the alpine club of canada / le club alpin du canada...

The Alpine Club of Canada / Le Club Alpin du Canada - Montréal Section Vol. 66 No. 3 October 2008

Northeast ridge route of the East Post Spire, Bugaboos, BC. Photo taken by Marilyne Marchand-Gouin

MONTAGE

WAPTA TRAVERSE An exceptional experience

ACC Annual General Meeting

2008 General Mountai neeri ng Camp THE BUGS Section Camp 2008

For more...j ust flip the page!For more...j ust flip the page!

WWW.ACCMONTREAL.CAWWW.ACCMONTREAL.CA

Montage 66.3 - October 2008 www.accmontreal.ca

GENER AL I NFO RMATIO N

Email announcement of Club news Please visit our website and sign up to receive email announcements of club news. This is a moderated, spam-free list. Your email address is never sold to telemarketers!

Membership Renewal Check your member card (or Montage address label) for expiry date. Has it expired? Oh No! Don’t let this happen to you. Send in your membership renewal as soon as you receive it. Can’t find the form? Pick one up on the website, at Keene or call our membership coordinator. (see next page)

Nouvelles du club par courriel Pour recevoir des nouvelles du club par courriel, visitez notre site web pour vous inscrire a la liste de diffusion générale. Faible volume et sans pollu-postage. Votre courriel reste confidentiel et ne sera pas redistribué ou vendu pour télémarketing

Renouvellement de votre carte de membre Prière de vérifier votre carte de membre ou l 'étiquette sur votre copie de Montage pour la date d'expiration de votre abonnement au club. Est-ce déjà expiré? Oh non! Envoyez votre renouvellement aussitôt que vous le recevez. Vous ne pouvez trouver le formulaire? Utilisez celui qui est disponible sur le site web, ou bien a Keene Farm ou encore communiquez avec le coordonnateur des membres. (voir page suivante)

REMINDER: RESERVATIONS NOW

NEEDED AT KEENE FARM To reserve, go to

www.accmontreal.ca

GOT SOMETHING TO SELL? TO EXCHANGE? TO GIVE AWAY?

Check our website: http://www.accmontreal.ca/cgi/gearx2.pl

"Thus I urge you to go on to your greatness if you believe it is in you. Think deeply and separate what you wish

from what you are prepared to do."

Percy Cerutty

THE STORY OF KEENE FARM An historical perspective

on the Keene Farm http://www.accmontreal.ca/facilities/

keenefarm_history.php

Montage 63.1 - Februar y 2005

Montage 66.3 - October 2008 www.accmontreal.ca Page 3

Montreal Section Alpine Club of Canada

Executive Committee Got something to say? contact the executive

Specific E-mail addresses at: www.accmontreal.ca

Chair: Stéphane Chamberland 514-574-3996 [email protected] Past Chair: Murray Levine 514-633-1533 Secretary: Andi-Christine Bednarzig 514-694-7471 Treasurer: Luc Massicotte 514-484-2997 National Rep: Stéphane Chamberland 514-574-3996 Membership: Daniel Piaget [email protected] Socials: Lucile O’Leary [email protected] Outings: Steve Traversari 514-214-3189 Courses: Martin Guillemette 514-856-1420 Environment & Access: Diane Dumouchel [email protected] Newsletter: Agustina Filgueira [email protected] Webmaster: [email protected] Stéphane Chamberland 514-574-3996 Marketing: Monica Flores 514-931-7415 Keene Farm Coordinator: Tom Brady [email protected]

Keene Farm Committee Chair: Tom Brady [email protected] Reservations: Murray Levine - Virginia Sarrazin Maintenance: Leigh Freeman Members: Yaniko Palis - Luc Massicotte

Winter House Committee Ski House e-mail contact:

[email protected]

David Percival 514-481-2435 Martin Goldstein 514-489-4615 Mooshie Zahirovich 514-457-5259 Paul Veneziano 514-544-9060

For other Alpine Club Contact info: - www.accmontreal.ca - ACC Member’s Handbook - 2008 ACC Montreal Section Member Directory (included in February Montage) National contacts: www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/contacts

Montage Volume 66.3 - October 2008

The newsletter of the Montreal Section

of the Alpine Club of Canada Published 2 times per y ear

In April and October

Edition: Agustina Filgueira Production: Doug Williams

NEXT ISSUE April 2009

Deadline: March 15, 2009 Send news, reports, art, photos, etc to:

Agustina Filgueira at: [email protected]

Current & back issues are av ailable at our website

www.accmontreal.ca/club/newsletter.php

What’s ins ide ?

Editorial and general info Page 3 News & Information Page 4 Chairman report Page 5 Courses report Page 6 Keene Farm news Page 6 Annual BBQ Photos Page 7 Access & Environment Page 8 Winter House report Page 9 Calendar of Activities Page 10 to 12 Outings report Page 13 Trip reports and articles Bugaboos Section Camp Page 14 to 22 2008 GMC Page 23 to 25 Wapta Traverse Page 26 to 31 2008 AGM Page 32

ACC National Club For inf ormation on hut or Canmore

clubhouse reserv ations or anything else call the ACC at (403) 678-3200, ext. 1

Fax (403) 678-3224 E-mail [email protected]

Lots of information at our website: www.alpineclubofcanad a.ca

Alpine Club of Canada Safety Web Site

Very Highly Recommended! http://alpineclub-edm.org/accidents /index.asp

The Montage encourages you to support the ACC

Planned Giving campaign

Editorial [email protected]

Hi all, It’s been a few years now that I am the editor of our newsletter and it has been a very rewarding job. I had the chance to meet a lot of interesting people and places. I want to thank everybody that contributed to the newsletter and spend their free time writing to share their ex-periences with us.

This year for many different reasons I was not able to enjoy being outdoors as much as I would have liked to, and it made me appreciate more what we have around us. Amazing cliffs that you can climb until there’s no more skin on your fingers. Hiking trails with stunning views. Ski trails with snow so white and soft that makes you want to swim in it. Frozen walls of ski-blue ice to climb. Friendly people ready to give you a hand and support you. If it wasn’t for the ACC, I wouldn’t have had the chance to see, to enjoy all that.

There’s a lot more in the club than activi-ties. I hope you can find what you are looking for, and more! Have a nice winter! Agustina Filgueira, Montage Editor [email protected]

The ACC encourages its members to look after the environment. Remember you

can recycle this newsletter!


A C C N E W S & a b i t m o r e

ACC MONTREAL PHOTOS ON FLICKR Interested in getting a visual tour of some ACC Montreal outings? Or you'd like to see how was the last activity that you unfortunately missed. Then head to the ACC Montreal photo sharing group on flickr.com You can even share your own pictures with other members. Show us all the awesome mountain trips you did. No need to be a professional photog-rapher, everyone's contribution is welcome. http://www.flickr.com/groups/accmontreal/

NEW! IRON RANGER AT KEENE FARM

BACKCOUNTRY SKI EQUIPMENT ADVICE Backcountry skiing is a broad sport. Even seasoned veterans obsess over what might be the best gear for a particular endeavor. This comprehensive article on CascadeClimbers.com enumerates the virtues and vices of a large cross-section of the ski gear available to the backcountry enthusiast.

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ski-board/ski-intro

LOOKING FOR A GOOD ADVENTURE TO READ? The following list is devoted to books that offer the truest inspiration, the deepest reflection, the strongest provocation.

These are books that seize imaginations and rattle sedentary lives. Compiled by Outside Online, view the list at: http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200301/200301_adventure_canon_1.html

BC MOUNTAINS IN GOOGLE EARTH Check out this page for Google Earth KML files showing the mountains of BC:

http://www3.telus.net/mtnclimb/pers/climbing/climbing.html

ROCK CLIMBING SHOES CARE Ever wondered how to extend their life? - After each use, remove them from your pack and let them dry completely - Avoid leaving shoes in hot placessuch as inside your car - Keep an eye on areas that appear worn; send shoes to be resoled before major reconstruction is necessary - Rock shoes are for climbing, not for walking on the trail! - Do not walk around with only your shoes slipped inside. You’ll crush the heel cups and wear them out - Clean the grit and dust off the soles by rubbing them with a wet rag. Then wipe them dry. - Gently brush the bottoms with a wire brush from to heel. Try not to remove any rubber! How do I keep my shoes odor-free? How do I care for the soles? When should I resole my shoes? If you want to read more, go to:

http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/rock+shoe+care+repair.html

ARE YOU AN ALPINIST?

I’ll ask again; Are you an alpinist? If so, you should be able to answer this: What is the greatest unclimbed challenge left for humankind? Or what are essential items for your first aid kit? Or what pieces of gear are essential for climbing?

Even if you can’t answer correctly all the questions… This article is surely going to make you laugh. Check it out: http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web08x/rb-alpinist-quiz

HOW TO CHOOSE AN AVALANCHE TRANSCEIVER:

If you spend any time skiing, snowboarding or snow-shoeing in the backcountry, you and your compan-

ions must carry: an avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel.

What is a transceiver? How do they work? How to choose the right one?

Read it here: http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/avalanche+transceiver.html

NOTE: A special thanks to Brian Kinzie, whose picture of Mike Rogers taken at Bon Echo was used for the cover of our previous issue



Report from the Chair Rapport du Président

C 'est encore une fois ce temps de l'année où l'exécuti f du CAC Montréal fait son bilan. Cette année fut encore bien rempli avec beaucoup de belles

initiatives de la part de gens dévoués, principalement dans les comités de Keene et celui de social-marketing-membership mais aussi dans tous les dossiers gérés par les autres membres de l'exécuti f. Le Comité de Keene a géré une quantité sans précédente de rénovations, dont le toit, la cuisine et les toilettes. Il a aussi apporté plusieurs améliorations dans la gestion, le registre et la borne d'enregistrement, les pancart es et autres indications, ainsi que des sentiers. Vous n'êtes pas retourné à Keene Farm depuis des années? Je vous assure que ça vaut le détour. A vous maintenant de faire le bilan, de nous dire ce que vous avez aimé ou non, ce que vous aimeriez changer ou préserver. Je tiens à remerci er chaleureusement tous ceux qui se sont impliqués peu ou prou dans le fonctionnement du club. Pour certains d'entre nous c'est aussi le temps de passer le flambeau en prenant une pause ou en allant relever d'autres défis; bonne chance dans vos nouvelles entreprises. Ceci laisse la porte grande ouverte pour de nouveaux venus et même de vieux routiers qui voudraient reprendre du service. Si cela vous intéresse ou simplement pique votre curiosité, contactez nous, nous seront heureux de répondre a vos questions et de vous guider si nécessaire. Plusieurs chantiers ont été entrepris l'an dernier et bien d'autres sont prévus pour l'année qui débute, faites comme beaucoup d'autres

membres, impliquez-vous! Enfin, si vous avez manqué les super activités de cet été, dont 2 traditions du club: le camp de section qui fut dans les Bugaboos cette année et le BBQ à la ferme Keene, vous pouvez vous reprendre lors d'une autre super tradition du club, la très animée soirée du l'assemblé générale annuelle. Un nom un peu pompeux, ennuyant même, mais ne soyez pas dupe, la partie AGA est de courte durée et vous permet de faire valoir votre opinion sur les orientations et la gestion de votre club. La plus large part de la soirée est dédiée à une réunion conviviale autour d'un repas et d'une présentation surprise! Je garde de bons souvenir des quelques AGA passes. Au plaisir de vous y rencontrer. Stéphane Chamberland

