Ever heard of the Canadian Death Race? Does it sound fun? My parents didn’t think so. But it was exactly the sort of challenge I was looking for. It’s in the beautiful outdoors, in the Rocky mountains of Grand Cache, Alberta, and requires a lot of training. I needed some kind of goal in my life right now….so structured training for a 125km mountain run seemed perfect. Yes I said 125km. Over 3 mountains. With 17,000 feet of elevation change. The hardcore people of this world do it SOLO, sometimes in less than 15 hours. I am going for the ‘easy’ option (read sensible) and I’m doing it as a 5 person relay, each running one 25km leg. Although at some stage I do plan to do it solo……
I officially entered today, so have until the first weekend in August to get into shape. I have never done any running before, so it should be interesting. I started a 12-week marathon training program that I found on the net, and I’m not looking forward to this weekend when I already have to run a half-marathon is one of my training runs. I only started running on Monday! When that marathon program is finished, I still have another 12 weeks to fit in another training plan before the race.
I intend to keep a training diary on here….listing all my runs AND my times (no laughing…I know I suck!). I hope this will serve as a guide in the future to other people thinking of entering the Death Race. They will be able to see all my training details, and then I will write a full-report on how the race went too. This should give people an idea of how hard (or easy…yeah right!) the race is. We will also probably have some sort of video coverage from the race in the form of interviews and I may even take a camera with me on the run….depends how my training goes!
As an aside…I found this awesome website for planning your training runs. You can click in the route you want to do and it will tell you the distance. Or you can view runs of a certain length that other people have added. It’s really easy to use and really quick.
Check out this discussion forum created just for the Canadian Death race. You can find team members, discuss training tactics and race tactics etc.
Just another interesting video I happened across (isn’t youtube great?). Watch Dan Osman climb a vertical 400ft cliff in just over 4 minutes with no ropes or safety gear. Notice how he does a few risky looking dynos too? when about 300ft off the ground? Another one not to try at home kids.
Dan Osman is famous for his crazy free-soloing feats and also for ‘controlled free-falling’ (his record was 1200ft). Controlled-free falling is basically just jumping off high things attached to a climbing rope (and hopefully a very well-thought out set of anchors). It is not similar to bungee jumping, in that just standard climbing rope with limited stretch is used. Dan Osman died in 1998 whilst performing one of this jumps when his rope cut. He was undoubtedly an amazing climber, but he often came under stick in the climbing community for being downright stupidly dangerous. Read this excellent biography from Outside Online that also details Dan’s final jump.
Just happened across this snowboarding video on the web…I’m not normally into crazy people doing crazy dangerous things just to get attention. It shows Norweigan pro snowboarder Terje getting dropped on an Alaskan mountain by helicopter. I have to say I watched this whole thing with my mouth open. What goes through this guys head when he’s stood on the top of the mountain? And how the hell does the helicopter even land there? Wow.
Well last week I went on a trip with some people from the University of Alberta Outdoors club. 10 of us in fact. The intended destination was Edith Cavell hostel on cross-country skis. With one member of the group never having skied before. Fun!In winter, HI Mount Edith Cavell is only accessible by skiing or snowshoeing. This means it is the only backcountry HI Hostel in Alberta (if only for a few months a year). It also means its a pretty cool place to go for an ‘easy’ taste of staying in a backcountry environment in winter. Oh and did I mention it’s in an AWESOMELY beautiful location? To get there, take the Marmot turnoff from Highway 93 south of Jasper, then after a few minutes carry straight on at the junction where all the other traffic turns right to the ski hill. It is signposted for the Hostel. You can drive 3km along here to a parking lot, where the fun begins. It is now a 12km ski/snowshoe along a road into the hostel. Nearly all uphill. Its good fun though…honest!
You should book the hostel and let them know you’re coming just to ensure they have adequate water for you and that the road is packed.
The Road to the Hostel
The trail is normally packed by snowmobiles, if not actually groomed. The gradient is such that the beginner skier of the group (literally his first time on cross-country skis was in the parking lot at the bottom of the road for a quick lesson) made it up to the hostel in no problem. It is a fairly long slog for a beginner, but perfectly manageable. The ski takes from 2 1/2 hours to 5 hours dependent on ability and how much stuff you’re taking. After around halfway there are some great views of surrounding mountains, a taste of more to come.
Coming down is nice….it is fairly quick all the way and can nearly all be double poled (except I had a stupid large pack and stuck to the snow like I had crampons on not skis). Beware though…the beginner of the skiers really struggled coming back down. Many falls. For intermediate skiers the descent is good fun though. It takes from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours to come down.
