Introduction to Scrambling (weekend) (6/13/2008)

This will be a full weekend devoted to introducing members to the sport of scrambling. We will have 3 full days to learn, practice, and become familiar with the concept and sport of ascending mountains via non-technical routes.

Please keep in mind there are a few requirements in order to sign up for this event. All participants MUST be in good physical shape. We will be ascending 3 mountains in 3 days (up to 1000m elevation each) and it is imperative for the safety and enjoyment of the entire group that ALL participants meet this requirement. Scrambling is very physically demanding and ascending steep mountain slopes is very strenuous! However, the rewards are awesome! Exact details of each mountain are found below.

Second: all participants MUST be comfortable with mild exposure, steep slopes, and loose rock. While this remains an introductory event to scrambling, it is not necessary that one has done this before, but you MUST be comfortable with the concepts. Please contact me if you have ANY questions or concerns. I am requesting that all participants provide me with brief details in the notes section of their prior hiking experience when signing up for this event.

Accomadations:

We will be staying in the ACC Canmore clubhouse hostel located outside of the town of Canmore. This is an excellent facility with self-catering kitchen facilities, common room, and shower facilities. Please note that we will be sleeping in dormitory style rooms.

Food:

We have a couple options for food. We do have kitchen facilities for self catering. The town of Canmore has excellent restaurant options ranging from fast food to dine-in. There is also a Safeway grocery store in town for our self catering needs. Our lunches will be on the mountain including snacks. I strongly propose breakfast be made at the hostel. Participants may bring items from Edmonton or like myself, will want to go to Safeway for fresh breakfast and dinner items for the entire weekend. Dinners will be optional depending on the interest of the group. Those wishing to self cater themselves can do so, those wishing to eat out may do so as well. We will discuss this in more detail at our mandatory meeting.

Once back from our trips, we will probably want to be at the hostel to shower and clean up. And depending on group and car pool drivers, some may wish to go into town for supper and other activities or we can stay at the hostel and play games and have fun. Given that each morning, the distances are not great to get to our trailheads, we won't be up at the crack of dawn, BUT, we should be leaving the hostel no later than 10am as each scramble will be several hours.

Details of our 3 Scrambles:

Friday: Mt Yamnuska. (easy scramble) We'll start with a classic introductory scramble! As this mountain is next to the foothills, we will start with this mountain first. The 'Yam', offers excellent scrambling, a traverse of the mountain (east to west) so you don't repeat the same terrain, and finishes with an awesome soft scree run! We will hike up the east side to a shoulder overlooking the YMC valley. From here, we will have a small taste of scrambling up a chimney to the north side of the mountain. We will follow the beaten trail up and up to the crux section. This crux section involves walking along a very narrow ledge with exposure. To asure safety of scramblers at this point, a chain has been bolted into the mountain to provide support. This ledge is narrow and exposed but brief, about 5-7m. Once past the crux, it will be about 20 or 30 minutes up to the summit. We will head down the west side to a col connecting Goat Mountain, from here we will work our way below the steep south cliffs of Yamnuska and via a nice soft scree run, be back at the parking lot.

Saturday: Heart Mountain (moderate scramble) We will do another classic indroctuctory mountain. Heart Mountain has tons of oppurtunities to practice concepts of scrambling. Basically, we WILL be climbing over everything and anything en route to the summit. We will take our time on this mountain, perhaps even ascending a section, practising the downclimb, then re-ascending the same section. There are several options to avoid some of the scramble sections but our goal will be to try all sections where scrambling is required. We will eventually make our way to the summit then continue to the second summit.

Sunday: Mt Baldy (moderate scramble) We will finish our weekend with an ascent of Mt Baldy which is one of my favourites. We will hike up the lower mountain to the main crux. We WILL take this section slowly and carefully. It is absolutely mandatory that the group stays together while each has successfully surmounted the crux. The crux involves a 7m downclimb with mild exposure. The handholds are plentiful, strong, and firm. As stated above, you must be comfortable with mild exposure. We will try and find other sections to scramble but for the most part, the rest of the route to the summit is just a steep hike. Depending on the interest, and skill of the ENTIRE group, we may choose to scramble to Mt Baldy's north and west summits and follow an optional descent. This extension is tricky but offers excellent and fun scrambling. If any one person decides to forego this option, then we will descend the way we came. Once back at the cars, we will change clothes and head home.

Please make sure you have the 'Required Items'. Those who do not have a climbing helmet, WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COME. MEC rents climbing helmets at a reasonable price.

Also, there will be a mandatory meeting to discuss food and car pool arrangements. This meeting is TBA but will most likely be a few days prior to our trip at a Boston Pizza.

Reference:

Alan Kane's "Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies".

Please note there are additional costs for this trip such as gas money and meals.