Workout and Hike

Worked out in the morning on the Eliptical for 40 minutes and then Revs for 45 min.

Met up with A, H and O to hike Nihahi Ridge afterwards. Waited near the Little Elbow River Recreation Area (near forgetmenot pond parking for about 30 minutes). Then headed to the junction where the intersection was and finally met them about 2:30 pm. We started the hike at 3:30 pm and got back to Calgary around 9 pm.

Beautiful Century

Headed up Beautiful Century on Nanny Goat with the ACC on Saturday. Ken organized the trip and had Sera and myself as the participants for the climb. I was definitely lucky to have been able to join as I was near a computer when the notification came up on email.

We met at Lady of Assumption at 7:20 am. I was actually the last to arrive after grabbing a subway sandwich and getting gas; as i woke up 30 minutes early i was able to cook breakfast and do those 2 additional chores before meeting up which is extremely rare for me. Ken and I carpooled as Sera was staying the night in the Bow River Campground for the weekend. We got to the parking area around 8:30 ish and then started the hike towards the base of the climb. When we reached a large rock drainage we realized we missed the turnoff towards Nanny Goat and then started ascending the drainage where we quickly met up with the path that leads to BC. When we arrived we decided that Sera would second and I would take the third. Ken used a system that he learned from Sarah during the Alpine efficiency course where he clips an extra non-locker to a draw the feed the second rope through. (The main leading rope would go to the lower biner and then the second backup rope that would be connected to the 3rd climber would be clipped to the middle biner. I ended up leading pitch 3 which was a 5.7 climb and then the 6th pitch which was a 5.8 climb. They definitely didn't feel like they were rated that since there was a few roofs especially on the 5.8 climb. Essentially consistent to the other ratings i've experienced so far on that wall. Was great that Ken brought his walkie talkies so that we could talk very easily between the parties on top and on the bottom. We kept with the system that the lead had one and the last climber had one. I'll have to pick up a pair from Costco at some point and make sure they are AA.

The first 2 pitches were quite long and definitely the first 2 bolts on the first pitch were the crux of that pitch. The second pitch which was supposed to be the crux of the climb (5.10a) had an awkward start going to the right and then trusting your feet for a friction-y inverted move to a higher hold.
The 3rd pitch which i lead had 6 bolts which required some friction climbing felt more difficult than 5.7 but i managed through it.
The 4th pitch a 5.9, ended up being quite zigzagging.
Pitch 6 was 5.8 but felt like a 5.10. There were 2 roofs but the crux of the pitch was in the beginning of the climb.
Pitch 7 was relatively straight forward. We decided to put the second rope in the pack and tie off the middle to the leader with 2 independent lines going to each climber. The middle tied off using an overhand on a bite followed through both gear loops on the harness and then through the overhand knot tied with another overhand. This was able to be done because the pitch was meters and we were using a 70 meter rope. Would be quicker this way since there's less rope management.
We ended up doing the walkoff instead of rappelling and was the same descent as Kid Goat down the waterfall. Some scrambling down scree. There is a 15 ft downclimb on some easier 5th class slab; which can be done without a rope in dry conditions.
Got back to the car around 8 pm.

Great climb!

Twilight Zone (Kid Goat)

Ian organized a multi-pitch climb on Kid Goat in conjunction with the 2010 Rock Review with the ACC. The weather the day before was raining and the forecast had been 30% chance of precipitation. I met Nicole at the Kananaskis casino at 11:30 am and we car pooled from there to the parking area for Kid Goat. She had the printout of the directions which were in text. When we hit the first gravel road we turned right and then headed too far towards Goat Slabs. Ian called us when we were about 30 minutes down that pathway when he realized that we were on the incorrect path. We turned around when we realized this and then started going back towards the landfill. When we got back we found the correct path only for a while when we took another incorrect path too early which led us to a sport climbing area which was more lower in elevation and west of the actual multipitch climbs on Kid Goat. When we realized this we were both comfortable to scramble to the base towards where Ian was (at the bottom of Grey Waves). We finally met up and then headed towards the Twilight Zone. Since there were a number of climbers on the wall that weekend probably due to the Rock Review, we headed to the climb quite quickly. We decided that i would second and Nicole would follow. This was because it would be easier to give her beta from up above on hand holds that might be available but weren't obvious. The route was all trad and had only a couple of bolts and pitons on the route. Although there were bolted belays for the climb. It took us a few hours to reach the top and only drizzled on us very briefly. Another day of luck when the initial weather forecast was much worse than actually realized. We descended down the Waterfall (gully) between Kid Goat and Nanny goat rather then rap the route.

Bolivia Peaks

http://www.bolivianmountains.com/climbing/illampu.html

ILLAMPU

CHACHACOMANI & CHEAROCO
Altitude: 6,100m & 6,150m
These two peaks are in one of the least visited areas of the Cordillera Real and are the perfect challenge for the ice climber with some experience already under his belt. The routes to the summit have been very rarely tackled, so if you are after a very unique climbing expedition, this is the one for you.

ILLIMANI

JANCOHUMA

CONDORIRI AREA

PARINACOTA & SAJAMA

SAJAMA

HUAYNA POTOSI

PEQUEÑO ALPAMAYO

CHARQUINI

Climbs i want to try on Yamnuska

345m - Belfry 5.8+
300m - Bottleneck 5.8
95m - C-Plus 5.7
90m - C-route 5.8
340m - Calgary Route 5.6
295m - Chockstone Corner 5.8+
325m - Direttissima 5.8+
225m - East Face Route 5.4+
260m - Gray Goose 5.7
295m - Grillmairs Chimneys
277m - King's Chimney
270m - Red Shirt 5.8+
189m - The Toe 5.8
150m - Tongue - Right Side 5.6
217m - Unnamed 5.7
210m - Western Union 5.8
260m - Windy Slabs 5.6

First lead on Yamnuska

So finally was able to meetup with Per to climb on Yamnuska. The night before we decided that we were either going to try Easy Street; a 5.6 climb or Grillmair's Chimney; a longer 5.7 climb.

We met at the parking lot at 10:15 am and introduced ourselves. After combining all the trad gear we had we decided to mainly stick with his gear and try Easy Street since this was the first time we were climbing together.

During the approach my legs were still very sore from the prior Saturday when I climbed Holy Cross with Shaun so I actually had to take a number of breaks along the way. Also I was only wearing old sneakers for the approach so scree kept on getting into my shoes. I could tell my bones are slightly aging because my knees were beginning to hurt when i put all my weight on one leg to push up the steep approach. We found out there was one other group that was climbing above us and crossed our fingers that they were doing Windy Slabs so we wouldn't be exposed to rockfall. Lady luck was on our side when we arrived at the base of the climb as the lady that was seconding mentioned they were indeed starting on Windy Slabs. Per lead the first 3 pitches and I lead the last 3 except for the fact that the last pitch I was supposed to traverse sideways (west) off the Bar-b-que ledge but instead proceeded upwards. The last pitch ended up being a 5.8 and because this was my first multi-pitch trad route i felt more comfortable if Per lead the route so we finished on the backside around 5 pm-ish and then continued scrambling up until we were almost at the summit. I ended up taking a few panorama shots at the top. We descended on a path that lead west through the woods and must've had several ticks on us by the time we reached the bottom trail that lead back to the gravel road.

Webcams for Minnewanka and Moose Mountain

Webcam Minnewanka
http://www.explorerockies.com/banff-webcam/

Webcam Moose Mountain
http://www.braggcreek.ca/weather/index.htm

Mountain Biking Forums for Western Canada
http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?s=780e21fd414add8e933cae5578c39c74&f=84