Banff, AB

Dec. 12^th: Rest day

Pat took Chico, the van, to get winter tires installed. I went through my stored boxes and condensed enough to bring it down from 6 to 4 boxes. It should all fit in the van!

Dec. 13^th: Banff, Mixed Climbing, Bear Spirit crag (WI4 – M6)

Went up to the Bear Spirit mixed crag with Pat, Matt and Kyo. We ran laps on the ice and did two mixed routes. I was expecting to be a little rusty but the climbing went surprisingly well.

Dec. 14^th: Yoho National Park, Stanley Headwall, Suffer Machine (A2 WI5)

Our climbing buddy Sam picked us up in Canmore. We planned to head down to the Sunshine ski resort parking lot to climb Bourgeau Left Hand (WI5). As we arrived, Sam recognised the car of another climber. If he was climbing above us it would be too dangerous for us to try climbing from bellow. We agreed that the chunks of ice falling from the climbers above probably couldn’t be avoided on this climb. We took a few minutes to think of a backup plan and decided to head towards the Stanley Headwall in Yoho National Park to take a look at the ice climbs there. The climb we hoped to get onto was named Suffer Machine. A 30 minute drive and a 1h30min hike on snowshoes was the time needed to reach the bottom of the climb. It was nearly noon when we started climbing. It was a little late in the day to climb something this long and difficult. We came prepared and brought our headlamps in case we needed to rappel in the dark. The ice on this climb rarely touches down to the ground. The typical start is from a series of bolts (some with missing hangers) on the rock to the right of the ice. With help from the bolts, a few aid moves (pulling on the slings which are clipped to the bolts) were used to reach the ice.
 

Dec. 15^th: Rest day

Dec. 16^th: The move back to Ontario begins.

We spent the morning organizing the van and packed up all our stuff. We were surprised to actually have extra room in the van after everything was packed. We kept enough space free for one person to lie down and sleep while the other drove. We left Eastbound from Canmore at 2:00pm. We stopped in Medecine Hat for dinner at a pub named Locals. The food was amazing! I jumped in the back of the van afterwards to catch some sleep before we exhanged driving duty.

Dec. 17^th: The non-stop drive Eastbound continues.

At 2:00am Pat woke me before driving to the U.S. Border. We didn’t pass the border as quickly as we hoped. We were asked to pull over and went inside to get interrogated as they searched the van. They didn’t keep us too long, maybe 30min. It was only an inconvenience. I took the wheel afterwards and drove for a few hours. We kept exchanging the driving duty during the day.

Dec. 18^th: Arrived in Ontario.

We drove into Erin’s driveway at 6:00am. The who familly was asleep so I woke her up by throwing snowballs at her window. I tried my best not to hit her parents window beside hers.

Walking up to the Bear Spirit crag

Sam refilling his water supply.

A far look at Suffer Machine (ice not touching down).

At the bottom of the climb.

Pat leading up the bolted section before reaching the ice.

Pat leading the first pitch.

Sam leading the second pitch.

Great views across the valley.

The upper half of Suffer Machine.

Favorite photos of the trip posted soon!