Christmas Goodies

Well the last few days we were in the fruit-full lands of Edmonton and Viking Alberta to visit out great families and little nephews, as well as to eat a large portion of Turkey and fixings. We had a stellar time for a few days staying with my sister and Terrance in Spruce grove where we ate a nice dinner of scallops, beef satay and vegis that my Mom prepared so well. The next day we enjoyed a great turkey feast, hugged everyone good-bye and shot over to Viking where the same holiday traditions were enjoyed. Thanks to all for being good cooks and better company!

Muriel Walker's turkey, this is not a small bird in case you are wondering
Muriel doing her magic
Thats one good looking family!
Graham and Kirsten, notice the super-structure that G and I built in the foreground
Hayden T, the future of hockey and a great little guy. Thanks again!

The Deep Freeze

Well the last couple of weeks have been cold. Did I say cold, I meant step inside your deep freeze and remove your pants cold. Yup, thats right- Cold! With the shop being in Christmas mode, now is a time to work hard and stay indoors. Jamie and Sharon threw us an amazing party as usual last week where we could all enjoy great food and company over at Treo resteraunt followed by the usual epic ping-pong and dart games while sampling a variety of nice beers over at the boss's place afterwords. 

We did manage to assemble a posse to go skiing on the weekend though. Mike, Chris and Myself went up to Helen Lake near Bow Lake on Friday for a turn inside the winter simulator. The temps were cold but we made our way up without any problems until the cold turned us away, we shot down the luge track to the car ad the awaiting coffee/Baileys combination over at Num-ti-jah lodge. Saturday saw Michelle, Chief and I go up to Chester lake for an easy day of excercise and fun. Now its back to work as the mercury drops and the coffee machine is in a constant state of being on!

Mt. Wilson and Guiness Gully

What a great two days out in the mountains with friends this past Thursday and Friday. With the new gear box on the car we loaded up and shot north towards the hulking mass of Mt. Wilson and the routes Lady Wilsons Cleavage and Wilson Major. Bad roads to the wayside, we unpacked and cramponed up the frozen creek and the wonderful steps of Lady Wilson. Staying dry from the few deep water wells under the steps required panache and we realized that our boots are water-proof except for the hole on top.
Racking up on the highway, a truly great thing. We enjoyed nice temperatures and constant stand up comedy routines.
Mike firing the meat and potatoes of Wilson Major, a great lead on great ice in a great setting with a great coffee waiting at Laggans. More on the coffee, we actually did not enjoy the beverage because we ended up on the route until about 9pm. Yup thats right, with two out of four headlamps no less. I guess thats what you get when you have an accumulated climbing experience between us of 20 years? A great day and such a nice place up there. Dinner at the Lake Louise hostel followed by the log impersonation in bed.

Zach and I walking up to the last pitch on Guiness Gully in Field, BC. Another great climb .

The first pitch of Guiness in thicker than normal shape taking pretty good screws the whole way. After this we rappelled off to the delights of the Siding cafe and its great coffee and proper cappuccino skills as well as baked goods. Soon after we slid our way home on the trans-canada back to Canmore. Awesome. This ice climbing as of late has been really good, cant wait till the next time. Thanks to Amitai, Zach and Mike Treetops for a stellar weekend with good company as usual.

All photos courtesy of Amitai Gat.

Linda Ice Nine

So yesterday I got the chance to join my friends "team Israel" Amitai and Zach for a classic day of ice climbing in Lake Louise on none other than the mega classic, Linda Ice Nine. Jon and I had heel toed it over there once before this year during the film fest only to find sublimated ice and a not good ice situation. Coffee, tunes and driving ensued back to Banff where we juggled salmon quiche and beef buns during the opening reception of the fest....I digress. The weather and conditions in Lake Louise were great as we made our up the route and into the alpine climbing all but the last pitch which is still a tad on the thin side. Good times especially because my shoulder/finger/foot injuries that have been sticking around were non-hurting. Thanks guys! oohhh yeeahhh.

Dave and the D5

My good friend Dave sent this photo of him  on his CAT D5 in Edmonton. Cant wait to go skiing with you man, already hoping for winter! 

Wishbone

This last friday, Mike and I shot up the parkway for an alpine mission. We had our sights set on something that we heard was in but as we ascended the broken talus and lateral moraines to get there, our eyes caught sight of a cool line coming down and barely touching the ground- we decided to check it out...

Mike brought a big piece of french bread for lunch, not sure why this photo made it in here?
The aformentioned hike and the weather which proved to be wintery
Entering the chimney, as I was climbing this I heard a loud pop in my shoulder. Trying to weight bear was painful, I finished to pitch and Mike came up to the belay. Having dislocated his shoulder years ago, he had some good questions to ask me before we decided to go down. The thing was swelling up faster that a fish in the sun. This route will have to wait...
Mike killing it on the first attempt to get to the ice, good effort. Too thin for us- no gear, scary.
 Good times, Doc says its a "torn posterior rotator cuff ligament". Try saying that at 6am, or anytime for that matter. Either way I am off the sauce for a few weeks while I recover the arm, hopefully back at it in mid November!

