Gazette Fall.indd - Alpine Club of Canada

Vol. 16, No. 3
●
Fall 2002
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The Alpine Club of Canada
Corporate Supporters
The ACC thanks the following for their support,
and encourages you to consider them and the
advertisers in this newsletter the next time you
purchase goods or services of the type they offer.
Corporate Sponsors
Explore Magazine
Helly Hansen
Marmot
Mountain Hardwear
The North Face
Corporate Members
Adventure Medical Kits
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Foundation
Association of Canadian Mountain Guides
Backcountry Access
Black Diamond Equipment
Canadian Avalanche Association
Forty Below
GearUp Sport (Canmore, AB)
IBEX Outdoor Clothing
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Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre
Mountain Safety Research (MSR)
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Therm-a-Rest
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The Alpine Club of Canada
Box 8040, Canmore,
Alberta, Canada T1W 2T8
Phone # (403) 678-3200
Fax # (403) 678-3224
[email protected]
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca
David Toole, President
Rod Plasman, Secretary
Gord Currie, Treasurer
Cam Roe, VP Activities
Peter Muir, VP Access / Environment
Carl Hannigan, VP Facilities
Bob Sandford, VP Publications
David Zemrau, VP Services
Mike Mortimer, Director, External Relations
Peter Fuhrmann, Honorary President
Bruce Keith, Executive Director
Submissions to The Gazette are welcome! If possible,
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Canada Post Agreement Number 40009034
Letter from the Editor
The International Year of the Mountain
was enthusiastically celebrated this year in
many ways, both publicly and privately.
In this issue, read about how some of our
members marked the occasion; either
chasing the ascent of big peaks, taking part
in a special ACC camp and living up to
the challenge, or organizing international
conferences to acknowledge the uniqueness
of mountain geography. Our cover shot
captures the essence of a sublime alpine
moment, with the Northern Lights
over Fairy Meadow Hut taken by James
Hannigan of Colorado. Thank you for
sharing all of the photos and stories of your
eventful mountain experiences. Keep ’em
coming!
Bonnie Hamilton
In the 2002 Canadian Alpine Journal, the website address for the Mountain
Equipment Co-op in the list of Patrons was incorrect. The correct address is:
www.mec.ca
We apologise for any inconvenience.
What’s Inside...
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Editorial
Facilities
. . . . . . . . . . Letter from the Editor
. . . . . . . . . . Abbot Pass National Historic Site Upgrade 2002
. . . . . . . . . . Fun and Games ’til Your Shoes Get Wet
Special Events . . . . . . . . . . Banff Fest
. . . . . . . . . . International Year of Mountains at The Banff Centre
. . . . . . . . . . Festival Book
. . . . . . . . . . Volunteers Needed
Mountaineering . . . . . . . . . . .Putting on a Pile of History
. . . . . . . . . . Women’s Marmot Camp 2002
. . . . . . . . . . Rockies Panorama Traverse
. . . . . . . . . . GMC 2002
Grants
. . . . . . . . . . . .Grants
Publications . . . . . . . . . . . .Every Other Day
. . . . . . . . . . Heidi’s Hints
International . . . . . . . . . . . .Nepal School Projects
. . . . . . . . . . Letter to the Editor
Humour
. . . . . . . . . . Frisby Ski Camp 2002
Section News . . . . . . . . . . . .Chasing 54 11,000ers
National News . . . . . . . . . . . .National News
Notices
. . . . . . . . . . . .Clubhouse News
. . . . . . . . . . . .2002 AGM in Vancouver
. . . . . . . . . . . .Winners Announced
. . . . . . . . . Don’t Miss Out! Mountain Guides Ball
. . . . . . . . . ACC Volunteer Awards
. . . . . . . . . ACC NewsNet
. . . . . . . . . . Accidents Website Up and Running
Classified Ads
What's Outside...
Front cover: Aurora Borealis over ACC Fairy Meadow Hut;
photo Copyright 2002, James Hannigan www.jwhphoto.net
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
3
Abbot Pass National Historic Site Upgrade 2002
Story & photos by Bruce Hardardt
They
came from everywhere
— England, Toronto,
Thunder Bay and even some locals.
Together there were 19 volunteers
scheduled to work on upgrades to Abbot
Hut, including replacing the outhouse and
propane shed and building stone steps with
a stone patio. Also, a Parks Canada plaque
commemorating the status of Abbot Pass
Hut as a National Historic Site (declared
in 1997) was to be laid into the stonework.
The day before we had flown over 11,340
kg of materials up to Abbot Pass with
Golden Alpine Helicopters.
The volunteers met at the Alpine
Club of Canada Clubhouse in Canmore
on August 2nd ready to fly. I had 19 eager
people but due to the miserably low cloud
cover, no helicopter could get them up the
1000 m to Abbot Pass and there was too
much snow on the ground for them to hike
in. Plans had to be changed fast if we were
to get in at all.
First, I needed to find a helicopter that
had lots of lifting power, that would run
well at 3050 m and could come with no
advance notice to work on the next day
– Saturday, which is usually the busiest day
of the week for helicopters. I called Don
McTighe of Alpine Helicopters in Golden
to ask for his advice. He said to leave it with
him and he would see what could be done.
After what seemed like days but was really
4
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
only an hour, he called back and said that
he had found another Bell 407 helicopter.
Needless to say, I was quite relieved.
Next, we arranged for the group to
spend the night in Canmore, distributing
them throughout town (the Clubhouse,
Sandy Anderson’s, John Harrop’s mother’s
place, etc.). Then I called the volunteers
together for a meeting at the Clubhouse,
supplying them with beer (keep the troops
calm in battle conditions). To further
distract them I asked Peter Fuhrmann to
tell us the history of Abbot Hut, in itself
a story worth writing. Suffice it to say that
there would be no Abbot Hut today if Peter
had not had the foresight to step in at a
critical moment in time in the history of
Banff National Park.
Saturday morning came but the weather
had not improved considerably; the pilot
estimated that there was only a 40% chance
of getting in. I decided to take the chance
and try to fly in anyway. After what seemed
like forever I heard a faint thump, thump
on the wind that grew louder until at last
a red and white helicopter appeared. I
radioed the pilot, Cathy, to tell her where
to look for us. After shutting down we
looked up at the clouds in the Pass and had
grave doubts about whether it was flyable.
Cathy is a highly skilled pilot with many
years of mountain flying experience. If we
were going to get in at all she was the one to
make it happen.
We put six people and gear in the
helicopter and made our first attempt
at getting in. Up… up… up went the
machine. Finally Cathy came back and set
down with all 6 people still on board. She
said we should wait to see if things changed
in half an hour.
Half an hour later we tried again. As they
disappeared around the corner of Mount
Victoria, I waited in suspense, my stomach
feeling like Jell-O. After ten minutes Cathy
radioed to say they were in! She flew back
down to pick up the next bunch. With John
Harrop and a radio at the hut we were able
to get accurate weather updates and get
all the people up in between cloudbanks
that continued to roll through. I thanked
Cathy and made a present to her of one
of our bottles of wine; without her skill as
a pilot we would not have made it to the
hut. I must also add that the weather for the
next two days was not suitable to fly. The
weather and the mountains had allowed us
a short window to get in.
With blizzard conditions at Abbot Pass,
we forged on and were able to assemble
the outhouse and propane shed. Both of
these structures had been pre-built (by
volunteers) over the previous three weeks
in my backyard in Calgary. It would not
have been possible to build at the pass (nor
would we have had enough time) since
there was no space left – all flat areas at the
hut had loads on them. By the end of the
second day we had a functional outhouse.
(The old outhouse had been taken apart
earlier by me and Dan Verrall while we were
flying material loads in).
Over the next few days, weather system
after system pushed through and left
more wind and snow behind. Three foot
drifts of fresh white snow in early August!
People were cold and wet, the wind never
let up – but the work went on because
our volunteers were determined not to let
conditions get the better of them. Not once
did I hear a complaint from anyone. The
only slight problem came in the form of a
curry dinner – while it was cold and blowing
outside we were hot and blowing inside. It
definitely qualified as a HOT meal!
Several people hiked out on Monday
afternoon to go back to their jobs. Those
who were left tiled the outhouse barrel
room and nearly completed the wood shed.
Our stone mason, Fritz Seidel, worked
long hours in freezing conditions, most
of it on his knees, to press forward on
the construction of the stone patio. What
hard work building with stone is. All those
who helped with the patio fell exhausted
into bed each night. The effort needed to
move stones all day long at nearly 3050 m
consumes all the reserve strength you
can muster. One afternoon, there was a
break in the weather and two of our party
climbed Mt. Lefroy, getting back just before
dark and just before the weather closed in
again. On went the work. A stone retaining
wall was built around the barrel room
flight deck, thus bringing the outhouse to
completion.
On Friday evening the helicopter came
and took most of us out without too much
trouble. Fritz and Tyler stayed on an extra
day to further complete the stonework on
the patio. The Abbot Pass Upgrade 2002
was a success, despite poor weather and
thanks to a cheerful and hardy group of
volunteers.
I would like to thank the following
for their grants of monies that made this
project possible:
● Parks Canada
● The Alberta Community Lottery Board
● Mountain Equipment Coop
● Helly Hansen
● The ACC’s Endowment Fund
● The
Alberta Sport, Recreation,
Wildlife and Parks Foundation via the
the Alberta Sections of the ACC
Below is the list of volunteers whose
efforts made this project a success; their
efforts were nothing short of heroic. They
worked until they were exhausted and then
worked some more. It has been a privilege
to work with these people and on behalf of
the ACC, my heartfelt thanks goes out to
them.