I t's this time of the year again when the ACC Montreal ex-ecutive is looking back on the past months. This year was once more full of many good initiatives from dedicated peo-

ple. They were mainly happening in the Keene Farm and the social-marketing-membership committees. All other executive members have also done lots this year again. The Keene Farm committee has managed to do lots of renova-tions, including the roof renewal, kitchen floor repair and new toilets. Thanks to all of you who financially contributed to these renovations. The committee also made several improvements in the manage-ment area, registering process and iron ranger, signs and trails. You haven't been to Keene Farm lately? Now would be a good time to try it out again, it is worth it. It's now your turn to look back at what we did in the past months. Tell us what you like or don't. Tell us what you'd like to change or to keep as it is. I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all those who gave a bit or a lot of their time to make our club a better place. For some of us it's time to pass on to other challenges or to simply take a break, all the best to them. This leaves the door wide open for newcomers and even long time members who'd like to get involved again. If you're interested or simply intrigued, contact us, we'll be more than happy to answer your questions and guide you if necessary. Several projects were undert aken last year and many more are planned for the coming one. Do as many other members, get involved! Finally, if you missed the exciting ac-tivities last summer, including two club traditions: the camp section in the world class setting of the Bugaboos and the BBQ at the farm Keene, you have one more chance to join us for another great club tradition, the lively annual general meeting evening. Don't be fooled by the boring name, the AGM part is actually just a short part of the evening and allows you to express your opinion on the direction and man-agement of your club. What you'll find is a great meal and a surprise present ation. It's one of our best social activities of the year. I'll see you there. Stéphane Chamberland

Please feel free to email Stéphane if you have comments/suggestions: [email protected]


KEENE NEWS

W e were delighted to have over 120 members, families and friends attend our annual BBQ

held on September 20th. A great time was had by all who came to Keene Farm to at-tend this event which has become an annual end-of-summer tradition at the Montreal section. Mother Nature cooperated and the fabulous sunny weather helped us have one of the best turn-outs in many years. Everyone enjoyed a delicious feast cooked over a huge BBQ heated by massive logs and an impressive array of desserts. An enormous camp fire closed the evening as folks gathered around to sing-along to tunes

played on the guitar by Fred Benz, who is not only a talented mountaineer and climber, but also a gifted musician! We were delighted to have the participation of Lawrence White, Executive Director of the ACC who came to visit us from Can-more, Alberta. Lawrence was very pleased to see so many people attend and was happy to have had the chance to meet many enthusiastic members from the Montreal section. Special thanks to Dave Percival and Holly Robertson and the team of volunteers for organizing the event as well as taking care of many duties on-site, including food

preparation, cooking, cleaning and making the fires. Everybody’s contribution is so important to making these events a reality and we really appreciate your help! Our thanks also go to MEC for donating such generous door prizes. By Monica Flores Marketing representative

Annual BBQ at Keene: A smashing success!

We were thrilled to see such great Club spirit and positive energy at the BBQ and look forward to seeing everyone

again next year!

I hope the last summer months have been beneficial to your favorite activities. As far as courses offered by the club, a rock rescue workshop was organised in july just in time for the sec-

tion camp that was held in the Bugaboos in August. Charles La-liberté from ENEQ (École Nationale d’Escalade du Québec) of-fered to the club a free workshop where participants were shown and were able to put to the test techniques to save a leader or a second, unconscious or trapped. Participants were invited to make a donation to the FARCE (Fond d’Accès aux RoChers de l’Estrie). In August a sport leading rock climbing course was offered to members but i twas cancelled for lack of participants. This fall, the club will once again be listening to your needs so if you’re interested in a course don’t hesitate to contact me. Also be sure to check the online calendar on our web site, be reg-istered on the official mailing list and join the acc montreal group on facebook to get all the latest.

Martin Guillemette ACC Montreal Courses Coordinator (514) 856-1420 [email protected]

J ’espère que les derniers mois estivaux ont été bénéfiques à vos activités préférées. Pour ce qui est des cours offerts par le club, une clinique d’auto sauvetage en escalade de roche

a été organisée en Juillet juste à temps pour le camp de section qui avait lieu dans les Bugaboos en Août. Charles Laliberté de l’ENEQ (École Nationale d’Escalade du Québec) à donc offert gratuitement au Club une clinique où les participants ont pu voir et mettre à l’essai les techniques pour secourir un premier ou un second de cordée inconscient ou coincé. Les participants étaient invités à offri r un don pour le FARCE (Fond d’Accès aux RoChers de l’Estrie). En Aout un cours d’escalade de premier de cordée en sport était

offert aux membres mais il fut annulé par faut e d’inscription. Cet automne, le club sera encore une fois à l’écoute de vos besoins donc si un cours vous intéresse n’hésitez pas à me contacter. Surveillez le calendri er sur le site web, soyez inscrit aux listes de diffusion ainsi que sur Facebook pour avoir les dernières informations.

Martin Guillemette Coordonnateur aux cours CAC Montréal (514) 856-1420 [email protected]

PLEASE CHECK THE CALENDAR AND THE WEBSITE FOR UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT COMING COURSES AND WORKSHOPS (www.accmontreal.ca)

C O U R S / A T E L I E R S C O U R S E S / W O R K S H O P S



A C C A N N U A L B A R B E C U EA C C A N N U A L B A R B E C U E

A fun and A fun and friendly evening friendly evening

with music, with music, songs, smiles, songs, smiles, good food... good food... and so much and so much

more!more!


I n this closing issue of Montage for 2008, I have to say that I continue to be rewarded by my involvement with

the ACC… First off, on the A&E front, there’s a lot of news to report. In March, we renewed our reciprocal membership agreement with the FQME, granting us free access to all their-climbing sites. In April, proceeds from Sonnie Trotter’s well-attended talk were donated to the “Sauvons Lac Long” project, contributing to the access and preservation of a unique climbing site in Quebec. It’s easy to forget what work goes into keeping sites accessi-ble and if we are complacent, we can lose them. This project was an inspiring reminder of the effect we can have when the climbing community comes together, and I thank Simon Deschenes for his work here. The new climbing cause is Val David (aka Parc Dufresne), please inform yourselves at www.fqme.qc.ca We renewed our role as Trail Stewards for

Mt. Hurricane, which fills our plate with some good dirty work for the upcoming year. We’ve re-established relationships south of the border with the DEC, the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) , and the ADK Trails Committee. They are emphatic in their request that club members (and the public at large) refrain from hiking in the High Peaks region during May Mudseason, at least until June 6th. It really wreaks havoc on the state of the trails. Speaking of trails…of the 87 participants in the Oct 18th ADK Fall Trails Day, 15 were ACCers. Thanks to Jules Gagne and Vir-ginia Sarrazin for organizing, and to partici-pants: Claudia Jones, Audrey Zimmer, Lucille O’Leary, Leigh Freeman, Samer Ounsi, Francis Babin, Hein Schaper, Virha Iordanova, Rosemary Le Faive, Alex Car-mel-Veilleux, Yaniko Palis, Marie-Josée Villeneuve and André-Anne Fortin. And due to the networking of Monica Flo-res, we’ve got a contact with the Appala-chian Mountain Club’s (AMC) naturalist

coordinator Nancy Ritger, granting us the priveledge of using copy from her “ Junior Naturalist Activity Book”. And in return, if you’re looking for a way to volunteer for the club, they’d appreciat e a translator for some of their documentation to appeal to the large population of Quebecers that en-joy their facilities in the White Mountains. Grand Vizier, Stéphane C. is now accred-ited by the ENEQ standards to teach top-roping courses and by next summer Steve T. and I will be too. On a more personal note, the club has been really good to me. Not only did I attended the Section camp in the mind-blowing beauti ful Bugaboos Nat’l Park, BC -see for yoursel f at Mike’s slideshow during the AGM - but I’ve also benefited from the generosity of club rope guns to lead me through my trad apprenticeship. Enjoy the winter season and remember to watch your step with your crampons, stay-ing well away of the delicate Alpine plants.

Diane Dumochel Access & Environment Coordinator

A C C E S S & E N V I R O N M E N T

O n Sunday, September 21st, I had the pleasure of meeting with Rob Daley, the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) forester for our region of the Adirondacks.

We scouted the trail leading up Hurricane off Route 9 and com-piled a projects-to-do list for the coming year. Trails such as this one were established roughly 100-years ago, and they weren’t particularly well thought out. Someone just walked up the most direct route, with no consideration for the to-pography and if you’ve ever done Hurricane, you know it can be unforgivingly steep in parts. Aside from being a tough haul for hikers, this kind of trail is more prone to erosion and needs an excess of maintenance. Rob is pro-posing two major re-routes (one on the lower and another on the upper trail) that will follow a more organic line, incorporating the natural topography of the slopes; thus being more sustainable and requiring less landscaping in the long term. Watch the outings calendar for Trail Maintenance dates in the spring. Another trail we scouted may be of particular interest to anyone who remembers Clement’s Pond. This pond has remained an elu-sive, almost mythical, destination that old-school members have talked about. The original trail was closed due to severe blow-

down from a storm. Rob has re-flagged a new 1.25 mile route to the pond and clearing it is also on the project list. I hope we can have it open for all to enjoy next summer. For those who don’t know, the Trail Stewards Program has existed since 1988 to help the ADK/DEC keep up with the massive backlog of trail work needed throughout the Forest Preserve. The work of Trail Stewards is instrumental to keep-ing trails open. They do routine maintenance such as clearing brush and cutting blow down, as well as keeping drainages clear to offset erosion. ACC-Montreal is a proud supporter of all efforts to keep the trails of the Adirondack Wilder-ness Preserve clear, safe and pris-tine for all users, so if you haven’t yet contributed to Trail Main-tenace, please consider doing so. Diane

Wonderful News! ACC Montréal has renewed its agreement as Trail Stewards of Hurricane Mountain

The Trail: http://www.adk.org/trails/BC_Stewardship.aspx



T he Montreal Section Winter House reopens Dec 7, 2008 as a base for cross country and telemark skiers as well as ice climbing and snow shoeing.

As for the last years we will continue to hold Saturday night dinners, which serve the dual purpose of getting everyone together for a group meal and raises a few dollars to pay the bills. We will also continue to send out email alerts each Thursday detailing the current snow and trail conditions and a weather forecast for the weekend. Generally, there is much more snow up North, so don’t be put off by bare streets in Montreal.

There is plenty of opportunity for outdoor activities in the neighborhood of the house. Groomed ski trails are literally out the door and there are many backcountry ski trails in close vicinity. Telemark trails and abandoned ski hills are close by at Ste-Adele and Val David. Ice climbing sites are plentiful as well. During January-March there are ski trips planned for most weekends and if there are none, there is sure to be an ad-hoc group leaving the house on Sunday morning.

Dave Percival - Winter House Coordinator

CHALET D ’HIVERCHALET D ’HIVERCHALET D ’HIVER WINTER HOUSEWINTER HOUSEWINTER HOUSE

L e Chalet d’Hiver du Chapitre de Montréal du Club Alpin du Canada ouvrira le 7 dec, comme une base pour pratiquer toutes les activités hivernales tels que le

Ski, l’escalade de glace, la raquette, etc. Comme dans les saisons passes il y aura des soupers le samedi soir qui serviront comme une occasion ou les gens peuvent se rassembler. Aussi les revenus qui en découlent servent à payer les factures du Chalet. Chaque jeudi un courriel annoncera les conditions des sentiers, de l’enneigement et de la glace. Peut-être un bulletin météo applicable pour la fin de semaine sera aussi inclus. Généralement il y a toujours plus de neige dans les Laurentides qu’a Montréal, même si les rues sec de la ville l’indiquent autrement. Il y a toujours beaucoup d’options pour pratiquer des activités hivernales tout près du Chalet. Des sentiers balisés sont pratiquement à la porté du Chalet, et il y a beaucoup de sentiers sauvages tout un peu plus loin. Il y a des endroits pour pratiquer le Telemark dans des sentiers sauvages ou des centres de Ski Alpin abandonnés à Ste-Adele ou Val David. Des endroits pour l’escalade de glace sont nombreuse. Durant les mois de janvier à mars il y aura plusieurs excursions de ski planifiés pour les fins de semaines, a part des excursions de dernière minute a partir du Chalet les dimanches matin. Dave Percival - Coordonnateur du chalet d’hiver

Open from Dec 7, 2008 to March 22, 2009Open from Dec 7, 2008 to March 22, 2009Open from Dec 7, 2008 to March 22, 2009 Ouvert du 7 dec 2008 au 22 mars 2009Ouvert du 7 dec 2008 au 22 mars 2009Ouvert du 7 dec 2008 au 22 mars 2009

Winter House Committee 2008/9 Winter House e-mail contact: Dave Percival

[email protected] Dave Percival 514-481-2435 Martin Goldstein 514-489-4615 Mooshie Zahirovich 514-457-5259 Paul Veneziano 514-544-9060

A complete FAQ is available online at the ACC Montreal Section’s website: Une FAQ complète est disponible a cette adresse: www.accmontreal.ca/facilities/skihouse.php

For further information call a member of the Winter House Committee or see the website

for full details. Pour plus d’informations téléphoner à un membre

du comité du Chalet d’Hiver.

