route, the Fuhrer Ridge. The Fuhrer follows a series of mixed ice & rock gullies on the North side of the mountain between the popular Kain Route and the North Face.

A foreshortened view of the Furher Ridge route from our camp below.

On day 1 we met in Jasper and packed our bags. Even though we had super-light camping & climbing gear, we still ended up with packs weighing about 60 pounds. We used bikes as far as is allowed (7km) on the Berg Lake trail and then hiked the remaining 12km to Berg Lake. From here, we began scrambling up a massive rock buttress that splits the Mist & Berg Glaciers. We scrambled for hundreds & hundreds of meters, and some of it felt rather tricky with a 60 pound pack! Finally, after 10 hours on the move, we found an amazing campsite on a flat prow just below the top of the buttress.

Brad scrambling on the lower section of the rock buttress. Berg Lake and Mist Lake visible below.

Our awesome campsite on night 1 with the massive Emperor Face behind!

Up early, we had breakfast and then finished off the buttress via a couple steeper pitches and a rappell into a gully. From there, we began crossing the chaotic glacier below the North Face. This was truly an amazing place to be, with the massive Emperor Face & North Faces above, and a sea of peaks behind. However, the glacier is very broken and was perhaps the most challenging glacier travel I have ever done. In places we had to cross very skinny ice bridges with bottomless crevasses on either side. To complicate things further, many sections of the glacier are threatened by seracs and have to be avoided. After much weaving, climbing, and "tightrope walking", we finally made it to our campsite on the ice between the Helmet and the Furher Ridge. It was a cool place to camp, to say the least!

One of the many exciting parts on the glacier!

Long before the sun rose we were boiling water for breakfast and preparing ourselves for the route. The skies were more clear than they had been for the last couple days so we were psyched to get started! A short walk up the lower snow slopes brought us to the rather large and overhanging bergshrund (a bergshrunds is a large crevasse near the base of most ice faces). By headlamp I hung from an ice screw and chopped a way through the overhanging lip. A couple of exciting moves surmounted the 'shrund and Brad soon followed quickly through it. From here we climbed a number of pitches on 50 degree ice & snow until reaching the mixed gullies.

A few pitches up the route at first light.

The climbing became much more challenging from here on. Pitch, after pitch, after pitch, of thin ice, steep snow, and short rock steps led us up the initial gully. We soon lost count of how many pitches we had climbed. After many hours of awesome mixed climbing, we had to make a difficult traverse to the left in order to reach a second steep gully with more ice in it. The sun was beginning to warm things up to the point of being dangerous, so we climbed a hard mixed pitch, about 5.7, to reach a rock rib where we would be safe from falling rocks & ice. A long pitch along this rib and then a traverse underneath some giant cornices led us safely to the summit ridge. A short climb up snow slopes and we were on the summit! Although the view was largely obscured by cloud, there was no trace of wind and it was an incredible place to be! In fact, it was nice enough out that we spent some time using the stove to melt snow and relaxed for a while.

In the mixed gullies.

Climbing on & on...

Traversing below the giant cornices.

Me & Brad smiling on the summit!

With our waterbottles full we prepared to descend. I had considered a number of different options, including descending the Kain Face or even back down the route, but found a way that was even better. We managed to make a tricky little traverse into the left side of the North Face and began rappelling off ice anchors. This ended up being a super fast and direct way down to camp and we made it back to the tents in only 3.5 hours! In total I would guess that there was about 15 to 20 pitches of climbing, and about 15 double rope rappells on the way down. When we made it back to camp we ate until we were sick and then passed out in our sleeping bags, exhausted but elated!

Our line of descent down the North Face. Our route of ascent was more or less the left hand skyline.

It wasn't over yet! Up with the sun again the next morning, we packed up and began the difficult task of descending back down the Berg Glacier. At first we had our tracks from 2 days earlier to follow, but then we veered off and had to find our own way since we were not keen on descending the rock buttress. Some more complex glacier travel brought us to a beautiful meadow between Reargaurd Mtn and Mt Waffl. After a nap in the sun and drying out some gear, we crossed the Robson Glacier to the Extinguisher Tower, descended to Berg Lake, and hiked all the way out to our bikes. We could have kissed the bikes, they were the best! A high speed coast soon took us to the road just before dark, 14 hours after leaving camp that morning.

More exciting glacier travel, with the Helmet & Robson behind.

Another view of Robson from the Robson Glacier. The ice sheet is the Kain Route, and the Furher Ridge climbs the rock that appears to lead directly to the summit in this photo.

Overall it was an incredible trip that went perfectly! Brad & I had fun together, the weather cooperated, conditions were good, and we reached the highest summit in the Canadian Rockies, what could be better? We even managed to do it a day faster than planned!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Deltaform NW Ridge (III, 5.5)

2010-07-27T16:02:00.005-06:00

Mt. Deltaform (high point) and Neptuak (on right). The NW ridge follows near the right hand skyline for its entire length!

Spent the weekend climbing the North West Ridge of Mt. Deltaform, one of the classic big routes in the Valley of the 10 Peaks. Dave joined me from New Mexico and we had an awesome trip with perfect weather. The route is much much bigger than the guidebooks make it sound, but is well worth the effort!

On Saturday we made the hike in and then spent all day climbing up and over Mt. Neptuak via some snow slopes, a bit of blocky scree, and 6 or 7 pitches of limestone rock climbing. From the summit of Mt. Neptuak, we made the tricky downclimb to a large flat area at over 10000ft and set up camp for the night. It is an amazing spot to camp and watch the sunset with some of the biggest peaks in the Rockies all around. Some of the peaks we could see include Mt. Temple, Victoria, Lefroy, the Goodsirs, the Rockwall, Fay, Hector, and hundreds more!

Climbing one of the pitches on Neptuak.

Dave on the summit of Neptuak with Deltaform behind.

In the morning we left camp and began the climb up the imposing Mt. Deltaform. Pitch after pitch of varied rock climbing led up the ridge, complete with cracks, slabs, face climbing, good rock, loose rock, and everything in between! A classic Rockies alpine experience! Near the top, a short rappel into a notch and some difficult moves up the other side led to the tiny summit!

Looking back at camp (tiny yellow tent on flat area) with Neptuak behind and Mt. Hungabee in distance on right.

Dave climbing one of the upper pitches with Mt. Temple in the background.

On the summit at over 11000 feet!

We didn't linger long since the descent down the route involves about 15 rappels and lots of downclimbing, with a stop to pack up camp along the way. It was a big day and we finished off the last bit of the hike in the dark. Although we were tired, we were both super happy with our adventure!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Temple - East Ridge (IV 5.7)

2010-07-23T16:24:00.004-06:00

Mt. Temple - the East Ridge climbs the right hand skyline.

On Wednesday Shaun, one of my most skilled & fit guests, joined me for an awesome day of climbing on the mega-classic East Ridge of Mt. Temple. This is one of the best routes in the Rockies and is a huge day out with lots of good climbing!

Sunrise over the Valley of the 10 Peaks & Moraine Lake. Hard to beat the views in the Rockies!

Shaun near the base of the Big Step.

We left the car in the dark at 3am and were soon scrambling up nice blocky quartzite for pitch after pitch after pitch. We made excellent time and were quite a ways up the mountain by the time the sun rose. A couple more hours of easy rock climbing brought us to the "Big Step", a 200m cliff band of steep and excellent quartzite. It's not very often that you find rock this good on an alpine climb! The climbing was strenuous in spots but went smoothly and was lots of fun.

Shaun climbing solid quartzite on the first pitch of the Big Step.

Above the Big Step we continued up snow and rock to the infamous Black Towers of crumbling limestone. Although not as steep or difficult as the Big Step, the Black Towers are without a doubt the psychological crux of the route. According to National Parks rescuers, the record is 3 parties needing a helicopter evacuation in a single day, certainly not a place for the inexperienced! Despite the loose rock, the towers are fun in their own way and after a few pitches and some exciting moments we reached the upper glacier. From there, an hour of snow & ice climbing along the ridge led to the summit. It was nice weather on top and we were both psyched to have climbed such a fantastic route! The descent was hard on the legs but otherwise straightforward down the hikers route.

Nearing the top of the Black Towers.

On top of the Black Towers, with the void of the North Face dropping off on the Left.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Valley of 10 Peaks - Perren Route

2010-07-23T16:15:00.003-06:00

At the very exposed belay station above the chains on the Perren Route.

Had a fun adventure up and down the Perren Route to the glaciers below Mt. Fay with a couple from Ottawa. They had never done any outdoor climbing before but both did awesome in all of the difficult sections of the route!

Climbing in the upper limestone band, above the chains.

We started walking around Moraine Lake at 6:00am and it was a beautifull morning. After an hour or so we got the rope out and began the fun scrambling sections. All went well and we soon reached the two pitches of nice quartzite climbing (about 5.4) halfway up. Once above this we continued on to the upper limestone section and the famous 25 meter chain that was placed by Parks Mountain Safety Specialists a number of years ago. Despite the chain, this section is still the crux of the route and provided lots of excitement! A pitch of traversing and another of snow led to the glacier. We did a short tour on the ice over to the Niel Colgan hut and visited with some other climbers before decending the route via a few rappels and lots of down scrambling.