● Dwayne Babiak
● Paul Barker (Toronto)
● Kate Brown (England)
● Monique Dame
● Paul Geddes (Toronto)
● Willa Harasym (Toronto board rep.)
● Frank Hardardt
● John Harrop
● Dave Hollingham (England)
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Mark Johns
Tom Knott
Virginia Knott
Scott Lambert
Tyler McGowan
Frank Pianka (Thunder Bay board rep )
Mark Robinson
Richard Schindelka
Ester Simon- Berci
Fritz Seidel
Hanna Seidel
Leo Tardef (Thunder Bay)
Bruce Hardardt was project manager
for the Abbot Hut Upgrade 2002.
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
5
Xin was strong and robust. He’d been living
in Ontario for four years, working on his
Ph.D. in food sciences at the University
of Guelph. She was studying English as
a second language in Vancouver. They
hitchhiked from Jasper to Athabasca Falls
and walked to the first campsite from there,
more than 14 km. They carried a 1978
second edition of Patton and Robinson’s
Canadian Rockies Trail Guide. They
devoured all the warm food offered them
and I wish I had brought extra, especially
soup.
Fryatt Valley in nice weather
Photo by Howard White
Fun and Games ’til Your Shoes Get Wet
By Lynn Martel
I
can tell before I open my eyes that
moisture is falling from the sky, that
fine drizzly stuff that’s not rain, not snow.
Crisp air glides through the open window
a metre from my face and just as I pull my
sleeping bag around my head a cheery voice
offers me some tea.
Dave has been up for a while now, the
woodstove is warming the single room of
Fryatt Hut and now I’m being offered tea in
bed. This is the life.
My buddy Andrea is also up and after a
few sips I join them for a breakfast of instant
oatmeal, the kind we’d never eat at home,
but somehow always tastes just great in the
mountains. For his first time in a hut, his
first time even in the mountains, Dave, a
Manitoba Hydro manager from Winnipeg
who runs marathons, is a wonderful host.
Outside, thick grey clouds swarm
around the peaks and upper slopes spackled
in snow. Suddenly the light dims as a
moving mass of fog engulfs the upper valley.
This calls for a game of cribbage.
Between squalls, Andrea, Dave and I
hike up the ridge that tops the north wall
of the headwall following a tight, steep trail
through alders heavy with frost and water
that soaks our pants. As we step carefully
from wet rock to slick dirt I can’t help but
wonder how difficult it was for Xin and Ke,
the young Chinese couple now warm and
dry in the hut, to negotiate yesterday after
losing their way hiking to the hut.
Andrea and I met them the day before,
around 5:45 p.m. at Headwall Campground,
below the notoriously steep headwall. Both
in jeans, our eyes were drawn immediately
to her feet. She had hiked more than 24
km of damp, root strewn, rocky trails in a
pair of red cotton canvas high top sneakers.
6
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
They were unloading crackers, cheese and
Spam from a big pack, her daypack on the
ground nearby. They had no stove and told
us they had been cold in their leaky tent and
summer bags the previous night.
We suggested – rather insistently, that
they stay at the hut, less than a kilometre
further. Shortly before, we had passed
Hamish and Tim, the custodian, on
their way out. After rising at 3 a.m. three
consecutive mornings to climb Fryatt, only
to discover it covered in fresh snow and
verglass, they had left two days early. The
hut was nearly empty.
Xin asked how to get there and I replied,
“Follow the trail.”
Andrea and I reached the hut half
an hour later, made Dave’s acquaintance
and quickly headed back down, thinking
Ke might need a little help up the steep,
slippery section. We reached the campsite
without seeing them. Maybe they’d hiked
back down the valley, we shrugged. On
the way back up both of us wondered if
we heard voices, but no one answered our
calls.
Shortly after 9 p.m., we heard a shout.
We quickly ushered them inside, she was
trembling, partly the result of being terrified
at the thought of spending another night
outside, lost. They had missed the trail and
had bushwhacked up the headwall far to the
right, somehow stumbling upon the upper
ridge trail, which they followed down to
the hut.
I was so relieved, but at the same time
wondered if Andrea and I, by suggesting
they stay at the hut in the first place, might
have almost caused an epic.
“We were so lucky to find this place,”
Xin said.
Ke had never camped or hiked before.
On the ridge, the clouds separate
slightly as the summit cairns come into
sight. Below, Fryatt Lake is a bold burst
of turquoise colour in a world of grey and
green rock and trees. Everything above tree
line is generously covered in fresh snow. We
hike across lumpy meadows of heather to a
jewel-toned tarn ringed by lichen-spotted
boulders. We continue down to another
larger lake, 20 minutes above the hut, and
spot Xin and Ke on the opposite bank. I’m
glad to see them out enjoying the splendour
of glacier fed lakes and high alpine flowers,
but wonder if they notice the approaching
storm clouds.
We reach the hut just ahead of the squall
and are soon joined by Greg and Erica from
Seattle who are camping in the lower valley.
We offer them tea, and then do the same
for Dan from Boston who’s playing hooky
from a conference in computational biology
in Edmonton. Soon afterward, Noel from
Stony Plain, Alta. arrives for the night. Wet
again, Xin and Ke burst in and place their
shoes by the fire.
Funny how August snow squalls are so
much more tolerable when you’re socializing
in a woodstove heated hut.
After the campers leave, I ask Ke what
she thinks of backpacking.
She hesitates, shaking her head slightly.
continued on page 7
Andrea Pintaric hiking in a snow squall in upper
Fryatt Valley
Photo by Lynn Martel
Banff Fest
By Dave Dornian
This
annual do is both thesis and
antithesis of the mountain
experience – all your great outdoors,
excerpted and shrink-wrapped and barbered
and dragged INDOORS for an ironic, but
mind you accurate, diorama of lives lived in
high and wild places. If that was you I saw
with the Five Alive juice box in your mitt,
shuffling along in the bathroom lineup
outside the Eric Harvie Theatre, all the
while expounding on the plight of Tibet,
you were there. Otherwise, ...well, imagine
a party catered by NatGeo magazine. Think
media. Think marketing.
The Banff Mountain Book and Film
Festivals are hosted every November by the
Banff Centre for Mountain Culture. The
Alpine Club of Canada (ACC), original
provider of the idea for the festivals back in
the ’70s, now furnishes volunteers, ushers
and the food concession for this multi-day
event. The club also supplies the cash prize
and the trophy for the Best Climbing Film,
presented at the festivities’ end. Getting
out to the Festival is one of our traditional
activities here in the Bow Corridor and
a good excuse to socialize during the
off-season.
2001 was Banff Festival number 26, and
overall it was a more subdued affair than
the much-hyped 25th anniversary Mountain
Summit that turned the page on the
millennium the year before. That is, it was
more subdued if you can call ANY event
featuring thousands of books, hundreds
of films, tons of trade booths, uncounted
milling ticket holders and more than a few
itchy mountain celebrities – all crammed
into fold-down theatre seats – ‘subdued’.
It’s the closest most of us will ever come
to pretending we’re part of something
approaching the international party circuit
and make no mistake – fun WAS had. You
could actually communicate with featured
Festival presenters – share a laugh with Sid
Marty, get Ben Gadd to sign your new copy
of Raven’s End or have Tomaz Humar yank
your arm out of its socket in a Slovenian
excuse for shaking hands. Carlos Carsolio
was traveling with his Calgary relatives and
a carousel of slides from all fourteen eightthousanders. There was an even chance that
HE’d buy YOU a beer if you found him in
the St. James Gate later in the evenings. Call
it the ‘sled’ rather than the ‘jet’ set, then.
If that wasn’t you prowling the bookstalls,
ticking people off your Christmas list or
cheering in the dark for the simple joy of
being warm and well-fed while people on
the screen were struggling toward summits
half a world away, there ARE ways you can
make up for missing the happy times. It’s
likely that the touring show of the Banff
Mountain Festivals will play someplace
close to you – it’s booked for more than a
hundred dates across North America in the
coming year, visit:
www.banffcentre.ab.ca/CMC/film_tourall
There’s a good chance your own Section
is involved in sponsoring a local showing.
Want more? Better contact the ACC
National Office and volunteer to work
at our concession this year. We’re always
looking for a few committed sandwich
salespersons and experienced coffee pourers
and are usually able to pay off at the end of
your shift with free event passes and broken
chocolate chip cookies.
My thanks go out to Kelly MacLeod and
Josée Larochelle and their dedicated 2001
ACC festival team. I’m sorry I had to miss
the final wrap-up party, but after five days
of festing, I just couldn’t handle any more
celery stick and mini quiche dinners, even if
the beer was free. But I swear, I’ll do better
in 2002.
Fun and Games continued from page 6
“It’s unforgettable, for sure.”
Suddenly there’s a racket on the roof,
it’s hailing and the sun is shining. Dave
and Noel, who coincidently works for Trans
Alta, are talking shop.
The great thing about visiting a hut for
a few days is the way I feel transported to
an entirely different world and how each
hut has its own personality and charms.
And I appreciate how Fryatt Hut’s plentiful
windows provide such a comfortable theatre
from which to view the alpenglow.