WINTER HOUSE RATES 2008/2009 TARIFS CHALET D’HIVER 2008/2009 Dec 7 to March 22 - 7 dec au 22 mars

Season Pass / passe de saison $170 Children $50 Overnight / Nuit ACC Member / Membre du CAC $17 Guest of a Member / Invités $20 12-18 year old / Mineurs 12-18 $5 Day Use / Journée seulement $2 Meal/Repas Dinner/Souper $10-14

NB: Pass holders can use the house for a maximum stretch of 10 days and not more than 25 days in a season NB: Les détenteurs d’une passe de saison ne peuvent rester plus de 10 jours consécutifs et un maximum de 25 jours en total durant la saison.


A note about ACC outings: The outings in this schedule are not instructional, rather they are a way for members of similar abilities to meet and get outside. It is presumed that you have the minimum ability level necessary - i f you are unsure, call the outing contact person who will be able to determine if the level of the outing suits your abilities. You are responsible for having or renting equipment. Car pooling may be coordinated by the outing leader, otherwise use the mailing list: [email protected]

DATE TYPE EV ENT LOCATION LEV EL CONTACT(S)

December 5 Social

NORTH AMERICAN CLIMBING CHAMPIONSHIP (NACC) At Horizon Roc!

2350 Rue Dickson

Montreal Qc

Everybody welcome

www.nacc08.ca www.horizonroc.com

December 6 Outing HIKING

A sunrise hike in the Adirondacks Adirondacks,

NY, USA All levels Frederick Benz [email protected] 514-524-0148

December 13 Outing ICE CLIMBING & MOUNTAINEERING

Up Huntington Ravine - 2 days

Mt. Washington, NH, USA

Advanced Olivier Nadeau [email protected]

January 10 Outing BACKCOUNTRY SKI

from the Winter House St Adele, Qc All levels Ed Potorowoski [email protected]

January 10 Outing

SNOWSHOEING Sentier des Caps. A two-day outing. Overnight stay in a refuge or camping

Charlevoix, Qc All levels Marilyne M-Gouin [email protected]

January 15 Social

PUB NIGHT! From 7pm A great way to mingle with fellow ACC members! Check for the climbing helmet… and you will find us!

Hurley’s Pub 1225 Crescent, Montreal, QC

Everybody welcome, drinker or not!

Lucile O’Leary [email protected]

January 17 Outing

ICE CLIMBING In Mont Tremblant! If you have never ice climbed or simply would like to brush up on your basic skills, then this outing is for you!

Mont Tremblant, Qc All levels

Samer Ounsi [email protected] Manoela Pessoa de Miranda [email protected]

January 24 Outing ICE CLIMBING

At Lac Sylere

Lac Sylere, Lanaudiere,

Qc All levels Stephane Letourneau

[email protected]

January 25 Outing BACKCOUNTRY SKI

Montagne Grise. Metal edges recommended Laurentians,

Qc Intermediat e Jan Johnson [email protected]

January 17 Outing HIKING

Pitchoff Mountain Adirondacks,

NY, USA All levels Virginia Sarrazin [email protected]

Alpine Club Montreal Section Fall 08 / Winter 09 Activities Calendar

You will be required to sign a waiver before participating in each outing. These are available at www.accmontreal.ca





Feb 7 Outing MOUNTAINEERING Up Tuckerman Ravine. A two-day outing Advanced

Mt Washington,

USA

Olivier Nadeau [email protected]

Feb 7 Outing BACKCOUNTRY SKI On Gougou trails All levels Laurentians,

Qc Ed Potorowoski [email protected]

February 14 Outing

ICE CLIMBING In Lake Willoughby. A two-day outing with overnight stay. We will climb multi-pitch routes at one of the greatest ice cliffs in northern New England.

Intermediat e to advanced

Lake Willoughby,

VT

Samer Ounsi [email protected]

February 19 Social

PUB NIGHT! From 7pm A great way to mingle with fellow ACC members! Check for the climbing helmet… and you will find us!




February 21 Outing ICE CLIMBING TBD All levels Stephane Letourneau

[email protected]

February 28 Outing

ICE CLIMBING Another chance to brush up your skills or to try it for the first time!

Mt Tremblant All levels

Samer Ounsi [email protected] Manoela Pessoa de Miranda [email protected]

March 7 Outing SNOWSHOEING On Mt Echo and Sutton Estrie, Qc All levels

Frederick Benz [email protected] 514-524-0148

March 14 Outing BACKCOUNTRY SKI In Mt Tremblant

Mont Tremblant, Qc All levels Ed Potorowoski

[email protected]

February 28 Outing BACKCOUNTRY SKI

Mont Gabriel Laurentians, Qc All levels Eric Lepage [email protected]

January 31 Outing

ICE CLIMBING In the Adirondacks. A two-day ice climbing outing in the Adirondacks with overnight stay (most likely camping at Keene Farm). Experiences leaders & seconds

Adirondacks, NY, USA

Intermediat e to advanced

climbers

Samer Ounsi [email protected]

Ple ase che ck the we bsite www.accmontreal.ca for calendar’s updates




March 19 Social

PUB NIGHT! From 7pm A great way to mingle with fellow ACC mem-bers! Check for the climbing helmet… and you will find us!




March 28 Outing EARLY ROCK CLIMBING! Enjoy an early rock climbing day… don’t let the remaining snow discourage you…

Laurentians, Qc All levels

Craig Segal [email protected]

For outings’ diff iculty ratings, please visit www.accmontreal.ca

All participants must be ACC members in good s tanding


TBD Course

ICE CLIMBING for beginners Ready to try something new? Tired of indoor climbing and can’t wait to feel the rock? Well, you can enjoy ice climbing in the meantime. Learn how to do it in this course, and have fun!

Laurentians or Lanaudiere,

Qc Beginners [email protected]

TBD Course

LEAD ICE CLIMBING A two-day course to learn the basic skills to lead on ice safely. You are welcome to join this course i f you want to refresh your technique

Willoughby, VT All levels [email protected]

COURSES CALENDAR

TBD Course INITIATION TO MOUNTAINEERING A two-day course to learn the basic skills

White mountains, NH, USA

All levels [email protected]

February 9 & 23 Course

TELEMARK SKIING Take this course to learn the basics on this diffi cult ski style. Metal edges & safety slings required. The course will be given at the ski center Chantecler. www.skichantecl er.com

Laurentians, Qc

Beginners & Intermediat e [email protected]

April Workshop

ROCK RESCUE If you got yourself in trouble, you will learn how to self rescue in this workshop. A great primer for the season

Laurentians, Qc All levels [email protected]

Do you have an idea for an outing? Are you motivated to lead one yourself? Contact [email protected]



My Tips for the Bugs I hope everyone had a great summer and took advantage of at least a few of the many great outings that were offered. This summer the Montreal Section Camp was held at the Buga-boos or Bugs for short. If you’ve never heard of the Bugs and you like alpine rock climbing, then this is the place for you. I’ve had the latest guidebook since it was first published in 2002 because it’s been that long that I’ve been dreaming of a trip there. To me the Bugs is like a small scale Patagonia, without the severe weather and the time and expense to get there. The Bugs are an incredible area. Judging from the various nationalities it’s world renowned and it’s worth a visit. Even if you’re not a climber or alpinist there’s plenty of scrambling and hiking to do. I fully in-tend to return sometime soon. Perhaps this can be an occasion for an extended outing. In the meantime, if you do plan to go out there here’s a few things I learned that you may find useful for your trip. It’s a minimum of a full day of travel. Once you get to Calgary it’s a 5 to 6 hour car ride to the parking lot. From there, a 5 km trek with some 700 m elevation gain puts you at the ACC’s Conrad Kain hut. So if you were figuring to take a week for this trip, I would recommend something more like 10 days. If you consider two full days of travel return, it leaves you with 5 days. If you take no rest days and the weather cooperat es every day, you could do okay. But I’ve heard that such weather is unusual (although we did get great weather for 5 straight days during the Section Camp) and it’s a minimum 1 to 2 hour approach walk to the base of most of the climbing sites. So it’s best to plan for at least one rest day and one bad weather day. Spend as much time organizing your food needs as you do with your gear and clothing. It’s one thigh-busting ap-proach walk so the less weight you need to carry the better off you will be. There was one guy I met up there who made it for 22 straight days by taking the excess food of others who did not want to carry it back down. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of se-curity when you read the guide book as to the estimated times to complete the climbs. At the Section Camp most par-ties were easily putting in 10 to 12 hour days and on a few occasions 15 to 20 hours. If you’re going to have one of those 18 hour days, you’ll be pretty tired in the morning, so all the more reason to

plan for some down time. Don’t overestimate your ability when you look at the ratings. All the climbs, including those “ scrambles” and 5.0 to 5.4 routes, are serious ventures with huge exposures and objective hazards (crevasses, rock fall, weather, etc.) in a remote setting. Remember getting up there is less than half the battle. It’s getting down that counts. Do take double 60 m ropes everywhere you go. Even on those “scrambles” you can use one rope for safety and both ropes when rappels are necessary. One more thing: when it comes to the use of ropes on a climb, if anyone gets any ideas to use a rope for any-thing other than belaying, tell them to forget it. You don’t want to risk loosing your rope. Trust me, I know. While the ACC’s Conrad Kain hut is beautiful and very comfort-able, if the weather cooperates you should consider staying at the campsite. This is one of the most amazing I have ever seen. It’s located on a plateau above tree line which gives you have a fantas-tic panorama of the splendor of the Bugs. It’s also situated closer to the climbs, so there’s less of an approach walk to the Spires. And, being in that communal atmosphere of climbers is such good karma that it’s bound to help you with your confidence and overall climbing well-being. This had to be one of the greatest trips I’ve taken yet. But every time I say that there’s another trip that tops it, although I think this

one will be hard to beat. On the subject of the upcoming outing season, thanks to those who have lead trips, continue to lead trips and are new to leading trips. Unfortunately, this is still a small minority of our members. With about 350 members we should be more involved with sharing our outdoor adventures with the Club from time to time. I note that there is significant activ-ity from the montreal-alpin e-mail list, so a natural extension of that would be to let me know a few more days in advance so that I can publicize your event in the calendar. From there I can guide you through the rest. I’ll see you all out there. Steve Traversari ACC Montreal Section Outings Coordinator [email protected]

O U T I N G S - W H A T ’ S N E W ?


T he Bugs may be “ spectacular granite spires, some of which exceed 3,000 meters in elevation,” but they’re

also serious business. One tourism website warns, “Bugaboo Provincial Park is, by its very nature, extremely isolated. People con-templating a visit here must realize that it is pure wilderness without supplies or equip-ment of any kind. Visitors must be prepared for true outdoor living. Weather conditions can change suddenly in this area and light-ning storms with hail and snow are com-mon in summer. Only experienced climbers trained in crevasse rescue and properly roped, should venture onto the snowfields and glaciers.” The message here is, “get your sh$t to-gether and train like mad. Oh yeah, and make sure you are not missing one piece of equipment for any possible weather!” We asked ACC Session Bugsers for their favorite experi ences, and their favorit e camp meal by trial-by-fi re iron chef Diane Dumouchel. Thanks to all the contributors

for such a quick turnaround! I’ll start…

It’s tough to pick a favorite moment, but one of the best times was climbing Pigeon Spire with newly-married ACC prez Stephane Chamberland (Does Agu really

know what she’s in for?). All the Bugsers had done a lot of scrambling back home, but this was big mountain scrambling. Stef and I roped up together, and booted up as fast as we could, without placing one piece of pro. We worked in sync, wrapping the rope around a boulder, and yelling, “ I’ve got you!” then pulling the rope in as the other caught up. Some of the moves were apparently rated 5.4 old school (maybe as high as 5.6 in places), but I did the whole thing in my hiking shoes. It felt awesome to be fully concentrat ed and fully in the mo-ment for such a long period of time. And unlike some of the climbing roots we did during the trip, Pigeon didn’t keep us wait-ing for interminable guided parties to finish. We just flew up, eventually to find our-selves tiptoeing along a ridge before the summit, where all the adrenaline caught up with us, and we felt higher than Amy Wine-house. Cheese alert! I gotta say I felt extremely lucky to be among such a great group of

ACC Section Camp: BUGABOOS by Craig Segal

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friends in one of the world’s best climbing spots. It was the trip of a lifetime. And my fave meal? See Martin’s entry be-low.

