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December 7th, 2024 This weekend, Greg and I would go for the summit on a winter ascent of Rundle 1, door-to-door from his apartment in Banff. We woke up at 6 and put the final touches on our gear, packing a thermos of coffee that would be our luxury of the day. Soon we were off along the road through town and the path along Bow Falls down to the golf course. From here it was a steady hike across the mountain and climbing through the forest. The day was light once we crossed the central gully and worked our way up through the steepest section of trees to the base of the Dragon’s Back. Those who have been up Rundle 1 will know this as an interesting slabby and gravelly ridge that narrows at certain points with a long way down into the gully on each side. Another party of two appeared behind us once we were above treeline. We had a quick chat with them once they caught up to us above the Dragon’s Back. We moved on up the steep slope. It was only about 15 minutes later, as the blowing snow intensified, that they passed us and suddenly turned back without a word or a glance. I continued blazing trail up to the summit ridge. The terrain conditions were what we call the perfectly worst conditions for crampons. Crampons are needed to avoid frequent slips, but the light fluffy snow doesn’t provide any buffer between crampons and the uneven rubbly terrain below. This is very tiring on the feet. We popped up on the summit ridge and worked our way along to the summit. We were now in a cloudy ice-world, traversing across slabby sections covered in a thin mixed layer of snow and rime, taking extra care not to encroach on the light cornices adjacent to the ridge crest. After a couple detours below the ridge crest on the West side, we were on the summit! A quick confirmation on the map and some footage was all we had time for as we quickly lost our moving warmth. I threw on another jacket as we returned along the ridge to warm up. We eventually descended below the clouds and had some cool views returning along the Dragon’s Back. It was a nice steady hike back to town, arriving in the dark. We achieved 1800m gain and 22km distance. Such an epic day!!!

January 26, 2025 One of my favourite ridge scrambles! 9.2km and 1217m gain.

January 18th, 2025 Went for a quick sunset rip up Wasootch in the freezing temps this afternoon! I think it must have been about -25 C with the wind chill on the summit. Always good to get out in the cold and make a summit happen :) [6km and 885m]

October 5-6, 2024 This is one of my favourite expeditions this year and the highest elevation I have reached! I had not climbed Mount Temple since my first time in the summer of 2016. We camped out in the Paradise Valley and climbed the SW ridge in the snow! We started at Moraine Lake and hiked over the Sentinel Pass to our campsite in the valley. The next day we woke up to snow, but decided to head for the summit anyways. We stashed our overnight gear in the lockers at the site and headed back up to the Sentinel Pass. It was a great scramble in the snowy conditions, and the crux through the 2nd grey cliff band was some good fun while covered in slush and ice. The summit ridge was snowy and windy, with near total whiteout conditions up high. 3 out of the 4 other parties on the mountain that day had turned back. My watch altimeter was miscalibrated too low, so after toiling up the ridge in the wind for a while, we unexpectedly had no where up to go. We were on the summit! The descent brought more falling and blowing snow. When we were nearly back down to the pass, a beautiful old raven was hanging out beside the rocky trail. He didn’t seem to be too worried about us, so I was able to get some awesome pictures without bothering him. Soon we were enjoying the wild cloudy views while heading into the Paradise Valley once again. Back at the campground, we geared up and headed out on the long hike to Lake Louise. We ended up just missing our bus, watching it drive past the Moraine Lake road intersection, but we still had a little luck left. We tried to hitchhike and a friendly couple soon picked us up to bring us down to the gas station in town. Just as we gave up on seeking a free ride to Banff and called for the $280$ cab, some nice guys in a sports car said they were heading to Banff and we could hop in! We squished into the tiny back seat with our bags on our laps and enjoyed a quick rip back to Banff while jamming to loud music in the car. I even saw the Aurora on the way back to Calgary!!!

November 2nd, 2024 Pigeon Peak (2411m); 16km & 1000m gain. Wicked views from here of some other mountains I’ve climbed in the front ranges including Mt. Fable, Gap Peak, Gable Ridge, Anklebiter Ridge, Mt. Yamnuska, Mt. McGillivray, Gilligan Peak, Skogan Peak, Ha Ling Peak, Miner’s Peak, Doorjamb Mtn and Loder Peak.