The crib game resumes. Dave is an
intense, positively possessed player. I decide
card playing isn’t really fun until the players’
personalities become part of the game.
We wake up to more snow and Dave,
Andrea and I hike out, giving Xin and Ke
a 3 ½ hour head start. Dave recovers his
bike at the halfway campsite and when we
reach the parking lot after a 6 ½ hour hike
we find a note on the windshield. Forty-five
minutes earlier, Ke and Xin changed into
dry clothes and Dave gave them a lift to
Jasper so they could rent a car and begin
their next adventure.
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
7
International Year of Mountains at The Banff Centre
By Bernadette McDonald
For
someone like me, whose entire
professional and private life is
committed to the mountains, the United
Nations (UN) declaration that 2002 was
International Year of the Mountains (IYM)
was good news indeed.
How IYM came about is rather
interesting. In 1992 mountain regions
made it onto the worldwide environmental
radar screen at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro. During that conference, mountain
areas were recognized as important
planetary water towers and repositories
of biodiversity and cultural heritage.
The outcome of the Earth Summit was a
blueprint for sustainable development that
placed mountains on equal footing with
climate change, tropical deforestation and
desertification as crucial issues that must be
addressed. It was the country of Kyrgyztan
that nominated 2002 as International
Year of Mountains (IYM) and the United
Nations enthusiastically endorsed it.
At The Banff Centre we have been
focusing on mountains for more than 25
years. Starting with the Banff Mountain
Film Festival in 1976, we redefined
ourselves six years ago to create a Centre
for Mountain Culture. Since then I have
received a lot of questions about the word
‘culture’. Does it mean a high-level body of
creative work, does it refer to indigenous
cultures found in mountain areas or is it
simply a description of the tribal gathering
of climbers and adventurers that assemble in
Banff each year for the mountain festivals?
By ‘culture’ we mean people –
Steve House
8
communities and individuals who are shaped
by mountain landscapes and who, in turn,
impact those mountain places. We believe
that mountain people all over the world
have many things in common – their respect
for the landscape, their relationship to a
dramatic and sometimes tough place to live,
their concern about alpine environmental
issues and economic problems and their
sense of being inspired and nurtured by the
grandeur of mountains.
When I was at the United Nations in
December 2001 as part of a special assembly
of the UN to launch IYM, I was struck
again by the interconnectedness of the
global mountain community. In addition
to being inspired and encouraged by this
gathering, I became excited about doing
something unique in this special year.
The year 2002 will see more than 260
Mountain Culture events, from festivals
and lectures in Banff to Best of the Festival
tour screenings appearing in 28 countries
around the world including Poland,
Germany, Singapore, South Africa, Spain,
Iceland, Scotland, Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, India,
New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines,
Canada, the United States and more. We
have two photographic exhibitions touring
throughout Europe and North America
and Mountain Culture grant recipients are
working on a myriad of mountain projects
worldwide.
To celebrate IYM we will focus on three
new initiatives. The first is a partnership
with the University of Alberta to hold a
scientific conference on ecological and earth
Photo by Mark F. Twight
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
Courtesy Banff Mountain Festivals
Bernadette McDonald speaking at The United
Nations at the launch of International Year of
Mountains, December 2001. Photo by Francis Dejon,
International Institute for Sustainable Development.
sciences in mountain areas in September.
The second is an invitation from the
Global Mountain Forum to create the
North American Node of this Internet
forum here in Banff. The Mountain
Forum is a worldwide electronic network
of people interested in mountain cultures,
environments and sustainable development.
Our goal is to create a North American
forum that promotes dialogue, provides
access to new information and research on
mountain issues and that is a showcase for
the creative work of all who are inspired
by mountains. As a resource network that
is free for anyone in the world to access,
the Mountain Forum is a powerful tool
for positive change. And, by being invited
to create this Node, Canada will lead the
entire continent in providing an important
resource and information exchange.
In conjunction with our annual Banff
Mountain Film and Book Festivals, we
are presenting the second Banff Mountain
Summit this October – focused on Extreme
Landscape. Part of that Summit will deal
with mountain issues and part of it will be
pure, unabashed celebration of mountains.
Painters, writers, vertical dancers, musicians,
adventurers, climbers and scientists will
gather to celebrate the landscape that is such
an important part of the Canadian mosaic.
I invite you all to join us in Banff from
October 27 - November 3 for this worldclass celebration of mountain culture.
As a legacy to IYM and the Banff
Summit, a new book will be launched with
National Geographic Books – Extreme
Landscape: The Lure of Mountain Spaces.
The themes of the Summit debate form
the core of this book: essays which touch
on key issues such as cultural diversity,
a consumerist approach to landscape,
corporate
responsibility,
inspirational
values, spiritual importance and political
reality.
continued on page 9
Festival Book
In
celebration of the United Nations
International Year of Mountains
2002, XYZ Publishing is pleased to
announce the publication of book 18 in
The Quest Library series of Canadian
biographies, Phyllis Munday: Mountaineer,
by Kathryn Bridge.
In 1924 Phyllis (Phyl) Munday did what
no other woman had done before – reached
the summit of Mount Robson. She climbed
100 mountains in her lifetime, many of
those first ascents. Her extraordinary legacy
includes a lifetime of service to others as a
Girl Guide leader and member of the St.
John Ambulance Brigade.
Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Phyl
and her husband Don Munday pioneered
exploration into the heart of the Coast
Mountains as they undertook an 11-year
IYM at the Banff Centre continued from page 8
Each of the authors in the book is
a specialist: a scientist, ethnobotanist,
mountaineer, philosopher or photographer.
Each has focused on particular mysteries
and issues of extreme landscapes and each
of them draws creative inspiration from
the high peaks and icy expanses of some
of the wildest terrain imaginable. Authors
including Dermot Somers, Wade Davis,
Barry Lopez, Terry Tempest Williams, Yvon
Chouinard, George Schaller, Ed Douglas
and Gretel Ehrlich have all contributed
essays to the book.
The eloquent responses by the authors
are living proof that mountains are a truly
inspirational landscape – a landscape that
is worth celebrating and protecting. This
literary legacy is not meant to conclude
IYM but rather serve as a reminder that
each individual has the opportunity – and
responsibility – to tread lightly in these
fragile places.
Mountains in Canada and around
the world have a huge impact on our
lives – economically, recreationally,
environmentally,
culturally
and
as
inspirational landscapes that fuel our
creative and physical dreams. We know
that mountains mean different things
to different people. But I believe that,
at the most basic level, people go to the
mountains to find their souls and in these
days, a landscape that nurtures the soul is
one worth celebrating.
Bernadette McDonald is the Vice
President, Mountain Culture at the Banff
Centre.
quest for ‘Mystery Mountain’, a majestic
peak they had glimpsed rising above all
the others in the Coast Range. It was later
named Mount Waddington.
Kathryn Bridge has an MA in History
and is an archivist and manager at the BC
Archives in Victoria. She has published
two previous books about women in BC
history: Henry & Self: The Private Life of
Sarah Lindley Crease 1826 – 1922 and By
Snowshoe, Buckboard and Steamer: Women
of the Frontier. The latter book won the
Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Historical
writing in 1998 and was runner up for the
VanCity Book Prize in 1999.
Kathryn Bridge will be appearing at the
Banff Mountain Book Festival on October
31st and November 1st, 2002.
Phyllis Munday: Mountaineer, by
Kathryn Bridge, 192 pages, published by
XYZ Publishing.
For more information contact Rhonda
Bailey at (250) 390-2352, by fax at (250)
390-2329 or by email at [email protected]
Banff Festival of Mountain Films & Books
Volunteers Needed
This
is your chance to attend the
Banff Festival of Mountain
Films and Books, Canada’s premier
celebration of mountain films and books,
for free! (Well, almost)
This year’s Festivals will be held from
October 27th to November 3rd, and The
Alpine Club of Canada will again provide
ushers and operate food concessions. You
can see a film for free, meet with your old
friends and make some new ones, all in
exchange for volunteering a few hours of
your time.
If you are interested, please email
[email protected], or phone
(403) 678-3200, Ext.108, to have your
interest recorded. Our coordinator will
contact all those who apply.
Volunteer now and ensure that The
Alpine Club of Canada maintains a strong
presence at this event. The profits from
the food concession are used for the award
the ACC presents for the Best Film on
Mountain Climbing. We appreciate all of
our members whose efforts help us out!
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
9
Putting on a Pile of History
Three Piece Suits to Three Piece Layers
Story by Amy Krause
Photos courtesy the Whyte Museum of the
Canadian Rockies
It
all started on a sloshing boat deck
back in 1877, when a seasoned sea
captain decided he’d had enough of coming
home soaked to the bone. That evening
he and his wife set to work designing the
world’s first water-resistant clothing – linen
soaked in linseed oil. His name was Helly
Juell Hansen and his invention marked
the beginning of technical clothing as we
know it.
Hansen’s invention did not change
the way people climbed mountains, but
in time its spirit would. Today there is a
multi-million dollar industry surrounding
the research and development of highly
technical clothing, but there is also a wealth
of history surrounding the apparel that was
left behind.
Intrepid Victorian climbers wore wool
jackets, vests, knickers and socks. Their
shirts were of cotton, collared and pressed
Beatrise Longstaff Lance on Sulphur Mountain, 1903
10
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
and their leather
boots were laced
knee high and soled
with metal studs or
hobnails.
Hats
were common and
so were ties, but
specialized clothing
was
considered
“unsporting.”