On the glacier, with Mt. Little in the background.

It was a fun day out and we had awesome views throughout! Mt. Fay looked to be in good conditions, although the bergshrunds on the N. Face gullies are opening up fast.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Athabasca N. Face Bypass with Brad

2010-07-16T09:52:00.004-06:00

Brad from Edmonton joined me for another great day of mountaineering at the Columbia Icefields. Over the past few years, Brad and I have climbed AthaB's Silverhorn, the North Face of Andromeda, Mt. Deltaform, Eisenhower Tower, and a number of other big climbs together.
We are hoping to bring it all together for an ascent of Mt. Robson later on this summer!

Athabasca's North Face Bypass route.

The weather was once again stormy at the Icefields so we modified our original plan a bit and chose to climb the excellent North Face Bypass route on Mt. Athabasca. It was raining when we left the parking lot, but once we reached the glaciers it had turned to snow and travel was good. We raced across the lower glacier and were soon climbing the steep snow slopes leading to the upper part of the North Ridge. On the ridge, a number of short rock steps add some challenge and we enjoyed climbing up and over them. The final snow ridge to the summit was completed in full whiteout conditions, but it was fun to be up there in the wild weather! Since the snowpack was quite solid, we decided to descend the North Glacier route and were soon back on the moraines. The skies unleashed their fury as we walked down the moraines and we got soaked to the bone as lightning crashed around us. Luckily Brad can move super fast so we made it back to the car in no time!

Climbing through the rock steps once joining the upper North Ridge.

Smiling in the face of the storm on the summit!

By the time we reached the campground it was snowing like mad, and apparently it kept snowing for almost two days afterwards! Overall it was a good warmup climb for Mt. Robson, hopefully we have some better weather for that one!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Trad Climbing Course in the Bow Valley

2010-07-16T09:23:00.003-06:00

Leading a gear climb at Wasootch.

On the weekend, three great guys joined me for a Trad Climbing Course. They were all experienced sport climbers and were able to pick up the basics of gear climbing in no time! The terms "trad climbing" and "gear climbing" refer to leading rock climbs that don't have bolts on them. Instead, the climber must place a variety of metal objects, such as cams and nuts, into cracks in the rock in order to have something to clip the rope to.

Searching for gear placements at Wasootch.

For our first day we hit the limestone of Wasootch Creek in Kananaskis. The first couple hours was spent on the ground, practicing placing nuts & cams into a variety of cracks. Once everyone was getting the hang of things, I set up a couple top-ropes on crack climbs and everyone took turns climbing them and placing gear as they went. By lunch time we were pulling the ropes and taking turns leading! Most of the afternoon was spent leading a variety of climbs, and it was good to see everyone placing good gear and climbing safely. We also spent some time building anchors by equalizing three or four pieces of gear. On the drive home we stopped at a small bit of rock near the road and I demonstrated placing pitons and everyone took turns hammering in a couple of their own.

The beautiful crags at Back of the Lake. Mt. Lefroy in the background.

Sunday we switched rock types and went to the world class quartzite at Back of the Lake in Lake Louise. Since we have already practiced many skills the day before, everyone was leading in no time. In general the gear is more solid and easier to place on quartzite, so everyone pushed their limits a bit more on some harder climbs. After leading a number of routes, we practiced the basics of multipitch climbing and how to transition through each belay station. Later in the day I set up some harder climbs so that they could experience removing gear and climbing on harder routes. Just to make sure no one left without getting pumped, I set up the mega-classic's Extra Dry and Violet Hour at the end of the day.

It seemed like everyone left with the skills and confidence to get out leading gear climbs on their own, and I look forward to hearing about their future adventures!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Diadem & Wolley with Pat & Susie

2010-07-15T12:57:00.004-06:00

Can you say "best views ever!"? That's exactly what we had from the top of Mt. Wolley last Friday after climbing the SE Face on Mt. Diadem and then traversing the ridge over to Wolley.

Mt. Wolley on the Left & Diadem on the Right. We climbed the snow gully in the middle of Diadem then traversed the ridge to Wolley.

Pat and Susie joined me again for an awesome 2 day trip into these lesser known 11000ft peaks at the North end of the Columbia Icefields. I had never climbed either mountain before but we were all psyched to give them a go! On Thursday morning we crossed the Sunwapta river and began the beautiful 4 hour hike into basecamp. Excellent views of Mt. Cromwell & it's subpeaks kept us entertained until the last hour when we could see Diadem/Wolley as well. In basecamp the weather was nice and we had lots of time so Pat & I went exploring on some nearby cliffs and found some superb rock climbing. It's not very often you find such good quality rock in the Rockies, especially in the backcountry near the Icefields! I had only a very small rock rack but managed to get top-ropes up on 4 different routes, all of which had sweet climbing on solid rock. Next time I will take more gear and rock shoes for sure!

Great rock climbing near basecamp with Wolley in the background.

Due to the hot days, we woke up at 1:00am on Friday and began the climb up the South East Face of Diadem. The route follows wide snow gullies and gradually steepens to 45 degrees near the top. After a couple ropelengths on the steeper snow, the exit to the ridgeline provided a very exciting finish! The snow steepened to almost vertical and then I had to chop through an overhanging cornice to reach the ridge! With 1000 meters of steep terrain below us, everyone found this final section to be quite exciting, including me! On top of Diadem we were treated to great views for at least 100km in every direction. Way to the North we could even see the top of Mt. Robson rising above everything else!

Climbing in the upper gully with Mt. Athabasca, Andromeda, Kitchner, Snowdome, and Cromwell behind.

Smiling in the sunrise on top of Mt. Diadem!

The view North from Diadem. Mt. Robson is sticking up in the back, left of center, and Mt. Clemenceau is the big peak on the right.

Mt. Alberta, with the N. Face facing to the right, and the East face in plain view.

From the summit we began a cool ridge traverse over to the top of Wolley. As we got closer, we began to be able to see into the infamous "Black Hole" below the North Face of North Twin, perhaps the most difficult alpine wall in North America. From the top we also had sweet views of the North & East faces of Mt. Alberta (see the N. Face of Alberta blog posting from last summer), Mt. Clemenceau (4th highest in Rockies) and hundreds of other big peaks. I counted 25 of the Rockies 54 11000ft peaks from the summit!

On the ridge traverse near the top of Mt. Wolley.

The beast of the Rockies - the North Face of N. Twin & Twins Tower. There are 3 routes up this wall, none of which have ever been repeated!

Mt. King Edward is the big peak in the middle and is a lesser known 11oooer.

Mt. Cromwell and it's subpeaks as seen on the descent. One of the Stutfield peaks is poking up in the back on the right.

Although the descent was a bit more complicated than anticipated, it went smoothly as we raced the warming temperatures back to camp. A nice hike out in the afternoon sunshine returned us to the highway. This is definitally a trip I will do again, and I had an awesome time with Pat & Susie who are always fun & enthusiastic to be with in the mountains!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Eisenhower Tower with JF from Montreal

2010-07-10T18:28:00.004-06:00

Blue skies, sunshine, a great partner, and a classic route made for a sweet day of climbing on Eisenhower Tower last Wednesday! It was my first time up the route this year and I was again reminded of how fun a climb it is.

JF pulling the hardest moves of the route!

We started early and hiked to the base in cool conditions. The day became warmer and warmer as we scrambled up the the first cliff band, climbed the knife edged ridge of the dragons back, and began the 300 meter headwall. We enjoyed the warmth as we climbed the headwall in 8 long pitches of great rock. An hour or so of rappeling returned us to the base and after reversing the dragons back & scramble we hiked out to the car less than 10 hours after starting. It was a fun day & I'm glad JF made the effort to visit again all the way from Montreal!

Lots of exposure and abundant handholds on the headwall!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Athabasca North Face Bypass with Trent

2010-07-05T12:19:00.006-06:00

On the upper N. Ridge as part of the North Face Bypass route on Athabasca.

Climbed a great route on Mt. Athabasca yesterday with Trent from Edmonton in full-on winter weather! We climbed the North Face Bypass route which ascends the snow & ice on the left side of the North Face and then joins the final section of the North Ridge route near the top. Despite the constant snow & wind, the travel conditions were excellent, I was just glad that I know my way around the mountain so well!

Climbing the steep gully on the upper part of the North Ridge.

Trent moved super fast so we quickly crossed the lower glacier and reached the start of the route. The ice face was good step kicking so we climbed up it together and reached the ridge in no time. The storm was raging but we were both enjoying the added adventure! A couple short rock steps led to a steep snow gully and a cruxy bit of snow covered rock. On the last bit of narrow ridge to the summit we had to move slowly due to the wind. After a brief stop on top we quickly began the descent down the AA Col route, which is also in good conditions right now.

Iced-up faces on the summit!

