ACC Ice Climbing "Camp" - Feb. 2002

Jim Frankenfield; snowman@csac.org; 1-877-604-0166

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Summary - In February 2002 I attended an "Ice Climbing Camp" held by the Alpine Club of Canada. I hadn't ice climbed in a while and thought it would be a good chance to explore some climbing around Golden, have partners to climb with, and pick up some tips from their guide. It was a pleasant function and the hostel in Golden was a fun base camp. But while the camp served my needs to some extent it was lacking in many ways and the time and money would have been better spent on private guiding. Rather than explore new areas near Golden, as advertised, we spent two days at the same area which had an approach of a couple hours (driving and hiking combined). The third day we drove all the way to Lake Louise. And the fourth day saw a lot of new snow which meant climbing short obvious climbs along the highway and I went skiing instead. (Following years seem to have been based on the Icefields Parkway.) There was only one professional guide for the entire group, along with several experienced climbers as assistants. This was a good ratio and fine from a safety perspective but didn't provide for much direct instruction on technique from a guide specializing in ice climbing. The toproping area we went to the first two days. About an hours drive south of Golden with a hike in of almost an hour. A nice spot though. Toproping ... ... more toproping On the third day we split up and three of us went with the guide to Louise Falls. This is a nice classic but very crowded which doesn't allow time for instruction or coaching on technique.

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