When
the
first Swiss guides
came to Canada
in 1899 they brought skill and also style,
and no sport is immune to the fatuous spell
of fashion. Harold Dixon writes of Peter
Sarbach, “I shall long preserve a mental
picture of a distinguished member of his
club the first day he appeared among us on
the platform – newly shod, well greaved,
very beautiful. The ladies spied him.”
The few ladies who dared seek
breathtaking vistas at the expense of physical
exertion were nonetheless obliged to wear
buttoned shoes and collars and retain their
long sleeves and hemlines, high necklines
and hats. Luckily, these soon gave way to
more practical calf length skirts and balloon
trousers worn by seasoned mountaineering
women like Mary Vaux.
While first ascents were being made
throughout the Canadian Rockies, the
first man-made and synthetic fabrics were
invented. A cellulose-based cloth called
rayon debuted in 1910, acetate in 1924
and nylon, in the form of ladies’ stockings,
was introduced in 1938. But it was 1939
before the first changes were made to the
traditional mountaineering costume. The
boots were the first to go.
In 1939, Italian Vitale Bramani did away
with hobnails by inventing the world’s first
Resting on the 1st Ascent of Mt. Lefroy, 1897
rubber sole. Vibram soles revolutionized
climbing shoes, making them lighter while
improving insulation and shock absorbency.
Thousands of knees thank Vitale Bramani
every year. Vibram soles are still in
production.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s,
synthetic fabrics became a staple part of
North American clothing. Nylon, a DuPont
invention, was followed by polyester and
acrylic in 1950, making DuPont America’s
leading corporate idea machine. In 1959,
spandex made its commercial debut
effectively revolutionizing ladies’ underwear
in the process.
‘Sixty/forty cloth’ was one of the first
synthetic fabrics to be incorporated into
recreational clothing. This blended fabric of
60 per cent cotton and 40 per cent nylon was
drier and more durable than cotton alone.
It found its way into shirts, trousers and
heavy-duty jackets with reinforced elbows.
Sierra Designs 60/40 Parka became the first
of many mountain parkas that changed the
face of outdoor clothing by 1970.
Parkas however, were only the
beginning. The next ten years would bring
our trusty sea captain, a DuPont refugee and
a bankrupt textile mill into unimaginable
prosperity.
In 1970, Helly Hansen capitalized on
polypropylene yarn, an invention that won
its Italian innovators the Nobel Prize in
1963. Hansen introduced LIFA underwear.
It was lighter, warmer and drier than
anything that had come before due to the
superior wicking ability of polypropylene.
Base-layers were born.
In the meantime, an ambitious
American entrepreneur was feverishly
Mary Vaux & George Vaux Jr., 1907
researching different uses for PTFE or
polytetrafluoroethylene, a product of
the DuPont idea engine. In 1958, PTFE
had convinced Bill Gore to abandon a
secure career with DuPont to begin his
own company out of his basement. In
1979, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
introduced Gore-Tex, a fabric that was not
only waterproof and windproof but also
breathable. Gore-Tex shells arrived.
The final piece of the puzzle came
together two years later as a Massachusetts
textile mill was facing Chapter 11
bankruptcy. Malden Mills was running
losses, facing lay-offs and ultimate closure
when inspiration came in the form of faux
fur. If people bought synthetic fur, why not
synthetic wool? Malden Mills introduced
Polarfleece in 1981 and convinced
Patagonia to design, manufacture and
market the world’s first fleece garments. The
results were warm, lightweight and fastdrying clothes that didn’t shrink and didn’t
stink. Malden Mills was out of Chapter 11
by 1983.
Over the 1980s and 1990s a number
of new innovations appeared but the most
influential changes had already been made.
Polarfleece, synthetic underwear and GoreTex had created the revered triad – baselayer,
Summit Ridge of Mount Vaux, 1962
insulator and shell – and made layering the
bottom line in outdoor clothing.
Though styles may change and
innovations emerge, the next time you dress
consider that you’re pulling on a pile of
history. And thankfully, also leaving much
of it behind.
Grateful acknowledgment goes to the
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
and Monod Sports for their assistance in
preparing this article.
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
11
Women’s Marmot Camp 2002
Pushing yourself in every way: physically, mentally, emotionally. Facing your fears and moving through them. Learning all the time – and
enjoying the process. These are the kinds of experiences that awaited us at the Marmot/Alpine Club of Canada Women’s 2002 Summer
Mountaineering Program, July 13 - 18 in the Rogers Pass area of Glacier National Park. The program, subsidized by Marmot, is intended to
provide female mountaineers who are Alpine Club of Canada members an opportunity to summit together, work on their leading skills and
gain more mountaineering experience. Here are some of the highlights, as told by participants:
Lorraine Harrison
This
was an unforgettable trip
from the first day, when all
12 of us walked up the trail to Asulkan
Hut. The last bridge was out over Asulkan
Brook and we had to bushwhack then climb
a snow gully to arrive at the top of the ridge
above the hut.
Thanks to coaching from the guides and
camp managers, I now feel more confident
route finding and maneuvering on steep
glacial and rocky terrain. My favorite day
was the most challenging, when my partner
and I took turns leading up a glacier, then
along a spectacular rock ridge (Mt. Jupiter,
which includes the peaks Castor, Pollux and
Leda).
The last evening was a treat with a
Hawaiian party, complete with rum fruit
coconut punch and wonderful world
music.
Jacqueline Louie
The
learning was intensive and
it touched on all aspects of
becoming independent in the mountains.
Everyone was so willing to share knowledge
and experience. It was great being in the
mountains with such an enthusiastic group;
it made the long days more enjoyable. Even
changing an outhouse barrel that didn’t
have wheels underneath it – not part of
the course outline, as one participant noted
with a wry smile – turned out to be fun.
Like most of the others, this was the first
time I had climbed in an all-female group
and I found it a very positive experience.
One of the things I liked about this
environment was that I couldn’t hang back
and let others do the things I was uncertain
about or intimidated by – we were expected
to practice everything.
Pattie Roozendaal
I
Descending Mt Jupiter: Lorraine Harrison is in the
foreground, with climbing partner Susanna Oreskovic
Photo by Marg Saul
12
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
found that having one leader with each
rope team of two participants provided
an excellent learning environment.
Helen and Alison are a fantastic teaching
team. Their experience, patience and
encouragement helped me learn knots, rope
handling and crevasse rescue techniques
better than any other instructors I’ve had.
Another great thing was that we had the
opportunity to practice those skills each day.
It was also a lot of fun being with a group of
women and sharing stories and experiences.
Besides being competent leaders, Marg and
Sarah did a great job keeping us well fed,
and they know how to host a good party!
And the Marmot DriClime WindShirt!!
I love it! It’s become the most-used piece of
clothing in my pack.
Group photo, at the Asulkan Hut: Back, from left: Helen Sovda
Front, from left: Henny Coates, Susanna Oreskovic, Marjory St
Susanna Oreskovic
The
fact that we did the leading,
made the decisions and
evaluated our actions made the learning that
much better. The guides, Alison Andrews
and Helen Sovdat, had a great teaching style
– asking the reason behind our choices,
suggesting alternatives or pointing out
hazards. For example, as I topped out on
Youngs Peak, Alison casually asked me,
“What should you be thinking about right
now?” All I could think about was where
the summit was. Alison mentioned that
perhaps by heading to the rock outcrop to
the left I would see whether or not there was
a cornice. In fact there was.
Marjory Stewart
On
our “Marmoteer Camp” I was reminded that one sometimes meets special
individualists in the mountains! A superb part of the trip was a charge BACK
UP the mountain – a 12-minute dash to retrieve someone’s gloves from the last transition
spot – and a five-minute trip down, using an imperfect combination of plunging, skiing and
running. Henny and Sarah were in on the exhilaration. It’s amazing what you can get done
in under three-tenths of an hour!
at, Jacqueline Louie, Sarah Meredith, Pattie Roozendaal, Joanne Winfield.
ewart, Alison Andrews, Lorraine Harrison, Mirella Lioce.
Photo by Marg Saul
Joanne Winfield
Setting
a track up to Youngs
Peak, I’m looking at
the 40 degree snow slope ahead. Leading
above the ice axe T-slot anchor, I’m both
nervous and excited. Alison coaches, and
soon I’ve led my first pitch of steep snow.
Now to belay my partner; Susanna climbs
quickly up to my anchor, then leads
through to the top of the slope. She belays
me up and we’re back onto easy ground to
the summit. We have lunch in the sun and
head back down. With more coaching and a
well appreciated second ice axe, I’m feeling
secure and comfortable as I descend the
steep snow to the anchor.
Guides:
Alison Andrews and Helen
Sovdat.
Camp managers:
Sarah Meredith and
Marg Saul.
Participants:
Henny Coates, Lorraine
Harrison, Mirella Lioce, Jacqueline Louie,
Susanna Oreskovic, Pattie Roozendaal,
Marjory Stewart and Joanne Winfield.