The Hostel
There is a main cabin with kitchen, tables, sofas and a stove. There is no running water though. There are then two more cabins for sleeping, holding around 30 people in all (I think, can’t find exact numbers). You need to bring a sleeping bag, a fairly warm one so you don’t have to get up and stoke the fire all night.
Things to do from the Hostel in winter:
From the hostel it is just a short 5min walk down to a bridge that crosses the outlook from a lake. The view from here of Mt. Edith Cavell is superb and an excellent place for some photography. See below. From the bridge you it is possible to snowshoe round the lake itself (although not on a trail). This is an entertaining hour long outing.
Edith Cavell Meadows
From the hostel it is another 2km further up the road to the parking lot for Edith Cavell Meadows. This is not packed by snowmobile, and would be an effort for someone on nordic skis. We managed however because other group members had been out on snowshoes the day before and packed a nice trail for us. Thanks guys!
Once you get to the parking lot, skis should be swapped for snowshoes (unless you’re on touring gear of course). It is then another 15mins (broken trail) to 45mins (non-broken trail) until you are right underneath Angel Glacier. Well obviously not right underneath, that would be plain stupid and dangerous! Stick to the opposite side of the small valley on higher ground. You don’t wanna be avalanched on. This is a fun area to explore.
Tonquin Valley Trail/Astoria River
From the hostel you can explore the Tonquin Valley/Astoria River trail, this baby deserves it own small post. Check it out here!
The hostel is often used as the first access point and night of accommodation on the way to the ACC (Alpine Club of Canada) hut, Waites-Gibson which is 18km further along the Tonquin Valley trail.
Palisade Lookout - Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
Nordic Skiing with snow shoeing OR ski touring Length: 22km Time: 6-9 hours Book:Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies (by Chic Scott) Elevation Gain: 890m Effort: High Rating: 6/10 - Good hard work but not spectacular scenery. Map: NTS D/16 Jasper, GemTrek 1: Jasper-Maligne Lake Date: Feb. 19th 2007 Note: Can be ridden on mountain bike in summer.
Well, me and my friend Mark found ourselves in Jasper with cross-country skiing gear and snow-shoeing gear and a day to spare. We had to find a trail close to Jasper, and we wanted it to be LONG. So we happened upon the Palisade Lookout trail that starts from the Pyramid Lakes parking lot, 7km from Jasper. It is actually a road the whole way, so don’t expect an interesting trail, but then we are talking cross-country skiing in the mountains so it’s to be expected.
Unsure of the snow conditions, but knowing there was a lot of up (890m) we decided to take snow-shoes with us, and start off on skis. The first 6/7km of the trail were actually groomed/packed by snowmobile. I THINK this is done every year, but just not very regularly. It would be good to check with the Parks people, because you don’t want to be snowshoeing all 22km. So anyway, the first 6/7km were a good uphill slog on an OK trail. The gradient is such that with some sticky wax there is no herringbone-ing needed. There is not much in the way of views, just a few glimpses of Pyramid Mountain.
Just before the junction to the Pyramid Mountain trail…the groomed trail stopped and we were left with untouched powder. After struggling manfully for all of 5mins we gave up sinking and switched the cross-country ski gear for snow-shoes. The trail seemed to steepen at this point, and it was pretty hard going to finish the last 4km to the viewpoint. But we were going fairly fast. I think it took us two hours on skis to do the first 7km, then around another 2 hours of snowshoeing to the top. That includes all breaks and lunch.
It was fairly dull and cloudy on top…but I have a feeling the view isn’t THAT spectacular anyway. Nice…but not amazing. So then we quickly headed of downhill…with a couple of faceplants as we tried to run/make shortcuts. In no time we were back at our skis (moral learnt: snowshoeing downhill on broken trail = fun. Snowshoeing uphill in fresh snow = hard).
After hopping back on our skis it was a fast, fun easy descent for Mark and a terror filled hour of concentration for me as we made our way backdown. Competent cross-country skiers will have no problems…but I am far from competent and found the downhill difficult in places because of the packed snow (couldn’t snowplough). I had a couple of impressive wipeouts…but anyone above total beginner standard will certainly manage the way down for the most part.
It took us 6 hours all told…which left us another hour and a half before we would be picked up. So under pressure from our intense sugar craving we managed to hitch a ride into Jasper where we happily pigged out at the Bear Paw Bakery (highly recommended, and they didn’t give us free cookies to say that I promise!).
