Outdoor Video Magazine

Time: 2 days
Length: 50.2 km round trip
Elevation Gain: 830m round trip
Avalanche Terrain: ATES 1 (simple)
Rating: 6/10
Done: Feb 2008

Overview: Definitely a slog for a weekend. Some nice views, and a good safe option for avalanche risk if you’re inexperienced. But for the distance, there are definitely nicer place to go. Unless you have a good few days you can spend at the huts themselves. Then it would be a different story.

So Ian and I thought it would be a great idea to a longer, harder trip where we moved fast and travelled light. So we picked the destination of Naiset Huts in Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park. After some research it was established that it should be fine heading into this destination on cross-country skis, instead of back-country alpine touring (AT) skis, or telemark gear. It would make the first (and last) 12km of groomed trail easy, and the trip over the pass itself only marginally slower. Yeah right (see later). Just to be on the safe side, we rented the heavier, wider, metal edged cross-country skis that are often referred to as ‘ligh-touring’ gear. We also got these with 3/4 length skins, as recommended by the shop, Gear Up Rentals in Canmore.

Friday night after work we left Edmonton, arriving at the ACC Clubhouse in Canmore at 8ish where we had dinner and then did some avalanche beacon locating out in the forest (both being quite new to this).

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and ready to go from the Mt. Shark trailhead at 8am, just as dawn was breaking. The ‘quick and easy’ first 12km of groomed trail didn’t go quite to plan. Food stops, photo stops and blister stops (for Ian, struggling in boots a full size too big) and the small amount of fresh snow over the groomed tracks meant it took around 3 hours to reach Bryant Creek Shelter. This section of the trail is realtively unispiring. Lots of trees and limited views, but fairly decent skiing. Bryant Shelter itself is in quite a lovely setting, and would make a nice place to spend a night.

Here we had a quick lunch before heading onwards. It quickly became apparent no-one much had passed this way. The trail was weakly broken and sloppy, and badly messed up by either moose or caribou. It looked like only one skier had gone this was for a very long time. And not come back?!

About 5km later, we saw our skier. A park warden out for a jaunt, he had decided to ski out to the base of Wonder Pass and back. Which was good news for us because the skiing would have been slow without his tracks, but also bad news because he informed us that there were no tracks heading over the pass at all, and that possibly no-one had yet been in or out that year, as Assiniboine Lodge and the heli-skiing didn’t start for another few weeks (it is common for people to fly into the lodge, stay a day or two and then ski out).

Sure enough, at the start of the climb up Wonder Pass, the tracks stopped and we started breaking trail. Sinking around 8 inches to a full foot on each step. We soon stopped to put skins on as our waxless skis failed to stick and herring boning constantly on a tight trail became ridiculous. On examination of the skins we found out they attached at the front via a strap, and stuck to the ski with glue, but had nothing attaching them at the back. No strap or anything. Huh.

Well 5 or 10 mins later the problem started. My skin came off one ski, the glue simply stopped sticking. And once it had snow on, there was no way it was going to stick. Some medical tape solvded the problem. Until my other one came off. More tape. Then Ian’s came off. More tape. The last of th tape. And Ian had problems with his bindings freezing up when he took his skis off, and it would take a long time to defrost them in the -12C. Time was ticking on, progress was brutally hard with the trail breaking and the shoddy skis. I think we topped out on the pass around 5pm, as dark was falling. Still 3 or 4km from the huts, and dog-tired. Althought the section was now downhill or flat most of the way to the huts, we had to keep the skins on, because we had no tape left to reattach the skins for the ski out and over the pass the next day.

So now we were limping along in deep snow, skins on, more hiking with skis on than skiing. And water ran out a long time ago, and we were too cold and tired to stop and melt snow. Stopping now would mean stopping for the night, and with no tent and temperatures of -25C forecast we decided to press on for the warmth and security of Naiset Huts.

After two hours of trudging through the dark as we neared exhaustion, we finally decided it was stupid and we would probably not find the hut anyway. So we found a sheltered spot under some trees and spent a night. Our spirits cheered up after some water and food, and digging myself a snow-shelter kept me nice and warm. Ian elected to sleep outside, in just a zero degree bag, huddled close to the firelogs we brought for the hut. It did indeed drop to -25C that night, and I have no idea how he was warm enough. I was in my snow cave in my -10C bag.