For more information about the
Marmot / Alpine Club of Canada
Mountaineering Program, visit:
www.alpineclubofcanada.ca
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
13
Rockies Panorama Traverse 2002
By John Savage
Last
February my wife, Connie,
and I were thinking about
hiking near Lake O’Hara. At an annual
Christmas soiree, an octogenarian friend
of my father’s had extolled its virtue and
described the lodge and huts from years
ago. But even at that early date, with
extraordinary rates, no accommodation
was available. On the Internet however,
the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) website
described the Rockies Panorama Traverse
as “a unique opportunity to traverse the
Valley of Ten Peaks from Marble Canyon,
descending via the Plain of Six Glaciers to
Lake Louise.” Overnights were planned at
the Canadian Alpine Centre (CAC) in Lake
Louise and at the Fay, Neil Colgan, Elizabeth
Parker and Abbot Pass huts. Porters would
take food in ahead. It sounded great, but
were we qualified?
Thirty years ago or more, I had climbed
Mount Baker and Mount Garibaldi, but
there had been a lot of water under the
bridge since then. My ice axe, after being
exhumed from mountains of dust, looked
like a relic from
a bygone era.
Crampons
w e r e
nowhere
to
be
found.
T h e
camp
was described as a “great choice for the
aspiring mountaineer.” How about an
expired mountaineer?
The trip description suggested fitness
should be “of at least intermediate level”,
but that level was not further described.
We put in our applications and a few
weeks later were delighted, albeit somewhat
apprehensive, to be accepted. At the AGM
of the Vancouver Island section in April,
Gerta Smythe introduced herself as a fellow
participant, so we would not be the only
islanders participating.
Gerta, for those who do not know
her, has a constitution of iron, so this
consolation was entirely misplaced.
Our Guide was Peter Fuhrmann,
the Honorary President of the ACC, an
internationally certified mountain guide
and the person largely responsible for
saving the ACC huts from Parks Canada’s
misdirection. He was also the perfect person
to synthesize Parks Canada and ACC
interests, because of his long involvement
with both. I took an immediate liking
to Peter as he downsized my pack in the
guides’ room at the Saturday night meeting
before departure.
Our camp manager was John Derick.
When John was not rushing ahead to
feed us brie and pie and pie and brie and
other exotic delights, he was exhorting and
cajoling us and serenading the troops with
sweet dulcet tunes at unexpected times and
places.
We began our journey at the Marble
Canyon trailhead and spent the first night
at Fay Hut; a beautiful log hut with
a wood stove, propane cook
stove and lights and
two levels of sleeping
accommodation
with foam mattresses. Numbering ten, our
group filled the hut – an “exclusive”, as John
put it. The hut was near a creek that had
carved small bathtubs in the rocks, each
filled with clear cold water, which some of
us utilized at speed. In the evening, Peter
regaled us with mountaineering stories,
about his recently passed friend Skippy and
about the trip ahead, while John had us in
stitches with his “slaying the shit monster”
story about Fay Pot. It seems that one winter
the barrel changing had gone wanting, so
John was called upon to fell a mountainous
frozen pile with a chainsaw.
After a breakfast of bacon, eggs,
coffee and juice we struck out for Neil
Colgan Hut. This hut was named after an
unfortunate park warden who lost his life to
an errant hoof and the hut was built under
the direction of Peter Fuhrmann. The route
took us up through alpine meadows then
across the Fay Glacier. The hut was located
on the shoulder of Mount Little, high
above Moraine Lake. As we approached
the hut the ascent became very steep and
we roped up and then kicked steps for the
final climb.
Over the next two days we climbed
Mount Bowlen and Mount Allen. At 3,310
metres, Mount Allen was an unexpected
bonus and I wondered about my skill
level. We roped up early, crossed the Fay
Glacier and were on the shoulder of Mount
Allen in short order. The snowfield was
exceptionally steep and Peter kicked steps as
we ascended, roped in fives, with crampons.
The snowfield ended at a ridge and we left
our crampons and walking poles at the
ridge before proceeding. In four places Peter
and John belayed us, leading the way and
cajoling us forward and upward. I was at the
end of the rope and very happy to
Enjoying the view from Mt. Allen
Enjoy
14
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
Photo by John Derick
have my new helmet which at last showed
some signs of wear.
Just before noon we reached the
summit. It was a warm clear day. We all
embraced each other and thanked Peter.
Gerta played her recorder. John, followed
by Margaret, Len, Jan and Ron soon
arrived and all our names were recorded
in the small book within a canister at the
summit cairn. Margaret reminded us of the
spirituality of it all, which made me think
of Mount Olympus and the Greek gods that
conspired to control the lives of people on
earth, far below.
Heading down, I was on the lead with
Peter securing us. But now gravity worked
in another way. There were lots of holds
and I was again thankful for my helmet. I
tried to help those above by pointing out
footholds and such. We were actually a
pretty good group. After a long day we were
back at the Neil Colgan Hut by 6 p.m.,
tired but elated. John prepared us another
first class meal and the brie and oysters
disappeared fast. We lingered over dinner
and wine.
We descended to Moraine Lake for a
night at the CAC. At the beginning of the
Shiesser/Lomas route Peter impressed us by
chopping steps as he descended. We then
proceeded down the ledges assisted in places
by fixed cables and chains. The route was
awe-inspiring. The cables and chains made
very difficult parts much easier. I was leading
down a cable that had been partially severed
by an avalanche, but failing to heed Peter’s
sage advice, I got my pack caught in the
cable and spent an anxious minute nearly
suspended by my pack. Thankfully, Connie
disentangled me. My only consolation was
that Len finished that section upside down,
caught by the same web.
At the end of the last chain we arrived
at the catwalk, a short, narrow section
with a vertical drop of about 460 metres
on one side and a vertical drop of perhaps
150 metres on the other. John and his crew
preceded us on that section. Len led, but
tried inching his way along on all fours.
Len was a physician from Vulcan, Alberta
who looked ‘Vulcanese’. His knowledge was
encyclopaedic and he was a very fast wit. His
method of travel in this instance however,
seemed very difficult and was not emulated
by any who followed. Having watched the
others, I had lots of time to think about
how to cover the ledge, less than a metre
wide. John, on the other side, told me to
look across, plan the route and concentrate
on moving one foot after another until the
bridge was crossed. It worked to perfection
and we happily crossed the catwalk.
The following morning we started from
Moraine Lake and crossed Wenkchemna
Pass with lunch at the Eagle Eyries. Then
we proceeded over Opabin Pass and down
to Lake O’Hara for a night at the Elizabeth
Parker Hut. Late in the afternoon we had
our first rain. Up to that point the weather
had been stunning, so a little rain and our
first use of Gortex was pretty uneventful.
As Peter promised, there was more wildlife
on this part of the route. We watched him
sweet-talk a rabbit, a ptarmigan and a
marmot into posing for our cameras, with
us calling him St. Francis as we proceeded.
Because of the rain, day six started late.
It involved a hike up a very steep talus slope
to the Abbot Pass Hut between Mt. Victoria
and Mt. Lefroy. The hut is a beautiful
stone-faced building with spacious cooking
and dining accommodations and sleeping
quarters on the second floor. As Connie
and Jan noted, the view from the upper
window was such that it allowed only a
partially obstructed view of the occupant of
the door-less outhouse on the slope above.
But at this point the limits of modesty were
obscured, since if nature calls strongly it is
not always reasonable to un-rope.
On our last morning we wore crampons
and used ice axes and short ropes. Peter
advised us to dig in the crampons and to
keep our boots flat against the ice. Thus we
uneventfully traversed the steep icy slope
that transported us around the Deathtrap
to the Fuhrmann Ledges. Peter discovered
the Fuhrmann Ledges following a series of
terrible events on the Deathtrap route to
Abbot Pass Hut. The route skirts Mount
Lefroy at a lower level that was overlooked
by earlier mountaineers and it provides
a safe but adventurous route that avoids
the rockfall and avalanche danger of travel
higher on the glacier. John described
the Fuhrmann Ledges as from fifteen
centimetres to six metres wide, although
most of what I recalled more closely
resembled the former. Looking back, we
were all amazed at the route we took.
After the long descent to Lake Louise
we celebrated together at the CAC’s Bill
Peyto Café. Lindsey, a wine merchant from
Edmonton, ably selected the vintage and we
exchanged stories about our 100 km, 7600
vertical metre adventure that Peter aptly
described as the most beautiful alpine hike
in the world.
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
15
2002 GMC
Photos & story by Mary Jane Pedersen
This
year’s setting for the annual
General
Mountaineering
Camp (GMC) was in the Trident/Neptune
group of the Northern Selkirk Mountains,
one range west of the Rockies. What a
privilege it was to be in an area that has
hardly seen any human activity. Camp
was nestled in the Trident/Neptune basin
at 2120 metres (7000 feet), with waterfalls
cascading off the glaciers above and streams
weaving their way through camp. Logs
and rocks, strategically placed, allowed for
participants to negotiate the many water
crossings without getting their feet too wet.
Our week (Week 2) was blessed with
hot dry weather that allowed for dramatic
changes in the
glaciers over the
week. Falling rock
from the melting
glacier above camp
provided
ample
conversation,
especially
those
middle-of-thenight rock falls
that became the
foundation
for
some wild dreams
and conversations
to follow.
Camp
was
conveniently located
immediately below
the majority of our climbs. Climbers would
ascend within minutes of eating breakfast,
which proved to challenge any overeaters
in the group. The short approaches kept
our knees healthy a little longer and got us
home to camp in time for happy hour, even
on the long days.
The big ticket this year was Neptune
Mountain. At an elevation of 3201 m
(10,478 ft), Neptune was the buffet
mountain of choice offering a hefty selection
of terrain and providing climbers with
a truly fulfilling day of mountaineering.
