Paddy’s Blog

The Breithorn 4164 metres

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:16:24 -0600

Earlier this month, Peter and I climbed the Breithorn while we were based out of Zermatt, Switzerland during a week of climbing 4000 metre peaks. The Breithorn is a relatively straight forward snow and ice objective with a bit of exciting knife edge snow ridge to keep us on our toes and remain aware of our surroundings and retain concentration. We also climbed Mt Pollux 4092 m, Mt. Castor 4223 m and attempted the Dufourspitz (Swiss Name) aka Monta Rosa (Italian Name) which stands at a lofty 4634 metres.

Mount Hector 3394 metres (11,132ft)

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:57:43 -0600

Last week, Darren Acheson, Thomas Nelson and myself went to climb and ski Mt. Hector. Mount Hector lies just north of Lake Louise on the incredibly scenic Icefields Parkway which continues north to Jasper. It began as a pleasant day and the temperature cool enough for deliberate and efficient travel. The surfaces crusts carried well and we moved quickly. As we approached the glacier, the winds picked up in exposed areas above Treeline and the Alpine elevations appeared windier still. We decided at 3200 metres that we had reached our limit for that day, we peeled the skins and started skiing back down to the Icefields Parkway to our waiting vehicle. Ski quality was variable and although we had some good turns, I was wishing for more snow. It ranged from skiable sastrugi to 5cm of cool powder over the previous wind stripped surfaces, to bone hard 10cm Meltfreeze crusts. Excellent day with a couple of really good people who were very happy to enjoy it with me.

Dry Tooling at the Playground

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 16:36:18 -0700

Living in a town like Canmore offers some unique options for going outdoors and enjoying life in the mountains. I went ‘dry tooling’ at the Playground - which is basically a 20 metre limestone cliff at the foot of Grotto Mountain where locals go to climb rock with ice climbing tools and crampons. Kudos to Eric and Pat for putting all the work into developing this place.

Today, I climbed with Dunny and Robson and had an absolute blast despite the fact that there was absolutely no ice at all! Imagine buying expensive ice climbing tools and crampons only to turn around and abuse them by
deliberately climbing rock routes to practice drytooling, mixed climbing and generally beating your body into shape.

Rather brisk day in Canmore today with winds that seemed to pick up as the day progressed. Wow, 30-35cm of new snow with steady moderate winds and strong winds in the Alpine. I think I’ll be staying away from the big overhead hazard routes for at least the next little while...at least until things stabilize or run through a cycle.

Mount Louis 2682 m (8800 ft)

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 15:57:42 -0600

This is my friend Lilla Molner. Lilla is a Mountain Guide and lives in Canmore. She is seconding high up on the Gmoser route. We were climbing for the fun of it and it was a spectacular day. Mount Louis’ best route is the Gmoser Route (besides Homage To The Spider). It boasts the some of the finest limestone on the mountain and provides tonnes of moderate rock climbing in a single day. This mountain is monolithic, steep and has no very easy way up or down. It is a fine objective close to the town of Banff and can be climbed in a day.

Mount Athabasca 3491 m (11,400 ft)

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 15:45:25 -0600

Mt. Athabasca is a classic snow and ice objective. Being that it is so to the road makes it a popular choice for people craving that kind of experience. There are a variety of routes to satisfy your taste in adventure. The Silverhorn (ice climbing) and The Ramp (mixed snow and ice) are customary favourites. Learning the essentials of snow travel and glacier travel are required for an ascent of this nature.