Summer 2007 - The Alpine Club of Canada

PUBLICATION # 40009034 

Vol. 22, No. 2 ● Summer 2007 

North Face Camp 

participants adapt 

to plans B thru Z 

page 6 

Glaciers, girls 

and granite 

page 14

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The Alpine Club of Canada 

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40009034 

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 

Th e Alpine Club of Canada 

Box 8040, Canmore, AB 

Canada T1W 2T8 

Phone: (403) 678-3200 

Fax: (403) 678-3224 

info@AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

Board of Directors 

Cam Roe President 

Peter Muir Secretary 

Gord Currie Treasurer 

Roger Laurilla Co-VP Activities 

Nancy Hansen Co-VP Activities 

David Foster VP Access & Environment 

Carl Hannigan VP Facilities 

Isabelle Daigneault VP Mountain Culture 

David Zemrau VP Services 

Glen Boles Honorary President 

Lawrence White Executive Director 

Publication 

Lynn Martel Gazette Editor 

Suzan Chamney Layout & Production 

Submissions 

Submissions to the Gazette are welcome! 

For submission guidelines, please e-mail 

the Gazette Editor with your ideas at 

Gazette@AlpineClubofCanada.ca. 

Advertising 

Advertising rate sheet available upon request. 

Please direct all advertising inquiries to Suzan 

Chamney, National Offi ce (403) 678-3200 x 106 or 

by e-mail to: ads@AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

Corporate Supporters 

What’s Inside... 

Editorial 

4 Short Rope 

Mountaineering / Climbing 

6 North Face Camp participants 

adapt to plans B thru Z 

10 Perseverance, cooperation engender 

partnership agreement 

14 Glaciers, girls and granite 

16 Marmot Women’s Ski Camp an 

intense learning experience 

19 Whistler hosts fi rst Canadian Ski 

Mountaineering Championships 

20 Rockies’ ice climber tastes Scottish 

classics 

28 Website shares Canada-wide trail 

and route info 

29 West Coast members christen 

Centennial with Lovely Water 

Facilities 

12 Club works to honour Centennial 

with Mount Robson Hut 

13 Benefi ts of building an ACC 

Mount Robson Hut 

18 A Rockies’ gal visits Bon Echo Hut 

22 Glacier Circle Cabin 

What’s Outside... 

Th e Alpine Club of Canada thanks the following for their support, and encourages 

you to consider them and the advertisers in this newsletter the next time you purchase 

goods or services of the type they off er. 

Corporate Sponsors 

Printed on recycled paper 

Science 

28 Glaciers shaped by weather, gravity 

Mountain Culture 

4 Book reveals adventurers’ tragic, 

fascinating tales 

4 Mountain Photography Workshop 

9 Munday biography brings history 

alive in readers’ hands 

22 It’s Blow Me Down, Bye 

24 Like-minded people make it fun, 

interesting and worthwhile 

25 ACC salutes the BCMC’s centennial 

27 Extreme Edge 

National News 

5 New ACC Executive Director 

8 Long time Club member makes 

generous donation 

26 Alpine Club memento to make space 

fl ight 

30 National Offi ce news 

Awards / Notices / Classifi ed Ads 

21 2007 National Volunteer Awards 

26 Heritage Club milestones 

30 Classifi ed Ads / Notices 

31 John Lauchlan Award 

31 ACC grants awarded in 2007 

Cover photo: Th e North Face Leadership training group descending East Ridge of 

Colpitti Peak; photo by Mike Wingham. Story on page 6. 

Inset photo: Greta Raymant crossing creek en route to Ashlu River Road. Story on page 14. 

Corporate Members 

Backcountry Access 

Black Diamond Equipment 

Dunham 

Forty Below 

G3 Genuine Guide Gear 

GearUp Sport (Canmore, AB) 

Integral Designs 

Leki USA 

Mammut 

Ortovox Canada 

Outdoor Research 

Patagonia 

Petzl 

Rocky Mountain Books 

Yamnuska (Canmore, AB) 

Associate Members 

Th e Alpine Club of Canada is proud 

to be associated with the following 

organizations that share our goals and 

objectives: 

Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks 

and Wildlife Foundation (ASRPWF) 

Association of Canadian Mountain Guides 

(ACMG) 

Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) 

Ecole Nationale d’Escalade du Québec 

(ENEQ) 

Federation of Mountain Clubs of British 

Columbia (FMCBC) 

Fédération québécoise de la montagne et de 

l’escalade (FQME) 

Mountain Culture at the Banff Centre 

Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies 

(Banff, AB) 

Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● SUMMER 2007 3

Lynn soaking up summer season near Fairy 

Meadow PHOTO BY CHUCK O’CALLAGHAN 

Short Rope 

BY LYNN MARTEL 

As the climate warms all over the 

world, I’m repeatedly reminded 

of how much joy and wonder 

I derive from the distinct diff erences 

between all four seasons, and the infi nite 

marvels of nature each one brings. 

As I write this from Canmore Alberta, 

the Canadian Rockies are at their best 

– yesterday the local climbing crags were 

bustling places, and I savoured a run in tank 

top and shorts. Today grey clouds obscure 

fresh snow covering the upper slopes of 

mounts Lady Macdonald and Grotto as 

rain turns the grass bright green, and the 

temperature reads seven degrees Celcius 

outside my front door. One of the great 

bonuses of living in the Rockies is being 

able to experience all four seasons not in 12 

months, but occasionally in 24 hours. 

With the seasons changing outdoors, 

and the Alpine Club of Canada’s 

Centennial behind it, the Club is 

charging toward its next season. In this 

issue you’ll learn more about plans for 

a Centennial hut to be built at Mount 

Robson. You’ll read about a Canadian 

astronaut launching into space with 

an ACC memento packed along. 

You’ll discover how communication, 

perseverance and dedication helped 

forge a new relationship between the 

ACC and the Fédération Québécoise de 

la montagne et de l’escalade. You’ll fi nd 

new faces and old faces in new places at 

the ACC’s National Offi ce, as former 

Director of Facilities, Lawrence White, 

moves behind the very large Executive 

Director’s desk passed on by a retiring 

Bruce Keith. 

And, you’ll learn how one long 

time Club member, past employee and 

volunteer who is bravely walking into the 

autumn of her life with inoperable cancer, 

is leaving the Club, that means so much to 

her, a much richer one – in so many ways 

– than when she fi rst became a part of it. 

4 Alpine Club of Canada ● Gazette ● SUMMER 2007 

Book reveals adventurers’ tragic, 

fascinating tales 

The stories are compelling, fascinating, 

sometimes disturbing and very much true. 

Strange and Dangerous Dreams: Th e Fine Line 

Between Adventure and Madness, written by Canadian 

Alpine Journal editor, Geoff Powter, features tantalizing 

biographies and tragic tales of 13 adventurers who 

tumbled over that very line. Published by Th e 

Mountaineers in Seattle, the book will be released in 

both Britain and Germany in the fall. 

“As a clinical psychologist, experienced climber and 

engaging storyteller, Geoff Powter is uniquely suited to the 

task of unravelling the mysteries behind some of the most 

bizarre adventurers the world has ever seen. A fascinating 

look at what drives some people right over the edge.” 

—James Little, Editor, explore magazine. 

Strange and Dangerous Dreams: Th e Fine Line Between Adventure and Madness is 

available through Chapters online and Amazon.ca 

Would you have liked to sign up for a climbing clinic with Lynn Hill or 

Tommy Caldwell? ACC NewsNet subscribers found out how. 

To subscribe, email: NewsNet@AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

Mountain Photography Workshop 

with award winning photographer Richard Berry 

Discover new skills to improve your mountain and 

landscape photography. This weekend workshop, 

during the peak of fall colours, concentrates on 

improving composition and technical skills through 

lectures, fi eld trips and by reviewing photographs 

taken during the course. Breakfasts & lunches included. 

September 28 (eve) to 30, 2007 at the Alpine Club of 

Canada Clubhouse, Canmore. Only 9 places available. 

For more information visit: 

Cost $360 

www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/publications/workshop 

Some of you might also notice this 

issue of the Gazette is eight pages larger 

than usual. As editor, all I can say is 

thank goodness for the generosity of 

our advertisers, and several other factors 

which made this possible. Th roughout the 

year, and in an exuberant rush just prior 

to the spring, fall and winter submission 

deadlines, I have the great privilege of 

receiving dozens of stories and articles 

written by ACC members as they explore 

mountain places in Canada and abroad. 

Th at of course, is the problem – too 

much of a good thing! 

So, my sincerest apologies to all of you 

who have taken the time to write, collect 

photos and forward your stories in the 

hopes you’d see them published on these 

pages. Quite simply, with every issue I 

face the most diffi cult part of the editor’s 

job – deciding which stories to include on 

the limited number of pages, and which 

to hold on to in the hopes I’ll have room 

in the next issue. 

For some of you, this is that issue. 

And the Gazette Committee hopes to 

be able to publish a larger Gazette once a 

year in the future. 

But before you send in stories of your 

summer adventures, please contact me 

at gazette@alpineclubofcanada.ca so 

I might help you know how long your 

articles should be, so I can fi t as many as 

possible into the Fall issue.

New ACC Executive Director “exactly what the Club needs” 


Even before Lawrence White took 

over the position of Alpine Club 

of Canada Executive Director 

in early May from Bruce Keith, who 

retired after 12 years in the role, he was 

looking forward to the challenge of 

trying to attract a broader membership 

demographic to the 100-year-old 

not–for-profi t organization. 

And, White believes his own youth 

should go a long way in letting the 

public know the ACC is not a staid or 

hardcore–focussed group. 

“My primary goal is to continue along 

with the work Bruce has initiated already, 

and to soak up as 

much as I can from 

the leadership of the 

Club, gain from their 

mentorship,” said 

White, 33. 

“My next goal is to 

fi nd ways to appeal to 

another demographic 

– a younger crowd 

who is reluctant to get 

involved in clubs and 

charities. I hope I can show them that 

I’m young, I volunteer and lead trips and 

I’m involved at the Club’s section level. I 

hope the public will see there are other 

people out there in senior roles who are 

still active and involved in the Club. If 

the public went to meetings, they might 

see the variety the ACC has to off er, 

that we run trips with everything from 

snowshoeing to mountain bike rides to 

advanced mountaineering.” 