Martin Guillemette

Tout comme en 2006 dans la région de Lake O'hara, le camp de section 2008 fut génial: une météo parfaite, une joyeuse gagne, de la bonne bouffe et bien sûr de la grimpe extraordinaire. Si je devais choisir un mot pour décrire ma semaine aux Bugaboos: exposition! Exposition a des paysages magni fiques. Exposition au soleil dans lequel on a baigné pendant toute l a semaine. Exposition à la camaraderie qui est toujours de mise dans les section camps. Mais aussi beaucoup a l'exposition pendant des grimpes trippatives comme Bugaboo spire pour son Gendarme, Pigeon Spire pour ses dalles. Lundi: East Post journée (après avoir fait le

porteur le matin) avec Stéphane, Samer, Fred, Marilyne, Craig, et Stéphane (qui a été fai re le sommet en un éclair pendant qu’on rebroussait chemin). Mardi: Buggaboo spire (Stéphane, Samer, Fred, Maryline, Craig- sommet avec Fred et Craig) Avec la gagne du GMC qui nous sont passé sur le corps, Fred qui lead brillement le gendarme et le retour a la fontale passé minuit. Mercredi: Un peu d'escalade sur une slab de glacier (avec Stéphane, Samer, Fred, Maryline, Craig). Avec la petite pratique auto sauvetage autour des blocs. Jeudi: Pigeon Spire (avec Stéphane, Samer,

Fred, Marilyne, Daniel, Craig - Sommet avec Samer) Avec les parties exposés, un scramble que je n’oublierai jamais. Une journée parfait e en montagne. Vendredi: Escalade de glace sur le glacier Bugaboo (avec Steve et Samer) Avec la vue imprenable sur les grosses crevasses autour de nous. Meilleur repas: Le succulent poulet au Curi dégusté a 1h du matin avec Craig et Fred. Nous étions complètement déshydratés et affamés mais avions le coeur joyeux après avoir gravit Bugaboo spire! Diane Dumouchel

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The Bugs Report: the View from the kitchen. I was the cook, which is funny when you think about it. ‘cause at home, I tend to eat standing at the counter… My days started at 7 with the first round of coffees and breakfast. Anyone who got up earlier for an alpine-start had to make do with overnight-soaked oatmeal and re-heated coffee (amazing, but no one seemed to be able to grasp how to make the cowboy coffee). After breakfast clean-up, I got dinner soak-ing and prepped. From 11am to 4pm I was free to read, chat with people on rest days at the hut, or go out exploring. I’d be back by 4pm to find Martin and Mike standing near the stove, cups in hand, waiting for a fresh brew of cowboy coffee. By 7pm, most of the group would be back. I had a list of names in the cupboard and was always very aware of who hadn’t made it back yet… by 9pm, I tended to get a bit anxious for their return. Every night it was a different pair or more that I had to put dinner plates aside for. Then there was the “Stragglers”: Deb, Gabe, Spiro and Will – who I think only made it to the hut for din-ner once the whole week. So I didn’t do any of the major routes, but I heard enough about them that by the end of the week I felt comfortabl e giving newcom-ers a little rundown of the must dos. On the last day, Marilyne and I shared a little adventure on our way out to find Co-balt Lake. It was a no-go; scrambling

across the scree on the col, clutching at rocks that one aft er another gave-way and inched me further and further down the col… I realized I was perched on pure ice and came close to pulling a “ Dan,” nearly sliding down to the bottom of the icy col. Not dangerous, but it would have been an embarrassing situation to have to be res-cued from. Instead I followed Marilyne’s confident lead (ah..it’s maybe 5.5, 5.6, I think it’ll be fine) up to the precarious top of the East Post Spire, where we met up with Peter and Martin. It was a glorious day and Cobalt Lake wasn’t at all missed.

Will Richardson-Little

After almost 12 hours on the move, which consisted of glacier travel (in the dark),

unroped scrambling (also in the dark) and 12 pitches of climbing (numerous were covered with snow/ice), Gabe, Spiro, Deb and I high-fived and hugged at the top of the North-East ridge of Bugaboo Spire. We’d just knocked off one of the 50 classi c climbs in North America on a beautiful, sunny, August day. Little did we know that the crux of the route was still ahead. The guidebook description reads: “ traverse from the North summit to the South summit to gain the Kain route descent,” a description which does little to prepare you for the ex-posed and terrifying ridge crossing ahead. After a short rappel we gained the kni fe edge ridge and could see the V-notch which marked our next rappel. Deb was out ahead scoping the traverse while Gabe, Spiro and I tried to convince each other that the ridge was in fact off-route and that there was an easier, less frightening path to be found. We eventually resigned ourselves to the ridge, with it’s 2000 ft drop to the Crescent glacier to the East. Deb was always encour-aging, and mostly patient, with her group of tired and sketched-out junior alpinists. We made the V-notch rappel and had soon enough made it to the Gendarme, which marked the start of the rappels down the Kain route. Soon after we were happily bounding down the scree towards the Buga-boo-Snowpatch col. We were back at the hut after dark and thankful to find dinner left out for us (Thanks Diane!). The NE Ridge served as a valuable reminder that the hardest part of an alpine route isn’t nec-essarily on the way up, but it will always be the most memorable part of the day. Fave dinner: wed night’s Marilyne Marchand-Gouin

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J’ai appris un mercredi du mois de juillet que j'avais la première semaine d’août de congé. Le vendredi suivant, mon billet d’avion était acheté et j'avais joint le groupe pour le voyage aux Bugs, environ trois semaines avant le départ. Mon excitation était à son comble et j'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir à plani fier mon matériel pour le voyage. J’ai commencé seulement cet été à fai re du premier de cordée en escalade traditionnelle, c’est donc avec un peu d'appréhension que j'embarquai dans l’avion ce matin-là et dans l’autobus qui devait nous mener jusqu’au stationnement au bas du sentier qui mène aux Bugaboos. J’avais l'impression de m’embarquer dans quelque chose de trop avancé pour moi. Mes appréhensions se sont envolées la première journée lorsque nous avons fait East Post Spire, une route de quatrième classe. Ce fut parfait pour apprendre à reconnaître les lieux et s'initier à l'environnement. J’avais l'impression de découvrir une facette de l’escalade qui m’était jusque là inconnue, l’escalade en milieu alpin. J’ai découvert et appris beaucoup à travers la semaine, autant sur des techniques que sur moi-même. La semaine fut merveilleuse, météo extraordinaire, belle gang, j'adorais les départs aux petites heures du matin, une fois que les gars ét aient enfin prêts (de vraies cocottes le matin je vous jure!), les

levers de soleil dans les montagnes, la traversée des glaciers (une première pour moi!), les journées de repos entrecoupées de longues siestes, les bons soupers préparés par Diane, les couchers de soleil par-dessus les montagnes et les soirées dans le refuge à se raconter nos expéditions de la journée. Je ne garde que de bons souvenirs de ma semaine dans les Bugaboos et une grande motivation à repartir en voyage le plus tôt possible! Oh yeah by the way, I don't really remem-ber what my favorite meal was, but those Rice Crispies with chocolate, honey and almonds were delicious!

Spiro Mitsialis

I’d been thinking of going to the Bugs for years and when I saw that ACC Montreal

was having their section camp there I was all in. We drove in before the others with Deb (Will and Gabe). We had a long haul up to the hut. I personally had a harder time coming down than going up; my right knee was in extreme pain from the weight of the overloaded backpack. I climbed all but one day. We only made it to the 7PM dinner one night. The rest of the time we came into the hut either during dinner or after everyone had already gone to bed (10:30PM the day we did the North East ridge of Bugaboo spire). The following is a list of routes: Day 1: Buckingham Route 5.6 (partner: Deborah) Day 2: Wosa Moya (first 2 pitches 10a, 9+) (partner: Gabe) Finished on McTech Arete (5.9, 5.8, 5.7?) The 5.9 pitch on McTech Arete (P4) is one of the best crack climbs I have ever done Day 3: North East Ridge of Bugaboos spire 5.8 (with traverse from North to South summits; decent down the Kain route). (partner Will) Day 4: Rest Day. Went for a short hike. Day 5: Kraus McCarthy 5.8 on Snowpatch (partner Will) Seven beautiful pitches but had to bail on the last because of incoming bad weather. We made it to the bottom of the col before the rain came; excellent timing. Best meal: the cowboy coffee.

Gabe Flores

Bugaboos 2008: A Space Odyssey - I looked up, took a deep breath, and made the fi rst move off the belay. The feeling should have been same as the one I usually

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get when I climb in the Adirondacks, Gunks, or North Conway, except this was Bugaboo Provincial Park, and the route was the Northeast Ridge of Bugaboo Spire. At that point along this classic route, we had lost count of the numbers of pitches we had ascended, but we could sense that the summit was near. The only obstacle between the top and us was a thin sheet of verglas covering the rock above on which I was meant to place my climb-ing shoes! Physically challenging, techni-cally demanding, and mentally draining, the Bugaboos section camp was best epitomized by this pitch. Nothing came easy in this beautiful climbing paradise, but we all felt blessed to be among these towering monoliths of granite, climbing in what can only be considered perfect weather. Whenever anyone of our four-person team felt cold, lost, or just plain tired, we propped each other up, even if it was with a simple word of encouragement. After an 18-hour day on Bugaboo Spire, we all stumbled back into the warm com-

fort of the Conrad Kain Hut. We could have been given stale crack-ers and fl at soda pop that night after our ascent of Bugaboo Spire, but we were elated to see, in a cor-ner of the kitchen, four servings of chicken curry with couscous and salad for dinner. It was quite possibly one

of the best meals I have ever had.

Martin Suichies

Mike Rogers and I climbed the Kain route on Bugaboo spire. We were the fourth or fi fth party from our group to give the route a go and the other parties had all had long and interesting (though not quite epic) days. Mike and I were wondering what

pitfalls would catch us. The route starts from the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col and scrambles up 3rd and 4th class terrain for some time before reaching the fi rst 5.4 pitch... the chimney pitch. Although we got an early start, we were beaten to this point by three Americans, the first of whom was at the top of the pitch and the second was just starting to follow as we arrived. Something seemed a bit funny, the third was just standing on a exposed ledge with no anchor or rope! You see, they only had one rope and the second was following with it leaving noth-ing for the third. “ Ummm, how's this go-ing to work?” I asked the third. “Well,” he explained, “ they’re going to throw the rope down and then use it to haul the packs,” gesturing at three huge packs on the ledge, “then throw the rope down again for me to climb on.” Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t throw a rappel rope within two miles of where I want it to go. Needless to say, these guys had trouble getting the rope down, but eventually it landed on a ledge about 15 feet up, to which the third soloed, dropped a loop of rope and I clipped the packs on. Of course, hauling the three large packs together on less than vertical (and very grippy) rock proved next to im-possible. Eventually, the third consoli-dated the three packs into one and wore the pack up as he followed. By this point, I was a bit annoyed at the delays and lead straight up on the third’s heels. I climb fast when pissed off and this served us well, because when I got to the top of the pitch,