Despite having climbed Athabasca a number of times mid-winter, I think this was the most wintery conditions I have ever encountered on the mountain! Hard to believe it was July!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Lefroy & Glacier Peak with Sara

2010-07-05T12:05:00.003-06:00

Had a great trip up to Abbot Pass Hut on Thur/Fri last week with Sara from Lake Louise. Our main goal was the west face of Mt. Lefroy. The hike up to the hut went smoothly, snow is currently covering most of the scree on the approach and makes for much nicer travel. There were a dozen other climbers in the beautiful Abbot Pass Hut and everyone spent the evening swapping climbing stories & laughs.

Incredible sunrise on Mt. Lefroy, Mt. Victoria behind.

Up before dawn, we started up the West Face of Lefroy and were treated to one of the most amazing sunrises I have ever witnessed. Conditions on the route were fantastic and we moved quickly op the 30 to 45 degree slopes. Near the top the route steepened and we climbed up some steeper snow gullies and a final bulge of snowy rock to the tiny summit.

Climbing in the steeper gullies near the top of Lefroy.

With conditions good and lots of time left we decided to try traversing to nearby Glacier Peak. This involved descending about halfway back to the hut and then making a long exposed traverse on a steep snow band for over an hour. Closer to the summit, we were able to follow near the ridge to the top of this rarely climbed peak. We were psyched to have climbed two big mountains in one morning!

Looking across the last section of the snow traverse with Glacier Peak in the clouds behind.

After reversing the steep traverse and downclimbing to the hut, we descended back to Lake O Hara in the rain and caught the bus back to the cars. Overall it was a super fun trip to one of the Rockies great mountaineering destinations!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Alpine Skills Course - 5 days of mountaineering adventures!

2010-06-30T12:45:00.005-06:00

Our first Alpine Skills Course of the season was a great success! We were successfull in climbing two 11000ers (Mt. Athabasca & Mt. Cline), and practiced TONS of mountaineering skills.

After the weekend glacier travel course we spent a day on the Boundary Glacier learning to climb, belay and decend steep ice & snow slopes. It was super warm out so we also had to deal with avalanche hazard and lots of sloppy snow. The techniques we practiced included sitting belays in snow, ice screw anchors, V-threads, and use of crampons & axe on steep ice. By the end of the day I felt that everyone had the skills to tackle Mt. Athabasca and take a leadership role along the way.

Up at 2:00am on Tuesday, we drove up to the Mt. Athabasca parking area to start the climb. We had been hoping to do the Silverhorn route, but the night was warm and we decided that snow conditions would be unsafe for that plan. Instead, we headed towards the AA Col route with the thought that we would have much better odds of success and would feel safer. After a couple hours of walking through the darkness we reached the glacier just as we were treated to a glorious sunrise. A short march across the lower glacier brought us to the steep snow slopes leading to the col. The participants split into two teams of two and led each other up the long slope while I stayed unroped to provide assistance if neccessary. Everyone quickly proved their competence on the terrain and made good decisions throughout. Once on the upper ridge, we climbed up and over the Silverhorn and traversed to the main summit. It was a bit cloudy on top but was warm enough to enjoy the top for a while before decending. Everyone continued to take turns leading on the way down and we were soon back at the cars, psyched with a great day!

Climbing up the AA Col route on Athabasca.

On the summit of Athabasca!

Descending through the clouds on Athabasca.

After four days of snow & ice, it was time to turn out attention to the rock. We moved camp to the David Thompson Highway and headed into a secret rock climbing venue to learn rock skills and prepare for Mt. Cline. After doing some top-roping we practiced sport climbing, gear placements, and anchor building. In the afternoon we simulated the crux on Mt. Cline and figured out how to deal with the ropework and belaying that would be required.

On Thursday morning we packed up for a two day expedition into Cline. We were soon on the trail and had a good hike into a little known basecamp by some house-sized boulders. Unfortunately it was raining so we were unable to do any rock climbing, but we probably needed the rest anyways! After a good meal we went to bed ready for another early start.

Up before first light, we scarfed some food and began the climb. We went up a different route than the guidebooks show, and it involves a long snow gully to start. Everyone was feeling quite confident on this type of terrain by now so we made good time up to the small glacier. Despite some deep trail breaking across the glacier, we were soon at the rocky ridge and scrambled towards the crux notches. The crux is a deep notch in a narrow ridge with thousand foot drop-offs on either side. With the rope on, everyone took turns climbing down into the notch, stepping across a chockstone at the bottom, and then rock climbing up the other side. Most people doing this for the first time feel it is one of the most exciting things they have ever done, and this time was no exception! Once across the first notch, we rappelled down the steep second notch and continued towards the summit. We were all super happy to reach the summit! As is so often the case, there was no time to linger and we soon started the decent. The notches are almost as exciting on the way down, but at least this time everyone knew what to expect. In what seemed like no time we were back in camp and began the hike out to the road. Just as we reached the road it began to pour rain, better at the end than the beginning!

Starting our climb of Mt. Cline at first light.

Mt. Cline basecamp in the boulders.

Scrambling along the upper ridge on Mt. Cline.

Climbing through the first notch.

Rappeling the second notch.

Scrambling on the upper ridge during the decent.

Overall it was an amazing week in the mountains with a fantastic group of people. I'm sure everyone will continue to explore the mountains, and I'm glad I had the chance to share some of my skills and knowledge with them. I look forward to hearing about their future adventures!

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Glacier Travel Course at Columbia Icefields

2010-06-29T15:44:00.003-06:00

Had a great group of 6 climbers join me for a two day Glacier Travel Course at the Columbia Icefields two weekends ago.

We spent Saturday learning crevasse rescue techniques near Parkers Ridge. Everyone had the chance to build snow anchors, set up pulley systems, and rescue each other from the bottom of a drop-off. Once everyone had those skills dialed we practiced holding falls on steeper snow, glissading, and self-arresting.

Crevasse rescue practice at Parkers Ridge. Mt. Athabasca & Mt. Hilda in the background.

For our second day we had good weather so we did a fun tour on the North Glacier below Mt. Athabasca. From near the tongue of the ice we climbed up a snow slope and then roped up and crossed the glacier, finding our way through many crevasses along the way. In the afternoon we rappelled down a steeper section and practiced ice climbing techniques near the base. For a final bit of rescue practice, I climbed down a steep bit of ice and had everyone work together to figure out how to rescue me back up.

Travelling through a crevassed section of the glacier below Mt. Athabasca.

Overall it was a fun & successfull weekend, and everyone seemed to have a good handle on the basics of crevasse rescue and glacier travel by the end. Four of the participants stayed with me for another 5 days of climbing on the Alpine Skills Course. More on that in the next posting...

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Back of the Lake with Doug & Jacob

2010-06-18T11:07:00.003-06:00

Doug & Jacob from California joined me yesterday for a fun day of learning to rock climb & rappel at Back of the Lake in Lake Louise.

It was raining when we left Banff but it soon cleared and we had nice weather for the day in Louise. Despite it being their first time rock climbing, they both did great and managed to climb every route that I set up. We did a variety of types of climbs including cracks, slabs, steep face climbing, and even a couple of small overhangs!

Near the end of the day we went to the Liquid Sky wall and took turns rappelling over the steep cliff below the climbs.

I wish them well with the rest of their visit to Alberta, and hopefully I will have a chance to climb with them again someday!

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Sport Climbing Course

2010-06-14T11:05:00.004-06:00

After many fun days of sport climbing over the last few weeks, it was only fitting that I would teach last weekends Sport Climbing Course.

Matt looking relaxed on lead!

Matt from Calgary, Alan from Canmore, and Corey from Saskatchewan all joined me for the weekend and did an awesome job of learning to lead bolted rock climbs. Within a couple hours of arriving at Wasootch on Saturday, all three of them had led a climb with no problems! Throughout the day everyone did tons of leading and we practiced a variety of skills such as cleaning anchors, lead belaying, and slab climbing technique.

Alan leading a challenging route at Wasootch.

On Sunday we headed to the world class Back of the Lake crag at Lake Louise. Once we arrived at the climbs, everyone took turns leading a number of routes up to 5.7. We also spent some time learning the basics of trad climbing gear by placing cams and nuts in the nice quartzite cracks. Throughout the day we ran through a variety of sport climbing scenarios such as missing anchors, not being able to make the top, and what to do if your rope is to short to lower off. Later on in the day I set up some harder routes and everyone ended with strong attempts at top-roping the mega classic "Wicked Gravity" (5.11a).

Corey busting through the halfway roof on Wicked Gravity!

It was a fun weekend and everyone left with all the skills required to safely head out sport climbing on their own!

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Glacier Travel Course & Athabasca Climb

2010-06-02T15:27:00.004-06:00

Had a great 3 days at the Icefields last weekend teaching the first Glacier Travel Course of the season and then climbing Mt. Athabasca on Monday.

Practicing crevasse rescues.

There were six enthusiastic participants on the Glacier Course with varying degrees of experience. On Saturday we focused on crevasse rescue techniques for much of the day and by the end everyone was doing really well at it. We also practiced ascending a rope, glissading, self arrest, and holding a fall on snowslopes.

