Canmore, Alberta, Canada
[March 2022] As a lover of all winter snow play activities it’s only natural that I would want to try out ice climbing. I’m no climber and have only climbed a handful of times in gyms, but throw some ice on it and I'm down. I even have my own crampons (sadly that I haven’t gotten to use) that I bought after hiking on glaciers in Alaska (my favorite thing ever). …I looked into a beginner ice climbing course while I was house/pet sitting in Montana but it never worked out so when I decided to visit Banff in Canada I looked into it again. Luck would have it that there was a two-day beginner course for that weekend AND it was cheaper than in Montana. However, I wasn’t sure how crossing the border would go so I didn’t sign up for the class until the day before when I crossed over. I got a covid test and everything since that’s what I read I needed but Canada (nor US coming back) asked for it. Oh well. I slept in my van at a Walmart parking lot outside of Calgary that night and got up really early to drive to Canmore to meet with the instructor and other attendees the next morning at 7AM.
It was a small group, just me and a couple from northern Alberta and the instructor. We went over gear, safety, and the schedule for the day there in the office. We got issued gear: boots, crampons, harness, helmet, and ice axe. Then we drove just 15 minutes nearby to Grassi Lakes Trailhead. Since it was now light outside I was blown away by the massive sharp granite mountains surrounding the town. They were so close and looming I couldn’t stop staring at them. I knew right then that I wanted to live there.
Once at the trailhead we had a 15 minute walk to the ice wall. Another group was there but the area was large and there was enough room for all of us. We first practiced walking upslope in the crampons and how to tie our ropes in the harness for climbing and for belaying. Once comfortable with that we tried using one ice axe and climbing on a not-so vertical piece of ice. I immediately enjoyed it as well as belaying others on the rope. Once comfortable with the first piece of ice we moved over to try a more difficult one. It took awhile to get used to trusting the rope and the belayer that I wouldn’t fall and that I could hang more. I found that I was gripping so tightly to the ice axe that my arm muscles were quickly getting sore. Overall, I had a great first day.
That night, I walked around town, spent time in a local community center were it was warm and were I could use wifi. I slept in my van that night in a parking lot.
Day 1 on the Ice
All roped up
Fellow beginner climbing
Holes drilled into the ice holding the ropes
I want to live in Canmore!
Day 2
Day 2 Ice
Climber Etiquette: Letting others know at the trailhead where & how many will be at the rock
Mountain View
Looking down from the ice
Practice practice practice
Day 2- Met at the office at 6:30 since we had a longer drive to the ice. The wife of the couple decided not to come back for day two since she struggled the day before, with an arm injury and being afraid of heights. I rode with the husband to “the wedge” near Kananaskis Village. We joined another group with the same company for the day and had a more difficult hike to get to the site. Once there our instructors put in 4 rope lines and over the course of the day I went on each at least twice, and climbed about a dozen times. I tried to focus on my technique since the ice was much more vertical. I couldn’t rely on ledges to place my feet but had to kick into the ice. Swinging the ice axe in one swipe by flicking the wrist at the end rather than swinging several times to get a hold. I enjoyed the climbing but I was definitely anxious and sometimes a little fearful, but I pushed through. And whenever I got to a point where I didn’t think I could keep going all I had to do was shout down to my belayer and say that I’m done and coming down. I really loved being lowered down the ice, but you have to lean back in an at first scary position and trust the rope. By the end I was pretty exhausted but felt like I learned how to ice climb, which was the goal. I’d love to get out climbing on the ice again, but I’m not sure I could do anything more difficult.
The next day I visited the town of Banff and Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Blog on that here.