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they were surprised to see me so soon and thought I’d soloed the pitch (I’d put in about eight pieces, in fact). They graciously offered that we pass them, which we appre-ciated greatly. From there, the route scrambles across a very exposed ridge to the base of the gen-darme pitches. The crux of the route is near the top of the gendarme where you step around an outside corner on steep slab with nothing for your hands. I was told that the moves are pure fri ction and that you must “trust your feet.” I’m not sure I was fully trusting my feet or my sticky rubber but as I stood there I thought, “Well I haven’t fallen off yet,”, so I shuffled my feet sideways a bit and thought "Jeez, I still haven’t fallen off!" So I went to the end of the traverse and, needless to say, it was fantastic! An-other easy pitch or two found us on the summit... well before lunch, which was good since I was getting hungry. Our summit time was brief since we got there just ahead of an “ assembly line” of guides and clients from the nearby GMC in the Vowells. We did a few mind-blowing rappels down the east face and at one point, rappelled to a ledge about 10ft below where we were supposed to. The guide rappelling behind us actually overtook us on rappel and beat us to the next anchor while we scrambled back up. “ WTF!” I thought, “that's a bit rude... now we have to wait.” But we didn't have to wait, the guide rigged

the station for the dozen or so clients he was expecting and treated us as the first clients... lowering us off to the ridge at the base of the gendarme where there was a sling pre-rigged on a boulder to clip into (I did mention that this was an “ assembly line”). Let me just say this about being low-ered... it sucks! You're out of control. They go too fast when you want to go slow and “ Easy! I'm going over a roof here!” We did get down fast though. From here, we down scrambled, did one more rappel, and

scrambled all the way to the col. Woohoo, almost sent this thing! But wait, Mike can’t find his mountaineering boots. We’d done most of the lower scrambling up to the chimney pitch in our boots. At one point, Mike switched to his rock shoes and stashed his boot somewhere. Somehow, by the time we came down, Mike had forgot-ten where he’d left his boots and descended past them. Once back at the col, he realized that they must be up on the ridge some-where. There was nothing for it but to go back up again. Mike went ahead, shouting at people to see if they’d seen his boots, while I stashed my climbing gear and re-filled water bottles from the glacier. The guide who had lowered us came down next and reported that they’d seen the boots high up on the ridge (just before the chim-ney pitch). Well, at least we knew where they were. They also suggested that next time, we should hire a guide so that “this sort of thing” doesn't happen. Man, I had to bite my lip... “ Hire a guide? of course this sort of thing wont happen... you'll be told when to change your shoes, when to pee, and which way to face, etc....” Personally, I like to pee when I want to, thank you very much. On Pigeon spire, the clients weren’t even allowed to walk across the “ au-cheval ridge.” They had to crawl. That’s not for me, I like to decide when it's time to crawl. We found the boots easily enough, breathed a sigh of relief and went down again. We

knew something would go wrong... it just seemed like that kind of route and I’m glad it ended up being so minor in the end. We loved the route... it was great. In fact, we liked it so much, we did it twice! There’s a song by Morgan Davis, a Cana-dian blues man, called “ Older and Dumber.” I've written a new verse to this song which I tack on whenever Mike is around. It goes like this: When I'm climbing Bugaboo spire and I don't know which boots to wear I'll switch to my rock shoes and abandon my hikin' boots somewhere Of course later I can't find ‘em, guess I'll leave 'em for next summer... when I'm... Another year older... and another year dumber! Steve Traversari

A Conversation Between Two Climbers. (A true story because no one can imagine stuff like this.) Altitude: about 3200m. Location: comfortable ledge just below crux, about two pitches to go to summit. Weather: clear skies, mild breeze, about 22degC, no sign of any incoming weather 1: Looks good. We may be a bit slow, but all we need to worry about is daylight. let’s take a short break. 2: Oops. 1: What’s wrong? 2: I dropped the gear sling down this crack. I can see it wedged down there in the crack. I think I can get it. 1: Hey, something fell out of your pocket. 2: Sh#t! my camera! (pause) I can see it, near the sling. 1: Can you reach it? 2: No.

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1: Oh well. I hope that was a cheap camera 2: I think I can lower a biner tied to the rope to use it as a hook. do you have any tape for the gate. 1: I got tape in my first aid kit. (Some time later.) 2: I can see the sling and if I swing the biner it should catch it. (After some time and a few attempts.) 2: Got it! Now with renewed enthusiasm and vigor: 2: I’m going after the camera! (After some time and a few attempts)☺ 2: OHHH NOOOO! 1: Now what? (Silence.) 1: What’s wrong now? (More silence. There’s an uneasy feeling.) 2: The rope is stuck. 1: What?! 2: It’s ok, it’s ok. I can see where it’s stuck. If I can just dislodge it. Can you get me something to throw at it. Some rocks. I can knock the rope free. 1: I can’t believe this is happening. Luckily there’s no one around to see this circus. 2: Ohhh! Almost had it. Umm. That was close. Dam. Not hard enough !&*%$#! I need more rocks. Two other climbers approaching on their decent. A couple of pretty smart guys since it’s past mid afternoon and it’s still a few hours yet to get back to the hut.

Other climber: Hey guys. Beautiful day. What’s going on? 1: Well: dropped a sling and a camera down that crack. We’re trying to get it back with a biner tied to the end of our rope and lowering it down there. Other climber: Oh yeah. 1: It worked on the sling, but now we’ve broken the 11th Commandment “Thou shalt not pusheth thy luck.” Now our rope is stuck down there like a nut and if we pull we’ll never get it out. We’re trying to knock it free by throwing some rocks at it. Other climber: Well, if you’d like you can come down on our ropes. 1: That’s real nice of you but I’ll have the rope free one way or another. I’ve got a knife. Other climber: Well here’s a pile of rocks for you. Happy target practice. (Some more time later.) 2: YES! 1: I hope this is good. 2: I got the rope out!!! 1: That’s it!!! Gimme the rope!! It’s over! Your camera’s toast. Moral of the story: if you’re going to climb, use the rope for what’s intended for. Fave route: Lost on Crescent Spire. It’s not in the guidebook. I was actually lost in some nasty gully up there. Fave food: anything but those potatoes. Can’t wait to go back!!!!!

Peter Collins

Pigeon Toe & Pigeon West Ridge Kain Route Bugaboo Spire Lion’s Way (Lions and Tigers) Eastpost Spire (Northwest Ridge) Simply must return to the Bugs in the near future. So much unfinished business there. I had long dreamed of climbing in the Bugs so when Mike mentioned a possible camp there, I pounced. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to climb with any of the Bugs climbers in advance of the trip to work out partners, etc., but I felt prepared. Day 1: The hike up was awe inspiring to the point that I wanted to go, go, go imme-diately. On the first full day in the Bugs, (after hik-ing back down early to pick up a load of

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food), convinced Steve to climb up the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col to scout out the access to the classics. While scouting out a potential descent through the Snowpatch-Pigeon col, I marked out the location of a hidden crevasse in the upper gl acier by falling into it up to my armpits. Day 2: Dan, Steve and I headed for Pigeon West Ridge. On the way, saw a large group heading to the Pigeon-Howser col with the same idea as us. Decided to climb Pigeon Toe as a short diversion while waiting for the crowds to thin out. Pigeon Toe was a very interesting diversion. Had to rope up, trav-erse a steep snow-ice slope between two parallel 'Schrunds to reach the start of the climb. Two pitches of great mixed climbing brought us to our high point where we opted to rap off and go for Pigeon before it got too late. Pigeon West Ridge gave us our first real taste of Bugaboo rock as we

scrambled up to the col between the first and second summits before we decided to head down for the Diane's Delightful Dish. No amount of Bugaboo Rock & scenery was going to keep us from her handiwork. Day 3: Steve T. and I headed for the Buga-boo Spire’s Kain Route. A late start, slow route finding, and an inci-dent with a lost camera, found us just below the Gendarme at our turn-around time (decided once again by the promise of a specialty from Diane). Day 4: Steve and I headed for Lion’s Tale on the Crescent Towers. Somehow we quickly got off-route and ended up climb-ing “Lions & Tigers” until a short pitch right brought us to the top between the Central & South summit (just north of the Donkey’s Ears). A quick scramble around the central tower showed us the easy de-scent rappel-scramble and the way back to some more sweet sustenance. Day 5: Martin and I headed for Eastpost Spire and the promised views over all the major Bugaboo spires. Amazing views from the top, and not just because we met up with Diane, and Marilyn on the sum-mit :) Day 6: Hiked out & down A great trip, but I simply must return and finish Pigeon Toe, Pigeon West Ridge, Bugaboo Kain route, and Lion’s Tale. Other items on the wish list: Crescent Tow-ers Ears Between, Bugaboo Northeast Ridge.

Only regret: I had the experience & endur-ance to do more, faster. Just didn’t take the opportunity due to unfamiliarity with the rock and the climbing partners. Next time!

Daniel Piaget

This was my second time out west since I lived in Calgary two years ago. It was like coming home (of some sorts)… Aft er land-ing at Calgary airport and sleeping at a friend’s house, I headed for Canmore to meet the rest of the team. I had never crossed the Alberta–BC border while I lived in Calgary. Just crossing that border would be an adventure… The routes that I did: East Post – Day One: A small group of us explored some of the smaller summits that were not far from the hut. After some dis-cussion we decided to head up to East Post. We made it almost to the summit, but de-cided to turn back since we were a large number and a rappel was required to reach the proper summit. Pigeon Toe/ Pigeon Spire Day 2: Steve, Peter and I decided to start by attempting Pigeon Toe. We left the hut that morning a bit late. After reaching the col and travers-ing the Vowels Glacier, we made a bee line for Pigeon Toe. After some navigating we headed for the beginning of the route. Just getting to the foot of the climb proved to be harder than anticipated. There were cre-vasses on both sides of the snow bridge. After what seemed like an eternity, we got to the base of the climb. Due to the shadow that was created by the Pigeon Spire, the toe was not exposed to the sun but was colder. Aft er some crazy climbing with

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crampons, we finally made it to the small col that separated the Toe from another route. It was decided to turn back and try for summiting Pigeon Spire as it was get-ting late and we were running out of time to do the other summit. After a minor incident on the way down (loss my footing on the snow bridge), we headed for the Pigeon Spire. We only made the first summit and had to turn back after we ran into Mike and Martin as they were heading back. Rest day- Climbing near the hut Pigeon Spire This was the second attempt at reaching the summit. After leaving at 4:30 am, we headed for Snowpath col. The sunrise was quite beautiful that morning. It was an un-usually hot night. We reached the third summit around 11 am, with plenty of time to head back. We got back to the hut in time for a delicious meal prepared by our lovely cook Diane! Scariest Experience: Aft er leaving the Bugs, Nicolai and I were heading for the summit of Diadem peak. This peak is situ-ated in Jasper National Park. We had gone slightly off-route and the snow couloir was ending, giving way to an icy section very close to the summit. I had two choices, putting my crampons on or traversing to a section of extremely loss rock and hoping my boots would not slip… I decided to put my crampons on after all. I had one foot against a small sledge, unable

to find a better footing; I lay out my bag in front of it, hoping that it won’t fall like my lunch did earlier in the day... The little sandwich picked up speed quite fast, never to be seen again… I was lucky to be able to get those pesky crampons on and finished the climb without incident (except without a lunch) ;-) The lesson to be learned from this is, put your crampons before you start climbing (stupid !). Fav meal: Breakfast the first morning at the campsite by the parking lot. Since I did not eat much the night before, I was quite hun-gry (not to mention cold!). The hot break-fast was very good !

Photo credits: Photo 1: Craigl Segal, by Marilyne Photo 2: Applebee Dome Campground & Bugaboo Glacier, by Marilyne Photo 3: Martin Guillemette, by Samer Ounsi Photo 4: Conrad Kain hut, by Frederick Benz Photo 5: Lunch break, by Frederick Benz Photo 6: Chef Diane Dumouchel, by Marilyne Photo 7: On the way to East Post, by Frederick Photo 8: William on Belfry, by Spiro Photo 9: Marilyne, photographer not identified Photo 10: The gang, by Martin G Photo 11: Spiro on Ha Ling, by Spiro Photo 12: Gabe Flores, by Spiro Photo 13: P igeon Spire, by Martin G Photo 14: Deborah Skelton in front of P igeon Spire, by Spiro Photo 15: Martin Suichies, by Marilyne Photo 16: Stéphane Chamberland & Craig Segal climbing below the campground, by Marilyne Photo 17: Steve Traversari on Pigeon, by Peter Collins Photo 18: Gorgeous flower, by Marilyne Photo 19: Gabe & Deborah on the summit of Bugaboo Spire, by Spiro Photo 20: Peter Collins on P igeon Spire Photo 21: Sleeping area inside the hut, by Martin Guillemette Photo 22: Mess area inside the hut, by Marilyne Photo 23: Daniel P iaget on the summit of P i-geon Spire, by Stéphane Chamberland Photo 24: Samer Ounsi, by Marilyne Photo 25: Frederick, Martin & Craig on Buga-boo Spire, by Martin Photo 26: Cute squirrel, by Marilyne

Big thanks to all participants for your contributions!