Practicing some steeper snow climbing techniques on day 1.

Sunday we started a bit earlier and headed up onto the North Glacier below Mt. Athabasca. The majority of the day was spent practicing roped up travel and steeper snow & ice climbing. Near the end of the day I downclimbed a steep ice slope and had the group work together to figure out how to rescue me out of the "crevasse". It turned out to be a great way to really bring together the skills learned on day 1.

Travelling roped up on the glacier on Sunday.

On Monday, three of the course participants joined me for an ascent of the AA Col route on Athabasca and everyone did great on it! The route is currently in good conditions, although some new snow slowed things down a little bit. The weather was mostly good and we had great views everywhere except on the very summit which was clouded in. It was the first 11000er for all three of them but I'm sure it won't be the last!

Climbing up the lower glacier between Mt. Athabasca & Andromeda.

Self portrait on the summit of Athabasca!

Decending the upper ridge on Athabasca.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Columbia East face ski day.

2010-05-28T10:44:00.006-06:00

At over 12000 feet, Mt. Columbia is the highest peak in Alberta and the second highest in the Canadian Rockies. With it's location on the Columbia Icefields and relatively mellow slopes, Columbia has long been a popular ski objective.

On Monday Eammon Walsh, Josh Briggs and I headed out for a day trip to the summit and back. Conditions were fantastic and we managed to ski right from the very summit with good powder turns. It's a long, long ways across the Icefields to get to Columbia but the views and wildness of the glacier make it well worth the effort. Here's some pics:

Nearing the top of the icefalls on the Athabasca Glacier.

Skiing the last bit of flats before the East Face proper.

Josh kicking steps up the East Face.

On the summit.

Hopping off the small summit cornice and into sweet powder turns.

Great views of South Twin (L) and North Twin (middle).

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Intro Rock Climbing Weekend

2010-05-23T15:41:00.003-06:00

Climbing at Grassi Lakes this morning.

Just finished up a great weekend of rock climbing with four fun participants on our first Intro Rock Course of the season. The weather was a bit chilly but we counteracted the cold by climbing non-stop and tons of fun was had by all!

We spent Saturday learning the basics at a crag near Banff, and everyone did about a dozen climbs throughout the day. In the afternoon everyone took a turn rappelling off a 100 foot overhanging cliff!

Jeff leading at the Golf Course Wall.

Today we headed up to Grassi Lakes and climbed all day at the Golf Course Wall & Gardeners Wall. Everyone's climbing skills progressed lots and a few people even did their first lead climbs!

It was an excellent way to spend May long weekend and I hope to see everyone from the course again in the future!

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Yamnuska with Shaun

2010-05-08T18:52:00.003-06:00

Headed up to Yam today with Shaun from Manitoba. Shaun spent all last summer here and we climbed a few routes together including Eisenhower Tower and the Gmoser route on Mt. Louis. It was his first day climbing for the season so we headed up to Yam for some rock climbing to get back into the swing of things.

Shaun on pitch two of Gollums Grooves.

Last weeks stormy weather deposited almost a foot of snow on the trail and all the ledges on the climbs so we opted for the East End routes which tend to be the dryest. We started out with the three pitch Gollum's Grooves which had some great climbing and was certainly more challenging in spots due to the snow! After walking down the backside we decided to get a bit more climbing in and headed up 'C Plus', a nice two pitch route near the East End.

Overall it was a fun day out and not too chilly despite the snow! A day or two of sunny weather should dry the cliff out nicely.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

New Route - The Undertow (V, WI6, 600m+)

2010-04-17T07:31:00.007-06:00

The Undertow (V, WI6, 600m+)

Had a fantastic ice climbing adventure up on Tangle Ridge near the Columbia Icefields earlier this week with Steve Holeczi & Mike Verway. The result was a new route which we named The Undertow. We approached the day before by climbing Shades of Beauty and then a long walk through the snow to a nice camping area below the cliffs.

Steve rekindling his love for walking through a Rockies snowpack!

Up at 4:00am we quickly ate some food & chocolate covered espresso beans then made our way up to the first pitch for dawn. The route started with numerous steep WI4 & WI5 pitches on mostly excellent ice. The eighth pitch proved to be the WI6 crux and had some amazing climbing up a vertical groove into some overhaning mushrooms, and then sustained steepness to the top. A few more WI4 pitches led to the dormant seracs at the top which we climbed around the right side of. Half an hour of glacier ice led to the summit with jaw-dropping views of the Columbia Icefields. Much rappelling returned us to the ground.

We were all psyched about this fantastic climb and agreed that it was the longest continuous piece of ice we had ever climbed. Probably about twice as much real climbing as Polar Circus, significantly harder, and no big snow slopes on route! Anyways, here's the pictures!

Mike leading away low on the route.

Steve topping out on yet another great pitch of WI4.

And another one..

Mike leading a steep WI5+ pitch, the crux pitch is visible above.

Steve on the last pitch of waterfall ice, I think this was pitch 11 or 12.

Mike leading around the dormant seracs. A few more ropelengths of low angle alpine ice led to the summit.

Soaking up the views & the sunshine on the summit! L to R: Mt. Alberta, Wolley & Diadem are the three big peaks on the left. Photo: Steve Holeczi.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Professor Falls & King Cr with Pat & Susie

2010-04-15T11:17:00.004-06:00

The ice climbing season isn't over yet!

Susie on the second pitch of Professor Falls

Last weekend Pat & Susie from Calgary joined me for a fun weekend learning to ice climb. They both had previous experience using the gear on glaciers so the ice climbing skills came quick! On Saturday we went to King Creek where the ice is still fat & dry. We started on the furthest right
climb and worked our way through all the routes during the day.

Pat on Professor Falls.

Since they both did so well on Saturday, we decided to tackle Professor Falls on Sunday. Although the climbing was steeper than anything in King Creek, the climbing went well and we moved efficiently up the route. The last pitch was a bit wet, as usual, but was otherwise in great shape.

It was a fun weekend and I look forward to doing more climbing with Pat & Susie this summer!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Yamnuska - The Heat Is On (5.10c R)

2010-04-08T11:33:00.003-06:00

Raph on the crux pitch of "The Heat is On".

Had a great day up in the sun on Yamnuska with Raphael Slawinski a few days ago. We climbed the somewhat runout but excellent route "The Heat is On". The climb starts directly above where the trail hits the cliff and has pitches of cracks, corners, chimneys, slabs and overhangs! The rock was warm and dry throughout, and even the backside trail was virtually snow free! Another fun day out on the Rockies premier multipitch rock climbing cliff.

J. Mills
www.cdnalpine.com

Intro Ice Course - Bearspirit & King Creek

2010-04-06T12:47:00.003-06:00

Climbing the Scottish Gully at King Creek.

Just finished up the final Intro Ice Course of the season with three really fun guests from Fox Creek & Canmore. Despite the fact that it is starting to feel like summer, the ice conditions are remaining excellent at a number of areas and we had no problems finding lots of ice to climb!

On Saturday we headed out to Bearspirit near Banff. We started out by doing a few laps on the easier ice on the right, but then quickly progressed to the main steeper pillars. The ice on these was the fattest I have ever seen it. There were a number of other climbers at the crag but everyone was friendly and we all shared the space with no problems.

Sunday we went into King Creek for another full day of climbing. We climbed just about every possible line in the canyon and also spent some time learning about ice screws, v-threads, and other ice anchors.

A big thanks to everyone who has come out ice climbing this season, it's been a great winter!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Guinness Gully, Stout & High Test with Shawn

2010-03-30T10:48:00.003-06:00

Shawn came down from Houston again for another sweet day of ice climbing. Our last trip together we climbed Professor Falls, and this time he wanted to try a more difficult climb. We decided that combining Guinness Gully with the climbs above would be a good choice.

Shawn near the top of Guinness Gully.

It was a warm morning as we started up the first pitch of Guinness, there was even a bit of water flowing behind the ice in spots. I don't think that pitch will last much longer. As we climbed higher the ice improved and we were on top of Guinness Gully in no time.

After a short food & water break we hiked the 20 minutes up to Guinness Stout (WI 4+, 80m). The long final pitch of Guinness Stout was very physical climbing with lots of swinging required!

Me pulling onto the ice at the start of High Test. Photo: Shawn P.

Still not tired out, we headed over to High Test (WI 4+, 60m). The first few feet of the first pitch were missing but we managed to haul ourselves up the short overhang onto the ice. The main upper pitch was a bit harder than Guinness Stout but went smoothly nonetheless.

Me starting up the main pitch of High Test. Photo: Shawn P.

With all three routes combined, it made for a very full day of climbing!

Shawn rappelling down High Test.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt. Fable - South Ridge (II 5.4)

2010-03-25T07:56:00.006-06:00

Approaching Mt. Fable. The South ridge climbs near the left hand skyline on the highest peak (middle of photo). Photo: Jody Goodwin.

Had a great overnight trip to Mt. Fable with Jody. We hiked up Exshaw creek for just over two hours and set up camp in a beautiful spot below the mountain.