White joined the ACC while living in 

Vancouver in 1999, when he was 25. From 

then his interest was piqued. 

“It was an outdoor recreation 

organization I wanted to get involved 

with,” White said. “I felt it was a 

club I could gain knowledge from. I 

wanted to get involved in the outdoor 

mountaineering community, and I found 

the ACC on line.” 

With a population of over two 

million, Vancouver has just 600 ACC 

members, a fact that can make fi nding 

partners for mountaineering activities 

challenging, he said. 

“Th ere’s not much presence there, 

that’s something I’d like to change,” 

White said. 

Lawrence has a lot of experience 

running both the activities and facilities 

areas of the Alpine Club of Canada. 

His level of enthusiasm and eff ort for 

everything he does is second to none. His 

love and respect for the mountains ensures 

that he will represent the ACC and its 

members to the best of his ability. We’re 

lucky to have him as Executive Director. 

—Cam Roe, ACC President 

In 2000, while studying tourism 

management at Capilano College in 

North Vancouver, White accepted a 

three-month student practicum position 

with the Club at its Canmore head offi ce. 

“It seemed like a natural progression, 

wanting to learn more about the nonprofi 

t environment, and the ACC, and 

what it did out this way,” White said. 

When a full time position became 

available not long afterward, White 

quickly accepted the Club’s off er and 

moved to Canmore. His partner, Corina 

Strim, followed, relocating her business, 

Music Magic, teaching music to children 

and adults. 

Now after fi ve 

years with the 

ACC, White said 

he feels the timing 

is perfect for him 

to take on the 

Executive Director 

role. 

“I felt the 

timing was 

appropriate,” 

White said. “I’ve been employed by the 

Club in all areas in the fi ve years that 

I’ve been here. I came in at entry level, 

then middle management, then up to 

senior management. And I looked at 

it as, if not now, then when? And right 

now, the environment of the Club is very 

attractive. If it was in disarray of any kind, 

or if there was any sense of instability, 

I would have thought twice about it. 

But the volunteer base is so strong, 

and we have an incredibly supportive 

Executive Committee. Th e leadership of 

the Executive Committee is incredibly 

encouraging. I think from the Club’s 

perspective the change will be relatively 

seamless, with the excellent support 

structure and networks already in place. I 

think that speaks volumes about Bruce’s 

leadership too.” 

Passing his desk on to White, Keith 

also said he felt White is the right person 

at the right time. 

“Lawrence is exactly what the Club 

needs in an Executive Director,” Keith 

said. “An ability to see the big picture, 

together with a willingness to roll up his 

sleeves and get the job done. Th e ACC is 

fortunate to have him. I think he’s got all 

Lawrence getting the job done at the Fay Hut 

reconstruction site 

the qualities and potential the Club needs 

as it enters its second century. Great 

energy, new ideas, great sense of humour 

and commitment.” 

Th at energy and commitment is a 

two-way street, White said, something 

he aims to reveal to younger mountain 

enthusiasts who for the most part seem 

reluctant or disinterested in joining clubs 

or volunteering their time and skills. 

“Maybe they just don’t realize how 

much you can get out of belonging to 

an organization and volunteering – 

especially one that does such cool things,” 

White said. “You really can get a lot out 

of the ACC, depending on what you 

put into it. I’ve put a lot in, and I know 

you can get a lot out of it. Th e challenge 

is appealing to a broader demographic. 

Th ere are no easy solutions, but the 

electronic media off ers lots of potential. 

I have no magic bullet, I hope people in 

that demographic can look to me as a role 

model – as a professional, a volunteer and 

a mountaineer.” 

Reprinted with permission from the 

Rocky Mountain Outlook. 


North Face Camp participants adapt to plans B thru Z 

BY MIKE WINGHAM AND BRYCE LEIGH 

The North Face – Alpine Club of 

Canada Leadership Courses are 

designed to provide advanced 

training for the Club’s section trip leaders, 

General Mountaineering Camp amateur 

rope leaders, and national camp managers. 

Th e 2007 Winter Leadership Course was 

held at Vista Lodge in the Esplanade 

Range of the Selkirk Mountains, about 

50 kilometres northwest of Golden, BC. 

Topics covered included trip planning, 

group management, avalanche hazard 

evaluation and rescue techniques, route 

fi nding, emergency management and 

short-roping techniques for simple 

winter climbs. Our group consisted of 10 

students, three instructors and the camp 

cook. We came from Whistler in the 

west to Gaspé in the east, and points in 

between. 

Vista Lodge sits on a meadow next 

to a lake just above treeline at 2100 

metres. Th ere is tree skiing below and 

lots of alpine terrain above. Most of 

the nearby peaks are accessible on skis 

or easily climbed on foot. Th e terrain is 

fairly complex, off ering lots of learning 

opportunities for route-fi nding, avalanche 

hazard evaluation, group management 

and short-roping. A steep high col, 

aptly named “Col of the Wild”, accesses 

more terrain to the north. Th e only 

shortcoming is the absence of glaciers for 

glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills, 

but a small cliff near the Lodge worked 

admirably as a surrogate crevasse. 

We divided into three groups that 

rotated through responsibilities such as 

weather observations, water hauling and 

dish washing. Th e three instructors also 

took turns leading each of the groups on 

our daily ski trips. Th is allowed us to learn 

from all the instructors, each of whom 

had their unique skills and teaching style. 

Th e controlling factor of the week 

was the weather. Th e fi rst fi ve days were 

whiteouts, delivering snow, and more 

snow – about a metre in all. Th at was 

followed by two 

sunny days, but with 

temperatures around 

-25°C. We made 

the most of the 

whiteout days with 

classroom sessions 

every morning and 

evening, and practice 

sessions near the 

hut during the day. 

Th ere were a few 

trips further afi eld, 

but lack of visibility 

and the avalanche 

hazard kept us 

pretty conservative. 

Perhaps the most 

important lesson was 

adapting to the situation and preparing 

plans B-Z, as well as plan A. 

One of the best aspects of this course 

was the wealth and variety of experience 

of not only the instructors, but the 

participants as well. Everyone was able 

to learn something new from everyone 

else. Another was the realistic avalanche 

rescue scenario the instructors set up, 

with six burials at various depths on a 

steep slope. It tested not only our search 

skills, but also our ability to organize 

and coordinate a rescue party. Th ere is a 

tremendous diff erence between looking 

for a single transceiver buried under a few 

centimetres of snow in an open meadow, 

and searching, probing and digging out 

multiple packs buried up to two metres 

deep on a steep treed slope, some on top 

of each other. 

Skills and techniques are constantly 

evolving. We learned the latest in 

transceiver technology, the Avalanche 

Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) 

system for classifying the exposure of 

backcountry routes to avalanche hazard, 

and the Avaluator – a decision-making 

tool for trip planning and route fi nding in 

avalanche terrain. 

Th e culmination of the course was 

the last day, where each group was 

responsible for planning and carrying 

out a trip to a summit in Colpitti Basin. 

Th is was ‘uncharted territory’ for us, to 

the north of Col of the Wild. We had 

to make use of all we had learned so far: 

map reading, trip planning, avalanche 

hazard evaluation, group management, 

navigation, route fi nding, track setting 

and short-roping. Keeping everyone 

warm and well-fed was particularly 

important on that day as temperatures 

stayed well below -20°C.

Th e course ended with the instructors 

giving us feedback on our performance 

during the week. We all went away with a 

lot more knowledge and confi dence, ready 

to be put to use as trip leaders and camp 

managers on future section and national 

trips. 

If you work at a wilderness program you can't afford to miss this! 

The premier wilderness risk managers conference is back in Banff, and better 

than ever. The 2007 Wilderness Risk Management Conference promises 

cutting-edge instruction, targeted workshops, and unprecedented networking 

opportunities. If you're a program administrator, guide, land manager or 

outdoor leader, this conference is for you. 

Visit www.nols.edu/wrmc for more information and registration! 

Do you know about all the rock climbing, ice climbing and backcountry ski 

festivals taking place across the country? ACC NewsNet subscribers know. 


WILDERNESS RISK MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 

industry leaders 

Thanks to Th e North Face 

and the ACC for sponsoring 

the course; instructors Cyril 

Shokoples, Peter Amann and Brad 

Harrison for their wealth of knowledge 

and repertoire of endless jokes; camp 

cook Loree Dokimenko who kept us 

very well fed; and the sections and 

national offi ce staff who endorsed our 

selection for this course. 

cutting-edge intensive 

curriculum 

The participants: 

Lars Backman, Linda Bock, Paul Wagner, 

Sonja Findlater, Michael Gendreau, Bob 

Hawboldt, Jean-Raphael Lemieux, Bryce 

Leigh, John Peachell & Mike Wingham. 

Far left top: Vista Peak from Vista Col 

Far left bottom: Participants on Vista Col 

Left: Brad descending East Ridge of Colpitti Peak 

Middle: Sonya and Linda on Vista Peak 

Above: Jean-Raphael on Vista Peak 

PHOTOS BY MIKE WNGHAM 

WRMC 2007 

BANFF, CANADA 

OCTOBER 24-26 

sessions 


Long time Club member makes generous donation 


Whether slogging up a long 

hillside to reach a mountain 

peak, cooking over a hot stove 

at General Mountaineering Camps or 

toiling away for long hours on a special 

project, Bev Bendell-Downing has found 

any Alpine Club of Canada activity she 

participated in over the past 36 years to be 

a constant source of enjoyment. 

A member since 1971, when she joined 

the Calgary Section, there’s hardly a 

position in the Club that hasn’t benefi ted 

from her enthusiasm and talents. She’s 

been Chair of both the Calgary and 

Rocky Mountain Sections, in addition 

to serving as Calgary Section Librarian, 

Treasurer and newsletter Editor. She 

served on the Awards and Endowment 

Fund Committees, as Huts Committee 

Work Party Coordinator and as Club 

Librarian. 