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M any people say that the General Mountaineering Camp (GMC) is the flagship of the Alpine Club

of Canada. Now aft er attending the camp and experiencing its superb organization, stunning location, and all the fun this camp offers, I can back up those assertions. The camp changes its location every year (last year was at Mt. Alexandra). This year’s camp took place at the Vowel Gla-cier / Bugaboo area in the Purcell Mountain Range (near Golden, BC). Our base camp was located near the toe of the Vowel Gla-cier. Besides offering spectacular views o f

the famous Bugaboo and Howser Spires, its location at the elevation of 2133 m (7000’) deep in the park offered good access to all the park’s peaks. The only downside of the camp I found was that we Easterners have to fly there. The GMC has been an ACC tradition since 1906. It has been always held but for one occasion in the Rocky Mountains. I flew to Calgary where I met with a fellow camp participant. He gave me a drive to Golden, BC where we stayed overnight. This was where ACC had designated our starting point. All the participants checked in the

following morning and the small caravan o f 10 automobiles left Golden. We reached the park aft er 2.5 hours of some challenging dirt-road driving. Then, all of our camp gear was lifted with a helicopter to the camp except a small backpack that we each needed for a fairly long day hike to reach the camp. (Depending on the camp location and the availability of trails, camp partici-pants can and are sometimes transport ed by helicopter.) Why did I go to the GMC? I describe my-self as a hiker who is not afraid of trying trails of any degree of di ffi culty. But I

2008 ACC’s General Mountaineering Camp by Mooshie Zahirovich

The author in the view of Bugaboo Spire


wanted more. I wanted to hike higher grounds and become a mountaineer: to do that I needed skill and experience. I had heard the GMC was a good starting point. I hoped to see spectacular scenery and to learn some of the mountaineering trade. What I actually got was beyond my wildest expect ations. As soon as we started our hike to the base camp, we turned around the corner and there was a glaci er. That was the first gla-cier I ever saw in my life! Its bluish flowing mass reminded me of a blue deep sea rush-ing down the mountain slope. Its beauty took my breath away. And that was only the beginning of the week-long adventure! We reached the camp after a fairly demand-ing 8-hours long hike where we were met by Brad Harrison, the camp’s principal organizer and manager. The camp had about 20 small 2-person tents, one large manager’s camp, a kitchen tent, tents for equipment and socializing, shower cabin, and two outhouses (or as we nicknamed them – “Twin Towers”). Encircl ed by 3000 m high peaks on both sides, glacier on one and precipice on other side, in the midst of popping rich sources of water everywhere, the campsite was a fairly gentle place to call a home for a week. How does the camp run? It operates on a seven day, Saturday to Saturday basis. At-

tendance fees (per week) cover the flight in and out (where and when needed), tent ac-commodation, guiding and instruction in all disciplines, sumptuous meals, and group climbing gear. Each week’s group has about 25 participants, tended by the friendly, competent and professional staff. During daily outings, camp participants benefit from the services of ACMG-certi fied full and assistant mountain guides who lead climbs and provide instructions in all aspects of mountaineering. For those who wish to acquire or review their moun-taineering skills, refresher courses are of-fered on alpine snow and ice and rock dur-ing the first two days of camp. I partici-pated in both snow and ice school, and also in rock school. I especially liked rock school where I experienced rock climbing for the first time in my life. Climbing near vertical walls of rock was a petri fying ex-perience for me, yet in the end I climbed success fully several 5.4-5.7 rocks. Doubt-ing my abilities all the way long, feeling the physical pain during the climb, and the sense of relief upon eventual summiting, is an experience that could be understood only by those who actually do it. Every day every mountaineer had a choice of 4-5 daily trip projects of various degree of di ffi culty. Such outings are planned and organized by a Climbing Committee, made up of the camp manager, the guides and the

amateur leaders. Each evening, the Com-mittee plans a number of trips and post sign-up sheets. Camp participants then sign up for their first and second choices. These choices should be based on the di ffi culty of the climbing objective and an assessment of the respective participant’s ability. The Committee then reviews the sign up sheets, assembles parties and assigns leaders to them (usually 3-6 people plus 1-2 guides). Experienced participants can form their own private parties under their own leader-ship, which are a subject to the Commit-tee’s approval. Each day is filled with vari-ous outing projects so that everyone can find something of interest. My only prob-lem was I could not do them all -- so much to do in so little time. If I could describe a typical day (which is very hard considering that each trip is unique in some or other way), it would look like this: getting up at 07:00 o’ clock; breakfast at 07:30; leaving the camp at 08-08:30; mountaineering all day long; return to the camp at 16:00-18:00; supper at 18:00; socializing and planning for tomor-row’s trip 19:00-21:00; going to bed at about 21:00 (not strict). The GMC is de-signed for all ACC members in terms of diffi culty. A wide range of objectives are available, depending on participants’ abil-ity, fitness and length of day desired. The various peaks and approaches included everything from glacier, ice, snow, scram-bling and technical rock climbing. In addi-tion to the more technical climbing on the big peaks, there were easier routes on the smaller sub-peaks surrounding the camp-site, or someone could simply chose to stay in a camp for a day just to rest. Before I signed up for the GMC I sent sev-eral e-mails inquiring about the camp. I did so because I doubted my abilities. The last thing I wanted to experience was to be a “slacker” in a group. I did not want to ruin the fun for others and for anybody to feel sorry for me. The fact was that I was too cautious and that my fitness and courage far exceeded my own assessment of myself. From what I saw, to participate in the GMC one has to be fairly fit, healthy, motivated and courageous in order to take a full ad-vantage of the camp. I really got much more from this camp than I expected (the same could be said for other participants if not all). I attended two schools (ice and rock) where I learnt some of the mountain-

The view from Brenta Spire (2941 m / 9650') on surrounding peaks



eering skills. I also attempted climbing Ju-niper Peak and Little Howser, but we were turned back due to bad weather. Finally, I climbed Northpost Spire (2910 m / 9550’) and Brenta Spire (2941 m / 9650’), two very di fficult summits during our week. Brenta Spire was the hardest climb. At first, I signed the sheet to try to summit this peak, but then I erased my name twice due to my not so brave heart. Only God knows the torrents of my mind when deciding “to be on not to be”. I was relieved once I learned I did not make the cut. Alas, the devil came back when one of my fellow mountaineers gave up his post and I was offered “ the privilege” to attempt climbing the hardest peak. Being crazy enough I said yes. I was petrified to go, but I could not back off (sort of). The truth is that I am afraid of heights, but I wanted more than anything to conquer or at least to manage that fear. Hal f of the climb was scrambling, the other half was technical climbing. This may seem nothing to an experienced climber, but for the novice like me, that seemed like reaching the North Pole. That was the first time I was “ exposed to the exposure”. I ended up forcing myself to look into precipices thousands of feet deep while walking on ledges an inch wide! Rid-ing “ au Cheval”, the knife edge outcrop of rock, with two feet standing on nothing but on air 500 m deep on both sides was an

awesome experience. Add to it rappelling that required jumping into the void and where your life is in hands of the person you met two days ago, and then you have an adventure on your hands! Doing these things and enjoying stunning scenery in every possible direction at the same time is a truly unforgettabl e experience. Looking from the summit at famous Bugaboo Spire nearby (10450’) and its equally well known neighbors Howser Spire (11150’), Pegeon Spire (10250’), Crescent Spire (9350’) and Northpost Spire (9550’) protruding from the glacier like sleeping giants, was the moment I will never forget. I highly recommend any aspiring mountain-eer to attend the GMC. Whatever your ex-pectations are, be assured they will be ex-ceeded. Other important things to mention: - If you wish to participate, you should sign up sooner rather than later. The camp is very popular and it fills up fast. If you would like more snow, then you sign up for the week # one or two; if you like do to some climbing on a dry rock – you take any week later in the season. - you will be responsible for bringing your own personal mountaineering gear (ice axe,

crampons, mountaineering boots, etc.). - food is exceptional given the circum-stances; every dinner comprises four-five course meal, versatile, rich, and nutritional; three cooks do their job very well. - a camp doctor is available for any help needed. - be prepared to experience very long days; due to higher latitudes, daylight extends up to 22:30 o’ clock. - be prepared to experience snow blizzards in the middle of summer! Magnifi cent scenery, a variety of mountain-eering projects, heaps of thrilling fun, a bunch of funny and interesting people, safety, superb camp organization, fabulous food, are all things I liked, but what I liked the most about the GMC was the fact that I was presented with the opportunity to chal-lenge mysel f on a daily basis. I pushed my-self further and further every day. I learnt something about myself I did not know before. I thank my heart and my legs for taking me to places that only few can see. And that will be a lifelong memory – till next year of course! Mooshie Zahirovich

For more information about the GMC, visit http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/activities/gmc.html

On the slopes of Northpost Spire ( ready for "butt-sliding”)

The famous Bugaboo Spire (10450')


E!ans l'autobus de retour vers Calgary, je passe par Canmore; je voie la montée vers chez Christina

et je ne peux m'empêcher d'affi cher un sourire. Je voie cette montagne en forme de fer à cheval qui me fait penser à Kristin. Tous ces sommets qui m'entourent me rappellent Conrad, qui peut presque tous les nommer. Et le souvenir de ces 3 personnes me fait penser au magni fique voyage que j e viens tout juste de terminé, des souvenirs intenses encore si frais. Une expérience exceptionnelle avec 9 personnes, des étrangers qui sont devenus pour quelques jours des collaborateurs, des amis, ma famille. Le tout en un instant! Il y a Kristin, ma meilleure amie; Christina, à la fois mère et sœurette; Conrad, le chum; Simon, Bryan et Scott, les petits frères; et le reste de la famille: Caterine, Claude et Bob. Tous et chacun ajoutant beaucoup à l'ensemble.

C'est donc avec ce groupe enthousiaste et dynamique que l'on fait notre première rencontre officielle, samedi soir à l'Hostel International de Lake Louise Village, afin d'étudier notre route, vérifier l'équipement individuel et aussi en profiter pour se présenter et en apprendre un peu plus sur chacun. Pas de surprise côté trajet: la température nous permettra de suivre la route prévue. Tout le monde à de l'expérience en randonnée et en montagne, pas de surprise là non plus puisque nous sommes tous des membres du Club Alpin Canadien. Curieusement, je semble être celui qui a le plus d'expéri ence en haute montagne, bien que quelques-uns aient plus d ' expéri ence en escal ade. Après véri fication, tous avons un peu trop d'équipement compte tenu de cett e température clémente, alors nous faisons le tri et laisserons plusieurs choses derrière.

