J - Rock climbing/Tick dodging at Stone Hill, Montana

While it was cold and miserable in Calgary this Easter weekend, we all went down to Montana to do a bit of climbing at Stone Hill. The rock is fantastic and the weather was brilliant as you can see. Being outdoors without a shirt on is quite a novelty for us at the moment. Tentative at first we were fish out of water without our ice tools but after a few hours got back into the swing of things. Eureka, Montana, the nearest town is a great little place with a malt shop and juke boxes that only play country. Beer is $1.75 a jar and pizza a meal for 4.

Me climbing with Grant belaying.

Lachlan climbing a different route on the same wall.

Mereywn and Jess don't seem to recognise me?

Merewyn does her favourite party trick. Wax bomb. A half kilo of superheated wax explodes into the air and bursts into flame. Maybe that will burn some of those damn ticks off. Stupid ticks!

M - What a HUNK!

Asaide from climbing an ultra classic ice line on Saturday, we also made it along to a black tie dinner. Thanks to Jess and Lachlan for inviting us to help raise money for the Alberta College of Art and Design. Someone elses money...

Pics and the story of the ice climbing soon I promise.

J - Coire Dubh Integrale

We are experiencing a very warm chinook that most people are rejoicing in as it is about +15 at the moment when it should really be -10. Unfortunately it is melting all of the harder ice routes and even the moderate ones are pretty soft at the moment.

It was my birthday and with some friends over for some pecan pie we decided to go and do a more alpine style route instead of the short hard ice climbs we have been doing recently. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

You can see our route in the top left photo, up the ice and then up and right towards the low point in the skyline. This post is for those people who tell me to put in more photos.

Other than this our week consisted mostly of work and waiting in line at checkout counters.

M - Mixing it Up

Merewyn and Jess approaching the Bear Spirit Ice and Mixed Crag near Banff

This weekend we went to Bear Spirit, a mixed climbing crag near Banff. Mixed climbing is climbing rock using ice axes and crampons, and then usually finishing onto a hanging icecle or some such.

Harder than it looks, you never know how well your tools are hooked and they sometimes pop off launching you off the climb. Thankfully these routes are usually well bolted a la sport climbing so it is pretty safe. Even so, we were hanging on topropes, popping off all over and getting really pumped forearms. The trick to getting your tools to stay put it to keep a totally steady pressure, and this usually means you are hanging on as tight as you can!

It's fun because it is different, you have enourmous reach with your tools, and it can be very gymnastic using all the overhanging rock climbing type body positions. It is also frustrating because "I should be able to climb that - I have jugs to pull on all the way!"

My idea of what constitutes a huge hold has been totally revised. In other highlights I led my first WI3 route, though it was a shortie (like me)

There are some more pics but they are still on Lachlan's camera, soon I promise.

J - Tri-ice-a-thon

It's another monday night, tired from the weekends climbing we have been fighting to keep our eyes open at work all day. This week it was the Tri-Ice-A-Thon at Nordegg, a group of hostels have banded together to create a very strange ice event involving many odd props, semi-naked ice climbing, hot tubs and lots of shouting.


Here's Merewyn doing a speed climb, complete with party hat, and white chocolate dog strapped to her back.











Swimsuit climbing event, (not Merewyn). Which wasn't a speed event but was done with a fair amount of speed even so :) Wasn't too cold that day, -5 maybe.
















More 'swimsuits'. Notice the rock shoes and chalkbag.












Me top roped on a mixed climb on the second day. (not a movie)







After the weekend was over we had done well, Merewyn won a rope in a rope coiling competition and I won a day with a mountain guide. So we drove home in a snow storm and paid the now customary visit to Tim Hortons coffee and donut fast food joint. The only fast food restaraunt with an employee health plan. It is bit of a mixed bag and it gets better the more you go. It has terrible coffee of course but they will serve it to you in your own cup which is nice. Good sandwiches and other food and a huge array of donuts. They also sell donut centres, these are known as Tim Bits.

Buy 6 or more donuts exempts you from paying GST, it's the law. Strange but true. I bet it makes their taxes really complicated.

Josh