After the five-day Ice Leader Camp in Canmore, I was already planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies to get more mileage. Rohan and I discussed potential dates and finalized Feb 17-21 for our ice climbing road trip. Aloke had done an ice climbing course in Canmore five years back and was able to join us as well. He would be flying into Calgary and then driving to Canmore.
Rohan and I left Vancouver Thursday morning around 7 am, and after an 11-hour drive, we arrived in Canmore. There was some construction along the way, but the drive was not too bad. For the first two days, we would be staying at the Alpine Club of Canada hostel and then move to an Airbnb. Even though it was February, it wasn’t easy to find accommodations in Canmore.
Land Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge that I stayed and climbed in the Canmore area, known as “Chuwapchipchiyan Kudi Bi” (translated in Stoney Nakoda as “shooting at the willows”) and the traditional Treaty 7 territory and oral practices of the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda) – comprised of the Bearspaw First Nation, Chiniki First Nation, and Wesley First Nation – as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy comprised of the Siksika, Piikani, Kainai. I acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3, within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. I commit to learning about Indigenous peoples and issues and making reconciliation an ongoing effort.
(adapted from Town of Canmore land acknowledgement)
Lower Junkyards
For our first day of climbing, we decided to go to Lower Junkyards. It’s closer to Canmore, has a short approach and offers relatively easy climbs. I led the first climb, probably a WI2 which started with some low-angle ice, moderate steep sections in the middle and bulges at the top. The route has good side-step stances to place ice screws, making it a good beginner-friendly lead.
I think I placed about five 13 cm screws on my first lead of the day and built an anchor with two 22 cm screws. I could have put my first screw a bit higher and better managed the rope drag by extending the alpine draws. But, overall, I felt good about the lead.
Aloke top-roped the climb, Rohan led the route and then cleaned the anchor. A solid v-thread rappel was already set up, saving us some time.
As we moved left, the routes increased in difficulty. In the middle section, I led two more routes around WI3.
Rohan led a route to the left that had a steep (WI4) section. He did an excellent job of resting and protecting the climb. Aloke top roped this steep climb and has put together a fantastic video sharing his ice climbing experience.
I was tempted to try it but decided to lead a route to the right of this steep climb that followed the groove.
Just past 3 pm, we started wrapping up at the crag and were back at the parking lot before 4 pm. For me, with four leads, it was a great start to the Canmore trip.
Bear Spirit
After chatting with some locals and checking the conditions, we decided to climb at Bear Spirit the second day. Bear Spirit is near Banff and took us about 30 minutes to get there from Canmore, including a quick stop to purchase the National Park pass.
By the time we arrived at 7:45 am, one group of climbers was at the parking lot. Not bad for a Saturday morning. We followed the road for a few minutes before getting on the Bear Spirit Trail to the left.
The trail follows a creek for the most part and is a beautiful hike. About forty minutes into the hike, we saw the group ahead of us put on their crampons. We did the same. From here, it is a short but steep hike to the Bear Spirit crag.
About an hour into the hike, we arrived at the main curtain of Bear Spirit, which had some excellent steep climbs.
We continued our hike past this area to the right flows with easier climbs. The other group planned to climb the rightmost short section, so we started with the routes to their left.
Rohan went up first and was feeling the pump. The climb was shorter (maybe <15 m) but was much steeper than some of the easier climbs at the Lower Junkyards. I led it and got pumped as well.
We had set up an anchor at the top of the right flows with two ice screws. Clearing the snow to find some good ice, probably took more effort than climbing. There was also an option to use the tree anchor at the back to the right. The tree anchor could work for most climbs on the right flow with a redirect.
Rohan and I continued to lead a few more routes on the right flow for the rest of the day. One of the climbs to the right involved chandelier ice. It made some interesting moves and ice screw placements.
It was a busy day at the Bear Spirit Crag with guided parties and other climbers. This area is also popular with hikers. Unfortunately, some were dangerously close to the overhanging ice.
We wrapped up around 2 pm and got back to the parking lot by 3 pm.
Haffner – Not Happening
On Saturday night, the forecast called for 10-15 cm of fresh snow in Canmore. Avy hazards were high, so Haffner Creek seemed like a good option. On Sunday, we left Canmore just after 7 am and reached the Marble Canyon Parking Lot in Kootenay National Park around 8 am.
