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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1266 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 1:25 PM
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2012-04-15
Rocky Mountain Vaults & Archives was to be a storage facility carved into Mount McGillivray's limestone slope. A place that would store and protect "just about anything but explosives and money," from fires, floods, earthquakes and nuclear war. Now it's just an abandoned tunnel with some holed out rooms.
Sometime ago I saw a scan of the original brochure for this, but I can't recall where and I haven't been able to find it since. I did find an old article that was published in Windsor Star regarding this project and it was an interesting read:
  
There was also a fairly recent article about this in the Highline Magazine:
http://issuu.com/highlinemagazine/docs/winter_2009?mode=window&pageNumber=14
I knew this place existed, had read about it, but never really knew the best way to get there. As it turns out, there are a few ways and it's pretty straight forward. It's a very short and easy hike and a great one to consider taking kids on come Halloween time.
I parked at the west end of Lac des Arcs and followed a road blocked off by boulders (http://g.co/maps/zud9g). Initially I thought it was this road that would lead to the entrance, but I think this road is used for maintenance of the power lines. However, this road did connect to the TransCanada trail. We followed it east until we reached an unmarked trail heading up. This trail led us to the entrance. We quickly realized that access to this place might be easier from Heart Creek or the closer pull off spot marked by giant boulders (http://g.co/maps/5kw65).
The entrance was somewhat hidden by a pile of snow. I forgot my headlamps and we didn't spend too much time inside. My understanding is that there are several rooms. We went as far as our eyes would allows us to see and noticed lots of graffiti, burn marks and a strange skull attached to what looked like a fake heart (see picture below)! This was especially creepy considering that we didn't notice it until our eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Once out of the cave, I felt I wanted more. I kept wondering if there were other entrances and had the urge to follow the base of the wall. We followed another path close by and ended up on the "Lac des Arcs Rock Climbing School." A well maintained hut with a nearby outhouse. Finding this led us to determine that the little trails we were noticing were simply leading to climbing routes. We decided to call it a day and head back to the car.
Some photos:
        
More photos here:
http://markostavric.fotki.com/2012/20120415/ |
Edited by - Marko on 04/17/2012 1:26 PM
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
62 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 2:50 PM
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| Okay that is pretty darned cool. Too bad you guys didn't have headlights! Looks like surprisingly easy access. |
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1718 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 3:35 PM
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3830 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 4:54 PM
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There are a number of great routes in there.
I ran into that unexpectedly the first time I did Morningside. We were quite baffled as to what was up with the random hole in the mountain.
There are a surprising number of things hidden just off the main paths.
I really like the lighting in your second last photo! |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1266 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 7:05 PM
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Clayton, my girlfriend had a good laugh at that.
Rachel, looks like a nice climb. I just had a look at the climbing guide book and noticed that it describes going past the tunnel. |
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13598 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 7:26 PM
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Some really cools shots; that tunnel looks like good travel.
K |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3830 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2012 : 7:35 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Marko
Clayton, my girlfriend had a good laugh at that.
Rachel, looks like a nice climb. I just had a look at the climbing guide book and noticed that it describes going past the tunnel.
It's actually a great starter multipitch sport route. Either the previous version didn't mention the tunnel, or I didn't notice it. We had no idea and just stumbled into it, which was fairly neat. We had a turtle light and a camera flash, which made for interesting exploration. :) |
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741 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2012 : 2:42 PM
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Did any of you happen to know that Gillean Daffern has a hike description to this location in her book?
F.Y.I.
Granticulus |
Edited by - Granticulus on 05/06/2012 9:42 PM |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1266 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2012 : 3:07 PM
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| Does she? I have her old Kananaskis Country Trail Guide Vol 1 & 2 guides. I don't have the new ones. I don't recall seeing them in there, but it's been a while since I looked. |
Edited by - Marko on 04/25/2012 3:08 PM |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3830 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2012 : 10:56 AM
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I did not know that.
I don't see it in Volume 1 of the old guide, and I haven't seen Volume 3 of the new one out yet.
Do you have the new guide in advance, or where is it hiding in the old one? |
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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1030 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2012 : 11:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Rachelo
There are a number of great routes in there.
I ran into that unexpectedly the first time I did Morningside. We were quite baffled as to what was up with the random hole in the mountain.
There are a surprising number of things hidden just off the main paths.
I really like the lighting in your second last photo!