Roasting sausage in camp! Photo: Jody Goodwin

In the morning we got a late start in order to let the day warm up a bit and then headed towards the South ridge route on Fable. About three hours of hiking brought us to the roped climbing section. Six fun pitches of rock climbing were made more challenging by the presence of snow in the cracks and on the ledges. The crux sections definitely felt harder than 5.4 in their current condition! A short section of exposed and exciting ridge led to the summit.

Jody near the start of the technical climbing.

Jody scrambling up some rock.

Me starting up the crux corner. Photo: Jody Goodwin

Jody on one of the steeper sections.

On the descent is was easiest to go down the ridge a short ways and then drop off the right side (North East) onto scree, NOT the West side like it says in the guidebook. After dropping a short ways we easily contoured around to the col.

On the exposed summit ridge. Photo: Jody Goodwin.

Overall, Fable makes an excellent early season alpine rock route that can be done in one long day, or two moderate days.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Moonlight & Guinness with Brad

2010-03-18T09:04:00.003-06:00

Brad on the first pitch of Moonlight.

Had a fun couple days ice climbing with Brad from Edmonton earlier on this week. He had just returned from a trip in Thailand but was keen to get on some ice!

On day 1 we headed out to Evan Thomas Creek and climbed Moonlight (WI 4). The hooked-out easier line was soaking wet so we were forced to climb some much steeper ice than normal! Afterwards we returned to my place in Canmore and practiced some ropework skills. Brad and I are planning on trying Mt. Robson this summer so we were reviewing crevasse rescue techniques.

Self rescuing from a crevasse that magically appeared in front of my house!

For our second day we headed out to Guinness Gully which was in excellent shape and provided a fun day of climbing!

Brad hucking laps on the second pitch of Guinness Gully.

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

First Ascent - "Sails for Seniors" (IV, M6+, WI6, 125m)

2010-03-14T16:39:00.001-06:00

On Thursday Mike Adolph and myself climbed what we believe is a new route on Mt. Murchison. It is just visible from the road in a narrow gully on the headwall up and left of Balfour Wall. It always looks unformed from the road and usually isn't there at all.

The route is in the rock gully in the very middle of this picture.

The approach from Balfour Wall parking lot takes 1.5 hours to the start of the gully. The first pitch was 25m of rotten WI3 ice leading to a 15 minute snow walk up to the slender pillars on the left-hand wall.

The first rotten but easy pitch.

The first 30m section of steep pillars was completely detached from the rock and was way too dangerous to try and climb directly. Fortunately we had a full rock rack so I headed up the rock on the left side. It proved to be challenging but excellent mixed climbing with lots of drytooling moves, a few splatterings of ice, and even a few fist jams in a crack near the top. Our 70 meter ropes just reached a safe belay spot below the upper pillars. The pitch was about M6+ and had good gear.

The hard pitches!

The next pitch was one of the most amazing ice features I have ever climbed. Instead of tackling the pillars directly, I climbed into a chimney cave behind them with splatterings of ice on both walls. After 15 meters in the steep icy chimney, I went through a tunnel in the ice and emerged on the upper part of the pillars. Another 20 meters of steep chandeliered ice led to the top. With some creativity, the pitch protected quite well.

Mike topping out on the last pitch.

The route is named in honour of all my climbing buddies that are trading in ice tools for paragliders, kites, and sailboats...

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Professor Falls - WI4, 280m

2010-03-13T06:41:00.003-07:00

Shawn from Houston joined me last Saturday for a great day of multipitch climbing on Professor Falls. Shawn has been on mountaineering trips all over the world and has lots of experience climbing glacier ice but is new to waterfall ice climbing. We decided to head to Professor Falls on Mt. Rundle near Banff since he wanted to get a big day in with lots of climbing.

The first few pitches of Professor Falls.

Since he had only waterfall ice climbed once before, I was concerned that it may be too difficult. I had no need to worry however and we actually climbed some of the steeper pitches a few times and then did 3 laps on the last crux pitch! We took three different lines, the regular WI4 on the left, the steeper right side (WI5), and even a lap on the backside of the curtain which had some wild mushrooms and daggers. It was a really fun day with alot more climbing than expected!

Shawn climbing the backside of the crux pitch while another climber heads up the front.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Murchison Falls - IV, WI4+

2010-03-13T06:31:00.003-07:00

The classic ice climb Murchison Falls.

Eric & Veronique from Calgary joined me last week for another multipitch climb. This is their first season ice climbing but they have been getting out regularly and are learning really fast so we decided to climb the challenging Murchison Falls along the Icefields Parkway.

Eric & Veronique on the belay ledge halfway up.

It was a perfect morning with amazing views of Chephren, Epaluette, the Kauffmans, and Mt. Sarbach. The trail to the base was well packed down and we were soon at the base. After an easy warmup pitch we started up the steeper climbing. We ended up doing the climb in four long pitches of sustained WI4 climbing. We had to take steeper lines in a few spots due to wet ice, and some sections felt more like WI4+ or 5. It was certainly a challenging climb for first year ice climbers but they both did awesome on it!

Nearing the top of the last pitch.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Hydrophobia - WI5+

2010-03-09T09:01:00.003-07:00

Hydrophobia, another sweet ice climb in the Ghost.

Headed back into the Ghost River with Mike last week for a great day of climbing on the classic Hydrophobia. The approach takes about 3 hours from the North Ghost area but is well worth the walk! The climb was in excellent conditions with plastic ice, lots of hooks, and dry throughout. There are really good belay caves in the middle of the climb this year and overall the climbing was fairly easy for the grade.

Mike leaving the halfway cave.

J. Mills

www.cdnalpine.com

Nordegg Ice Festival

2010-03-04T17:14:00.003-07:00

The Shunda wall at the Nordegg Icefest!

On the weekend I headed down to Nordegg to help run the annual Tri-Ice-A-Thon, a fun and friendly ice climbing festival for all abilities.

The fun started on Saturday with teams travelling between the three ice climbing walls for short skills clinics, some laps on the ice, and lots of cheering! I led the show at the Shunda Hostel wall while Barry Blanchard ran the Frontier Lodge wall, and Dave Edgar ran the COE wall. There were also lots of other great volunteers from the community and Edmonton outdoors shops. After a full day of climbing, the main event started at the Shunda Creek wall: the infamous SWIMSUIT COMPETITION! There were lots of great entries this year with lots of flesh and crazy costumes. My personal favourite was the team of Barry Blanchard and Mike Adolph saran wrapped together for some synchronized climbing! Check out the picture!

Mike Adolph & Barry Blanchard in all their glory! Photo: Jody Goodwin.

On Saturday night I gave an hour long slideshow to a large crowd at Goldeye Center. I showed pictures and talked about my trip to Alaska last spring and I think it went really well!

On Sunday, everyone headed out to the Cline Gallery for some more clinics from Barry, Mike, and myself, as well as the speed climbing competition and other fun events. There was also a big fire going for roasting smokies!

Me teaching a "steep ice" clinic at the Gallery on Sunday. Photo: Jody Goodwin.

It was a great weekend at Canada's longest running Ice Festival (10 years!) and I can't wait until next year!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

FountainHead & Rad Monster (WI6)

2010-03-04T16:50:00.004-07:00

Fountainhead & Rad Monster

Had a fun day in the Ghost River area with Eammon last Thursday. Eammon has basically climbed everything in the Rockies within 2 hours of the car so we walked all the way back to "Fountain Head" & "Rad Monster". The two climbs are side-by-side WI6 pillars in the far reaches of the South Ghost Valley. They were in excellent shape and were well worth the 3 hour walk. They are much fatter and easier than the picture in the guidebook at the moment and will likely last for a few more weeks.

Eammon peering between pillars on RadMonster.

Me leading on Fountain Head.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Mt Robson solo attempt

2010-02-26T14:20:00.005-07:00

The south face of Mt. Robson, line drawn to my highpoint at the Swartz Ledges.

Taking advantage of excellent snow conditions and weather, I set out on Monday to try and solo the South Face of Mt. Robson. I had come down this route a few years ago after climbing the Emperor Ridge so I had a good idea of what to expect. I left the car mid-day and skiied to Kinney Lake before leaving the skiing and continuing on foot. For the first few hundred meters of trees above the lake the snow was unsupportive and it was slow going and exhausting wallowing upwards. Eventually I made it to treeline and as expected the snow improved dramatically. Lots of snowslopes and a few sections of moderate ice & rock climbing led to the hut. I stopped for about 30 minutes to melt snow and rehydrate while watching an amazing sunset.

Sunset from near the Mt. Robson hut.

As darkness arrived I continued up more snowslopes and easy rock sections and was making excellent time (under 9 hours from the car) to the Swartz Ledges, about 80% of the way up the mountain. I was feeling strong and was confident that I was going to reach the summit. However, upon reaching the Ledges I became aware that the seracs above were much more active than last time I was here, so I decided to sit in a safe spot and watch for a while. It turned out that there was a pretty steady stream of ice fall across the route from the seracs above and continuing didn't seem like a good choice.