In 1976 she participated on her fi rst 

national activity, a Nepal trek, and in 1978 

at her fi rst GMC, where she would keep 

many campers happy with her cooking 

talents for years afterwards. She also 

took on special projects, displaying her 

desktop publishing talents by producing 

the invaluable Members’ Handbook in 1996 

and 2000. Many a Club member covets 

another of her projects, a brochure titled, 

Old books are like old friends, they need to be 

treated kindly. 

Starting when the offi ce was located 

in Banff Alberta, and Bendell-Downing 

was one of only three staff members, 

she became Facilities/Activities 

Administration Manager. 

In 1985, Bendell-Downing – who 

was Bev Bendell before she met the very 

charming Joe Downing on a cruise and 

they were married two years ago – was 

awarded the Distinguished Service 

Award, and in 1998 the A.O. Wheeler 

Legacy Award. 

“Th e Club is something I was 

committed to,” Bendell-Downing said. 

“I’m a project type person, and with the 

Club there was always something that 

needed to be done, and never enough 

people to get it all done.” 

So, when Bendell-Downing learned 

she hasn’t much time left on this earth 

as doctors diagnosed her brain cancer 

as inoperable, she decided to make a 

signifi cant donation to the Club she feels 

has given her so much. 

In recognition of her long-standing 

interest and devotion to the Club’s 

Library and Archives, Bendell-Downing’s 

donation of $100,000 will benefi t the 

ACC Library and Mountain Culture 

Committee. As such, at the March 

2007 Executive Committee meeting, 

the decision was made to place her 

generous donation in a new permanent 

ACC fund under the jurisdiction of the 

Mountain Culture Committee, and for 

it to be named the Bev Bendell Library 

Fund. Executive Committee members 

agreed that as a permanent fund the 

principal should not be touched, and 

the annual investment income from the 

fund would be allocated to the Mountain 

Culture Committee, to be used for 

the purchase of books for the ACC 

Library, and the remainder to be used for 

whatever purpose the Mountain Culture 

Committee deems appropriate, with 

ACC Library and book-related purposes 

taking fi rst priority. 

Combining a visit to Canmore, 

Alberta in March to present her donation 

to the ACC, Bendell-Downing and her 

husband also presented a cheque for 

$60,000 to the Bow Valley SPCA, in 

recognition of her love of both dogs and 

cats. 

Although enormously generous, this 

is not Bendell-Downing’s fi rst substantial 

contribution to the ACC. In 2005, she 

donated $50,000 towards the re-building 

of Fay Hut, and in 2006, she donated 

$10,000 towards the Canadian Alpine 

Journal digitization project, as well as her 

collection of artwork to the Canmore 

Clubhouse. 

“Many of you may wonder why I choose to give my time and make a signifi cant fi nancial 

donation to the Alpine Club. Despite never having held an offi ce on the National Executive, 

I have found the Club to be a major source of enjoyment, whether it was slogging up a 

long hillside to a mountain peak or putting in hours on various projects. Not only is there 

a personal gratifi cation in working on Club projects, but also one in being part of a huge 

volunteer team within the ACC. Th is volunteer team, with the assistance of the offi ce staff , 

of whom I was once a member, keeps the Club going and makes projects such as the Fay Hut 

and Boswell Cabin a reality. Reality is today and tomorrow, for those of us active today and 

those who will become members tomorrow.” 

You can read more about the Bev Bendell Library Fund at 

www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/funds/index.html 

Would you like to know about free travel insurance for trips to the USA? Our 

ACC NewsNet subscribers found out. 

To subscribe, email: NewsNet@AlpineClubofCanada.ca

Munday biography brings history alive in readers’ hands 

BY RON DART 

Don Munday has been called 

the elder and dean of British 

Columbia mountaineering, 

and Phyllis Munday has been called the 

grand lady of the ancient spires and white 

capped diadems. It is rather uncanny that 

a biography had not yet been written on 

the lives of Don and Phyllis Munday, 

but now Kathryn Bridge has fi lled the 

gap in a most readable, meticulous and 

accessible manner. 

Bridge carried out her sleuth work 

well in her 2002 Phyllis Munday: 

Mountaineer, an informative teaser and 

primer on the life of Phyllis Munday. 

Th ere was much missing in this earlier 

telling of the tale of Munday’s life, and 

the curious and keen reader could not 

help but yearn for more to slake the 

thirst of the mountaineering palette. A 

Passion of Mountains:Th e Lives of Don and 

Phyllis Munday off ers a full course and 

much more on this pioneering couple of 

mountaineering lore and legend. 

A Passion for Mountains has a most 

alluring and appealing cover, and the 

many photographs in the missive cannot 

but hold and delight the attentive reader. 

Many a page tells the tale well, in a visual 

way, of the climbing ethos and life of 

Don and Phyllis Munday. Th e written 

text fi ts hand and glove with the fi ne 

photographs. Bridge quotes amply from 

the varied writings of the Mundays, 

and she threads her interpretive text 

judiciously through the fabric of the 

photographs and primary material. 

A Passion for Mountains tracks the 

life of Don and Phyllis Munday in a 

chronological way, from their early years 

apart, their meeting, their many climbs 

and their parting with Don’s early death 

in 1950. Each chapter’s title acts as a well 

30 

MOUNTAIN 

years 

EXPERTISE 

built cairn for the reader, pointing the 

way further along the trail: 1) Early Years 

and the BC Mountaineering Club, 2) 

Wartime, 3) Recovery and Discovery, 4) 

Climbing on the Coast, 5) Th e Alpine 

Club of Canada, 6) Mystery Mountain 

Years, 7) Icefi elds and Mountains, and 8) 

Later Years. Th e evocative prose poems 

by Phyllis: I Th ink What Will Happen To 

Me, Th e Legacy and List Of Ascents winds 

down the few fi nal pages of this well 

crafted book. 

Th ere is no doubt that A Passion for 

Mountains is a much more mature and 

integrated book than Phyllis Munday: 

Mountaineer. Bridge deserves many an 

accolade for her hard archivist work and 

visually pleasing text. Don and Phyllis 

Munday would be more than honoured 

by the attention Bridge has lavished on 

them. 

A Passion for Mountains is a keeper 

and must read for those interested in the 

early years of mountaineering in BC and 

Alberta, and the early years of the Alpine 

Club of Canada. Phyllis Munday was the 

fi rst woman to climb Mount Robson, and 

it was the Mundays who scouted out the 

approaches to the highest mountain in 

BC, Mount Waddington. Do delight in 

the text. History will come alive in your 

hands. 

A Passion of Mountains:Th e Lives of 

Don and Phyllis Munday is published by 

Rocky Mountain Books, a division of 

Heritage House. 

photo: N. Rapaich 


In May, at the Alpine Club of Canada Board of Directors meetings, a partnership agreement between the ACC and the Fédération 

Québécoise de la montagne et de l’escalade (FQME) was ratifi ed, guaranteeing equal access to ACC and FQME members to the other’s facilities 

and insured climbing venues. Th e agreement is the result of years of dedication, persistence and leadership of many people, but most notably, 

section Outaouais representative, Pierre Gravel. Th is is his story. 

Perseverance, cooperation engender partnership agreement 

BY PIERRE GRAVEL 

The relationship between our 

small regional climbing club, 

Club Vertige, and the Fédération 

Québécoise de la montagne et de 

l’escalade (FQME) had been uneasy for 

some years when in 2001, we decided 

to join the Alpine Club of Canada as 

a regional section. After preparing the 

paperwork the ACC asked of us, the 

Club’s executive had given us a positive 

response and all that remained was to 

present our proposal to the ACC Board 

of Directors at the spring meeting in 

Vancouver. Th e morning of the meeting, 

I went for a run along the Pacifi c shore 

just down from the University of British 

Columbia and came back in time to 

meet the Board members in one of 

the University’s buildings. Everyone 

was great, they showed me a chair and 

announced that I was now the national 

delegate for the new Outaouais section of 

the ACC. 

“Home base, game over,” I assumed. I 

thought all was done. 

During a coff ee break I was 

introduced to ACC Past President Mike 

Mortimer. We chatted, then he came 

to the subject of the last thing I was 

expecting. 

At the time Mortimer was the 

North American representative for 

the International Mountaineering 

and Climbing Federation (UIAA). 

He had been receiving letters from 

people in Québec complaining about 

a power war between FQME and 

another organisation, École nationale 

d’escalade du Québec (ENEQ). He had 

also received letters complaining about 

FQME’s management of cliff s on private 

land, and about FQME’s management of 

cliff s on public and park land. Basically, 

the Québec scene was chaos. 

Mortimer asked, “Do you understand 

any of this?” 

Trying to be a good politician and 

escape the conversation, I answered, “I’m 

as puzzled as you are.” 

A quick man, he replied, “Could you 


try to help me fi gure it out, you living out 

there in the east and all.” 

In utter stupidity, and to prove I’m a 

lousy politician, I answered, “OK.” 

Not long afterward, section Outaouais 

board members shared interesting news 

– FQME was facing a coroner’s inquest 

following climbing related deaths in 

Québec, and FQME had decided that 

ACC members living in Québec could no 

longer climb on sites located on private 

land unless they paid extra fees. 

Th e second item, we had to act upon. 

Th e fi rst one crept up on us. 

Th e following years proved interesting. 

First we looked for leadership training 

for rock and ice climbing, and decided 

we would only look for UIAA approved 

leadership programs so our members 

would receive the highest standard of 

training. We looked at FQME, who 

used to have a program, and found it was 

no longer functional. We then looked 

at ENEQ, who was developing and 

operating a program based on UIAA 

standards for volunteer leaders and found 

it was outstanding. 

Problem was, since ENEQ was not a 

UIAA member, its programs could not be 

submitted to UIAA for approval. Since 

the local UIAA organisation (FQME) 

was at war with ENEQ, progress stalled. 

Judging that the program was good 

and necessary, we suggested ENEQ 

be received as a UIAA member so its 

program could be approved. We have 

used ENEQ ever since as a source for 

expertise, and have been satisfi ed. But 

FQME didn’t like that. 

