Stanley North Face/ Kahl Route

Friday July 23th we left Canmore for our bivi near the glacier of Mount Stanley in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. A new climbing team: Chris, James and me.

After a three our night, we woke up at 2PM for a real alpine start. The moon was behind the mountain but with our headlamps we could find our way pretty easily.

When the sun came out and reached us, it was about 6AM, the sky was so blue..... none of us had ever seen that before. Ever our shadows were blue, really! Travel was pretty fast and the snow conditions excellent. 6.30 AM we summitted and all of us were very happy to be witness of one of the most perfect climbing days in the Rockies. The views were amazing and the spirit was good.

Because we decided to downclimb the entire face in our up-tracks, we made a very fast time on this peak. Back at the bivi spot at 11 AM so we had time for a 2 hour siesta with tea, biscuits and cheese. Just perfect!

Scramble Big Sister

Our third summer in Canmore means that it was about time to summit the Big Sister. We always see the peak from our patio. We invited Marty and Caz for this moderate scramble and we had a great day with the four of us (July 21). Bram gets a little excited as you can see on this last picture: he found some very good rock!

We celebrated our peak with wine, cheese and a great BBQ. And best of all.... there are some good memories when we watch the peak after our summit day.

Lefroy

Abbot Hut is the highest Heritage building in Canada with over 2900 mtrs. From here, we made it in 4 1/2 hours return to the summit of Lefroy. We met 2 really nice people on our way up, using Bram's steps. The weather was not perfect, but we still had some great climbing. And so we were home early for a BBQ.

Abbot Hut and Mount Lefroy

Mount Lefroy is located between Lake Louise and Lake O Hara and is a cool summit to peak with the Abbot Hut as a base.

Here you'll see Lake Oessa on our way up to Abbot Hut. Yes, it's July and it's still partly frozen.... Beautifull spot and we had it all to ourselves.

Basta on the Middle Sister

Last week I hiked up the Middle Sister (2740)with Basta. Here a picture of Basta with Canmore down below. Basta is getting a bit old, he got really tired on the way down. But I guess he chased too many marmots on the way up.

Lougheed Traverse day 2

Waking up with a view! This was our bivi spot for the night. No tent, just our sleeping bags, and an inflatable mattress. Waking up in the middle of the night with just the stars.... Waking up in the morning with the sun....... It was truly amazing.

Some nice alpine flowers along the way. It's the time of year for the most colorful species in the high alpine. You can see me on peak 3 in the morning with Mount Assiniboine in the back (centre right). Another picture of Bram and me, watch our sunglasses and you'll see how this picture has been made. Our decent between peak 3 and 4 was fast due the soft snow. We were overwhelmed by the huge walls of Mount Sparrowhawk. Further down the valley, we found a beautiful place for lunch. A valley without trails, without people... a place where people are rarely seen. Very peaceful.

We had decided to skip peak 4 because we where tired, the rope was damaged, the rock was loose and we wanted to be home early for a BBQ and a beer. It was 26 degrees and we where lucky to find a very cool spot near the creek further down in which we 'skinny dipped'. It was screaming cold!!

With a beer in our hand we watched Mount Lougheed from our patio later that day. It was worth the effort. Honestly very glad that peak 4 is out of view from hour home, so we don't have to feel guilty all the time of not climbing the 4th peak.

Mount Lougheed Traverse

Bram and I heading for our first summer adventure on the Mount Lougheed Traverse.
A beautiful day in the Rockies with fine views on Spray Lakes, Kananaskis Country, 1/2 hour driving from Canmore. With an overnight pack and our climbing gear, we're working ourselves up to the start of the route. Great views all the way up to the summit. In the route we find some snow here and there, but most of all loose rocks. Nasty.

Mount Lougheed has 4 peaks, the highest peak is over 3100 mtr. After the first 8 pitches of climbing, we traverse to the real summit on which we arrive early evening. We decide to climb until we reach the bivi spot between peak 2 and 3. During the next couple of hours we are getting really tired, we encounter some serious rockfall and the rope got snapped. Finally we arrive a flat and perfect bivi spot at 11.15 PM. It's just about getting dark. Bram makes dinner and tries to keep me awake. I was almost falling asleep.....