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2421 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2012 : 09:48 AM
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You take what you can get - in winter, it's hard to get to the mountains from Edmonton unless you're able to make a weekend of it. Four hours driving each way sucks, so my next scheduled trip isn't until the Family Day weekend. Fortunately, I managed to set up a one-day tour to Maligne Canyon and back on Saturday. Leave at 7:00AM, do the canyon, then a short hike at Old Fort Point, then be back in town by 9:00PM. As long as the shuttle bus driver is doing the driving!
The biggest worry was that just a couple of weeks ago, Maligne wasn't even frozen over! I was starting to wonder if I'd have to refund the money and lose my $810 deposit on the bus. I got lucky; a week of -35° temperatures saved my butt and the canyon froze solid. It warmed up last week, and the temperatures on Saturday were right around freezing - perfect for a tourist walk.
         
Lots of climbing at the Queen and a nice little one I didn't even know about right at the Third Bridge. The ice looked pretty solid, but it was warm enough that the climbers were getting a good grip. The people at the Queen were top roped, but the lady at the Third Bridge was doing it as a lead climb, clipping into her ice screws every few metres.      
For the rest of the trip, we went up to Old Fort Point, but the weather was closing in fast and at the top it was cold and very windy. Lousy views, but a bit of exercise before driving back.     |
Edited by - peter1955 on 01/30/2012 10:10 AM
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46 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2012 : 08:07 AM
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Looks like a quick, but nice day out Peter! I haven't been in Maligne Canyon this year. Like you- I was waiting for it to really freeze before I went down. It's a favorite to do with my son every year. |
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Edmonton, AB
89 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2012 : 08:44 AM
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The photo of the "lady at the Third Bridge" seemed a bit familiar.
I checked with my daughter Kat to see if she was ice climbing at Maligne Canyon that day. Turns out that she was and that she is the one pictured. It was a nice surprise to see her so unexpectedly. Here are some of her photos from that day.
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2012 : 10:31 AM
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Hi, Semiawesome
Your daughter was pretty impressive, doing a nice lead climb without top ropes on what was pretty soft ice. The people in my group thought she was really cool. |
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Maligne Ice