Nice TR Rachelo. Looks like a fun climb. I actually have a question and don't want to derail the thread. When rapping off bolts with rap rings do you always use both of them like that? I tend to only use one rap ring to avoid creating a triangle anchor when I'm doing the final rappel of the day, but I am not sure if this is safer. When building an anchor I'd always use both obviously and EARNEST.
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Edited by - leimrod on 04/26/2012 11:29 AM |
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Kootenay Bud
2695 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2012 : 4:19 PM
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| You should use both rings when rappelling rather than rappel off one piece. You are not creating an American Death Triangle when rappelling in this way. Most people have given up double fishermans in favor of the Euro Death Knot. I'd have longer tails. |
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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1030 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2012 : 7:03 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by sandy
You should use both rings when rappelling rather than rappel off one piece.
Cool. Cheers for the heads up.
@Marko: You should post an update when you revisit with headlamps. I'd like to see that. It reminds me of when I was touring around Normandy in France and visited Point Du Hoc. We didn't have headlamps to tour inside the underground Nazi bunkers so just used the flash on our cameras to navigate. Eerie doesn't even come close to describing it. |
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Calgary
71 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 10:51 AM
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The tunnel that branches off from that main entrance isn't very long - maybe 100m? You can see some more photos from a trip I took out there a couple of years ago:
http://public.fotki.com/calgaryoutdoorclub/2009/03/9233/
Definitely a great place to spend an hour. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3830 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 7:15 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by leimrod
Nice TR Rachelo. Looks like a fun climb. I actually have a question and don't want to derail the thread. When rapping off bolts with rap rings do you always use both of them like that? I tend to only use one rap ring to avoid creating a triangle anchor when I'm doing the final rappel of the day, but I am not sure if this is safer. When building an anchor I'd always use both obviously and EARNEST.
quote:
Originally posted by sandy
You should use both rings when rappelling rather than rappel off one piece. You are not creating an American Death Triangle when rappelling in this way. Most people have given up double fishermans in favor of the Euro Death Knot. I'd have longer tails.
I'd always want to be rapping off of two anchor points. I'm not actually certain as to what makes this not an American Death Triangle though. If Sandy would like to explain what makes the difference, I'd love to learn more.
I was unfamiliar with the term 'Euro Death Knot', but it's amusing. Google redirects me to an overhand knot. I have seen that used, but would be interested in why you find it preferable.
I believe it's a double fisherman with the ends tied around the rope once more, so the effective end is longer than it would appear.
I learned my anchors with SRENE. :) |
Edited by - Rachelo on 05/05/2012 7:16 PM |
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741 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2012 : 9:41 PM
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I have to apologize...I was wrong about this being in Gillean Daffern's book. I looked over the 2 books that I have by her and didn't find anything. Of course if it was, it'd be in the first book (Canmore/Hwy 1 section) but once I got going, I just had to salivate my way through the second book, too! 
Here's where I originally found it: http://www.calgaryoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=9233
Again, sorry for sending you on a fool's errand.
Granticulus  |
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Kootenay Bud
2695 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 4:04 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Rachelo
I'd always want to be rapping off of two anchor points. I'm not actually certain as to what makes this not an American Death Triangle though.
I was unfamiliar with the term 'Euro Death Knot', but it's amusing. Google redirects me to an overhand knot. I have seen that used, but would be interested in why you find it preferable.
I believe it's a double fisherman with the ends tied around the rope once more, so the effective end is longer than it would appear.
I learned my anchors with SRENE. :)
I don't know SRENE, but I know his cousin EARNEST. In any case, when threading both rappel rings you aren't multiplying the force on each anchor point as when you thread one piece of webbing through two bolt hangars and then pull the webbing down to make a "master point."
You do occasionally run into rappel stations rigged this way, but it is getting rarer and rarer and you almost never find them on popular routes near major centres. Usually, you find them where the rappel station has regular hangers instead of rap rings/rap hangars and someone has set the rappel up wrong:
I believe technically, when pull-tested, a Double Fishermans is actually a stronger knot than a Euro Death Knot, but, both knots are easily strong enough for the load generated by a rappel. Double fishermans are bulky and more prone to jam in cracks when pulling the rope and slightly harder to untie when weighted. I can think of lots of routes where that fat knot would be your undoing...unless of course you like reclimbing routes to free your rope. 
My bad, a EDK is a simple overhand. I usually tie two one against the other and they make a nice flat knot that pulls easily. |
Edited by - sandy on 05/07/2012 4:10 PM |
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Rocky Mountain Vaults & Archives