Th en, the very guy who had complained 

so much to Mortimer about FQME in 

the fi rst place was now its president. It 

seemed he felt the ACC and I were the 

problems, interested in swallowing his 

organisation. Fortunately, section Outaouais 

representatives were invited to the coroner’s 

inquest to act as experts, giving us the 

chance to meet with most of Québec’s 

major players in climbing – an opportunity 

to set things straight. 

Th at’s when I fi rst met with Steve 

Castonguay and with Alain Couture 

– who I already knew. Th ey were making 

a lot of eff ort to try to rebuild the FQME 

and its image, and had produced a 

brilliant master plan. We discovered it 

was way easier to understand each other 

face to face, and decided to create an 

agreement to collaborate in the future. 

It took four years. I can’t count the 

visits we paid each other or the number 

of phone calls we exchanged. Th e 

section Outaouais acted on FQME’s 

site commission, they off ered us ‘leave 

no trace’ training and helped us with 

an access problem to Gatineau Park. 

Alpine Club of Canada members Isabelle 

Daigneault, Deborah Skelton, Murray 

Levine, Denis Villeneuve and I met 

with FQME and presented documents 

explaining what we do and what our 

mission is. Th ey did the same for us. I 

climbed with Couture in Gaspésie and, 

with Stephane Lapierre who wrote 

the book on Québec ice climbing – we 

opened a route we called Th e Th ree 

Musketeers in honour of our friendship, 

a scene of everlasting arguing. We created 

a draft partnership document and worked 

through revised version after revised 

version. 

But it’s done. Canadian climbers can 

climb from coast to coast. Whether you 

are from Québec or Newfoundland, 

from Yukon or Ontario, just present 

your ACC or FQME membership card 

at any FQME insured climbing sites 

and you climb as equals. Just show your 

FQME or ACC card at any ACC facility 

and you will be treated as equals. We 

are all members of the UIAA member 

organization. We are all Canadian 

climbers. We should climb together and 

enjoy the day without any other worries. 

Th at’s what I wanted in the fi rst place. 

Th at’s just what I’m going to do now. 

Good work Steve. Good work 

Isabelle, Deborah and Murray. Good 

work Denis. Now we can build. 

Pierre Gravel is the ACC section 

Outaouais National representative.

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Club works to honour Centennial with Mount Robson Hut 

PHOTOS AND STORY BY DAVID TOOLE 

In 2002, as planning for the Alpine 

Club of Canada’s Centennial started, 

the concept of a lasting legacy in 

the form of a new hut was popular. At 

the ACC Board of Directors meeting 

in October of that year, a resolution was 

passed – unanimously – to fi nd a location 

to build such a hut in celebration of the 

ACC’s fi rst century. 

Acting on this resolution has not 

been easy. Parks Canada’s policy dictates 

that there should be no new backcountry 

accommodation. Helicopter and cat 

skiing operations have taken over most 

of the desirable mountain terrain within 

BC Forestry lands and these leases do 

not allow for other occupants of the land. 

Alberta’s government has a policy that 

there should be no roofed backcountry 

accommodation within its parks. 

At the time the Club’s resolution 

passed, there was no provision 

within BC Parks’ policy for any new 

backcountry accommodation of any 

kind. Subsequently, the BC Ministry 

of Environment developed its Fixed 

Roof Accommodation Policy (FRAP) 

for BC Parks. Th e full policy was not 

released until August 2006 along with 

Requests For Proposals for backcountry 

accommodation in 12 of its parks – one 

of them being Mount Robson Provincial 

Park. Th e ACC applied to build a Mount 

Robson Hut, and the proposal was 

accepted in December 2006. 

Skiing into Berg Lake 


Many ACC members feel it 

fi tting that a new hut recognizing 

the Club’s Centennial be located 

in Mount Robson Provincial 

Park, since A.O. Wheeler, the 

Club’s founding president, played 

a key role in the creation of 

this park. Wheeler recognized 

the importance of protecting 

the unique alpine regions 

surrounding the Canadian 

Rockies’ highest mountain. Th e 

ACC’s proposal to build a new 

hut in that park is consistent 

with Wheeler’s vision and the 

founders’ beliefs, as refl ected in 

the Club’s Constitution, that the 

ACC should establish huts in Canadian 

mountains. 

Th e Club’s application was conceptual, 

envisioning a hut design that would have 

minimal impact on the surrounding 

area. Th e hut should reduce visitor 

impact by concentrating activity in the 

hut area and reduce potential confl icts 

with wildlife. Th e hut should also draw 

visitors away from the campground 

area and thus provide BC Parks with an 

opportunity to reduce camper impact by 

decommissioning existing campsites. A 

mountain hut would improve access to 

this remote area for people of all ages and 

abilities. 

Th e ACC recognizes that some 

individuals and groups have concerns 

Berg Glacier and Berg Lake, Mount Robson 

about certain aspects of the FRAP under 

which this hut would be built. However, 

the ACC is the premier provider of 

modest alpine hut-style accommodation 

within our national and provincial parks. 

Th e Club has earned a reputation for a 

high level of environmental stewardship 

in all its endeavors. 

In proposing to build a Mount 

Robson Hut, the ACC is not 

unreservedly embracing all aspects of 

the FRAP, nor endorsing front-country 

or resort-style development within 

BC Parks. In the past, the ACC has 

opposed developments that it views to be 

inconsistent with responsible stewardship 

of wilderness areas, and will continue 

to speak out if such developments are 

proposed in the future. 

In relation to a Mount Robson Hut, 

the Club intends to continue working 

with all concerned to ensure that this 

project makes sound environmental 

sense. Specifi cally, the ACC has discussed 

options on the building site, size, and 

helicopter use with interested parties, 

and believe agreement can be reached 

on all these points. In late April, the 

ACC reached an understanding with 

the Coalition for BC Parks – comprised 

of organizations opposed to further 

development in BC Parks – to develop 

the hut by building out the existing BC 

Park Ranger cabin. Recognizing the 

broad interest shown in this project, the 

ACC intends to continue working with 

those interested groups in preparing 

the detailed design. Members of the 

ACC Prince George Section have been

particularly helpful in providing input 

into the hut design. 

Building a Centennial Hut at Mount 

Robson is a complex project and several 

steps must be taken to bring the process 

to completion over the next few years. 

Th e scope of that work is becoming 

clearer following meetings with BC 

Parks, site visits and consultation with 

Prince George Section members, and 

with representatives from the Coalition 

for BC Parks. 

Th e ACC Executive Committee 

recommended to its Board that the 

project be approved, and on May 5, 2007, 

the entire Board did just that. 

In a parallel process, the Club will 

need to raise the funds for this hut as it 

has done for the recent Fay Hut, Boswell 

Cabin and Jim Haberl Hut projects. 

Given the success with these projects, it is 

not expected fundraising will be an issue. 

Building the Centennial vision into a 

lasting legacy should be an exciting new 

venture for the Club. 

Prior to his assuming the Facilities 

Director staff position on June 1, David 

Toole served as the ACC’s Director of 

Planning and Development on the ACC 

Board of Directors. 

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Benefi ts of building an ACC Mount Robson Hut 

1. Provides shelter from the elements 

2. Improves the potential for access to a World Heritage Site by people of all ages 

and levels of fi tness 

3. Reduces potential for human/wildlife confl ict because it separates humans, their 

food and waste from wildlife, increasing safety for both 

4. Off ers a smaller footprint than camping 

5. Minimizes environmental damage by concentrating and controlling human use 

6. Provides the potential for the ACC to build a “Green” building which will 

● Allow implementation of renewable energy sources 

● Facilitate the use of effi cient heating and lighting systems 

● Improve the processing of black and grey water 

● Facilitate the provision of potable water 

7. Facilitates exploration by allowing users to carry less gear (tents, fuel, stoves 

utensils bedding, etc.) 

8. Enhances social and cultural experiences 

9. Provides a venue for educational opportunities 

10. Provides the potential for reduced campground use (Kokanee Glacier Park was 

able to rehabilitate the campground below Slocan Chief Cabin and reduce the 

total number of campsites in the park after the building of the new cabin) 

Do you want to fi nd out about jobs for climbers? ACC NewsNet subscribers 

fi nd out. 


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Glaciers, girls and granite: 

A three-week long self-propelled kayaking, mountaineering and cycling adventure 

BY KRYSTIL KOETHLER 

Time and again the debate 

regarding what ‘truly’ qualifi es 

as a self-propelled wilderness 

adventure will pop up. For our team, it 

meant going on a trip where we used 

our own power to go door-to-door. No 

motorized vehicles were used to gain any 

distance, and we traveled from Vancouver 

to the northwest region of BC’s Tantalus 

Range (near Squamish), and back to 

Vancouver. Along the way we gained 

the summits of Mount Jimmy Jimmy 

and Mount Ossa. We traveled with sea 

kayaks, our feet, sometimes our hands and 

feet, and bikes. 

How do these things start is a 

question that often comes up on trips 

during times of uncertainty. Ellen 

Morgan and I applied to the Alpine 

Club of Canada’s Jen Higgins Fund in 

January 2005. Excited and honoured 

barely begin to describe the feelings 

that washed over us when we found out 

we had been awarded the grant. Greta 

and Alex were keen to jump on board 

when presented with the opportunity, 

and we had our dream team of choice, 

brought together through our University 

of British Columbia Varsity Outdoors 

Club. Over the next several months we 

began to implement our plans, and for 

every one chore we accomplished, two 

more would be added to the list, creating 

an exponential amount of preparation for 

our multi-dimensional undertaking. 

Nevertheless, August 14, 2006 

arrived and we found ourselves carrying 

kayaks and gear down to Vancouver’s 

Kitsilano Beach from Ellen’s house two 

blocks away. Our fi rst two days were 

incredibly productive and we made it 

all the way across Burrard Inlet, along 

the Straight of Georgia to the town of 


Sechelt, through Sechelt, and to Porpoise 

Bay Campground on the Sechelt Inlet. 