We were looking at the maps and trying to figure out the trail for Haffner Creek. Haffner was on the other side of the road, but we didn’t see any obvious trailhead. For a popular ice climbing area, it seemed odd.
Maybe the other side of the continental divide received more snowfall than Canmore, and the trail is buried. We crossed the road and made our way to the Marble Canyon Campground. As we crossed the bridge, it had knee-deep snow.
It got deeper as we crossed the bridge, and now we were wading in waist-deep snow. As per the map, we would make a loop around the campground, and then a trail would connect us to Haffner Creek.
Just for fun, I started tracking the (lack of) progress I was making on my watch. Unfortunately, even after five minutes of swimming in snow, my watch didn’t register any progress.
It would have been a fun hike, but the fact that it was potentially our last day of climbing in Canmore, we decided to turn around and find some ice.
Now when I read the directions given on Mountain Project –
“..Continue South past the Marble Canyon parking lot (located on the NW side of the highway) and slow down. Park in a parking lot on the SE side of the highway, look for a small building and several solar panel arrays.“
…I think we completely missed the parking lot. We should have continued driving for about 300 m and parked at the building to our left. If I had put in as much effort in reading directions that day as I had for writing this post, we would have probably done some climbing at Haffner. Another day.
Grotto Canyon
We decided to drive back to Canmore and go to Grotto Canyon. Usually a busy spot, but surprisingly the parking lot was not packed when we arrived around 9:45 am.
It was an easy hike to the ice climbing area in Grotto Canyon. There was just one group ahead of us, and they were planning to climb Grotto Falls (WI2/3, 2 pitches). So, we decided to climb Hers (WI3+/4, 15 m).
Rohan took the lead on Hers and did a great job traversing left to the bolt over some thin ice. He took his time assessing the conditions close to the anchor and was deliberate with each move. I top-roped Hers and cleaned the anchor.
By now, the first group was on the second pitch of Grotto Falls. Another party was already waiting to get on the climb.
We had our lunch and then walked up and down the trail between Hers and Grotto Falls to keep ourselves warm. Later, it got colder (probably around -18C) as the wind kicked in and started snowing. Rohan was traversing at the base of the Grotto Falls to keep himself warm. His traverse made for some good pictures for the hikers.
Finally, after waiting for almost two and half hours, I got up on Grotto Falls. After talking to some locals, we decided to do this in a single pitch with our 60 m rope.
As I climbed above the first pitch, my left hand felt frozen, and I had difficulty grabbing my tool. So I switched hands as I was swinging with my right hand for a few moves. I also made the mistake of biting on the cold ice screw and quickdraw and felt the skin would come off.
By the time I got to the top, I was really cold. So I secured myself first, and it took me a few minutes to set up the anchor. Thankfully I felt better by the time I was ready to belay. Rohan came up next.
Two raps and we were down to the base of the Grotto Falls. Another party was able to do a single rap from the top with an 80 m rope and had some extra rope on the ground.
We were back at the parking lot by 4 pm. Although the day didn’t start well for us, fortunately, we still had a good day of climbing. The next day, it was -34C with the windchill. So we cancelled our plans to climb Scottish Gully and drove back to Vancouver. Although there were some construction-related delays, we made it back in 11 hours.
Overall, it was a good trip to Canmore. Two days of driving (about 2000 km in total) and three days of climbing. Even though I did fewer climbs than I expected, I felt good about leading on ice and exploring more areas in the Canadian Rockies.
Resources:
Climbing Areas:
Lower Junkyards (Main Flow) | Bear Spirit | Bear Spirit Trail
Haffner Creek | Grotto Canyon | Will Gadd App
Glossary of climbing terms and Alpinist page on climbing grades
Climbing tips and other resources – Alpine Savvy
Avalanche Canada Website
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not affiliate links.
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Even though I missed out on most of the climbs described here, it was nice to experience it vicariously through your account and photos! Loved the video of you trying to plough through all that freshly fallen snow!! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Aloke for coordinating all the bookings and making sure we had a place to stay in Canmore. Hopefully, we can do some more trips together.