Trident Mountain, 3136 m (10,264 ft), was
an extremely popular and rewarding climb
as well. The selection of peaks one could
view from the top of Trident was impressive
and breathtaking.
A variety of smaller peaks immediately
above camp were also happily climbed.
Escarpment and Nereus, renamed by some
as “Entrapment and Toofareus” involved a
long approach first through the valley below
camp and eventually climbing to the glacier
for long, hot walks to the summits.
The GMC is the perfect venue for
beginner to experienced mountaineers who
wish to enjoy a week of mountaineering
without having to worry about anything
other than climbing and the occasional
dish duty. Professional guides and amateur
leaders provide quality guidance up and
down the hills. A camp doctor is on hand for
any emergencies and added entertainment.
The quality of staff, including the cooks is
outstanding. It is truly decadent to climb all
day, come home to camp and just wait for
the dinner horn to sound as you sip on a
beverage that has been cooling in the stream
outside of your tent.
The location, the climbing, the
camaraderie, the staff and the blessed food
– it’s all good.
Financial Grants from The Alpine Club of Canada
Through the generosity of many donors, the ACC has several funds in place to support a variety of mountaineering related projects and initiatives. The annual
deadline for the receipt of grant applications is January 31st, and the announcement date for grants awarded is March 1st.
The Environment Fund provides support for projects aimed at contributing to the protection and preservation of mountain and climbing environments,
including the preservation of alpine flora and fauna in their natural habitat. The focus of the Fund is wilderness conservation rather than recreation enhancement,
in recognition of the fact that wilderness is a rapidly diminishing and irreplaceable resource of great intrinsic value and that we must act quickly to save these
areas.
The Jen Higgins Fund promotes creative and energetic alpine related outdoor pursuits by young women age 25 and younger. These projects should
demonstrate initiative, creativity, energy and resourcefulness with an emphasis on self-propelled wilderness travel, and provide value and interest to
the community. For example, drawing attention to an environmental concern, exploring a new area, a first accent/traverse, recreating an historical
event, involving research, or providing inspiration and role models for other women.
The Helly Hansen Mountain Adventure Award was established to celebrate the human passion for alpine areas, and
is intended to support worthwhile mountaineering and alpine related projects undertaken by Canadians that allow the passion
for mountains to grow and flourish. That passion can be expressed in many forms – mountain exploration, recreation, culture,
education, research and alpine access preservation.
For complete information and application forms, visit our website:
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/funds/index.html. If you do not have Internet access, you can request
that a copy of the same information and forms be mailed to you by calling the National office at (403) 678-3200 ext. 108
16
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
Every Other Day
Book review by Lynn Martel
It’s
a great feeling to curl up with a
book knowing from the very first
page that you, the reader, are in for a really
exciting journey.
Such is the feeling that accompanies
turning the pages of Every Other Day:
The Journals of the Remarkable Rocky
Mountain Climbs and Explorations of A.
J. Ostheimer, a brand new Alpine Club
of Canada publication edited by R.W.
Sandford and Jon Whelan.
In the summer of 1927, to fulfill the
requirements of his geology course, a
19-year-old American Harvard University
student named Alfred J. Ostheimer III rode
the train to Canada, hired a few local guides
and horses in Jasper National Park and set
out on the ultimate field trip, what Whelan
calls “an orgy of climbing.” In just two
months, Ostheimer managed to climb 33
peaks – 27 of them first ascents. On one day
alone he climbed four peaks surrounding
the Columbia Icefield, including two major
first ascents.
As if setting out to bag more than two
dozen peaks in 60 days wasn’t ambitious
enough, Ostheimer and two fellow Harvard
men, John de Laittre and Rupert (Rupe)
Maclaurin were out to collect as much data
as they could on the glaciers, geology, flora
and fauna of the remote and only partially
explored landscape they travelled through.
Ostheimer describes his intended route
in the first chapter and for the next 200
pages he does not disappoint. With the
purpose and precision of a four star general,
Ostheimer lays out his plan – to travel up
the Athabaska (his spelling) Valley to its
head at the Columbia Glacier, swing back
to Fortress Pass and around Fortress Lake
to spend a month in the Clemenceau basin,
then drop into the Chaba Valleys and return
to Jasper, time permitting, by way of the
Whirlpool Valley. Twenty-five horses were
scheduled to make three relays to Jasper to
pick up supplies.
Survivor, Eco Challenge, eat your heart
out, this is the real thing. Undertaken at a
time when rescue was inconceivable, when
tents were made of heavy canvas, smooth
soled leather boots had hobnailed soles,
ropes were made of hemp and clothing was
heavy even when it was dry, Ostheimer and
his companions traveled in a world where,
as David Dornian wrote in the introductory
essay, “Discomfort and inconvenience
would be the order of the day.”
The volume itself is a treasure. One
appendix lists the peaks climbed, detailing
party members, peak names (some given
by Ostheimer), elevations and dates.
Another is a report to the Geographical
Board of Canada, listing the geographic
features explored. An added bonus is a list
of personal equipment for the nine-week
voyage, plus lists of scientific equipment
and food. The icing on the cake is a fold out
map in the back cover for the reader to trace
the adventure by fingertip.
Every Other Day celebrates the historical
mountaineering connection between the
U.S. and Canada and also commemorates
the American Alpine Club’s 2002
centennial. Plus, it’s a really good time.
To purchase your copy contact the
national office or visit:
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/store
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
17
Heidi’s Hints
Dear Heidi,
My quickdraws and rope are about three
years old and I am wondering when the
appropriate time is to retire them. I have
not taken many big falls but use both about
two times a week for the summer.
Thinking of Retiring
Dear Thinking,
It's a good time to consider replacing
your gear while you’re on the ground rather
than shaking four meters above your last
bolt praying to the gear gods that everything
still works. When it comes to retiring gear,
people have different opinions based on
how often it’s used, how well it’s cared for,
how many hard falls have been taken, the
type of rock and for some, illogically, how
much money is in the piggy bank.
So, let’s pretend you’ve saved your
allowance and conservative safety is your
only concern. A guideline is retiring a rope
after four years of occasional use, two years
of weekend climbing, or one year of regular
use. Each time a rope is stretched the nylon
deforms and elasticity is decreased and the
fibers are less able to absorb the energy
created in a fall.
An unused rope will become unsafe in
18
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
about five years because nylon deteriorates
on its own with time, but its life can be
lengthened within this time frame through
good care. Coil it without kinks and use a
clean surface like your mother’s fresh clean
linen or a rope bag to stack it upon. Pad
potential abrasive points on the rock if
you are using it as a toprope. Store it in a
cool, dry place in a bag to protect it from
sunlight, chemicals, heat, dirt and other
abrasive grit. If all this still hasn’t kept the
dirt away, wash the rope in lukewarm water
with a mild, non-detergent soap. Rinse it
well and keep it away from direct sunlight.
Tell your mother not to bleach it either.
As for your quickdraws, they may last
much longer. The most important thing
to watch for is noticeable thinning of the
metal, which is primarily caused through
friction of a running rope. Also watch for
burrs, which can abrade a running rope,
or stress cracks, which reduce breaking
strength by up to fifty percent. Burrs are
often caused by contact with a bolt hangar.
A carabiner that has been dropped off a
long climb (or when you missed catching
the draw your friend threw up to you after
taking off on that 10c without it) shouldn’t
be used anymore.
Heidi
Letter to the Editor
Re: Global Warning
The summer issue of the Gazette was,
as usual, an interesting read. I climbed
Mt. Columbia in 1940 with a friend, Rex
Gibson, when the Columbia Icefields
Parkway was little more than a gravel road
from which there were scores of accessible
mountains. My immediate reaction to
Ian Bruce’s article, Defrost in the Alpine
Awareness Program, was that you should
send a copy to President Bush, who insists
that global warming is nothing more than
a nefarious anti-American plot. I am sure
this article would be of interest to him!
Dugald S. Arbuckle
Topsham, ME
Nepal School
Projects
By Michael R. Rojik, Director
Nepal
School Projects (NSP)
was founded in 1975,
initially to provide assistance with primary
school construction in the extremely
poor Tamang villages in eastern Nepal,
which are the home of our porters. Our
activities gradually evolved into all basic
human needs projects including safe water
systems, sanitation, improvement of foot
trails, rehabilitation of fields damaged by
landslides and training of young adults in
income generating skills. Throughout the
past 27 years, the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) has
supported NSP projects.
NSP is a registered charity operated
entirely by volunteers and donations are tax
deductible. For comprehensive information
on our organization, the projects we support
and the people who benefit from them, we
invite ACC members to visit our website at
www.nepal-school-projects.org
Should you wish to contact our
organization or send a donation, you may
do so through
Nepal School Projects,
63 Perivale Crescent,
Scarborough, Ontario M1J 2C4
or by email to:
[email protected]
Not nearly as far. Much
steeper.
Lars is in the lead,
happily teetering over
moon rocks and edging
a 45 degree uptrack onto
the face, shortcutting.
Most of the rest of us
watch from the margin
of the slope and wait for
instructions, heel lifters
set on ‘stiletto’.
Far below, where
our track emerges from
the trees and begins
to climb, a pair of skiers pulls up and
dumps their packs. They’re distant figures
from where we stand, but my head count
makes them Dwight “Boog” Powell and
Rob Hamilton, pursuing their favourite
role as tailgunners to our troupe. The two
are backcountry-skilled but perhaps-alittle-out-of-shape business owners from
Ontario, longtime friends related through
marriage, and frequent participants at these
winter ACC camps, when they’re not cat- or
heli-skiing. They’re waving their arms. Rob
is cupping his hands and shouting.