On fini la soirée en préparant les lunchs pour demain et c'est le temps d'aller se coucher. Le lendemain, on devra se contenter d'un déjeuner rapide à la boulangerie et hop! C'est le départ. Dans le stationnement du centre commercial, avec Fairview et Temple en arrière-pl an, nous distribuons âmes et équipement dans les véhicules et c'est parti. La route vers le lac Peyto est magnifique, encore plus que celle qui mène de Calgary à Lake Louise. Dans mon cas, puisque c'est la première fois que je visite les Rocheuses, tout est sensationnel de toute façon! Et moi qui croyais que mes quelques photos prises à l'escale à Banff étaient impressionnantes… Une fois rendu au stationnement public, un sentier descend vers le lac pour nous permettre de poursuivre notre chemin jusqu'à la moraine

WAPTA TRAVERSE Par Benoit Hébert



à la base du glacier Peyto, qui nourri le lac du même nom. L'eau y est d'un bleu turquoise spectaculaire! C'est l'une des rares fois où nous circulerons en forêt, le reste du voyage sera sur les glaciers et les étendues rocheuses des flancs de montagne. Il y a beaucoup de lacs et de chutes un peu partout; l'eau est abondante. En route vers la hutte Peyto, on croise une station scientifique qui mesure le déplacement du glacier et sa font e… Les images d'il y a à peine 20 ans sont éloquentes. On profite de cette première présence sur glacier (du moins pour moi) pour pratiquer quelques techniques de glace, dont la pose de visse. Ce voyage se veut aussi une formation de manœuvres en montagne et sur glacier. Nous sommes tous novices de ce côté-là. Puis nous continuons jusqu'à la hutte Peyto où nous attends de la nourriture amenée par des porteurs (nous aurons aussi d'autres dépôts de nourriture à d'autres huttes le long de notre parcours). Nous utiliserons pour abris les huttes du Club Alpin, réparties à différents endroits dans les Rocheuses. Elles sont d'un confort surprenant, avec poêles et éclairage au gaz, couchettes, toilette extérieure et pouvant accueillir de 12 à 30 personnes selon les huttes. Il y a même des plats et ustensiles! Je suis surpris de constaté qu'il fait clai r jusqu'à très tard le soir (passé 22h)…! La gang rigole un peu de tout mon attirail (livre, lecteur MP3, écouteurs, trousse médicale complète, etc.) Moi je dis qu'ils sont jaloux… De plus, j'avais 2 paires de bottes: puisque mes bottes de marches ne sont pas vraiment imperméables et qu'elles ne sont pas adaptées pour les crampons, j'avais aussi mes bottes de plastique… La deuxième journée se passe sur le glacier Peyto, aux alentours de la hutte. Nous grimperons le mont Habel aujourd'hui (3080m d'altitude), et en profiterons pour prendre un peu d' expéri ence en déplacement sur glacier. Les crevasses sont petites par ici et donc le risque de s'y engouffrer est minime. Scott sera celui qui écopera le plus, se retrouvant callé jusqu'à la taille dans l'une d'elles alors qu'il était premier de cordée. Pour les autres, y compris moi, juste une petite peur alors qu'on sent son pied s'enfoncer très creux et qu'on constate un trou béant lorsqu'on le retire… La vue tout au long est magni fique bien sur, avec le lac Peyto tout au bas du glacier. Sur l'arrête sommitale, nous

sommes très exposés et le vent se met de l a partie; il faut vite sortir les polars et les coupe-vent! D'ailleurs, la "gestion" des vêtements en montagne est l'une des choses qui gardent le plus occupé: enlève la couche imperméable, remet la couche imperméable, enlève une couche chaude, remet une couche plus légère, etc, etc. Et chaque fois faut arrêter et retirer le sac à dos… Des heures de plaisir! Juste avant le sommet de Habel, une petite marche à grimper (mi-roche, mi-glace) d'environ 4m; pas haut, mais la falaise juste en dessous n'offre aucune chance de survie si on manque son coup! Bien sur Conrad et Christina sont là pour nous assurer. Et enfin notre premier sommet. Tout le mode est tout sourire, heureux malgré le froid. On se félicite, on encourage les derniers arrivés. Quelques minutes sont accordées pour la cession de photos "obligatoire" et c'est déjà le retour. Somme toute, une bonne journée, pas trop épuisante, avec un soleil magnifique. D'ailleurs, nous serons très gâtés par la température, n'ayant reçu que quelques gouttes de pluies et un peu de grêle durant les 8 jours que dura la traverse. Le soir venu, de retour à la hutte, certains pratiquent les nœuds, d'autres la navigation à la boussole, quelques uns écrivent leur journal. Moi je contemple le tout discrètement, baignant dans l'allégresse d'une très belle journée. Tout les jours, tout le monde participe aux tâches ménagères:

certains vont chercher de l'eau, d'autres cuisinent ou font la vaisselle. Un bel esprit d'équipe règne déjà! Conrad d'écrit la journée de demain, où nous irons rejoindre la hutte Bow. Nous devrons donc transporter tout notre matériel (une pleine charge). Le couché se fera tôt pour la plupart d'entre nous. Un lever très tôt rempli d'odeur de café fraichement fait en ce lundi matin! Nous faisons un peu de ménage, ramassons tout notre matériel et partons chargés comme des mules direction la hutte Bow. Nous commençons par atteindre le col du glacier Peyto où nous accompagnent 2 oiseaux; ils utilisent nos cordes comme perchoir, probablement pour réchauffer un peu leurs pattes gelées. Pas très craintives ces petites bêtes… Comme la progression se fait rapidement, Conrad propose que nous grimpions au sommet du mont Thompson (3030m). En effet, le groupe se déplace rapidement mais surtout, nous semblons bien équilibrés, tout le monde suit le rythme aisément. Nous prenons toutefois soin de nous reposer régulièrement et, dans mon cas du moins, de boire beaucoup d'eau. Un petit détour d'environ 2hrs maximum nous permettra de vivre de beaux moments au sommet de Thompson. Quelle vue sensationnelle! Un des plus beaux spectacl es de tout le voyage! Après avoir marché dans la roche et la neige durant une


bonne heure, le long du fl anc sud de Thompson, plutôt ennuyeux, nous débouchons au sommet d'un haut mur presque vertical d'environ 400m! La vue s'ouvre toute grande devant nous. Tout au loin le lac Bow, Jimmy Simpson (2740m), Peyto (2920m), Caldron (2860m)… Une multitude de sommets que je ne peux pas nommer. On ne peut s'empêcher de s'exclamer: "Wow!" C'est un des détours qui vaut beaucoup plus que l e simple effort de s'y rendre. Qualité/prix imbattable! Mais éventuellement, faut faire demi-tour. Pour revenir, pourquoi pas une petite glissade? La pente n'est pas trop raide; en bas, le col est bien plat, sans risque. Allons-y donc! Ah! Que de souvenirs de nos années d'enfant, à glisser en "Crazy Carpet" ou en luge. Sauf que cette fois-ci c'est directement sur les fesses (un peu plus rude). On s'amuse pleinement, on prend le temps de vivre. Il faut noter l'esthétique des roches qui couvrent le flanc de Thompson: elles semblent toutes sculptées, toutes modelées à des formes autant diverses que splendides! Il faut vraiment voir les photos pour bien en saisir la beauté (http://www. fli ckr.com/photos/29298123@N00/sets/72157606751812254/). Une fois de retour au col, la grêle nous accueille. Pas beaucoup, seulement pour 5 minutes au plus, le temps de manger notre lunch. Le soleil est vite de retour pour notre traverse du glacier Bow. Le mont St-Nicholas nous guide à bonne destination. On ne voit malheureusement pas les lacs Bow et Bow Falls, la déclivité du glacier étant trop prononcée. L'eau ruissèle partout sous la glace. On arrive bientôt à la hutte Bow, la plus importante de notre traversée (une trentaine de personnes y passeront la nuit). Nous y resterons 2 nuits. Il y a de la place pour nous puisque nous avions réservé, mais la hutte est pleine. Un autre groupe est présent pour une formation dans les sommets aux alentours; ils resteront une semaine complète à Bow. Il y a aussi quelques couples de randonneurs; la hutte Bow est la seule hutte de glacier accessible facilement aux randonneurs, via le lac Bow. Les montagnes qui entourent la hutte sont couvertes de séracs et de glaciers suspendus, menaçants, semblant ne demander qu'un petit coup de pouce pour s'écrouler dans la vallée en-dessous. Plus bas, on peut voir une riche forêt de coni fères, le long d'un ruisseau qui se

déverse dans le lac. Notre souper sera un peu moins intime que les autres, dans cette hutte bien peuplée, mais rien qui ne nous empêchera d'avoir du plaisir pour autant. On remarque déj à quelques traits de caractères et manières qui définissent les membres du groupe: Simon et Bob (à l'opposé dans l'échelle d'âge) ont développé une belle complicité basée sur l'humour; Christina mène la barque comme une mère attentionnée; on s'habitue aux goûts alimentaires de Scott et aux questions philosophiques de Claude; Bryan avec ses mille et une anecdotes à raconter; le calme décontracté de Catrine; la bonne humeur de Kristin; et le désormais légendaire "Weeeeell?!" de Conrad, sorte de crie de ralliement indiquant le moment du départ. De mon côté, surement que mon humour, mes commentaires judicieux et ma grande maîtrise de soi m'ont démarqué du groupe… Le lendemain, un déjeuner rapide (comme d'habitude) et on se prépare pour l'assaut du mont Gordon. Nous devons grimper au sommet du glacier Bow, avant de prendre vers l'ouest, traverser un champs de glace et y aller d'une dernière poussée pour le sommet de Gordon. Nous y attend une vue splendide (on s'en doutait, mais tout de même) jusqu'au lac Hector à l'est, au mont

Balfour à l'ouest. La hutte Balfour est visible, moyennant qu'on ait des yeux de faucon… On en profite même pour trinquer à notre réussite, à la santé des amis et des proches. C'est une journée pleine d'émotions, ce sommet ayant une signification bien personnelle pour certains. Au retour, puisqu'encore une fois le rythme est bon, on peut même se permettre un détour au sommet de St-Nicholas. Une longue arrête très étroite, parsemée de roches instables, est le seul chemin praticable pour des novices comme nous. Il nous faut être prudent et concentré. D'ailleurs, les discussions sont moins nombreuses durant cette période du traj et… Même chose pour la descente: prudence! Nous profiterons d'une pente court e mais abrupte au bas de St-Nicholas pour y pratiquer le "sel f arrest" et glisser encore un peu. De vrais enfants! Le lendemain, c'est à nouveau avec des sacs à dos pleins que nous quittons Bow, notre destination ce soir étant la hutte Bal four. Nous devrons franchir le col du glacier Volture pour en redescendre côt é sud jusqu'à la hutte. Nous ferons un détour (maintenant devenu une habitude!) par les 2 sommets d'Olive (nord à 3100m et sud à 3120m). C'est donc une routine bien installée que nous suivons depuis le début: on se lève tôt pour déjeuner et partir avant



que la température ne soit trop élevée et profiter ainsi d'une surface neigeuse plus dure; on charge nos sacs, chausse nos bottes et vise un sommet (défi de la journée); au retour, la neige à ramollie ce qui rend la descente plus facile pour les pieds et les articulations; le soir, après avoir amené de l'eau, dégusté un bon souper et fait la vaisselle, on prépare le lunch du lendemain, le contenu des sacs, on échange des blagues, les impressions de la journée et c'est le dodo. Donc sur Olive, montagne nommée pour la couleur vert foncé de son fl anc ouest, nous avons une vue privilégiée du mont Balfour (3260m) notre objecti f de demain, et de la vallée à sa base. La descente vers la hutte via l e glaci er Volture se fait sans histoire, sauf pour quelques traces de chèvre de montagne au bas du glacier. Nous y arrivons à travers un méandre de petits lacs et ruisseaux. Une hutte très semblable à celle de Peyto. On peut apercevoir de larges crevasses sur le glacier Bal four, au sud. Nous devrons nous lever très tôt demain pour s'él ancer avant le levé du soleil et la chaude température qui le suivra… Le soir venu, l'orage se fait entendre, le tonnerre fait virer toute la hutte, la pluie tombe presque toute la nuit. Au moins on passera ce temps à l'abri plutôt que sur la montagne! Mes pieds commencent à fai re sent i r l eur désenchantement; comme je ne porte pas mes bottes de plastique très souvent, diffi cile pour mes pieds de s'y faire. J'ai également des blessures aux mollets car les bottes sont hautes et viennent frotter continuellement dessus. De gros bas de laine et un peu de Moleskin devront suffi re… Au moins le paysage, l'aventure et la compagnie des gens qui m'entourent servent à mieux accepter un peu de misère! Jeudi matin, prêt pour le départ vers la hutte Scott Dunkin, en passant par le haut col Balfour. La neige n'est pas très dure ce matin à cause de toute la pluie des dernières heures. Il faudra donc être prudent. Conrad nous avise déjà que par certains endroits, il ne nous permettra pas de prendre une pause, peu importe à quel point nous serons fatigués! Les crevasses sont les plus larges que nous aillons vu à date et les conditions de neige pas exceptionnelles. Malgré tout, nous atteignons le col sans problème, bien qu'un peu fatigués; c'est une bonne montée