Another Great Summer-Wrap up Movie

Here is a little I movie I made about the summer in the Rockies, a great one indeed. After hurting my finger pulley in May, it was time to head up high and sample some of the great moderate alpine climbs that the Rockies have to offer. A big thanks goes out to the great partners I was lucky enough to have this summer!!

ESE Ridge Lady Macdonald

Early this morning I teamed up with my friends Amitai, Zach and Drew for a boulder hopping, creek jumping approach to the E ridge of Lady Macdonald. Even though I have actually done this route 4 times, I always get jazzed up thinking about the cool ridge and dreamy rock that makes up the thing.

Taking a back seat in the route finding, the fellas led us up to a great (and probably the actual) variation to the standard route, great rock and petrified churt make for secure and fun climbing.

Drew amidst the churt
The small step leading to the ridge
The ridge proper, what its all about
Thanks to the crew for a good day out

Baby Times, Nephew Times

My great little nephew for all to see, congrats to my sister and Terrance! Can wait to head back home and see them all again..

Lake Louise Alpine

So last Friday I met up with Jeff, Amitai and Zach for a climb of the classic "unnamed peak" near Lake Louise. We attempted it a few weeks ago only to get turned around by marginal weather and conditions. It was a great day in the mountains as we made our way up the ridge, weaving around loose or snowy sections, taking in the deep hues of the changing Larches and marveling at the chance to be in such a place.

The fellas coming up over the small snowpatch that signals the start of the route.
The first rock step. There are three of these steps, all close together and the first two are of similar difficulty. Probably about 5.6.
Rapelling the route after a great day. The snow slowed us down a bit and took a few hours.

A good day, thanks guys!

Alone In the Wilderness

This is one of the best things I have seen, I am going to order a copy of it

The Last Two Weeks

Well the last two weeks have been great, Michelle and I dropped by on my sister and T for a visit with the new babe two weeks ago. The little man is great and as always, we had a super time enjoying good company and having great meals. A few days before that, Michelle and I had a quick backpack into Yoho valley for an overnight. We hiked into twin falls in the morning, set our six pack of grasshopper in the creek and had a nice lazy day before heading out the next morning to Trailhead cafe in Lake Louise for their Local breakfast wrap "the cure", back to work by 11am. 

Last weekend, I teamed up with my buddy's Amitai and Zack for a nice two days of climbing at Lake Louise, then hiking up to Castle mountain hut where we continued to drink huge amounts of tea and eatca huge dinner of rice, sausage and veg. The next day reminded us that this is summer 08 as we rappeled close to 300m off of Brewers Buttress in a horizontaly driving snowstorm. All is well though as we had more tea in the hut waiting for us. 

The only other thing this week is the truck. Its come to an end after a couple of years because of a broken frame. Its sad to see it go but I am looking forward to selling it and picking something else for Michelle.

A good couple of weeks!

Mt. Aberdeen- North Glacier

On Friday it was once again time to assemble the posse and head up into the alpine. Zack, Amitae and I had a great day up on Mt. Aberdeen in Lake Louise  swinging ice tools, belaying across newly bridged crevasses and generally just having a good time. From 6am it pretty much involved the whole day to get up to the glory rock ridge which led up to the summit where we high fived and snapped a few photos before trundling south wards into the amazing Paradise Valley and the ensuing bushwack. Once the creek was reached it was easy sailing and we made good time getting to Moraine Lake road, not before seeing a big bull moose licking his chops and staring us down  before continuing into the creek. From the road I did a quick hitch hike to our car in Lake Louise where we raided the gas station for edibles, a stellar day!

The lower tongue of the Aberdeen glacier, ice climbing in August.

On the upper glacier.

Zack and Amitae just below the bergschrund, 4 pitches left to the summit.

Zack on the small steep part with a bit of rock on the left, the best combo!

A happy team, Mt. Temple in the back ground.

Mt. Edith Cavell

On Saturday night, Michelle and I packed our packs and shot up the highway to Jasper to climb the classic East Ridge of Mt. Edith Cavell. After a quick parking lot bivy, we awoke at 3 am and hit the trail. Our friends John and Martin were also climbing on Sunday and we all launched up the ridge, enjoying the great weather and views, soaking it all in and enjoying the fine company. This was also Michelle's first big alpine climb after she broke her foot in May, it was really great that she could be up there. A really great day!

On the Approach scramble.
Michele with broken foot, all smiles.

Michelle and summit.
Tonquin Valley.