Contemplating my options below the Swartz Ledges.

Disappointed, I started down and made it back to the hut a couple hours later. It was hard to be upset though since it was an amazing moonlit night without a trace of wind in one of the most amazing places in the Rockies! Even though I didn't have a sleeping bag, I decided to spend the night in the hut and enjoy the sunrise the next morning. It didn't get too cold so it was actually a pleasant night and the morning was spectacular! After enjoying the view for a while I headed down and was back at the car brewing coffee in no time.

A sweet view of Mt. Whitehorn, with Robson's Wishbone Arete in the foreground.

As much as I would like to try again, I think the seracs on this route are a bit too dangerous to be considered a reasonable proposition. There are much better and safer ways up Robson.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Ice Skills Clinic

2010-02-21T17:42:00.003-07:00

Starting with some steep ice on day 1!

Three enthusiastic climbers joined me this weekend for our Ice Skills Clinic. Everyone was particularly interested in improving thier steep ice techniques so that's what we spent the majority of the time practicing.

Climbing in the sun this afternoon.

On Saturday everybody did lots of laps on the climbs while working on tool placements, footwork, and body positioning. By the end of the day their was lots of improvement and everyone was climbing much more efficiently. We also covered ice screws and anchors, as well as a variety of other ice climbing related topics.

Practicing placing screws on steeper sections of ice.

Today (Sunday), we headed into a different area and basked the the warm sunshine while climbing non-stop all day long! There was again a big improvement in everyone's technique throughout the day.

It was great to have such a fun group of climbers, and I hope to see everyone again in the future!

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Extra Light - WI3/4, 245m

2010-02-21T17:31:00.003-07:00

Matt & Ken chillin at the belay on top of the first pitch of Extra Light.

Matt & Ken from Calgary joined me on Friday for an ascent of Extra Light on Mt. Stephen. It was their first multipitch climb & proved to be an excellent choice for the day! The climb starts with 2 pitches of WI3 ice, and then continues up a narrow canyon with snowslopes and many short ice steps. After a couple hours in the canyon, it opens up to the final long pitch of steeper ice. On the descent we practiced rappelling techniques and made it back to the ground by mid-afternoon. It was a long climb for a first multipitch but they both did an excellent job and are keen to do more climbs in the future!

The upper crux pitch of Extra Light.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

SuperBok - WI5, 180m

2010-02-21T17:25:00.003-07:00

The upper pitches of SuperBok.

Had a great day on SuperBok on Mt. Stephen last Thursday. The climb was in excellent shape, although we got our feet a bit wet walking back across the river after the climb! The first pitch goes under a really cool rock tunnel, and the upper pitches have nice sustained grade 5 ice. Another great day in the Rockies!

Climbing under the rock arch on the first pitch of Super Bok.

J. Mills

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Pilsner Pillar (WI6)

2010-02-17T18:01:00.002-07:00

Spent the morning climbing Pilsner Pillar by Field with Mike. Above zero temps meant that it was pretty wet but the climbing was excellent! At the start, a short skinny pillar was much easier than it looked, and the upper part provided good ice. Easy for the grade right now.

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Mt. Assiniboine attempt.

2010-02-12T11:13:00.004-07:00

Eammon Walsh and I drove around to the West side of the Rockies and started skiing with the goal of climbing the East face of Mt. Assiniboine (V, 5.9, A2).

On the long approach to Mt. Assiniboine.

The weather forecast seemed good but as we made the 10 hour slog to the base of the mountain, conditions steadily deteriorated. Upon arriving at the base of the peak, we did get a brief glimpse of the North face and it looked relatively snow free.

Our brief look at the mountain.

We went to bed with hopes of it clearing, but in the morning the wind was howling, snow was falling, and the mountian was hidden in cloud. We started out anyways but after rappeling into the base of the face we decided it would be foolhardy to continue. Here's what the mountain looked like once the sun came up:

The spectacular view of Mt. Assiniboine in a whiteout!

The long ski back out gave us plenty of time to contemplate the joys of hard winter alpinism! Hopefully we find another opportunity to try this great looking route later on in the winter.

J. Mills
CRAG Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Professor Falls photo shoot

2010-02-12T10:42:00.003-07:00

Jody hanging on an ice anchor with her camera.

On Monday I headed into Professor Falls with my partner Jody who is an adventure photographer. She was wanting some ice climbing shots for her portfolio and I was hoping to get some good ones for the website. Also, we both were keen to climb this excellent route!

One of the sweet pictures she took from the anchor in the first picture.

I climbed some of the pitches a few times so that she could get photos from various angles. It was good fun and we ended up with some great shots.

The route was in excellent conditions although the last pitch was very wet. Riding bikes to the base was easy with very little snow on the road.

Me on the last pitch.

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Intro Ice Weekend - "Step Right Up" & "Wedge Smear"

2010-02-08T21:03:00.004-07:00

I had the pleasure of teaching a small and super fun group of three climbers on last weekends Intro Ice Course.

Soaking up the rays at "Step Right Up" near Banff.

On Saturday we headed into the sunny "Step Right Up" ice climb near Banff. By mid-afternoon it felt like T-Shirt weather in the sun! There was a good variety of lines on the climb and everyone progressed from easy grade 2 ice in the morning to a steep grade 3 climb by the end of the day. As well, everyone learned belaying, knots, and a whole bunch of ice climbing techniques.

Ice climbing at the Wedge Smear in K-Country on Sunday.

Sunday we hiked up to the "Wedge Smear" in Kananaskis Country. This is a great area for learning since there is some steep ice, some mellow ice, some thin ice, and even a short overhanging section on the far right side! There was a huge improvement in everyone's skills from day 1 and the climbing went great.

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Another great week in the Rockies!

2010-02-05T10:27:00.004-07:00

There was lots of variety for me in the last week here in the Rockies! Here's what's been going on:

On Saturday I had a group of keen beginners out at King Creek for an intro ice climbing day. We were the first ones to arrive, but by noon there were about a dozen other people and more just kept on coming! I'm not sure how many cars have to be in a parking lot before people decide to go somewhere else, especially in a mountain range with thousands of ice climbs! Anyways, it worked out fine with everyone sharing ropes, climbs & space. We were having so much fun climbing that we were also the last group to leave for the day.

Lots of climbers at King Creek!

On Sunday I met up with another small group that wanted to work on steep ice & mixed climbing skills. For this, we headed to the beautifull Haffner Creek along the Radium highway. Throughout the day we climbed 7 or 8 different routes ranging from W3 & 4 right up to M7. A good time was had by all and everyone managed to learn some basic mixed climbing techniques.

Steep ice at Haffner Creek.

Monday I headed out with my partner Jody and some other friends for a ski ascent of Mt. Crowfoot along the Icefields Parkway. Despite not much new snow, the ski conditions were great and we managed to reach the summit and then ski all the way back down to the car.

Skiing up Bow Canyon on the way to Mt. Crowfoot.

On Tuesday I headed up Bourgeau Right-Hand (IV, W4R, 300m) above the Sunshine ski hill parking lot. The climb was in great shape and we cruised to the top on good ice. We were back at the car before noon so enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. The climb doesn't merit the 'R' rating at the moment, but a few more days of sunshine could make it more difficult. Also, the avalanche hazard will increase with any new snow.

Me on the first pitch of Bourgeau Right.

Yesterday (Thurs.) I tried an unclimbed mixed route along the Icefields Parkway with Eammon Walsh. The climb looks great but the ice was so delaminated from the rock that we didn't make it very high. I climbed 45 meters with just a bad tied off stubby (short ice screw) for protection, and then decided to retreat from the first good anchor I could find. That's the way it goes with trying new routes, you never know what you are going to get!

The unclimbed ice route.

I feel fortunate to live in such an amazing mountain playground & am always psyched to have the best job on earth!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Suntori (VI, M7, WI6, 1500m)

2010-01-31T17:27:00.005-07:00

Climbed Suntori on Mt. Wilson last Thursday with Eammon Walsh. This is one of the best alpine routes I have ever climbed, it felt more like Alaska than the Rockies! Eammon is the perfect partner for this type of route since he is a very experienced alpinist and stays mellow & relaxed no matter what. He also broke trail to the base two days beforehand which was sweet!

As far as I know this was only the second ever ascent of the route, it was also the first time it has been free climbed (no aid climbing) or done in one day.

This was our second attempt on the line, two weeks ago we bivied at the base and then climbed the first three pitches before retreating due to avalanche concerns. More about that attempt here.

This time things went smoothly and we managed to complete the route in just 16 hours car to car. The crux pitch (formerly M6, A2) had some very difficult M7 drytooling but we both managed to free climb it in semi-darkness. We were very glad that we had already done the pitch once before, otherwise it would have been rather scary by headlamp! A bunch of excellent ice pitches and one more mixed section led to the final snowslopes and an incredible gully between the upper quartzite towers. In the gully, a 20 meter piece of rock was wedged between two of the towers about 100 feet up! We walked the 5 minutes up the backside of one of the towers before descending easily down the Lady Wilsons Cleavage gully.

