Thanks so much to the SK Section of the ACC for helping me to attend this wonderful camp. I had an absolutely fabulous time and learned so much. Guides Alison Andrews and Jen Olson helped all eight participants learn new skills and master old ones in the most beautiful setting imaginable.
My first day heading out on this trip was marked by shock. Having done the Rock Wall trail a number of years ago with the SK Section, I was shocked to drive by the trail head and surrounding countryside and see it so completely devastated by forest fire. Many of the trails are closed due to the danger of falling trees and everywhere looks brown-black and devastated. Crossing out of the park and into Radium was a trip down memory lane for me; when I was a kid my parents frequently rented a cabin in Invermere and we often went for swims in the Radium Hot Springs. It looked exactly the same as when I was a ten year old. I slept my first night in front of the Brisco General Store in Brisco. Having an old beater of a car, I wasn’t taking any chances on it breaking down the morning of the course and my not arriving on time. So sleeping at the meeting place would ensure I was there in time and I figured, if I overslept, surely someone would knock on my window and wake me.
Folks started rolling in quite early and as I met each of the women that I was to spend the week with I was amazed at the apparent diversity both in age, occupation and background. I was to discover a huge range of skill level and experience in mountaineering as well, though this didn’t really cause any difficulties. The drive into the Bugaboos is up old logging roads and, though the road isn’t that bad, there are lots of turn offs, and I have to say I don’t know that I could find my way again. At the end of the road is a parking lot which was full of vehicles, all with chicken wire wrapped around them, held up against the vehicles with sticks and held down by rocks. Apparently porcupines which inhabit the area are very much enamoured of brake-line rubber. It was a dusty hot place to hang out, but our first views of the Hound’s Tooth were tantalizing. Everyone hoisted on packs, our wonderful food porter took a lion’s share of the food and we were on our way. The trail up to the hut is amazing. A lot of time, energy and expense have gone into making this trail very accessible. This includes rock steps cemented onto slabs that would be very difficult to climb up otherwise, cables protecting places with exposure, and even an aluminium ladder bolted into the rock at one point.
As we climbed higher and could see more of the Bugaboo Glacier and the Hound’s Tooth, we were already mesmerized by the place. The hut was a surprise; it’s a huge structure, 3 stories high. It has a capacity of close to 40 people and most of the time we were there it was running at between 30 and 35 people and felt quite comfortable. Our guide told us that the hut has been hit three times by avalanches and now is quite reinforced. We spent the rest of the day settling in, sorting out food and putting it away and getting to know each other and what we all wanted out of the trip. The participants included the following: Bibianna, a cardiologist from Edmonton who had done many guided trips but was now interested in gaining more knowledge to be able to function better on her own; Catherine a woman in her late 40’s who at age 40 gave up a good high paying job as an Engineer to start her own business guiding older women on all kinds of adventures; Cat, a former GPS tech who now pours concrete and makes paving stones and loves it; Lauren H., a young PhD student in Vancouver who is studying Women and Gender Studies; Lauren W., an 18-year-old undergrad student heading for P.E.I. on a scholarship in the same discipline; Anja, a critical care nurse in Vancouver with lots of mountaineering experience and a love of cooking; and Shannon, an anthropologist who took up climbing to get over a SEVERE fear of heights, who has definitely accomplished that and more.
Day 2 consisted of snow school. We practiced crampon use, self arrest, snow anchors, ice anchors and body belays and were just about to start on crevasse rescue when one of the thunderstorms the Bugs is famous for rolled in. We all crouched under two tarps and waited for 45 minutes for the storm to disappear, then gave up and headed back to the hut. Our evening session included a review of knots and discussion of the day’s events.
Day 3 we got up Crescent Spire. Though not a terribly tall peak by Bugaboo standards, it was a very fun day out. We all practiced our short-roping technique, something I’ve never really understood but finally now do. The afternoon shower showed up right on schedule and we did a bit of crevasse rescue work on the way back down in a torrent of rain.
Day 4 was a giant loop on the glacier. We started out making a tour around the side of Son of Snowpatch, up the Bugaboo Glacier beside beautiful icefalls, over the Pigeon Spire/Howser Tower col and finally down the Snowpatch/Bugaboo Spire col and back to the hut. It was a very fun day out on the glacier in beautiful weather. It was really hard not to go up Pigeon Spire; it is a beautiful looking chunk of rock but some folks were retreating off of it just as we were coming up to it, saying the rock was quite wet and the lichens on the rock very slippery. The col between Snowpatch and Bugaboo Spire was something else. It was just as steep close up as it was from far away. This is definitely a spot you want to know self arrest for. A fairly wide and very deep bergschund about half way down was protected by an anchor on an island of rock. Another session of crevasse rescue on the way back to the hut rounded out the day. I learned some improvements to the system that I use to decrease friction.
Day 5 started with amazement that the course was almost over. The time had flown by so incredibly fast! This was another day of perfecting the short-roping technique. We climbed Eastpost, which is mostly a scramble, but has a few tricky sections. I have to say that the most valuable thing for me on this course, aside from all the wonderful people, was the mastering of short-roping technique. We practiced all day on Eastpost and had great summit views as well. The evening debriefing showed ample evidence that everyone had had a great time and had learned lots. The course really had something to offer to everyone there, regardless of their experience level. One of the things that I had difficulty with were the evening learning sessions. I found that after travelling all day my mind was a bit numb for more learning and unfortunately I don’t remember much at all about the evening session on navigation, one of my weaker areas.
Day 6 we began our hike out to the parking lot. On returning to the Brisco general store, there was much exchange of phone numbers and hugs. Thanks again, Saskatchewan Section, for helping me to attend this course. I promise to share my new found skills as widely as possible.