This can be done as a mountain bike ride (in summer obviously). Check out this site for a review from a mountain bikers perspective.
This book, Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies, is an excellent purchase for cross-country skiers and ski tourers who want to get out in the Rockies. It has trails from beginner level Nordic skis to expert 10 day ski tours involving glacier travel and mountaineering experience.
Corsica is a small French island in the Mediterranean Sea located south of France and West of Italy. For the hiker, it is a jewel of destination. An extensive network of long-distance trails lead through the rugged, mountainous interior, while many other trails line the glorious coastline. Warm, blue seas and sandy beaches combined with picturesque mountain villages make your down-time from hiking equally enjoyable. I made my first, and unfortunately my only (so far!) visit to Corsica in the summer of 2003. If I didn’t now live in Canada I would undoubtedly already have gone back there.
Trails
The most famous trail on the island is the GR20 (GR standing for Grande Randonee, or literally Big Walk!). This beast of a hike traverses most of the north-south distance of the island, winding it’s way through (or more accurately up and down) the central mountains. It is truly an awesome hike and I would throughly recommended finding time to fit as much of this hike in your itinerary as you can. However, be warned, it is not easy! For more information see our GR20 post or check out this site.
Other trails to consider are the Mare a Mare (coast to coast) Centre, and Mare a Mare Sud. These trails take in a wider variety of scenery than the GR20, having a combination of lower level/flatter hiking, but also some considerable elevation gain as they traverse the mountains. Because both these trails link with the GR20, one option is to hike part of the GR20, and then use one of these trails as an exit route to take you to the coast. This has the advantage in that it’s (obviously) downhill most of the way once you leave the GR20, giving you time for a well earned rest. Extensive details on both of these trails as well as the Mare e Monti Sud can be found on www.corsica-hiking.com which is an excellent resource.
A purely coastal trail is the Littoral Sartenais, leading south for 2/3 days from Propriano. Although the hiking itself is not spectacular, the superb beaches are well worth it. The few visitors you will find on these beaches will most likely have got there in their big private yacht, the trail itself is very quiet. Be warned, this can be EXTREMELY hot in summer and there is virtually no water on the way. I hiked this trail during a heatwave in 2003 and the temperature stayed around 45C throughout the day. Ouch.
What to bring
Water containers. Lots. Although there are many streams running through the mountains, many of the hikes leave all this behind as the climb over a pass during the day. The steepness of climbs, particularly on the GR20, combined with the scorching heat can mean you have to carry large amounts of water with you. I did the GR20 with my girlfriend and we BOTH carried 3 litres each day. And drank it.
Also obvious things like beach towels, suncream etc. For the mountains you will need some warm clothes and a sleeping bag rated to around 0-3C even in summer, temperatures do drop at night especially as huts/campground tend to be in the valleys which trap the colder air (yes, interestingly it is often warmer to be higher up!). For camping elsewhere I would recommend a silk liner, it can remain extremely warm all through the night and I find silk the best thing to sleep in in the heat. This worked in the rainforest of Peru too, where it was very hot and humid. I didn’t find bugs were an issue, but you may want to bring some spray in case.
When to go
August tends to be the hottest, driest and busiest month. July is similar. Going during French holiday time often means it is much busier as many French people take holidays within their own country. The GR20 can be VERY busy during these times. September is a good time for hiking, with slightly cooler temperatures and less tourists. March/April/May provides some interesting hiking conditions with lingering snow up high, cold nights but a possibility of warm sunny days.
How to get there
Nice (yes that’s a place) on the south-coast of France has a large international airport that often has some cheap flights. Especially from England. From Nice simply take the ferry to Calvi (shortest route) or Bastia (a nicer town). This is generally cheaper than trying to fly direct to the island. Ferries also go from Italy, on a longer crossing. Genoa is the nearest international airport. Check out Corsica Ferries for details.
I officially entered today, so have until the first weekend in August to get into shape. I have never done any running before, so it should be interesting. I started a 12-week marathon training program that I found on the net, and I’m not looking forward to this weekend when I already have to run a half-marathon is one of my training runs. I only started running on Monday! When that marathon program is finished, I still have another 12 weeks to fit in another training plan before the race.
This should give people an idea of how hard (or easy…yeah right!) the race is. We will also probably have some sort of video coverage from the race in the form of interviews and I may even take a camera with me on the run….depends how my training goes!