Here's some pictures:

The route from the highway. photo: Eammon W.

Me leading pitch 2, the crux of the route, just as the light started reaching us. (M7)

Eammon at the top of pitch 2, it was fully light by this time.

Me on pitch 3 (WI4+)

Eammon on the steepest ice of the route, pitch 4 (WI6)

Eammon taking the spindrift in the face leading another sweet ice pitch.

Eammon in the gully near the top, the massive chockstone is visible behind.

Eammon smiling for the camera at the top of the climbing.

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Polar Circus & Murchison Falls solo linkup

2010-01-22T13:22:00.006-07:00

Taking advantage of the low avalanche hazard, I got up early yesterday and headed down the Icefields Parkway to try a solo ascent of Polar Circus (V, WI5, 700m). I'd simul-soloed all but the last pitch of it almost 10 years ago with my friend Mike but hadn't tried soloing it again since. On that occasion we had taken nearly eight hours round trip, which felt really fast at the time! Since then I have climbed it half a dozen times, always guiding, and still love the route as much as I did the first time.

Polar circus from the highway (picture from last year).

My main goal was to have a fun (and safe!) day out by myself but I also thought it would be nice to try and complete it in under 4 hours round trip as I knew that this had been done by a few other climbers in the past. I went super light, only taking one 70m rope, 2 screws, some cord, 1 jacket, and a bit of food & water. I could see from the road that the ice looked nice and blue but it exceeded even my highest expectations. The ice was fantastic quality throughout, and there was a good trail in the snow to the halfway point beside the 'pencil'. From here, the tracks ended but the snowslope around the pencil was in really good shape so I made good time despite breaking trail. Soon I was cruising up the finishing pitches to the top, which wasn't hooked-out for a change. I didn't carry a watch on route but I felt like I had been moving really fast and my energy levels had stayed high. From the top, I immediately started rappeling and running down the snowslopes between rappels. I figured I might as well give it all I had, so I ran as fast as I could along the last part of the trail to the car. Looking at the watch in my car I was suprised (and pleased!) to see that I had managed to complete the route in just under 3 hours, less than half of my previous fastest time on Polar Circus. To make things even more perfect, the sun had come around and I was able to relax in warmth while eating and chugging water. After a few minutes I climbed back in the car and headed towards home, but...

Murchison Falls. Picture from a previous year.

Driving along, my energy started to return and it was a beautifull day so I started thinking about doing another climb. About that same time, I was driving past Murchison Falls (III, WI4+, 180m) and decided that it would be the perfect way to spend the afternoon. After re-packing and changing into dry socks, I ran into Murchison. It was also in great shape, although quite wet in spots, so it went smoothly and I was soon on top. Back at the car, I really was tired now so I had a celebratory beer while enjoying the views and then made my way home to Canmore in time for dinner.

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Guinness Gully & Stout with Eric & Veronique

2010-01-20T19:06:00.002-07:00

Below the cave on the second pitch of Guinness Gully.

Had a great day out on Monday with Eric & Veronique on Guinness Gully(WI4, 200m) & Guinness Stout (WI4+, 100m). We cruised up the Gully, which was in excellent hooked-out conditions, and after a quick snack made the 20 minute slog up to Stout. The final pitch was steep and pumpy with no pick-holes to reuse. It was a good challenge and was their hardest climb to date but they did great on it. We made it back to the car just before dark, a good full day in the mountains!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Rogans Gully with Shawn from Texas.

2010-01-17T18:21:00.005-07:00

Rogans Gully on the Left & Cascade Falls on the Right.

Another beautiful day out there today on Rogans Gully! Shawn flew in from Texas and despite having never ice climbed before we decided to tackle a multipitch route. The climb went great and he was a natural at it. Along the way we top-roped all of the main pitches a few times and worked on climbing technique. It was a super fun day out and I think Shawn is hooked on ice, I hope to see him again soon!

Shawn topping out on Rogans.

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Intro Ice Day.

2010-01-17T18:17:00.003-07:00

Had a great time out at King Creek on Saturday with a group of 5 keen climbers from Calgary. Everyone climbed a ton and had a great time! During the day we worked lots on climbing technique and there was much improvement throughout the day. Another nice day in the Rockies, this warm weather has been great!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Yoho Valley Road

2010-01-17T17:56:00.006-07:00

The Far Side area, "Hells Kitchen" is the fattest flow just right of center.

Spent a nice day out by myself on the Yoho Valley road. It was well above zero so I avoided the routes with big avalanche paths above them but found a couple sweet routes to climb. I started by going all the way back to the "Far Side" and climbed a nice route called "Hell's Kitchen (WI5, 150m)", it's not as bad as the name would suggest and was quite easy for the grade with perfect plastic ice. Feeling keen I headed back down the road to the "Iron Curtain" but bailed from about 30m up due to bad ice. It's in good shape though and I'd like to get back there with a parner before my ski tracks are gone! Before heading out I did a quick lap on Grovelling Gully (WI3, 80m).

"Iron Curtain", I tried the pillar on the right side of the main flow. The thinner line out right is WI4+.

All of the routes along the road appeared to be in great shape with the exception of L'Arimas de Algiers which is not fully formed. This might just be the most concentrated group of ice climbs anywhere in the Rockies, and yet almost nobody makes the 1hr ski to get back there! Weird!

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Intro Ice Weekend!

2010-01-12T14:28:00.004-07:00

Learning to Ice Climb at King Creek on Sunday.

Just finished up another fun & succesfull Intro Ice Weekend with three guests from Vancouver/Squamish & two from Fort McMurray. On the first day everyone was so enthusiastic that we even climbed while eating lunch! I think everybody had about 25 climbs during the day!

On day 2, everyone was understandably a bit sore & tired but climbed non-stop anyways. We had King Creek almost to ourselves which was a nice treat!

At the base of the second pitch on Guinness Gully.

The three guys from the coast stuck around to do a multipitch climb on Monday so we headed to the classic Guinness Gully near Field, BC. On the first two pitches we climbed 1 at a time and then for the final 60m step we tied two ropes together and made a mega-toprope so that everyone could have a couple turns. It was great fun and the climb was in excellent conditions.

Loving it on the last pitch of Guinness Gully!

Hopefully everyone continues to pursue climbing and it would be great to see them again in the future!

Click here for more info on CRAG's Intro Ice Courses.

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Attempt on Suntori (VI M7 WI6, 1500m)

2010-01-12T13:47:00.003-07:00

Last week I hooked up with experienced alpinist Eammon Walsh for an attempt at a massive mixed route up Mt. Wilson. "Suntori" was put up by my good friend Dave Edgar along with Dave Marra & Cory B about 10 years ago and remains unrepeated.

"Suntori" is the thin strip of ice up the middle of the photo.

After a long slog to the base and a cold cold bivi (-30C that night!), Eammon and I dragged ourselves out of bed and hiked up to the start. The first pitch was nice M6 climbing with relativaly good protection. The second pitch went at A2 on the first ascent but I managed (barely!) to scrape my way up it at about M7 and got super pumped in the process. An easier pitch of ice led to the base of the WI6 section just as the sun came around the corner. Within about 10 seconds it went from ridiculously cold to ridiculously hot. The snow started softening almost immediately so we made a hasty retreat before any avalanche activity could begin. We were dissapointed that we had to bail from above the crux but it certainly felt like the safe decision. So, Suntori remains unrepeated, for now...

Me leading the M7 crux.

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Multipitch classics with Mike from England.

2010-01-04T13:45:00.004-07:00

Had an excellent four days of multipitch climbing with Mike from England, finishing yesterday.

To start the trip out we cruised up Guinness Gully (WI4, 225m) which was in nice hooked-out conditions. Above, we continued up to Guinnes Stout (WI4+, 100m) which was much more challenging due to featureless & brittle ice.

Upper pitches of Bourgeau Left

On day two we took advantage of the stable snow conditions & made an ascent of Bourgeau Left Hand (WI5, 180m). Despite a pre-dawn start we were beaten to the route by Barry Blanchard & his guest. It all worked out though as it was a warm day and we enjoyed watching them climb while waiting for our turn. The climb is in great shape and the crux pitch had excellent steep climbing on interesting ice.

Mike on Bourgeau Left

Mike & I on top of Bourgeau Left

We then took a couple days off for New Years, during which time I climbed Candlestick Maker with my buddy Trent (see earlier post), and of course found time for a few New Years cocktails!

Back at it after the holidays we decided to climb Coire Dubh Integral (5.7, WI3, 550m), a great mini-alpine outing in the front ranges. The climb went smoothly & was probably the highlight of the trip. There was some thin-ice sections that aren't usually there so we managed to climb it a bit differently than I ever had before. The climb reminded Mike of the mixed routes in Scotland.

Mike at the base of Coire Dubh Integral with Yamnuska glowing in the background.

Mike mixed climbing on Coire Dubh Integral.

To finish off we had a shorter day out on Louise Falls (WI5, 110m). The crux pillar is currently very steep and provided the hardest ice climbing of the trip. Super fun!