Our success was attributed to amazing 

weather and Greta’s ingenious idea of 

using shopping carts to help with the 

portage through town. Our presence did 

not go unnoticed and the great townsfolk 

of Sechelt encouraged us, off ered us help 

(which of course we politely declined), 

and told us to get boyfriends; 

errrr, right. Our hard work was 

rewarded with a paddle through 

phosphorescence, and four casual 

days of paddling thereafter because 

we found ourselves ahead of 

schedule. 

Our hiking began on day six 

from the north end of Narrows 

Inlet when we bid adieu to our seafaring 

vessels, thanks very much 

to Porpoise Bay Charters who 

helpfully picked up and returned 

our kayaks to Vancouver for us. 

Our fi rst attempt at gaining the 

alpine cost us two and a half days when 

we tried to travel southeast up a tributary 

at the end of the Tzoonie River logging 

road. Both nights were spent without 

tents due to the steep terrain, and the 

second was spent tied into trees just in 

case we thought of rolling during the 

night! Defeated, we returned down to the 

valley hoping that we could get to Mount 

Jimmy Jimmy via a pass further up the 

valley leading to Tatlow Creek beside our 

destination. Our hopes were met, and we 

camped beside Mount Jimmy Jimmy on 

day 11 of our trip. 

Finally, we gained the glacier near 

the summit of Mount Jimmy Jimmy by 

scrambling along its southwest ridge and 

making one 25-metre rappel just before 

its false summit. From there it was an 

easy, short and pleasant scramble to the 

true summit. Perhaps it was the eff ort 

it took us to get there; the summit of 

Mount Jimmy Jimmy felt like the most 

astounding mountain I’ve ever stood on 

top of, and our entire group savoured a 

feeling of accomplishment with highfi 

ves all around. 

Feeling pressed for time and uncertain 

of our planned route, we decided to 

re-route ourselves along the Ashlu River 

Road towards Sigurd Creek to get into 

Mount Ossa. We descended by following 

Mount Jimmy Jimmy’s glacier north, 

and after completing a solid nine-day 

program of bushwhacking we reached 

the Sigurd Creek Trail Head for Mount 

Ossa. 

Up the trail we hiked once again (we 

had gone in there before our trip to make 

a food drop). Camping on the moraine 

at the base of Mount Ossa on day 16, we 

Left: Krystil and Ellen kayaking on the Sechelt Inlet 

Top: Alex crossing a creek on her way to the Ashlu 

River Road 

Above: The girls' favourite group shot with Mount 

Jimmy Jimmy in the background 

Far right: Ellen, Greta and Krystil during the bike 

ride back along the Squamish River Road with 

Mount Tantalus in the background 

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY THE TEAM

took our fi rst true rest day due to poor 

weather the following day. On day 17 we 

woke up to patchy skies, but we thought 

we’d give Mount Ossa a try in case it 

cleared up. We made it quite far up the 

ridge before turning back because the 

weather did not clear. Th e following day 

our weather luck returned; under blue 

skies we made our way to the top of 

Mount Ossa. 

On day 19, feeling accomplished and 

a bit tired we made it back down to the 

road. Happy that everything had gone 

well, and with many uncertainties out 

of the way, we were like kids the night 

before Christmas waiting for our friends 

to bring us our bikes, fresh food – and 

best of all, some new company. After 

a night of socializing and feasting we 

pedaled off for our homeward journey, 

happy to be rolling along. 

Joking around that “the re-integration 

process to society is often a slow and 

painful one,” we traveled through 

Squamish and Vancouver reminding 

ourselves that the habits we are 

comfortable with in mountains are not 

necessarily acceptable social behavior. So 

we made an eff ort to keep our clothes on, 

pee in toilets, and most of all we tried to 

stay out of everybody’s way in an eff ort 

not to get hit by any cars. 

Since the end of the expedition we 

have presented our slide show to 17 high 

school classes throughout the Lower 

Mainland. In doing so we hope that 

some of the students have been inspired 

to explore the amazing mountains 

surrounding their home. 

Trip Participants: Krystil Koethler, Ellen 

Morgan, Greta Raymant and Alex Wross. 

Many thanks to all who 

supported us on our journey, 

especially the Alpine Club 

of Canada, Mountain Equipment 

Co-op, Earth Sea Sky Clothing Ltd., 

Nature’s Path, Pedals ’n’ Paddles, 

Porpoise Bay Charters, Harvest 

Foodworks, and fi nally, Ms. Laura 

Flynn. 

MEC is a proud partner of 

The Alpine Club of Canada 

freeze-dried food | first aid kits | flashlights | mec.ca 


Marmot Women’s Ski Camp an intense learning expe 

BY MARY ANN MAJCHRZAK ROMBACH 

Day 1: Bow Hut 

Ten women blazed their own trails up 

the Bow headwaters for this spectacular 

camp, which far exceeded everyone’s 

expectations for sheer fun, outrageous 

beauty, stupendous challenge, and an 

over-brimming slate of winter mountain 

knowledge. 

Guides Sylvia Forest and Jen Olson 

led the way, in the capable hands of 

Camp Manager Gabrielle Savard. Th e 

whip cracked at the parking lot of Num 

Ti Jah Lodge, and we skied off across 

frozen, snow-covered Bow Lake, up the 

‘Mousetrap’ for a kilometre, underneath 

the headwall with the ‘Glacier Peering 

Down,’ then up the fi nal ‘hill’ to Bow 

Hut. 

Along the way a continuous stream 

of lessons about avalanche risk, route 

safety, spacing skiers and hazard-warning 

evidence kept our brains engaged as 

much as our bodies. Th e latter – fully 

female – were voraciously hauling heavy 

packs up to the hut upon fat boards and 

grabby skins, eager to devour adventure. 

After a quick lunch and rest in the 

hut, preceded by the scampering of 

participants to fi nd a place to spread out 

their sleeping bags – the usual territory 

grab – we tumbled onto the snowy slopes 

for beacon lessons. We had the full range 

of experience – none to lots. We had the 

full range of beacons – old to new – and 

every brand known to mountaineer. In 

short order the guides and manager had 

everyone functioning up to snuff – or 

at least enough snuff to qualify us for 

further travel! 

Dinner on night one brought forth 

fresh spinach salad, to complement a 

delicious full meal. After dishes – more 

lessons! Everything from route fi nding, 

route time calculations, compass navigation, 

map reading and knots, ad infi nitum. 

Th e guides and manager emptied their 

heads and fi lled up ours every night with 

everything they had, followed by a little 

down time and sleep. (Or lack thereof, as 

two over-excited participants had a rough 

time with that one!) 

Day 2: Mount Rhonda 

Th e second – and all subsequent 

– day’s patterns were the same as the fi rst. 

Lessons, fun and adventure, all blended 

into one fully pregnant experience. We 

headed up Wapta Glacier to split into 

two groups, one heading to Mount 

Rhonda’s south summit, the other to the 

north. Super weather, blue skies and cold 

temps kept the powder slopes safe and 

exuberantly skiable. Whahoo! I was in the 

south summit group. What a blast skiing 

up that never-ending ridge to the top 

– followed by wicked skiing all the way 

down! 

From left to right: Mountain Guide Sylvia Forest, Mary An 

Knaus, Assistant Guide Jen Olson, Megan Long, Taoya Whit 

Day 3: St. Nicholas – Olive Col to 

Rob Ritchie (Balfour) Hut 

We clambered quickly after breakfast 

to jam everything into packs to ski over 

to Rob Ritchie (Balfour) Hut. A quick 

beacon check and off we went, up and 

around St. Nicholas Peak, heading for 

the col between Mount Olive and St. 

Nicholas. Up and over that one and 

Sylvia decided in the biting blasts and 

-15°C temperatures to abort the Olive 

summit attempt and instead, practice 

roping up and climbing exercises along 

St. Nicholas’s frigid ridge. Butts almost 

frozen after that one, we skied hurriedly 

down Wapta Icefi eld and Vulture Glacier. 

We came to a less windy place and a 

wonderful intermediate powder slope 

– perfect for me. My group yo-yoed this 

slope, while another group climbed a 

steeper summit east of us. We gathered 

after this and took off together down 

Vulture Glacier to the hut. 

Th is hut sits on an isolated snow 

patch beneath the horrible gaze of Mount 

Balfour, far above. We were so small on 

an endless sea of ice. All night, the full 

moon peered in through the windows, 

adding to the drama. For a normal 

earthling like me, this fi rst experience 

on glaciers left me feeling like I might 

have been on another planet, so strange 

and new was the environment. I was so

ience 

n Rombach, Kaeli Benoit, Jenny Hamilton-Harding, Leoni 

e, Shelley Freeman PHOTO BY GABRIELLE SAVARD, CAMP MANAGER 

unbelievably excited that I slept only 

eight hours in six days! 

Th e following days we skied up 

an un-named peak and the Diableret 

Glacier; up to Vulture Col and across the 

glacier beneath Mount Olive to the Olive 

Nicholas Col to ski the north facing slope 

down to Bow Hut; and on the last day, 

skied from Bow Hut back to the Icefi elds 

Parkway. 

Women’s Leadership Focus 

Th is Marmot sponsored trip was 

designed to enhance leadership for 

women in winter glacier travel. Th e Camp 

Manager and Association of Canadian 

Mountain Guides certifi ed guides were 

met with such an enthusiastic group 

of seven participants that a ‘synergy of 

learning’ took off that was continuous 

and infectious. No opportunity for 

learning was missed, and extra activities 

were created to make sure every iota of 

winter travel skills and knowledge were 

imparted. For the crevasse and avalanche 

rescue experiences, every participant 

was hands-on in the process, as much 

as she was able. Opportunities were 

created for participants to lead in route 

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fi nding, according to their experience 

and capabilities. Even though I was a 

beginner, I was totally amazed at how 

much I learned in such a short order. 

Th e entire camp was an intense learning 

experience, which more than meets the 

ACC mission to teach mountain safety 

skills – all in a context of sheer fun and 

adventure. 

Interested in a last minute deal to ski powder at Fairy Meadow or Kokanee? 

ACC NewsNet subscribers were offered several last winter. 


