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206 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2011 : 8:40 PM
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Went Ice climbing this afternoon/evening at Wedge Smear today down Kananaskis it was windy and warm out, we climbed into the dark and had a blast. The steeper right side had some nice picked out lines for me. Leading on the left side to a bolted anchor was pretty tame, I enjoyed it. Sorry no pictures I was in a rush and forgot my camera. Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Dan |
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206 Posts |
Posted - 02/19/2011 : 10:43 PM
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Went up Johnston Canyon again to do some ice climbing/bouldering, had a blast got the gf to lead some WI 2 stuff. There was a large group from Spokane but it didn't interfere with what we wanted to do. Might go to the Wedge tomorrow afternoon and an evening saunter up Heart or Yamnuska.
Cheers,
Dan
  
Edit: Ended the day at the big hot pool in Banff. |
Edited by - Marlboro on 02/19/2011 10:56 PM |
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Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
23 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2011 : 4:55 PM
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The cross-country skiing in Jasper is excellent right now. Today we skied up the Pyramid Lake Fire Road and got some excellent views of Pyramid Mountain.
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2011 : 2:38 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by sheesh
The cross-country skiing in Jasper is excellent right now. Today we skied up the Pyramid Lake Fire Road and got some excellent views of Pyramid Mountain.
Yeah. We had maybe 20-30 cm of fresh powder last weekend at Jasper. Trails around Edmonton are icy and poor. |
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1699 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2011 : 9:28 PM
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Couple shorter outings, perhaps they'll help somebody planning something.
Tunnel Mnt Fri 2011-03-11
http://claytonditzler.zenfolio.com/p444877804
Rawson Lake Sun 2011-03-13
http://claytonditzler.zenfolio.com/p366622704
Going up the Rawson trail I was telling my wife about Rachel using a crazy carpet to come down the trail... too many trees for me, I'd maybe use a GT racer (has a steerable front ski and two fixed skis) Wouldn't you know it, on the way down we passed three people packing GT's up the trail with big grins on their faces. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3787 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 07:02 AM
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The trick with the crazy carpets is that you keep your snowshoes on, and you put your feet out either side in front of you, and lift them a little so just your heels drag. Then they become very effective runners, and you can lay them down more to slow down, lift to go faster, turn the sides in to corner, and have great control.
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737 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 07:11 AM
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Hey there, Clayton...I wonder how much snow Rundle's southern face/route has. We'd need a view from Mt Sulphur to know. Almost looks doable from the photo you took. 
Does anyone know what the snow conditions are for Mary Barclay's/Lorette? I don't necessarily trust the Nakiska ski cams as they make their own snow. How about the trail that runs parallel to Kananaskis River...bikeable...boots...snowshoes?
Conditions may change even today since there's snow in the forecast...
G |
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1699 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 08:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Granticulus
Hey there, Clayton...I wonder how much snow Rundle's southern face/route has. We'd need a view from Mt Sulphur to know. Almost looks doable from the photo you took.
Does anyone know what the snow conditions are for Mary Barclay's/Lorette? I don't necessarily trust the Nakiska ski cams as they make their own snow. How about the trail that runs parallel to Kananaskis River...bikeable...boots...snowshoes?
Conditions may change even today since there's snow in the forecast...
G
Less snow in the corridor by Nakiska than down by the lakes Grant, but that's as specific as I can be. And warm means isothermic etc or ice from other days... I think we are still pretty much in snowshoe mode. People still skiing/snowshoeing on 40 up from the gate closure.
As for Rundle??? There is still plenty of snow in the trees around there. |
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1699 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 08:55 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Rachelo
The trick with the crazy carpets is that you keep your snowshoes on, and you put your feet out either side in front of you, and lift them a little so just your heels drag. Then they become very effective runners, and you can lay them down more to slow down, lift to go faster, turn the sides in to corner, and have great control.
A younguns game ... all I see there is knee pain a-coming!! My busy season is just around the corner, can't afford to be laid up. (but really really tempting just the same!) |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3787 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 9:10 PM
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As of last weekend, there was a ton of snoe in lower kananaskis, and both Lorette and Mary Barclay looked still way too snowy for ridgewalking.
The Terrace trail is subject to avalanche danger in season, and I'd say it's definitely still avalanche season there.
I think it's going to be a late spring in snowmelt terms.
Clayton, you'll have to try it at the beginning of next winter then. :)
I've had people older than you trying it out with me. Everyone thinks it's terribly extreme, then after trying it mentions how much more in control they were than they expected. At Rawson, because of the nice way the trail banks and the moderate slope, you're never in any danger of hitting trees. and leaning to a side runs you off the crazy carpet to stop quickly if needed.