I draw this to Lars’ attention as he
Frisby Ski Camp 2002
Photo & story by David Dornian
As
you pull out of the trees and begin
setting track up to the west, toward
Shineola Peak and its spreading icefields, a
couple of route options present themselves.
Choice number one contours low around
the foot of a buttress and proceeds gradually
into a large bowl, ascending to a high bench
on the far side of the ridge before crossing
the glacier. Selection number two sets the
bit between your teeth and tackles a short
face jumbled with slide debris and frozen
tracks, punching up directly to a shoulder
on the buttress to gain the same position.
stomps upward. “I think they’re trying to
tell us something.”
Lars puts the Stairmaster on pause, leans
on his poles and cocks his head to the faint
words.
“...Eh ...Tee ...Ewe ...Eye ...Tee ...Why!
What’s that spell...?” floats up from the
bowl.
Lars looks back at me in confusion. I
scratch at an imaginary blackboard with a
piece of mental chalk. Um... Um...
From below comes encouragement.
“GRATUITY! No... Let me repeat... NO...
KICK... TURNS... There are to be NO
kickturns on this climb!”
The distant figure puts its hands on its
hips. “Can you say ‘Tip’? Let’s review... NO
KICKTURNS!”
Lars has his pack off and his shovel
assembled and is excavating a sundeck-sized
platform where his track will switchback.
I’m laughing. ‘Til he points me to do the
same where I’m standing waiting.
We leave balconies you could turn
a wagon on, all the way to the crest. It’s
everybody helping each other out. I’d do
anything for those guys – who cares how
they ski – they kept the entire group in
stitches night after night.
Subscribe to
Back Country
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or visit www.backcountrymagazine.com
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Technique tips, tour guides
In Canada
1 year – 4 issues: $19.50 U.S.
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www.backcountrymagazine.com
1-888-424-5857
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
19
Chasing the 54 11,000ers
North Twin
Photos & story by Bill Corbett
The
nice thing about pursuing a
goal others have attained is
you can do so at your own pace and for
your own reasons, well removed from any
spotlight. As all the 11,000-foot peaks in
the Canadian Rockies had already been
climbed by at least two people – fellow
Calgarians Don Forest in the late 1970s
and Rick Collier in the mid-1990s – my
only reward was the quiet satisfaction of
climbing with good friends in some of
the most spectacular mountain terrain in
Canada.
So, after topping my final 11,000er,
Twins Tower on the Columbia Icefield
in mid-June, I was pleasantly surprised
to receive a steady stream of email and
phone congratulations from the local
mountaineering community. It was
gratifying to be in the company of those
who appreciated such a peak-bagging
quest and was a reminder of how many
people had climbed a lot of these peaks.
Indeed, a fair number are within striking
distance of climbing all 54, including
Forbes Macdonald and Roman Pachovsky,
the two friends who got me started in the
late 1980s.
So what’s the secret to getting up these
far-flung peaks, which range from rock
climbs and glacier ascents to scree slogs? You
need a broad range of skills, not the least
of which are endurance and persistence,
sometimes bordering on obsession. Most
of all, as a moderately-talented climber
like I can attest, you need friends who can
haul you up the tougher peaks like Alberta
and Robson and quiet the whimpering
20
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
on uglier, looser ones like Deltaform, the
Goodsirs and again, Alberta.
Before I began climbing, in the early
1980s, I remember hearing from a grizzled
ACC member that to qualify as a fullfledged member in those days, you had
to have climbed three 10,000-foot peaks.
That’s well beyond my ability, I thought.
(It’s something I felt a number of times
in the ensuing years as I embarked on
successively harder peaks such as Bryce,
Robson and yes, Alberta).
So I was very pleased in 1983 to get up
my first 11,000er – Mount Temple, on a
Calgary Section trip; I can still see the goose
bumps on the legs of leader Althea Shaw
as the snowflakes tumbled down that late
June day. Typically, the summit was socked
in, only to completely clear as we reached
Sentinel Pass on the descent.
The next spring, I got up Mount
Columbia with my early climbing
companions, Nancy and Dennis Stefani,
followed a few years later by Mount Hector;
both trips were on skis. In 1988, I teamed
up with Forbes and Roman who were well
on the road to duplicating Don Forest’s feat.
That spring and the next, I got up seven
11,000-foot peaks on the Columbia Icefield
and the hook was set.
I accompanied Forbes and Roman on
many of their remaining peaks and looked
for other victims willing to go up 11,000ers
the former had already climbed. Obsession
soon struck and for each of a couple of years
in the early 1990s, I squeezed in eight or
nine 11,000ers during the Rockies’ brief
alpine season.
Memorable ascents during those years
included all three Goodsirs (yes, the Centre
Goodsir is a peak… maybe, but which
peaks are distinct mountains and which are
under or over 11,000 feet is another story)
on an August long weekend and the two
summits of Bryce and Robson on back-toback weekends. The latter was punctuated
by a lightning storm coming off the summit
– our ice axes sizzled like bacon in a frying
pan – followed by a bivouac above the
Schwartz ledges on the mountain’s south
side.
Other unplanned bivouacs included a
soaking, bone-chilling night on Deltaform
on Labour Day, a starry, shivering night on
Whitehorn on the May long weekend and
an embarrassing night out on Fryatt, when
Kelly Adams and I couldn’t find our tent, a
few hundred metres away, in the dark. Such
character builders were balanced by big
high-pressure systems – Resplendent on skis
in early April and five smoky but cloudless
days on foot climbing Clemenceau and
Tsar.
Forbes and Roman had young families
and demanding jobs. Thus we typically
squeezed into two days what sane people
would tackle in three or four, and peaks
such as Cline, Willingdon and Sir Douglas
became exhausting day trips. The prime
example was bagging the Lyells and Mount
Forbes during a summer in which I hadn’t
climbed at all and was just getting over a
flu bug. On the first day we walked all the
way in, past Lyell Meadows and an hour
onto the glacier before setting up camp.
The next day, we traversed all five Lyell
peaks. The third day, not realizing we could
stay high on the glacier, we dropped about
4,000 feet back to the aptly-named Glacier
River, which we crossed and then climbed
a similar elevation to a campsite below the
North Glacier on Forbes. The fourth day,
we climbed Forbes and then went all the
way out. My quads were so sore, I hobbled
like an old man down the moraine to the
river crossing and had to be helped into the
bathtub when I got home.
Of course, such whirlwind successes
were matched by grand failures. My
nemesis was Recondite, a barely 11,000foot peak so obscure it’s not even named
on the 1:50,000 topo map. I estimate it
took me about 400 kilometres on foot to
reach its rubbly summit. The first attempt
was a harebrained, two-day ski trip in April
that ended when the snow, and time, ran
out. The second attempt, I forgot the tent
poles and we slept on the floor of an open
cabin before an August snowstorm chased
us home. The third, we went a valley too
far, crossing the raging Siffleur River and
climbed the wrong peak. On the way out,
Roman sprained his ankle hopping a log
and limped nearly 30 kilometres back to the
car, which we reached at nearly midnight.
On the fourth attempt, Roman and I got
all the way to the false summit, but without
crampons, ice axes or a long enough rappel
sling, we were forced to turn around within
spitting distance of the unexpectedly icy
summit. Several years later, I finally went
back on a Labour Day weekend and
ignoring blowing snow and a freezing wind,
made it to the top in a whiteout.
Nancy Hansen was on that trip and
helped me get up my last three peaks,
using her uncanny ability to pinpoint a
brief high-pressure system and unwavering
determination to not turn around. Thus in
2000, she, her husband Doug and I set out
for the long march across the Clemenceau
Icefield, climbing Tusk (a marginal 11,000er
and a late addition to the list) on the one
day out of five it didn’t rain.
Then in late August of 2001, Nancy
phoned and asked if I was interested in
climbing the toughest peak of them all,
Mount Alberta. I said sure, when do you
want to go? This afternoon, she replied.
Forbes, Roman and I had climbed one pitch
of the East Face before being rebuffed by a
snowstorm on the one bad weekend of the
glorious summer of 1998, when more than
half a dozen parties summitted Alberta. As
far as we knew, no one had climbed it in the
ensuing three wet summers.
The face was still somewhat snowy but
Nancy was undeterred, so we carried on,
reaching our bivy site in 13 hours, which
turned out to be the shortest of our three
days on the mountain. Nancy led most of
the way up the nine or ten pitches of the
loose East Face, which was followed by a
kilometre of snowy ridge; one cornice nearly
stopped us a few hundred horizontal metres
from the summit, which we reached at 8
p.m. Not surprisingly, we had to bivouac
halfway back along the ridge at about
11,500 feet. It was so cold in our bivy sacks,
I had to remove the liners to get my feet into
my frozen boots the next morning. After
many hours of tangled-rope rappelling, we
reached the Alberta hut at dark and raced
out the next morning. I nearly tipped over
crossing the Sunwapta River in my hurry to
catch the warden who was checking out my
car and our overdue whereabouts.
In June, we finally got a brief, highpressure system over the Rockies. Again,
Nancy called mid-week and a day later we
were doing the long ski trudge up onto the
Columbia Icefield and over to the Twins.
