Winter 2010 - The Alpine Club of Canada
Winter 2010 - The Alpine Club of Canada
Winter 2010 - The Alpine Club of Canada
- No tags were found...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Members climb Cassin Ridge, earn <strong>2010</strong> Denali Pro Award<br />
by Lynn Martel<br />
In June, long-time <strong>Alpine</strong> <strong>Club</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Canada</strong> members Nancy Hansen,<br />
Doug Fulford and Felix Camire<br />
travelled to the Alaska Range to climb<br />
Denali, North America’s highest peak.<br />
After all three acclimatized by climbing<br />
to the mountain’s 6194-metre summit via<br />
a combination <strong>of</strong> easy, frequently travelled<br />
routes, Hansen and Camire summitted<br />
again via the much more committing and<br />
difficult Cassin Ridge. Unfortunately, the<br />
severe altitude left Fulford not healthy<br />
enough to join them on their four-day<br />
ascent <strong>of</strong> the fabled route, which involves<br />
Mount Denali (6,194 metres), with the upper section <strong>of</strong> the Cassin Ridge rising in the centre.<br />
75-degree ice climbing, a 305-metre<br />
knife-edged ice traverse, 5.8 rock climbing<br />
moves and a 610-metre traverse along a<br />
steep, exposed ridge.<br />
During the month the trio spent on<br />
the mountain their climbing skills and<br />
leadership experience was appreciated,<br />
as all three were presented the <strong>2010</strong><br />
Denali Pro Award for helping rescue<br />
a stricken climber from 5,200 metres<br />
while they were at the 4,330-metre West<br />
Buttress camp, and also for Hansen and<br />
Camire’s efforts in assisting an exhausted<br />
Romanian solo climber who was “in<br />
Climbing coaching conference focussed on youth development<br />
photo by Nancy Hansen.<br />
trouble sometimes” on the Cassin.<br />
Awarded annually by the National<br />
Park Service and Pigeon Mountain<br />
Industries, the Denali Pro Award honours<br />
members <strong>of</strong> the climbing community for<br />
exhibiting high standards for safety, selfsufficiency,<br />
Leave No Trace ethics, and<br />
for assisting fellow mountaineers. Nancy,<br />
Doug and Felix each received a Denali<br />
Pro lapel pin (the design changes every<br />
year) and their names have been added to<br />
the Denali Pro Award plaque on display<br />
at the Talkeetna Ranger Station.<br />
Congratulations Nancy, Doug and Felix!<br />
by Lynn Martel<br />
Competitive climbing coaches<br />
from across the country and the<br />
US gathered in Banff from Oct.<br />
8 thru 11 to discuss the topic <strong>of</strong> long-term<br />
athletic development for young climbers.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only conference <strong>of</strong> its kind in<br />
North America, and the first anywhere<br />
to focus on long-term athletic development<br />
for climbers, the conference hosted<br />
30 participants from Quebec, Ontario,<br />
Saskatchewan, British Columbia and<br />
Bozeman, Montana.<br />
<strong>The</strong> third Coaching Climbing<br />
Conference to be hosted by the Banff<br />
Centre’s Sally Borden Climbing Gym, it<br />
examined the concept <strong>of</strong> altering training<br />
principles depending on the developmental<br />
stage <strong>of</strong> the athlete and not their<br />
chronological age.<br />
“With the prevalence <strong>of</strong> young<br />
children getting more involved in this<br />
sport, long gone are the days where we<br />
administer adult training programs to<br />
our smallest climbers,” said Chris Neve,<br />
climbing gym coordinator for the Sally<br />
Borden Gym.<br />
To help facilitate the discussion,<br />
conference leaders included Sean McColl,<br />
past top Canadian competitive boulderer<br />
and Canadian Youth Team Coach, and<br />
Katie Brown, pr<strong>of</strong>essional US climber and<br />
author—both <strong>of</strong> whom reached the pinnacle<br />
<strong>of</strong> the sport while still in their teens.<br />
“Climbing is considered an early<br />
specialization sport,” Neve said. “<strong>The</strong> ages<br />
the kids are successful at is quite young.<br />
Sixteen- and 17-year-olds are winning the<br />
World Cup. But what we wanted to ask,<br />
and discuss, is what is great for them in<br />
the long run”<br />
In order to reach that level <strong>of</strong> athleticism,<br />
young climbers who train hard risk<br />
repetitive stress injuries such as elbow<br />
tendonitis and shoulder strain. Young<br />
climbers also <strong>of</strong>ten compete against other<br />
youths whose physical or psychological<br />
development levels are <strong>of</strong>ten quite different<br />
from their own.<br />
Conference attendees focussed on<br />
how best to nurture well-rounded athletes<br />
who will hopefully grow to be healthy<br />
active adults whether they embrace any<br />
sport at a serious, competitive level or not.<br />
Presentations included topics in the fields<br />
<strong>of</strong> exercise physiology, nutrition, injury<br />
prevention, female athletics, youth programming,<br />
grants and fund finding, goal<br />
setting, route setting for competitions,<br />
season-long training plans and sport<br />
psychology.<br />
Participants included sport psychologists,<br />
yoga instructors, dieticians, phys ed<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essionals, physiotherapists and climbing<br />
team coaches, including Canmore’s<br />
Vsion Gym owner and national Youth<br />
Team Coach Dung Nguyen.<br />
22 <strong>Alpine</strong> <strong>Club</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Canada</strong> Gazette <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2010</strong>