December 29, 2024 Awesome winter scramble! [12.5km and 1289m gain]

December 22, 2024

March 9, 2024 Today was my snowy return to the mountains after dislocating (and reinjuring) my shoulder over a month ago. Wasootch Ridge was the perfect place to get back at it, with lots of nearby recent summits! It snowed all day. When I occasionally spied nearby peaks, their great faces and ridges would appear in vanishing glimpses like ghosts in the clouds. For most of the day the visible landscape only contained the ridge around me and the creek to the Southwest below, with closer creek views during the flat return along it. I felt pleased with my comeback summit; 14.5km and 950m gain. Regaining ridgecrest after detouring below a gnarly section of the ridge. Back down safe. The descent was gravelly, slippery, and a little steep.

November 9th, 2024 Great day with Greg and Scott on Mount Bourgeau in a total whiteout ascending the West ridge 🏔️❄️😎

October 12, 2024 This expedition and location and time of year are just my absolute favourite ever. When Greg and I realized that we could walk up the 11km road to Lake O’Hara relatively easy, we searched the map for a nearby peak. The East towers of Wiwaxy Peak are reached via scramble and can be climbed as a detour when reversing the Lake O’Hara Alpine Circuit. Fun fact: the other West tower of the mountain is not the highest summit, but boasts a beautiful alpine climb that is known for the same views we had while climbing the East towers. We will definitely send the route on the West tower eventually. The hike up to the lake was super chill, with epic views of various mountain peaks rising behind the trees that lined the road. Arriving at Lake O’Hara was like crossing into another world. The beauty of the lake and mountains towering above was surreal. I’m pretty sure we hopped through a portal into Middle Earth; Beleriand in the North maybe… We gained a lot of elevation pretty quick. Soon we were at the Wiwaxy Gap (the col between Mount Huber and the Wiwaxy Peaks), and looking up at the summit that loomed only a couple hundred metres above. Crampons on and I soon found myself shimmying along an exposed ledge on a vertical section of wall with my face nearly pressed up against some bolts in the rock (this was a case where I understood how protection might be nice). We climbed up some snow-covered rubbly slopes and continued our traverse West, eventually scrambling up to the dip between the 1st & 2nd East pinnacles. We were now doing some serious scrambling on slushy and snowy rock. Luckily there were lots of little dry sections of rock protruding out of the snow, creating some good holds. After a couple quick and pretty exposed sections, we came to the final notch which required traversing a steep gully. We got some epic photos here. Right after came the summit and with not a lick of wind, we were able to set up for a nice break and really chill (a rare opportunity on a summit - especially in October). As we were taking photos, I suddenly heard the sound of thunder and realized there was an avalanche shredding through a gulley on nearby Mount Huber. This happened several times on different aspects of the mountain and was awesome to witness. After some lollies and food we headed back to the Wiwaxy Gap. The descent presented a breathtaking perspective of the legendary views of the Alpine Circuit: a high mountain trek that loops around Lake O’Hara through the surrounding mountain ledges, lakes and high terraces. There are several alpine passes connected to the loop that turn away to climb over to the other side of the mountainous wall surrounding Lake O’Hara. Mount Huber, Glacier and Ringrose Peaks, Mounts Hungabee and Biddle, Odaray Mountain and Cathedral Mountain are some of my favourite. Yukness Mountain juts inwards from the wall and its summit is reached via a moderate scramble (on the list for next summer). We enjoyed views of Lake Oesa, Hungabee Lake and many more small lakes and ponds. An unnamed viewpoint on the map was our destination for golden hour and sunset. We both agreed that these were now the best views either of us had ever seen. The hike back down to Lake O’Hara in the dark was a vibe. We took a Heineken break on the dock and then got to work on the return hike. The moon and stars were mesmerizing. We eventually reached the car after racking up 36km and over 1400m gain. I will never forget this legendary day. Lake O’Hara - I’ll be back soon 🏔️🐉❄️