BORN PROFESSIONALLY 

Taoya digging furiously! 

PHOTO BY MARY ANN MAJCHRZAK ROMBACH 


A Rockies’ gal visits Bon Echo Hut 

BY RUTHIE OLTMANN 

What’s a Rockies’ gal doing in 

Ontario anyhow? Actually, I 

was attending family events 

and visiting at the leisurely pace of two 

months. Driving and camping provided a 

good opportunity to assuage my curiosity 

and check out a hut that isn’t in Canada’s 

western mountains. 

As the Alpine Club of Canada 

Librarian, I have connected with people 

such as Toronto Section member David 

Brown who contacted me about putting 

copies of Steve Adcock’s new guidebook, 

A Guide to Rock Climbs at Bon Echo, 

3rd edition, into the ACC library and 

Canmore Clubhouse. I expressed an 

interest in visiting Bon Echo Hut, and he 

put me in touch with Geoff Hodgson, the 

hut custodian for the weekend I wished 

to visit. 

Bon Echo Hut is situated just outside 

Bon Echo Provincial Park, which has a 

landscape dominated by one of the most 

imposing natural phenomena in Ontario 

– Mazinaw Rock. Th e granite cliff s 

rise majestically out of Mazinaw Lake, 

providing a very impressive focal point. 

Th ey are home to more than 120 climbing 

routes. 

Situated on the edge of Mazinaw 

Lake, Bon Echo Provincial Park is 

divided by a spit of land. Th e narrow 

Crossing the lake PHOTO BY RUTHIE OLTMANN 

point dividing the lake is only 10 metres 

wide and has occasionally been waded by 

climbers with their packs held high above 

their heads. Th e park campground is on 

the west side of the lake and the cliff s and 

hut are on the east side. 

I had planned on staying overnight in 

the hut, but on checking Keith Haberl’s 

book, Alpine Huts, I found it doesn’t 

off er sleeping accommodation. To stay 

overnight I needed a tent, which I didn’t 

have with me, as I was camping in my 

minivan. Th e hut does have a fi replace 

and the usual ACC kitchen, plus a sauna 

near the lake. Also on the grounds, 

Chapel Hut is a bit of a misnomer as it 

really is a tool shed. Geoff assured me he 

could ferry me back and forth across the 

lake so I could camp in the park. 

While waiting at the dock for Geoff , I 

met Karen McGilvray, her 6-year-old son 

Lucas, and Karen’s employee, Sam with 

her daughter Twyla. Geoff arrived in the 

ACC boat with his welcoming smile and 

we made the trip across the lake. 

Scattered throughout the woods 

surrounding the hut are a dozen small 

sites for tents, some with lovely views of 

Mazinaw Lake. 

Geoff was busy crossing the lake 

throughout the evening, picking up 

more climbers while I enjoyed chatting 

with folks around the fi re pit, which 

adds immeasurably to the ambience 

– especially for a 6-year-old boy who likes 

roasted marshmallows. 

Later in the evening, with only the 

lights across the lake to guide him, Geoff 

took me back across. 

Th e next morning I met Geoff at the 

dock directly across from the spectacular 

Mazinaw Rock. He was transporting 

folks to the cliff s in the Club boat. As 

the tourist sitting in the boat I learned 

about climbing at Bon Echo, listening to 

Geoff ’s enthusiastic commentary on the 

diff erent routes. Crossing back and forth 

from the hut to the cliff s with various 

climbers all morning gave me a great 

introduction as to how folks climb there, 

as I absorbed the enthusiasm of those 

die-hard rock climbers. 

Bon Echo is not at all like the 

Rockies, where I’ve been an ACC hut 

custodian, and had time to climb or 

hike. Th e Bon Echo Hut custodian has 

Friendly folks at Bon Echo Hut 

PHOTO BY RUTHIE OLTMANN 

to spend his or her time ferrying people 

from the road’s public dock to the hut 

and then from the hut to the cliff s. Th e 

unique part about climbing there is that 

the climbers sit in the bow of the boat, 

don their rock shoes, step out, and up 

they go! 

Th ere is a 1.6-kilometre portage 

trail from the hut to Kishkebus Lake 

that made a delightful hike, and I also 

scrambled up a rocky knoll enjoying the 

fall colours of the trees and Mazinaw 

Lake. Also, Geoff took me to the public 

dock at the narrows on the cliff side of 

the lake and I hiked up the tourist trail to 

the cliff top with a view of the lake. 

Spending the evening in the hut 

cooking dinner and chatting with the 

climbers was entertaining. Karen, who 

owns a climbing gym in Toronto, was 

impressive. She and her climbing partner 

Katherine are keeners. I also met Will, an 

engineer in the Canadian space program 

in Ottawa, as well as people from Toronto 

and Montréal. I only met one fellow who 

had climbed in the Rockies. 

I had a wonderful visit and I found 

Geoff to be an enthusiastic tour guide. 

I recommend a visit the next time you 

fi nd yourself in Ontario. Take a tent. 

Boatman Geoff Hodgson drops people by the cliff 

where they climb. PHOTO BY DAVID BROWN

Whistler hosts fi rst Canadian Ski Mountaineering Championships 

Skiers from as far as Spain and 

Germany travelled to Whistler, BC 

to compete in the fi rst Canadian 

Ski Mountaineering Championships 

on April 21. Negotiating a 27-kilometre 

course following Whistler’s Spearhead 

Traverse, which included over 2500 

metres of elevation gain and loss, the 

event was won in an outstanding 2 

hours, 26 minutes by Slovakian skier 

Peter Svatojanski. Th e top Canadian 

competitor was Revelstoke, BC’s Greg 

Hill, who completed the course in three 

hours, followed by Canadian National 

Team member Andy Traslin in 3:23, and 

his teammate and brother Mike Traslin 

in 3:27. 

In the women’s category, Spain’s 

Izaskun Zubizarreta crossed the fi nish 

line in a smokin’ 3:16, while the top 

Canadian competitors, Lydia Marmot 

and Julia Niles crossed the fi nish arm in 

arm in 4:10. 

Organized and sponsored by 

Recreation Outfi tters Inc. and Th e 

North Face, and sanctioned by the 

Alpine Club of Canada, the Spearhead 

Challenge was also recognized by the 

UIAA (International Mountaineering 

and Climbing Federation) International 

Ski Mountaineering Council. Th e 

competition concluded the 2007 

Canadian ski mountaineering race 

series, which included events in Nelson, 

BC, Sunshine Village, Alberta and 

the Whistler Windup – all of which 

comprised Canada’s fi rst authorized ski 

mountaineering race series. 

As Canada’s recognized national 

federation for competitive ski 

mountaineering, the ACC registered 

athletes, tracked results and provided 

offi cials, insurance and volunteers for 

events. Overall series winners and 

rankings champions were determined on 

a points basis, as per international rules. 

To learn more, visit 

www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/ccc/ 

results.html 


Rockies’ ice climber tastes Scottish classics 


With over 1100 established ice 

and mixed climbing routes, 

the Canadian Rockies are the 

dream destination of climbers the world 

over. 

But for Canmore’s Sean Isaac, who 

has spent half his 34 years ice and mixed 

climbing, authoring dozens of new 

routes and a guidebook—Mixed Climbs 

in the Canadian Rockies—in the process, 

the dream destination was Scotland, 

birthplace of technical ice climbing. 

In March 2007 Isaac got his 

wish, spending six days at the British 

Mountaineering Council’s fi fth Scottish 

Winter Meet. Held every second 

winter, with a similar event organized 

alternating summers, the gathering drew 

representatives from climbing clubs 

around the world, including France, 

Slovenia, Norway, Greece and even 

China. 

Although Isaac learned of the meet 

seven years ago, this year he was fi nally 

able to attend thanks to the Alpine Club 

of Canada, which covered his plane ticket, 

making him only the second Canadian 

ever to participate. 

“Ever since I started climbing, I 

wanted to go to Scotland,” Isaac said. 

“We live in a great spot for ice and 

mixed climbing, but Scotland is where 

it all started. It was an incredible week 

of cross-cultural exchange, with the best 

mixed climbing I have ever done.” 

With all expenses covered by the 

BMC once there, each day the visiting 

climbers joined a local host for a Scottish 

adventure. 

Activities were halted on two days due 

to stormy – even by Scottish standards 

– weather and extreme avalanche hazard, 

but for his fi rst outing Isaac climbed the 

classic Indicator Wall on Ben Nevis, a 

route that fi nished by climbing through 

a cornice and throwing a sling around a 

summit marker. 

At 1344 metres, Ben Nevis – taken 

from Gaelic words for poisonous or 

terrible – is Britain’s highest mountain, 

which attracts some of the nastiest 

weather anywhere as climbers test 

themselves on its 700-metre north cliff s. 

“It’s a great training ground, and a 

big reason why some of the best alpinists 

have come from Scotland,” Isaac said. 


“Hard technical climbing in full-on nasty 

conditions. You have to have your systems 

down.” 

Impressively, some of Ben Nevis’ 

classic routes were fi rst climbed at the 

turn of the 20th century, including the 

northeast buttress in 1895 – with a fi rst 

winter ascent a year later. 

With “Mr. Scotland,” Simon 

Richardson, a father of two and 

guidebook author with a full time job 

who puts up a new route nearly every 

weekend, Isaac was shown a “true 

Scottish wilderness climbing experience.” 

“We rode bikes for about an hour and 

a half, then hiked over the moors to a 

little quarry way on the backside of the 

Cairngorms,” Isaac said. “It was a fi vehour 

approach – a 12-hour day for three 

pitches of climbing – but it was a new 

route.” 

Th e fi rst pitch consisted of climbing 

vertical frozen grass, “With all four tools 

and feet stuck solidly in the turf.” Once 

actually on rock, the fi nal pitch featured 

an overhang and 70-degree snow. 

“In the Rockies, if you come across 

70-degree snow it’s dry powder on loose 

slabs,” Isaac said. “Th ere the snow gets so 

solid, it actually squeaks.” 

Scottish climbers practice a unique 

style of winter – or ice – climbing, he 

said. 