pour arriver à ce passage (environ 600m). La météo se gâte au point de mettre un doute quand à la possibilité de grimper au sommet de Balfour. Les nuages arrivent en grand nombre de l'ouest, chargés d'humidité. Le vent s'est levé. Rien de bien rassurant. Après quelques minutes de discussion, nous décidons d'abandonner Balfour et d'entreprendre la descente vers le mont Daly où se trouve la hutte Scott Dunkin. Nous ferons un petit croche du côté de Lylliput (2900m) avant d'atteindre la hutte. Encore une fois, j'ai pris de magnifiques images des superbes créations de la nature dans les formations minéral es incluses dans les roches. Dans la soirée, Conrad et Scott iront faire un tour au sommet de Daly, malgré la température peu clémente, pour étudier la possibilité d'en faire le sommet en groupe le lendemain. Nous aurons un peu de neige et pas mal de vent ce soir. Plusieurs en profiterons donc pour revoir à nouveau les théories de navigation à la boussole et au GPS. Puisque nous quitterons les glaciers ce matin, par la vallée Sherbrooke, ceux qui ont décidé de faire le sommet de Daly à 3130m (dont je fais partie) doivent se lever très tôt. Mais je ne regrette en rien ma décision! Cette ascension a quelque chose de particulier; cette montagne porte le nom

de la fille de ma conjointe (!) et c'est aussi la dernière journée de notre voyage, donc le dernier sommet que nous grimperons! Une occasion à ne pas manqué. Comme d'habitude, le départ se fait dans de la roche instable et qui fuit sous nos pieds. Nous aurons à grimper dans un étroit corridor avant d'atteindre la pente glacée sous le sommet. Il nous faudra crampons et piolet pour continuer. On aura la chance de pratiquer plusieurs techniques d'escalade mixte sur cette montagne! Bien content d'avoir décidé de venir! La vue est également impressionnante, voyant même jusqu'au mont Temple. Encore une fois, il faut quitter trop vite à mon goût; j'aimerais bien rester un peu plus longtemps, mais il reste une longue route pour sortir des montagnes et retourner au rendez-vous à West Louise Lodge, où nous attendent les véhicules. Nous ramassons nos sacs à dos de retour à la hutte et partons en direction du mont Nyles (2960m); c'est le point de référence au nord de la vallée Sherbrooke, au fond de laquelle se trouve le magni fique lac du même nom. Alors que nous venons tout juste de franchi r le col entre Daly et Nyles, à peine avons-nous descendu un peu que nous croisons une trentaine de chèvres de montagne, avec chevreaux. Quel beau spectacl e! Elles se déplacent si facilement, alors que nous forçons, titubons, paraissons

photos au http://www.flickr.com/photos/29298123@N00/sets/72157606751812254/)


lourds. Et pour une première fois en une semaine, nous traversons une forêt! Des arbres! Il y avait longtemps. Mais bien entendu où nous sommes, au bout de la vallée complètement, il n'y a plus de sentier et nos gros sacs à dos accrochent toutes les branches qui dépassent, nous glissons sur l'herbe humide ou nous trébuchons sur des racines sorties du sol. Et pour bien faire, les moustiques se mettent de la partie. Elle sera longue cette sortie des montagnes! Nous croisons quelques personnes, à mesure que nous approchons de la route. Conrad et Bob nous divertissent avec quelques devinettes. Cette fois, mes pieds me font vraiment mal, même si j'ai changé pour mes bottes de marche (on dirait même que c' est pire). Éventuellement nous arrivons au Lodge. Le temps d'une dernière photo de groupe et c'est le départ pour l'Hostel International, Lake Louise Village. C'est un peu étrange de se retrouver en voiture tout d'un coup, comme ça. Une fois à l'hôtel, il faut faire des plans pour la nuit: qui couche où? Est-ce que l'on retourne tout de suite à la maison ou non? La plupart auront plusieurs heures de rout e à faire pour s'y rendre. La moitié décide donc de coucher à l'hôtel, les autres quitteront. Mais avant de se séparer, sous l'initiative de Conrad, nous nous réunissons sur la terrasse du Café Peyto pour discuter un peu de notre semaine, pour

parler des moments qui nous ont marqué, etc. Plusieurs ont en tête l'immensité et la beauté des paysages, le partage avec les autres, le plaisir généralisé de cett e aventure, l'organisation sans faille, la météo superbe... C'est avec regrets que je voie partir un à un chaque membre de ce petit groupe. Qui sait si je les reverrai un jour? De mon côté, j'avais décidé depuis longtemps que je tenterais de grimper au sommet du mont Temple (3490m) après ce voyage. Tant qu'à être dans le coin! J'ai prévu quelques journées supplémentaires à cet effet: mon avion est lundi soir et nous sommes samedi. En discutant de nos projets "post-Wapta" durant la semaine, Kristin était très intéressée de faire Temple elle aussi, mais aurait aimé ne pas y aller seule. Ma présence sera donc appréciée. Nous avons conclu que dimanche serait la journée de prédilection (si la température nous le permet bien sur). Nous avons eu une invitation de Christina pour aller coucher chez-elle, en plus de pouvoir fêter son anniversaire ce weekend là. Bon, nous n'avons pas fêté très fort, mais ce fut tout de même agréable d'avoir un coin pour notre tente (à l'intérieur, il y avait un peu trop de bruit pour dormir!) Une bonne grosse pizza, une bière et une douche: que de luxe après ces 8 jours en nature! On est beau, on sent bon! Ahhh!

Il m'a semblé être très tôt quand Kristin m'a réveillé pour me dire qu'il était 5h30; nous avions prévu nous levé à 5h! Nous devons retourner à Lake Louise (près d'une heure de route) et le guide de randonné que nous avons en main mentionne que grimper Temple est une affaire de 8hrs à 12hrs… Bon, tant pis, on partira avec une heure de retard. Au moins nous avions fait les courses la veille et n'aurons pas besoin d'arrêt er nulle part avant d'arriver au lac Moraine, où débute le sentier vers Temple. Nous sommes dans la vallée des "10 Sommets", ainsi nommée en l'honneur des 10 sommets qui l'entourent. À eux 10, ils forment une muraille qui semble être insurmontable! Absolument à couper le souffl e! La route pour atteindre la passe Sentinel (petit col entre "Valley of the 10 Peaks" et "Paradise Valley" à l'ouest de Temple) est très simple, un sentier en terre battue. Mais pour la suite, le mont Temple comme tel, il semble que nous aillons bifurqué et nous sommes retrouvés dans une sorte de corridor rempli de pierres instables et parfois dangereuse, en train de faire du vrai "scramble". Nous y avons laissé une grande partie de notre énergie et avons du ralentir pour la suite. Il semblerait que le sentier continuait plus haut et que nous ayons pris la route difficile… Ah! Que voulez vous! Faut croire que nous sommes



des vrais, que nous préférons faire un sommet à la dure! Un sommet qui fut probablement plus apprécié car nous avons travaillé plus fort pour l'atteindre. Ce fut tout de même agréable de voir enfin l'arrêt e du sommet. Et que dire du spectacle qui nous attendait tout là-haut… Tout autour de nous les vallées 10 Peaks, Paradise et Bow, les sommets à perte de vue, les lacs et les rivières au fond des vallées. Quelle beauté! On aurait voulu y rester des heures. Un petit bonjour du côté ouest, pour Catrine, les photos et clips vidéo d'usage. Et on repart. J'ai bien failli me casser la gueule quelques fois au retour, glissant ici, trébuchant là. Mais à chaque fois je fus épargné d'une blessure sérieuse. Il m'a semblé nous retrouvés au stationnement si vite, déjà la journée est terminée. Mais où donc va le temps? 6h pour la montée et 3h pour la descente. Voilà où est allé le temps! Nous finirons cette journée devant un bon repas au C afé Peyto pour souper. Nous coucherons à l'Hostel (tôt!) après avoir fait un peu de ménage dans nos choses, dans une chambre que nous partagerons avec un couple chinois.

Dernière journée. C'est aujourd'hui que je retourne à la maison, alors que Kristin ira faire un peu d'escalade avec des gens rencontrés la veille. C'est triste de devoir quitter une personne avec qui j'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir et qui a partagé mon quotidien pour les 10 dernières journées. Mais faut bien revenir à la vie normale éventuellement; je n'ai pas les moyens d'être en voyage à l'année longue! Nous nous disons donc au revoir et comme il me reste quelques heures avant l'autobus pour Calgary, pourquoi pas aller marcher autour du lac Louise. Au mon Dieu! Comme il y a foul e! Je me sens mal, c'est beaucoup trop de monde beaucoup trop rapidement. Il me faut un moment de "décantation" pour digérer ça. Je décide donc de fai re un tour du côté du lac Agnes, au Tea House. Le sentier est moins encombré que les abords du lac et j'apprécie. C'est une petite randonnée de 2hrs aller-retour, donc rien de bien terrible. C'est donc le cœur serré que j'écris ces quelques mots… Mes sentiments envers les gens qui ont partagé mon quotidien durant

cette semaine sont suite à cette proximité forcée, ce manque d'intimité obligé et ce partage continuel qui prend place tout au long de cette semaine de voyage, parfois diffi cile et pénible, mais Oh! combien grati fiante. J'allais là pour voir des paysages magni fiques, pour connaître "la vie" sur les glaciers, pour tester mes limites encore une fois… Qui aurait cru que j'en reviendrais la tête remplie de souvenirs d'étrangers que je connais bien! Leur départ m'a semblé si soudain, si bref. Et voilà! Fini, ils sont passés, partis. Je me suis attaché à ces gens à une vitesse que je n'eu cru possible. C'est peut-être aussi le partage des moments d'accomplissement qui crée ces liens, ainsi que l'union dans l'effort durant ces accompl issements. Les personnes avec qui j'ai eu le plaisir de franchir un col ou atteindre les plus hauts sommets rencontrés ont maintenant une place spécial e dans mes souvenirs. Je veux qu'ils le sachent, qu'ils en soient fiers. Ma porte sera toujours ouverte pour eux. Merci à vous 9!! Benoit Hébert


Annual general meeting 2008 ACC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND DINNER

CAC MONTREAL - ASSEMBLEE GENERALE ANNUELLE ET SOUPER

Tuesday December 9, 2008, 7pm / Mardi, 9 décembre 2008, 7pm AT / AU BIODOME - Salle Polyvalente

4777 AVENUE PIERRE-DE COUBERTIN MONTREAL QC H1V 1B3

Name(s)/Nom(s):

Address/Adresse:

Telephone: E-mail/Courriel:

Vegetarian/Vegetari en: YES/OUI NO/NON Allergies: ___________

____ members/members x $24= ____ ____ guests/invités x $27= ____ Total amount/montant total: $ ________

Please fill in the form below and make out a cheque payable to: S.V.P. completer le coupon ci-dessous et faites un cheque a l’ordre de:

ACC MONTREAL SECTION Limited spaces! Send in form and cheque NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 3 to:

Places limitées! Faites parvenir votre coupon et votre cheque AU PLUS TARD LE 3 DECEMBRE a: Lucile O’Leary - 8-4032 Rue Cartier, Montreal Quebec H2K 4G4

“Motions from the floor by members will gladly be accepted only upon prior written sub-mission to the Chairperson ([email protected]). Deadline for submitting motions is December 5, 2008” “ Les propositions par les membres lors de l’assemblée seront acceptées pour autant qu’elles aient été soumises au président ([email protected]) au plus tard le 5 décembre 2008”

COST / PRIX: Members / members: $24 per person / par personne

Guests / Invités: $27 per person / par personne Tickets cannot be purchased at the door - Reservation required

Aucune billets disponible a la porte - réservation obligatoire

Questions? [email protected]

Evening’s schedule: 7pm: Registration 7.30pm: Dinner 8pm: Annual General Meeting 8.30pm: Presentation Déroulement de la soirée: 7pm: Inscriptions 7.30pm: Souper 8pm: Assemblée générale annuelle 8.30pm: Présentation

SURPRISE PRESENTATION / SLIDESHOW prepared by one of our members

And as a special guest: Marie Eve Allaire-Herbert from Mountain Equipment Co-op will present her fundraising project for Dufresne Parc. Don’t miss it!

BRING YOUR OWN WINE/BEVERAGE - APPORTEZ VOTRE VIN/BREUVAGE

the alpine club of canada / le club alpin du canada...

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