An ice-cold morning greeted us, and the prospect of exactly back-tracking our steps. Urgh. Frozen boots, blisters for Ian….but wait…it was sunny! The way in had not been very inspiring due to the cloud, the dark, and the pain/worry. But now with a broken trail to follow out, blue skies, and some stunning scenery (great views of a clear Assiniboine) and some good views from Wonder Pass, things were looking up. The descent from Wonder Pass really sucked on cross-country skis though. Even with skins still on…very out of control.

A long day got us back to the car…again in the dark…after 10 hours. Not much faster than the 11 hours it took us on the way in…despite the fact we broke trail and did most of the uphill on the first day!

We still had the 5 hour drive back to Edmonton too…quite the weekend.

Length: Approx 23km
Time: 2 Days
Elevation Gain: 900m total (excluding sidetrip)
Max Elevation: 2330m, (2500m side trip up Saddleback Mt)
Rating: 7/10, some tedious spots though it was overcast and cloudy
Done: End of October 2007
Book: Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies, Graeme Pole
Map: NTS, 82 N/8
Route: From Lake Louise Chateau over Saddleback Pass, into Paradise Valley, up Paradise Valley via river bottom (lower trail), return via Lake Annette and Paradise Valley Junction.

Towards the end of October 2007, UAOC (University of Alberta Outdoors Club) headed to the Lake Louise area of Banff National Park for a late-season two-day backpacking trip. The target: Paradise Valley.

Friday night we left Edmonton with 8 people in two cars, heading for an overnight stay at Saskatchewan Crossing. It was actually their last weekend of the season as they close for the winter period. Stopping in the little an totally unfamous town of Bentley on the way, we managed to get a 12 pack of Canadian for $10, it having been priced incorrectly. The cashier didn’t notice. We were then well equipped for an evening of poker in the hotel, won in style by a poker newbie (that would be me).

Day 1 - Saturday 11km

We finished off the drive along the Icefields Parkway and registered at the Park Office in Lake Louise. Then, after a quick drive to the trailhead at Lake Louise Chateau, we were ready to get going (you can start from Morraine Lake in summer, but the Morraine Lake road is closed to cars in autumn, winter and spring). Having assessed snow conditions, we decided to leave the snowshoes at the car…a good choice seeing as we barely had to hike through any snow at all! Yet at the same elevation on the Skyline a few weeks before, we had several feet.

We were heading into Paradise Valley via Saddleback Pass, so we had a 3km of uphill to start off with. In fact, this turned out to be a nice, steady, easy to walk gradient and the time flew by. Before we knew it, we were up above the treeline under the flanks of Mt Fairview gazing out of the Chateau (what an eyesore, I think it should be torn down!!). We stopped for lunch here, and discussed the merits of a sidetrip to the top of Saddleback Mountain which looked a nice easy scramble. Eventually we decided to do it, which I quickly regretted after a few mins of stumbling over slippy, snowy boulders with ankle breaking gaps, down one of which I dropped a Mars Bar. Those who know me won’t be surprised to find out I spent 5mins and a great deal of pain to finally get it back.

The sidetrip redeemed itself higher up though, where the going got easier and some stunning views of the surrounding peaks (including the attractive and instantly recognisable Mt Temple) and Paradise Valley itself opened up. The summit also had views down the Bow Valley, giving you a real sense of the scale of the mountains, without taking too much exertion. It was probably around 20mins to get to the summit from the pass. And worth it.

Heading down again we picked up our packs and started a steep, knee-jarring descent into Paradise Valley. It seemed like we were dropping a lot more than we gained (just an illusion). Leaving the stunning mountain vistas and tremendous rock-faces behind we dropped into the trees, and headed up Paradise Valley. Opting to take the now dis-used lower trail that keeps by the river (it was closed and the trail moved higher up to avoid bear-human conflicts). This gave us a couple of interesting river fords, but saved us taking the same trail on the return trip. I have to say I was a little disappointed with Paradise Valley, I think it was possibly an unflattering time of year for it being after the amazing larches, and before the winter snow. The trail has some limited views of Mt Temple as it slowly climbs through the trees. It was cloudy by this point too.