The other way to do it is to stay off a slick trail like Rawson and go in new snow or just a snowshoe track. Then you go very slow, and have to be on a pretty fair slope to get anywhere. You can go down quite steep stuff with lots of control in the fluffy stuff.
We did some good crazy carpeting down from Rummel Lake on Sunday. It isn't very steep, and there was so much snow that we didn't go very fast, and it probably took more energy than walking down, but was way more fun.
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calgary, ab
Canada
122 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2011 : 11:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Sodbuster
Wouldn't you know it, on the way down we passed three people packing GT's up the trail with big grins on their faces.
That was my group. You should have seen our grins at the end of the day... :) |
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1699 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2011 : 2:40 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by go_up
quote:
Originally posted by Sodbuster
Wouldn't you know it, on the way down we passed three people packing GT's up the trail with big grins on their faces.
That was my group. You should have seen our grins at the end of the day... :)
 Next year... I've got a GT in my shed somewhere. |
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737 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2011 : 9:05 PM
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Snow is probably disappearing quickly but here are a few shots of what the top of Mount Baldy looked like on Saturday.
    
Funny (or not so funny) thing is, I followed a set of prints up the summit ridge...they stopped about 200m shy of ths summit! I pushed through in somewhat favourable conditions (I don't take risks nor go beyond my comfort level) in good snow to the summit and came up with these photos.
Enjoy!
Granticulus |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3787 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2011 : 7:58 PM
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| awesome sculptures! |
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1699 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2011 : 08:42 AM
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Conditions from last weekend: Hiked in from Highwood House on Hwy 40 (currently closed), camped at Strawberry Flats and then snowshoed to Cat Creek Falls and up onto Cat Creek Hills. Road was partially clear on the way in Friday but 4-8" of fresh snow during the weekend added to the base. 2-3' of snow in the campground, upwards of 4' on the north aspects in the hills. Snowshoes were required once off the road, things are still fairly wintery back there.
http://claytonditzler.zenfolio.com/p32338654 (I'll get around to the annotation eventually)
Happy Easter all! |
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349 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2011 : 4:25 PM
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Was hoping to climb Barrier mountain eventually this spring. Havn't been out recently, any ideas what the terrain (snow) is like out by Kananaskis there?
Cheers |
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Canmore, AB
Canada
1238 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2011 : 09:01 AM
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Skied into Skoki yesterday. Well, just Deception pass since the lodge is closed.
Snow conditions were pretty awesome for this time of year. Got in some wicked turns down the pass before skiing out.
The ski out is starting to thin out but it probably has at least another week before it starts to show the ground underneath. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
615 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2011 : 12:47 PM
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Skied to Citadel Pass and up Citadel Peak yesterday (May 01, 2011). TONS of snow all over the Sunshine Meadows. It was surprisingly supportive traveling on the flats, even outside of the tracks.
We noticed a lot of avalanche activity starting up on South / East aspects. We made it to the summit of Citadel but probably took some risk for the last 20 meters vertical that we didn't realize fully until we were on top. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3787 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2011 : 10:56 PM
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Drove out to the mountains today to take a look at conditions. The Bow Valley is dry everywhere the sun touches, and all the little interpretive trails would be hikeable. a LOT of snow still in the shady treed areas though. Middle Lake is still mostly frozen. Yamnuska looks mostly dry on the front with just small patches of snow. I bet there is some snow at the base, but I think you could hike up to the shoulder right now. A fair bit more snow looking to the backside. The dam on the Bow has all the gates open with tons of water pouring through, and more water coming over the top. The extra chutes on the paddler's right are open as well, with water pounding down them hard enough to launch across the river and up the other side at the bottom. There's a chute of water spray going to the level of the bridge.
I went for a walk into Heart Creek. Someone I crossed said the access from the official lot to the start of the real trail is pretty much dry but for a couple parts, and very crossable. Heart Mountain trail is mostly dry most of the way up, but has knee- to waist- deep snow near the top. The Heart Creek trail has isolated snow at the beginning, then a foot or so from First Rock back. It's packed and would be travellable, but something on the bottom of your shoes would help. First Rock looks pretty dry, but there's nearly a foot of snow at the base. I did notice footprints to the base of the climb though.
Snow down highway 40 begins by about Baldy. Amadeus is all gone, but there's enough snow to make the rock climbing difficult.
Even the Sibbald has an insane amount of snow. Driving along the road, the south faces all look clear, but the treed south side of the road still has a lot of snow. Sibbald Lake campground has been bumped back to open at the end of May, and while the open field with the branch structures is clear and mostly dry, anything low is marshy, and the part that is usually marshy has a lake in it. Still ice on the lake. Sibbald Meadows Pond is very frozen. |
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349 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2011 : 01:37 AM
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| Good to know. Thanks Rachelo |
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Alberta Recent conditions reports