Rockies ice climbing happens on 

steep, pure ice waterfalls, with mixed 

climbing consisting of climbing bolted 

dry limestone to access frozen icicles. 

By comparison, Scottish rock is 

granitic, laced with cracks and features 

that lend themselves well to traditional 

protection. 

“Plus it gets hammered by 

storms, it’s more like snow covered, 

rimed up rock,” Isaac said. “You go 

up and scrape off all the ice and 

climb the rock.” 

As well, Scottish style 

strictly adheres to a ‘no 

British ice climber Ian Parnell 

leads the fi rst ascent of 

Curly’s Arête, a new route on 

Scotland’s Ben Nevis named 

in memory of Canmore AB 

climber Karen McNeill 

PHOTO BY SEAN ISAAC 

bolt’ rule, as well as a ground up, on-sight 

ethic. 

“Which is a great thing,” Isaac 

said. “Th ey’ve got a limited resource, 

especially compared to what we have in 

the Rockies. Th at way they’re preserving 

what they have for future generations. 

Th ey’ve turned little mountains into big 

adventures.” 

For his last day, Isaac teamed up with 

British climbing star Ian Parnell for a 

fi ve-pitch new route on Ben Nevis, which 

they rated the equivalent of Rockies M7. 

“It was steep, technical, challenging, 

it took all day, and we topped out in the 

dark,” Isaac said. 

Th ey christened the route Curly’s 

Arête, in honour of Karen McNeill, who 

died last May on Alaska’s Mount Foraker 

– and her plentiful dark curls. 

“It was defi nitely an eye-opener for 

me,” Isaac said. “Climbing in Scotland 

takes skills, not just climbing skills, but 

navigation too. On Ben Nevis, you need a 

map and compass and goggles – always.” 

With plenty of evening entertainment, 

Isaac was invited to present a slide show 

on his home country, which left the Scots 

equally impressed. 

“Th ey were 

really 

psyched, 

we’re the 

envy 

of 

the

world for ice climbing,” Isaac said. 

“Especially this winter, since Europe has 

virtually no ice.” 

As always, he added, climbing in a 

new area meant he had lots to learn. 

“Th ey talk about double Gore-Tex 

days,” Isaac laughed. “I showed up in my 

soft shell and my underwear was soaked 

before we even started the route. You 

pretty much need a full change of clothes. 

I came home every day drenched.” 

After drying off , Isaac was schooled 

in the other classic Scottish tradition 

– singlemalt. 

“It was great to try a diff erent Scotch 

every night. I defi nitely got an education 

in Scotch.” 



2007 National Volunteer Awards 

Congratulations to the following dedicated volunteers for their outstanding 

contributions to the National and/or Section levels of the Alpine Club of 

Canada. Award recipient biographies can be found on the ACC website at 

www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/awards/recent.html 

Distinguished Service Award 

Tom Knott, Calgary Section 

Robert Brusse, Vancouver Section 

Kevin Lohka, Unaffi liated 

Larry Forsyth, Toronto Section 

Eric Brooks Leader Award 

Neil Bosch, Edmonton Section 

Don Forest Service Award 

Elfrieda Bock, Ottawa Section 

Brenda Critchley, Calgary Section 

Kevin West, Calgary Section 

Many thanks to the Awards Committee members for their commitment to 

this endeavour: Paul Geddes (Chair), Tom Haslam-Jones, Dave McCormick, Rod 

Plasman, André Mahé and Mike Th ompson. Th e Club extends its generous thanks to 

Gerta Smythe for her past service to the Awards Committee. 


It’s Blow Me Down, Bye 

BY CHRIS WEIDNER 

On the morning of September 12, 

2006, seagulls played in the 

breeze above the glassy waters 

of Devil’s Bay, while Justen Sjong, 

Celin Serbo and I savored a second cup 

of coff ee. We had no idea that within 

20 hours winds surpassing 100 mph 

would rip across the south coast of 

Newfoundland, wreaking devastation 

in their path. Obliviously, we donned 

harnesses, shook off fatigue from the 

previous three days of climbing, and 

sluggishly prepared for another sunny 

day of work on the tallest sea cliff on 

the Atlantic seaboard. Early Spanish 

cod fi shermen referred to this towering 

wall as “Diablo”, but over the centuries 

it was bastardized to “Jabo”. Today, it’s 

on the maps as “Blow-Me-Down.” 

Th rusting skyward 400 metres above the 

North Atlantic, and accessible only by 

boat, Blow-Me-Down adds a vertical 

dimension to an otherwise fl at world 

dominated by water and an ethereal 

horizon. 

Glacier Circle Cabin 

PHOTO BY ERIC DEFOE, PARKS CANADA 

During the 2006 summer, 27 

volunteers from the Alpine 

Club of Canada, Friends 

of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier 

National Park and Parks Canada, put 

in three weeks’ worth of eff ort, sweat, 

love and laughter into restoring Glacier 

Circle Cabin in BC’s GNP. Originally 

built in the 1920s, with a new roof and 

solidly supported fl oor, the restored 

cabin is now worthy of its Federal 

Heritage Building designation. 


I heard a shout from near the placid 

water — it was Charles Courtney, who 

had anchored his dinghy, walking up the 

granite slabs toward our camp. He and 

his wife Kim had ferried us from the tiny 

outport community of Francois (locals 

say “Fransway”) to Devil’s Bay four days 

earlier. His barely intelligible Newfi e 

dialect left us scratching our heads: a 

mixture of Canadian vowels, Irish Rs, 

extra Ss, missing Hs, and a muffl ed 

mumble that essentially twists English 

into a foreign tongue. (Newfi es often 

interject “bye” at the end of sentences, 

instead of the “eh” associated with most 

Canadians.) We heard him shout again, 

only closer this time, “Oi! ’Urricane’sa-comin’!” 

Th e bespectacled man in his 

forties staggered closer and said with 

a smirk, “You byes ’ad better cum wid 

me.”... 

To follow the “byes” on their adventure, 

order your copy of the 2007 Canadian 

Alpine Journal today – the second longest 

running publication in Canada. 

Visit www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/store 

or call (403) 678-3200 ext. 1. 

Would you like to know more about BC’s Greg Hill, who skinned up 

1,000,000 vertical feet last winter? ACC NewsNet subscribers read about him. 

To subscribe, email: NewsNet@AlpineClubofCanada.ca

Discover Places of Silence 

PACKAGE 1 – SAALACHTAL HIKING CIRCUIT 

$ 699 – Land pack – Salzburg to Salzburg 

Airfare by Austrian Airlines from 

Canada to Salzburg: extra 

(Recommended May through October) 

6 day hike – 7 night accommodation – Total 75 Km – 

Approx. 30hrs. Trekking 

Saalfelden-Maishofen-Maria Alm-Hintermoos- 

Dienten-Hinterthal-Saalfelden 

Accommodation in Inn/Hotel – Room with private 

facilities - Breakfast and Dinner included 

Leisurely valley hikes between Saalfeden, Maishofen, Maria Alm or hikes 

amid the slopes of the surrounding “Grass Mountains” and up to the Hundstein 

(elev.6946 ft), always with the view of the Steinernes Meer Massiv before 

your eyes. The hiking routes of the first three days are laid out in such a 

way that hikers can choose between easier variants – which most people can 

tackle without a problem– and more challenging options with greater elevation 

changes. For the last three days of your “Hiking without Luggage”, there 

is only a single route to take: an easy mountain hike from Hintermoos to Dienten, 

a hike across alpine meadows from Dienten to Hinterthal, and concluding 

with a few hills and dales from Hinterthal back to Saalfelden. 

This is a quest to discover places of silence, real anti-stress oasis where tranquility 

reigns supreme. Located close to Salzburg, in the idyllic quiet setting 

of the Austrian Alps, the beautiful communities of the Saalach Valley 

offer several different opportunities to "Hike Without Luggage" from 

which to choose. Your baggage is carried from 

place to place daily, as you hike from town to town 

and valley to valley. You get to select your daily 

stages for yourself. 

Hiking without Luggage 

PACKAGES IN THE SALZBURG REGION OF AUSTRIA 

PACKAGE 2 – SAALACHTAL HIGH TRAIL 

$ 669 – Land pack – Salzburg to Salzburg 

Airfare by Austrian Airlines from Canada to 

Salzburg: extra 

(Recommended July and August) 

5 day hike – 6 night accommodation – Total 68 Km – 

Approx. 28hrs. Trekking 

Saalfelden-Leogang-Hinterglemm-Saalbach-Jahnhuette/Viehofen-Saalfelden 

Accommodation in Inn/Hotel – Room with private 

facilities - Breakfast and Dinner included – One night in Alpine Huetten 

Mountain refuge 

You set out from Saalfelden to Leogang along the Leogang river, on the top 

of the Leoganger Steinberge. The trail towards Saalbach Hinterglemm leads 

through the “ Grass Mountains” and out over the richly varied mountain 

landscapes of the High Alps. You will be rewarded with superb vistas whilst 

in the high peaks. On the fourth day, a night at the Mountain Refuge “Jahnhutte” 

is waiting for you. Prior to the conclusion of this hiking week; enjoy 

the Rhododendron Trail in the area of the Jahnhutte/Viehhofen and racing 

down the Alpin slide into the valley. 

To book, contact Kompas Express at: 

1-800-EUROPE-1 (1-800-387-6731) 

Kompas Express TA 741 Bloor W Toronto, Ont. M6G 1L6 – TICO 1517989 – Accommodation provided in family managed three and four star hotels – 

Subject to availability and subject to change without notice

Th e Gazette continues to recognize the contributions of some 

of the Alpine Club of Canada’s dedicated Executive Committee 

volunteers. Roger Laurilla joined the ACC in 1976. An 

internationally certifi ed Mountain Guide, Roger started guiding 

for the ACC in the late 1980s. In 2004 he became the Club’s VP 

Activities. Roger is Area Manager for Canadian Mountain 

Holidays’ Monashees Lodge. He lives in Golden BC. 