Midway up Louise Falls

It was certainly an action packed week and I hope to see Mike again in the future!

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Hidden Dragon & Candlestick Maker - Ghost River

2010-01-04T13:35:00.003-07:00

Second pitch of Candlestick Maker.

Had a great day with my good friend Trent Hasse in the Ghost River area. We went to an area neither of us had visited and climbed Hidden Dragon (WI 4, 50m) and then the spectacular Candlestick Maker (WI5, 140m) above. Candlestick Maker had an amazing pillar in a cave to start and then a nice long finishing pitch of sustained 4+ ice.

Below the 1st pitch "candlestick" on Candlestick Maker.

Climbing the "candlestick"

Also in the area, the Joker (50m, WI2) looked fat, Black Rock Falls (35m, WI4+) looked good, and The Real Big Drip (200m, M7+, WI7) looked fantastic. I've got to get back in there to climb that one while it's good!

Black Rock Mountain & Falls (in middle)

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

www.cdnalpine.com

Ice Skills with Chris & Jamie

2010-01-04T13:30:00.003-07:00

I've fallen a bit behind with the Blog over the Christmas season, mostly because I've been busy climbing so much ice!

A couple days after Christmas I had a really fun day at Bearspirit Crag with Chis & Jamie from Stoney Plain. They both wanted to increase their skills on steeper ice & work on anchor building. Chris had done quite a bit of leading before and managed to do his hardest ice lead to date during the day. Jamie was keen to learn more about setting up top-rope anchors so we did a variety of anchor systems as well. We all forgot our cameras unfortunately!

Afterwards Chris & Jamie spent a week touring the Rockies and climbed a bunch more routes in Kananaskis, the Icefields Parkway & Jasper.

J. Mills
www.cdnalpine.com

Nemesis - WI6, 160m

2009-12-28T10:35:00.004-07:00

Nemesis, a classic grade 6 route at the Stanley Headwall.

Just before Christmas, Sylvain from Calgary called with his sights on Nemesis, a mega-classic hard route at the Stanley Headwall. Conditions were good and he certainly had all the requisite skills for a big grade 6 ice climb so we decided to go for it on the 23rd.

Sylvain skiing towards the base of Nemesis.

When we left the parking lot it was -24C and we knew it wouldn't be any warmer on the shaded Headwall but we also knew that if we just kept moving we would be fine. A nice two hour ski brought us to the base of the route.

Climbing a long 1st pitch on Nemesis.

The first two pitches were nice grade 4 & 5 climbing and we made good time to the halfway ledge. From the ledge we got down to business and headed into the grade 6 mushrooms. Some funky moves through overhanging bulges & semi-detached chandeliered sections led to more solid, but steep, ice. Sylvain followed his first pitch of grade 6 with no problems and was psyched at the belay! A final pitch of steep ice gave us a good forearm pump but went smoothly. Two long rappells with twin 70m ropes quickly put us back at our skis just as it was getting dark.

Sylvain on the second pitch of Nemesis.

Skiing out in climbing boots by headlamp was suprisingly easy thanks to good snow and a good track. It was still hard on the legs though!

Back in Canmore a big dinner and some well deserved pints ended a great day in the mountains.

A note about Stanley Headwall conditions: Nemesis & Suffer Machine are both in good shape, French Reality looks thin but doable, Sinus Gully looked good, and everything else looks very thin or non-existant this year. The avalanche hazard is currently quite reasonable and there is less snow than I expected, this can of course change very quickly!

J. Mills

CRAG Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Dec 19-20th Intro Ice Course

2009-12-27T07:54:00.002-07:00

Had another succesfull Intro Ice Climbing Course last week with 5 participants from Edmonton. Everyone enjoyed temperatures that were the complete opposite of the weekend before, Saturday was especially nice and warm.

Climbing the steepest route of day 1.

No one in the group had ice climbed before but by lunch time on the first day everyone had completed a few climbs and had the hang of using the ice tools, crampons, and rope systems. Thanks to everyone's enthusiasm we had a very full day of climbing and ended up racing darkness back to the cars!

On Sunday we went to King Creek and climbed like mad! The steeper lines on the central climb provided lots of challenge and a good workout, while a thin strip of ice to the right offered a more technical climb. Finally, the long left hand route tested everyone's stamina and was probably the favourite climb of the day.

It would be great to see everyone back again for some more climbing in the future!

Merry Christmas,

J. Mills
http://www.cdnalpine.com/

Intro Ice Course - cold but lots of fun!

2009-12-16T11:09:00.003-07:00

Learning to Ice Climb at King Creek with many layers of warm clothes on!

Last weekend a group of four keen climbers joined me for the first Intro Ice Course of the winter. Despite frigid temperatures both mornings, we all managed to stay warm enough and get tons of climbing in. I brought out a bin full of extra warm pants & down jackets and I think all of it got used!

On Saturday we headed out to King Creek and started with some safety stuff like belaying, communication, and ropework. Everyone quickly picked up these skills so we were climbing in no time! We spent a full day in the canyon climbing each of the ice routes and everyone was climbing great by the end.

Top-roping away at King Creek.

For our second day we headed up to the Canmore Junkyards and did a bunch more climbing as well as learning about ice screws, anchors, and more technique. We also did a little bit of thin ice & mixed climbing at the end of the day. To warm up we headed to the pub for a debrief and much needed burger & fries before heading home!

Thanks to Jen, Jill, Matt & Ken for your enthusiasm and tolerance for the cold temps! It was a fun weekend!

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
www.cdnalpine.com

Three days of Ice Climbing with Everett & Jeremy

2009-12-11T10:50:00.003-07:00

Despite the frigid temperatures of the last three days, Jeremy, Everett, and myself enjoyed some excellent ice climbing! Everett & Jeremy already had experience with lead climbing & multipitching in the summer time and wanted to transfer these skills to the ice.

Jeremy on his first ice climbing lead!

On the first day we went to Haffner Creek and climbed every piece of ice in the canyon. We practiced lots of climbing technique, ice screw placements, and some anchor building. This was the coldest day so far this winter but we all managed to stay warm by climbing non-stop all day!

Everett on his first ice lead!

For our second day we moved onto multipitch skills with an ascent of the classic Guinness Gully near Field, BC. The climb was lots of fun and we practiced multipitch skills such as belay transitions, swapping leaders, double rope techniques, anchors, and multipitch rapelling.

On day three we put all the skills to work and Everett & Jeremy each did there first few lead climbs at King Creek! They both have a good head for it and did a great job of staying safe and in control on each of their leads.

I wish them both the best of luck as they continue progressing with their ice climbing throughout the winter!

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

King Creek with Eric & Veronique

2009-11-22T10:13:00.003-07:00

Had a great day out ice climbing yesterday with Eric & Veronique from Calgary. Despite only having ice climbed once before, they did fantastic as we climbed every ice route at King Creek, and even a few of the tricky mixed climbs! Their rock climbing background allowed them to pick up the basics of mixed climbing with no problems. Although it was busy mid-day, we were the first party to arrive and the last to leave and managed to get 8 hours of climbing in!

It was a fun day out and I hope to be able to climb with them again in the future. Next time some multipitch climbing perhaps!

J. Mills

CRAG Owner & Head Guide

http://www.cdnalpine.com/

The Maul - M7, 300m

2009-11-17T12:29:00.004-07:00

The Maul climbs the snowy corners in the middle of the face.

Climbed an excellent mini-alpine route on Wedge peak out in Kananaskis a couple days ago called "The Maul". I met up with Eammon Walsh, Rapheal Slawinski, and Ian Welsted for the day and we climbed as two teams of two. The route had sustained mixed climbing throughout and some quite strenuous sections in smooth corners. The crux section was pretty wild as it climbed through roofs on the left and baby-smooth slab on the right. It was a good workout that's for sure!

Ian Welsted belaying Rapheal Slawinski on pitch 1.

Me climbing the excellent chimney on pitch 5.

For a complete route description and more pics, check out Gravsports for an account of the first ascent a couple years ago.

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
www.cdnalpine.com

New Route - "Facile Monster" IV M5 WI5, 420m

2009-11-09T10:48:00.003-07:00

Had a super fun trip a couple weeks ago with Eammon Walsh & Steve Holeczi into a remote drainage behind Mt. Murchison on the Icefields Parkway. The objective of our trip was an unclimbed ice route I'd spotted a couple of years ago.

"The Facile Monster"

Since the approach is quite long (about 4 hours) we decided to hike in the day before and camp in the forest below the climb. In the morning we got up at first light and walked the remaining 20 minutes to the route. The first pitch was good climbing on rock and thin ice and turned out to be the crux of the route. Above the first pitch a long gully with a few short ice & rock steps led to four pitches of excellent ice climbing culminating in a steep & exciting, but short, grade 5 pillar. We quickly rapelled the route and walked out in fading daylight. Overall it was a fun exploratory trip to a rarely visited valley.

Our camp for the night.

Eammon on the first pitch.

For the complete route description from Steve check out gravsports.com

J. Mills
CRAG Owner & Head Guide
www.cdnalpine.com