Winter 2010 - The Alpine Club of Canada

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