In 1988, I had stood on the summit of
the North Twin and looked in horror at
the narrow ridge of the connecting Twins
Tower, with thousands of feet of drop-off on
either side. Fourteen years later, it looked no
less intimidating. But after tiptoeing down
the icy, crevassed slope from the North
Twin, the ridge was relatively wide and we
kicked bucket steps up to my final summit.
As we skied back to camp, safely beyond
any difficulties and looking forward to
the celebratory nip of scotch, I took
quiet satisfaction at the end of this 20year voyage and wondered what my next
mountaineering adventures might be. A
week later, a congratulatory email had an
addendum: new topo maps, it said, showed
an 11,000-foot contour on Mounts Warren
and Cromwell.
Bill Corbett is a Calgary Section member.
Helmut Ridge
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
21
National News
Clubhouse News
The
Alpine Club of Canada is
pleased to announce a new
partnership with Hostelling International
Canada (HI), Southern Alberta Region.
Under this arrangement, the ACC’s
Canmore Clubhouse has become one of
HI’s affiliate hostels.
This means the Clubhouse will appear
in HI’s marketing literature. As well, if you
visit the Clubhouse you may notice the HI
logo beside the ACC logo on our signage
and also the opportunity to purchase
Hostelling memberships. Plus you may
enjoy a more diverse group
of Clubhouse visitors
to chat with after
your day of outdoor
adventure. Other than
that, we expect it will
be pretty much business
as usual at the Clubhouse, including
operations handled exclusively by friendly
and knowledgeable ACC staff.
The ACC has been partnering for the
past ten years with HI at the Canadian
Alpine Centre facility in Lake Louise.
We look forward to this extension of our
successful relationship with them.
2002 AGM in Vancouver
By Rod Plasman
It
Winners Announced
has been many years since the National Club held an event in the city of Vancouver.
Much to everyone’s delight, the AGM and Spring Board meetings were held in this
wonderful location last May. The Vancouver Section pulled out all the stops. Trips were
arranged for all of the attendees, parties were organized, a dinner slide show occurred after
the AGM and all attendees were made to feel extremely welcome.
One of the benefits of the change in location is that it emphasized that there is a lot more
to mountaineering in Canada than the Rockies. I, for one, felt very fortunate to be able to
experience the Wendy Thompson Memorial Hut, built by the Whistler Section. Skiing in
this area in mid-May is a delight. We would all like to thank the Vancouver Section for all of
their hard work. It was a good time and we appreciate your efforts!
The main highlight from all of the meetings was the creation of the Section Outaouais,
based in the Gatineau area of Quebec. A hearty welcome to these folks and bergheil! For
meeting minutes, please refer to:
www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/special/forms/02SpringBoardMeetingMinutes.pdf
Thank you…
to all contributors
We
have received some terrific pictures in response to our notices in the
Gazette, and we are very pleased not to have to select the winners
based on the photos! At the end of August, the names of all the photographers
were placed in a hat and we drew out the names of the five lucky winners.
Richard Berry, Daniel Dufrense, Istvan Hernadi, Conrad Janzen, & Roger Laurilla
have all won a complimentary two year renewal of their current ACC membership,
a $25 gift certificate for ACC merchandise, and an ACC Alpine Huts book.
Photo by Istvan Hernandi
22
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
By Bruce Keith, Executive Director
Vice President, Facilities
Carl Hannigan has been appointed Vice
President, Facilities. Carl replaces Jeffrey J.
Potter and the Club thanks Jeffrey for his
significant contribution during his tenure
as VP Facilities. Carl, a resident of Calgary
and Club member since 1979, has extensive
experience with the ACC hut system, both
as a user and a volunteer builder. He is
looking forward to the responsibility for the
huts and the Clubhouse over the coming
months.
ACC National Financial Results for 2001
The Alpine Club of Canada national
audited financial results for the year ending
October 31, 2001 were presented to the
membership by Gord Currie (Treasurer)
at the Club’s AGM held in Vancouver in
May. For those of you who were unable to
attend that meeting, the highlights were as
follows:
● The national financial situation remains
healthy, with stable assets, liabilities and net
income. The balance sheet shows national
net assets of $2.13M at the end of the
financial year, compared to $2.04M one
year earlier.
● The various segregated funds of the Club
(including the Endowment Fund), totalled
$625,000 at year-end. As in previous years,
ACC National generated net income
surpluses in the facilities and trips/camps
areas, and these surpluses were used to fund
a variety of planned operating and capital
expenditures.
● An active capital expenditures program
continued in 2001 on national huts and
the Canmore Clubhouse, directed towards
maintaining and improving the positive
financial contribution those facilities make
to the operation of the Club.
● The budget for the current financial year
(as approved by the Board of Directors in
October, 2001), calls for a net operating
bottom line of zero.
Any member interested in more
details on the financial results for
2001 may contact the Club at
[email protected]
Don’t Miss Out! 2002 ACC/ACMG Mountain Guides Ball
By Mike Haden
With
the Mountain Guides
Ball only weeks away,
it’s time now to get your tickets for
this wonderful evening. Come meet
old and new friends alike on October
26th at the Chateau Lake Louise. The
Ball has long been an opportunity
for the mountaineering community
of the Canadian Rockies to come
together under one roof and reconnect
after a busy season of climbing and
mountaineering. This year’s fundraising
event will continue to support the Karl
Nagy Memorial Scholarship while
also raising funds towards the ACC
Centennial Fund, supporting projects
during our upcoming centennial year
in 2006.
Our patron this year is the
Canadian Mountain Rescue Services,
represented by Tim Auger, manager of
the Visitor Safety Program for Banff
Warden Service. Tim has worked as a
mountain rescue specialist for 30 years.
The individuals who form this very
important group include wardens, park
rangers, conservation officers, public
safety specialists and volunteers. They
are united in one single purpose – saving
the lives of those who play and work in
the mountains. They play a vital role in
helping us, as a mountain community,
to realize our mountain goals.
Now in its 13th year, the evening
begins with a reception that leads
into a wonderful five-course gourmet
dinner provided by the top chefs of
the Chateau Lake Louise, followed by
dancing to the tunes of ‘SuzieQ’ and an
opportunity to mingle. Throughout the
event, the silent auction provides a focal
point for the fundraising, with close to
100 items up for grabs to the highest
bidders, including prized local artwork,
trip packages, climbing and ski gear and
clothing, mountaineering books and
many other items.
The Mountain Guides Ball
committee invites you to join us for
another great evening this year. Tickets
are still available although they’re selling
quickly. Order your tickets by calling
the ACC National Office at (403)
678-3200 ext. 108, or order online
by visiting the Club’s web page at
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca
and
follow the links.
Mike Haden is the Chair of the
Mountain Guides Ball Committee.
ACC Volunteer Award
Nominations
It’s
time to nominate deserving Alpine
Club members for the 2002
Volunteer Awards. The deadline for this
year’s nominations is December 31, 2002.
The awards winners will be announced
prior to the AGM, May 10, 2003. Award
criteria and nomination forms are available
on the National website at
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/awards/
index.html. If you do not have Internet
access, you can request that a copy of the
same information and forms be mailed to
you by calling the National office at (403)
678-3200 ext. 108.
ACC NewsNet
The
Alpine Club of Canada’s email
“NewsNet” keeps you up to
date on information and the goings-on at the
ACC. The NewsNet information includes
news bulletins relevant to ACC members,
National current events, new publications,
outings/trips, hut news, National meetings,
press releases and more. Our commitment
to you is that we will only send you news
we regard to be of “National significance”
and we will not release your email address
to a third party under any circumstances.
If you would like to be added to our email
NewsNet distribution list, please contact the
National Office Manager, Josee Larochelle,
at [email protected] with your
email address.
We’ll keep you posted!
Accidents Website Up and Running
By Edwina Podemski
Members
of the Edmonton Section of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC)
are pleased to report that the Alpine Accidents in Canada
database project is up and running on the ACC Edmonton section website at
http://alpineclub-edm.org/accidents/index.asp
We still are looking for accident report submissions and photographs. A complete list of
the photos required is uploaded in text format at
http://alpineclub-edm.org/accidents/PhotosRequired.txt
Our goal in providing this online service is to prevent future accidents through education.
It is our hope that outdoor enthusiasts may learn from the mistakes and misfortunes
experienced by others and thus avoid repeating them.
Please email us if you wish to report a new accident or submit changes or corrections
(including typographical errors) to any of the reported data. Accuracy is important to us and
we want your feedback. Proposed changes or corrections will be verified before being made.
Both new and historical accident reports will be added on an ongoing basis as data becomes
available.
Route or rescue photos are always welcome and the photographer will receive credit. We
also welcome the submission of safety articles and are happy to receive constructive criticism
or suggestions for additional features.
Enjoy the site and play safe in the outdoors!
Edwina Podemski is the Safety Chair for the ACC Edmonton Section.
CLASSIFIED ADS
Lighten Your Load!
ACC Custom Portering Services
available for all of your backcountry
trips, summer or winter. If you would
like assistance carrying your food
and equipment to a hut or other
backcountry location, contact the
Facilities Administration Manager,
Luther McLain, for details at
(403) 678-3200 ext. 104 or email
[email protected]
Classified Ads:
Up to 25 words for $100 per issue
$75 for Club Members
Email your ad to:
[email protected]
or mail to the address on page 3.
Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● Fall 2002
23