The valley redeemed itself somewhat with the pretty area that is Giant Steps. This collection of flat, square rocks forms some interesting waterfalls and is situated in a nice open area with goods views down the valley and up to the surrounding peaks. It is also handily close to the Paradise Valley campground. We chilled out (literally, the temperature was dropping fast) for a long, long time lying on the flat rocks. It would be gorgeous to sunbathe here on a summers day (though I can imagine the crowds, we had the place to ourselves).

Dinner included a fantastic bowl of melted chocolate orange to share. Mostly consumed by me.

Day 2 - Sunday 12km

After a rather lonely night in my bivi-bag (I know, it’s a bivi-bag, it’s meant to be lonely, but still, there was no need for everyone else to camp out of sight and out of ear-shot from me!) we set off for a lesiurely day two. This time heading down the current (and kind of new) trail that runs higher up the slopes of Temple, well away from the river and the preferred bear habitat. This route would take us out past Lake Annette. Unfortunately, the weather came in a little bit, and most of the views were obscured by cloud. The hike out was pleasant as far as Lake Annette, and we had some fun times playing on frozen streams on the way (see video). The trail is through scattered trees with some good views of Paradise Valley at times, and some awe-inspiring close-ups of the dramatic gullies of Mt Temple. Lake Annette itself does seem to be in a gorgeous location, though we couldn’t see much. However, the rest of the hike from there onwards to the car at Lake Louise got pretty tedious.

• Parks Canada Trail Info
• Another review of Paradise Valley (boasting it one of the best hikes in the world!!)
• Large collection of photos of Paradise Valley

So here is the video from my third day at Heart Creek. Three of stayed on for one more day of climbing. We tackled an easy 5.8 on First Rock (my first ever lead…and I only did half of it. Booo! haha). Matt also top-roped a fun 5.10 here. Then we moved onto Bunny Hill, which is some interesting part-normal/part-slab climbing. There are a lot of routes on this wall. We tackled a 10b and a 10c/d. Both very fun. This wall is probably a bit more different than Waterfall Wall, First Rock and Jupiter. It adds a bit more variety into the mix (plus you have to cross a river again!).

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So last weekend I had my second outdoor climbing trip, this to time to Heart Creek near Canmore, Alberta. This is a beautiful little area, featuring over 130 sport routes (plus a few trad I think) on 15 different walls. They are all single pitch, and vary from short to long with a nice variety of routes too. To get to Heart Creek from Calgary, take the Lac des Arcs turn off, around 20km east of Canmore, then immediately get BACK on Highway 1 heading to Calgary. There is a gravel pull off after a few hundred metres, just before a creek (which is actually Heart Creek). The first routes (First Rock) are around a 10min walk following the very obvious trail along the side of the creek. Expect this area to be busy, especially First Rock and Bunny Hill, and especially weekends.

We made this video while we were climbing for the weekend, it’s around 8mins long. Should give you a good idea about a few of the different walls and the sort of climbing to expect. And probably entice you to try it out. Heart and Sole, Jupiter, First Rock and Waterfall Wall are all featured.

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This website has details on a lot of the routes, and gives you an idea of the grades. Some more info can be found here and a local climbing gym put together a very useful pdf of all the routes available here.

Length: 12km round-trip to Helen Lake. 14km round trip including Cirque Peak.
Elevation Gain: 455m to Helen Lake. 1050m to Cirque Peak.
Time: 3-5 hours round trip for Helen Lake. 6-8 hours for Cirque Peak.
Difficulty: Helen Lake - Easy hike, Cirque Peak - Easy Scramble
Effort: Helen Lake - moderate, Cirque Peak - high.
Rating: 9.5/10 (including Cirque Peak).

This is a fantastic summer hike, especially if you include the ’scramble’ up to the of Cirque Peak, which sits just under the 3000m mark. It is one of the most easily attainable peaks of this height in the Canadian Rockies, with absolutely spectacular views.

The trail starts across the road from the Crowfoot Glacier viewpoint, 33km North of the Lake Louise junction on the Icefields Parkway. This is right by Bow Lake, at around 1900m elevation…which means you have a nice high start.

The trail starts off through some fairly open pine forest, giving you some nice views of the Icefields Parkway valley (is this still called Bow Valley this far up?) as you climb steadily. After 45mins or so the trail steepens as you start to climb out of the trees, and you soon break into the Helen Lake valley. This area is beautiful if you catch the alpine flowers in june/july. From here the trail heads easily onwards to Helen Lake. Awesome views of the Dolomite Range and Cirque Peak surround you. Watch for bears…this is prime grizzly country. The trail is sometimes closed if a bear is known to be in the area.

In no time at all you make it to Helen Lake, a really gorgeous little place that reminds me a lot of some tarns I know in the Lake District, England. There is some good fishing to be had here…I saw a bunch of beautiful ones while I was sat eating lunch.

For Cirque Peak, follow the obvious trail anti-clockwise round the lake, and begin to ascend the high ridge over looking the lake. This is still all on a fairly easy trail, so even if you don’t fancy ascending Cirque Peak, it is worth to top out on this ridge for a view Eastwards over Katherine Lake to Dolomite Pass.

Once you reach the ridge, you can see the easy route up talus slopes to the top of Cirque Peak. It’s steep, monotonous hiking…but I assure you it’s worth every second. Near the top, the talus changes to some real rock where you may use your hands on a few occasions. But there is no exposure at all to worry about. When you reach the top (the first obvious top)…you can be amazed by the tinyness of the summit you just ascended with ease. It’s extremely precipitous on the backside, but you can keep well away from that if you want. If you want to obtain the true summit, there is a little bit more exposed (but still very easy) scrambling to do as you head right. If you don’t have a head for heights, don’t worry. The view is much the same from the both summits.

Looking out across the Icefields Parkway, you can see Bow Glacier, and the gorgeous looking hanging lake right above Bow Falls which I now HAVE to visit one day. If you like spotting peaks, I’m sure you could name about 20 of the tops you can see from this vantage point.

Now you just have to descend the way you came back to the car (the only bad part of this hike). However if you’re feeling adventurous, you can come down the talus on SW side of Cirque peak, then up a short gully onto the ridge that separates Helen Creek valley from Bow Lake. Follow this ridge S, enjoying views of Bow Lake and the Dolomites all the way, then angle down through talus slopes and open areas to meet the trail only a short ways from the parking lot. I have not done this particular descent, sounds nice though!

You are almost guaranteed to see ground squirrels and hoary marmots on this hike. They were EVERYWHERE. And very friendly.

Length: 21.2km
Time: 2-4 Hours
Book: Mountain Biking in the Canadian Rockies - Doug Eastcott
Elevation: 1500m-2000m
Date done: June 2006
Effort: High
Rating: 7/10
Technicality: Moderate
Map: 82 J/15 Bragg Creek

This ride is a loop predominantly on single track with a bit on gravel road. There is some nice scenery (but not stunning), and some excellent single track on varied terrain. Park at the Powderface trailhead on Highway 66, west of Elbow Falls.

Initially the ride is all up hill. At first it’s quite gentle with nice relaxing scenery. After the first 3km things get steep (see video on right…the slope doesn’t really do it justice!), very steep and towards the end you will need to push some parts. It’s just too steep and rocky. But once you reach the top, you know that’s the hardest bit of the ride over with and you have a long, fun 100% rideable descent down a rocky/muddy tree-lined trail. But first take a while to enjoy the nice view, and maybe ride/hike up to the nearby summit.

The descent brings you out on to the gravel road where you turn right (north) and can relax as you coast gently along and enjoy the meadows. When you turn off the road after 2.7km onto the Prairie Creek trail, you can look forward to a rolling, muddy, fast trail with some technical sections to keep you on your toes. Evenetually the trail climbs up away from the creek, and it gets steep (pushing requried). At the top, the fun begins again. Fast, narrow and dangerously close to a big drop into the creek the trail is an awesome ride. It is a 100% rideable if you’re good, but if you’re a bit unsure it may be best to get off your bike for the part with the warning signs! (I certainly did). After racing across the bridge at the bottom (or through the creek)…you’re right back at your car.