Like-minded people make it 

fun, interesting and worthwhile 

BY ROGER W. LAURILLA 

I 

remember the passenger train, which 

locals called “Th e Hobo” during the 

construction of the Trans Canada 

Highway through Rogers Pass in BC’s 

Glacier National Park. At our exit point, 

my mother would clamber off with my 

brother and me in tow, and head up 

to our house. We were the only house 

around; our nearest neighbour was 

another half hour up the track at Glacier 

Station. We did not have a vehicle in the 

early years, just some horses that allowed 

my father to work in the Park. In the yard 

we had a barn, doghouse and a large fence 

that kept the horses in and – hopefully 

– the bears out. Looking south from the 

porch we could see into Flat Creek and 

up to Fortitude Mountain. Behind the 

house, Mount Fidelity and the roaring 

Bostock Creek were our backyard. My 

brother and I were always pleased to get 

home to our mountain backyard. 

Glacier National Park became an early 

centre for mountaineering in Canada 

through the Canadian Pacifi c Railroad’s 

tourism promotions, but I had no idea of 

this when I was growing up. As the son 

of a National Park Warden, my mountain 

roots were embedded at a young age. 

After moving to Revelstoke in the mid 

1960s so my brother and I could attend 

school, interest in my Mount Revelstoke 

backyard impelled me to explore even 

more of the Selkirk Mountains. 

Once I fi nished school, local job 

opportunities were primarily in the 

timber industry or with the railway, 

neither of which appealed to me. Th e 

mountains, however, were a draw. When 

David Peter Jones, older brother of my 

friend Roy Jones, was looking for workers 

Did you know that climbers might be legislated to wear electronic locators 

in the USA? You could have read about it on the ACC’s NewsNet. 



to hike into the site 

of a small mountain 

hut to help renovate 

it into a larger 

facility, I decided 

PHOTO BY SABINE KOHLER 

to give it a try. All 

I knew was it was in the mountains and 

I would be gone for three weeks. I was 

keen and my parents were supportive. 

Th e hike was more than I had imagined 

– a traverse from Albert Canyon to Fairy 

Meadow, deep in the bush, valleys and 

peaks of the Selkirks. I met William 

Putnam and Hans Gmoser on this 

hut project, rebuilding the older Fairy 

Meadow panabode to its present size and 

shape; the year 1973. Bill Putnam became 

a great mentor for me. I went in deep. 

Th at was my fi rst involvement with 

the Alpine Club of Canada. I joined 

the Club in 1976 because it off ered key 

information for a keener like me to 

expand my knowledge base about the 

mountains in which I was living and 

exploring. Disappointingly, the smaller 

towns of Revelstoke and Golden did not, 

and still do not, have section affi liations 

within the Club. 

In 1979, I became a labourer for Hans 

Gmoser on an expansion of Bugaboo 

Lodge, (the fi rst of Gmoser’s Canadian 

Mountain Holidays – CMH – lodges, 

now numbering 12). Th is was an eye 

opener as to what type of work was 

available in the mountains. As I gained 

more experience and confi dence, I 

eventually attained my Mountain Guide 

certifi cation with the Association of 

Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG). 

I have worked for Hans and CMH ever 

since. 

Roger Laurilla at Butters Creek, in Battle Abbey, in BC’s Selkirk Mountains 

I started guiding for the ACC in 

the late 1980s, leading ski touring trips 

to Fairy Meadow, then summer camps 

and fi nally the General Mountaineering 

Camp (GMC) in the mid 90s. As I 

became more involved in the mountain 

community, I volunteered and was 

accepted to the ACMG Board of 

Directors to work with the ACC and 

the Guides’ Ball. Following two terms 

there, I got more involved with the ACC. 

During the GMC, I was forced to spend 

time with Cam Roe, or perhaps, Cam was 

forced to spend time with me. I was able 

to see amateur leaders in action. Th ese 

guys were keen, skilled and volunteering 

their time doing what they like to do. 

More than anything else, it was the 

GMC that gave me the understanding 

of what the Club was all about. To me 

it is about participating with other 

like-minded mountain people in our 

vast mountain wilderness. As many 

have stated before, it is the people we 

do our activities with who make it fun, 

interesting and worthwhile. Th e cream 

is our natural wilderness – our mountain 

backyards. 

I want to give to the mountain 

community and specifi cally the ACC, 

and I have found that the best way is to 

get involved and participate. At times our 

lives can be hectic just dealing with life 

issues, however, I feel doing what I can, 

when I can, is a whole lot better than not 

doing anything at all. Th e main interest 

for me is to encourage people to enjoy, 

experience and be safe in our mountains. 

What we gain can be life altering in a 

positive way. It has been for me.

ACC salutes the BCMC’s centennial 

BY DAVE SCANLON 

They were explorers. No one had 

ever ventured into the valleys and 

mountains they wandered in the 

early years. As their numbers increased, 

they started to make contact with each 

other and realized the importance of 

forming a club to formalize their eff orts. 

In October 1907, Mr. George Jarrett 

arranged an informal meeting at the 

local tourist association. Th e Vancouver 

Mountaineering Club was born. An 

artistic crest was created and has been used 

ever since, representing the club’s most 

climbed mountains – Grouse, Dam, Goat 

and Crown Mountains and Lions Peak. 

At the second annual meeting in 1909 the 

club name was changed to the present one 

– British Columbia Mountaineering Club. 

In Jan. 1910, the club secured fi ve 

acres on Grouse Mountain to construct 

a cabin – the beginning of many the club 

would build. In 1911, the Botanical and 

Geological sections were formed. A Mr. 

Heaney contributed to the topography 

of the previously unopened local area. 

Conservation and land issues have also 

been a large part of the BCMC since its 

beginning. Early camps held at Garibaldi 

brought to the fore the naturally stunning 

beauty and uniqueness of the area. After 

the 1926 camp, club members petitioned 

the provincial government to protect the 

area, and in 1927 the Garibaldi Park Act 

was passed. 

Th e BCMC has always been 

comprised of a like-minded group of 

individuals joining to pursue their goals. 

Many, many local mountains and glaciers 

are named for club members – Dalton 

Dome, Mount Bishop, Mount Warren, 

Trory Glacier. Many were named by 

BCMC members. At times the Botanical 

and Geological sections were larger than 

the rest of the club and those meetings 

were very well attended. Numerous social 

events were also well attended, including 

dances, Christmas and Th anksgiving 

dinners and bowling evenings, as well as 

the annual general banquet. 

Th e BCMC has made available 

articles for members and the general 

public pertaining to mountain 

access, huts, club events, trip reports, 

and more recently, assisted in the 

publishing of guidebooks, climbing and 

mountaineering books. 

Although a member of Federation of 

Mountain Clubs of British Columbia, 

custom outdoor experience 

“your four season liaison to the mountain experience” 

LET ADVENTURE 

GUIDE YOU... 

Course Discounts Available 

For ACC Members 

being a single club – not part of a 

national or group of other clubs – gives 

the BCMC a unique place in the 

mountaineering world. Everything is 

done by local volunteers playing together, 

with the understanding work is involved. 

Currently with about 500 members 

working together, the 100 years of 

volunteering by club members has kept 

the BCMC a vibrant and ongoing 

organization. 

David Scanlon is the chair of the 

BCMC Cabins and Trails Committee. For 

more information, and a list of BCMC 

Centennial events, visit www.bcmc.ca 

Private Guiding 

Rock Climbing 

Mountaineering 

403 721 2208 www.coe.ca Mountain Skills Course 


Alpine Club memento to make space fl ight 


Toothbrush? Check. 

Spacesuit? Check. 

Alpine Club of Canada patch? Check. 

When Canadian Astronaut Dave 

Williams boards NASA’s 

Endeavour Space Shuttle on 

June 28, he’ll blast into space with a piece 

of Canada’s mountaineering history. 

Like his six colleagues aboard the STS 

118 shuttle mission, Williams was invited 

to pack 10 mementos from organizations 

of signifi cance to him. Th inking of his 

father, an early ACC member, Williams 

requested the ACC send him a patch 

commemorating the Club’s 2006 

Centennial. 

“My father was a member in the 

1930s to early 40s,” Williams said. “I’ve 

always been an outdoors person, I guess 

I come by that honestly through my dad. 

Growing up in Saskatchewan I spent 

a lot of time playing in the woods, as a 

teenager I was really into cross country 

and downhill skiing, and canoeing and 

kayaking.” 

Although not an ACC member, 

Williams, who lives in Houston, Texas 

with his wife and two children, said 

mountaineers and astronauts share similar 

passion, curiosity and the drive to explore. 

“One of the things I’m very passionate 

about is exploration,” Williams said, 

speaking from Houston’s Johnson Space 

Center. “Th e quest for knowledge for 


astronauts is very much like that of 

climbers wanting to know what it’s like at 

the top of a mountain – or the top of the 

world, like climbing Everest.” 

Williams, 53, remembers his dad 

showing him 8mm fi lm footage of 

climbing and skiing BC’s Mount 

Garibaldi in 1939 – fl ying from Vancouver 

and landing on a lake “in an aircraft that 

resembled a giant fl ying boat.” 

Williams’s own interest in space fl ight 

developed during the 1960s, when he 

watched television broadcasts as the fi rst 

manned spacecrafts explored beyond the 

earth’s orbit. 

“It was just after they hired the 

original seven Mercury astronauts,” 

Williams said. “Like just about everyone, 

I watched it on TV, and thought ‘wouldn’t 

it be cool to go in space?’” 

While Canada was the third country 

to launch an unmanned satellite into 

space, programs for Canadians to 

experience space travel didn’t exist. 

“As a Canadian kid, I never thought 

I’d have a chance,” Williams said. “So 

I fi gured, if I can’t explore outer space, 

maybe I should learn how to SCUBA 

dive so I can explore inner space.” 

At the time, Jacques Cousteau 

was also at the top of the TV ratings, 

exploring deep below the surface of the 

world’s oceans. Williams earned his 

SCUBA certifi cation before he could 

drive. After graduating from Montréal’s 

✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ 

HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB 

Heritage Club milestones 

Every year, the Alpine Club of Canada celebrates those members who 

have been with the Club for 25, 35 and 50 years. Th e Club recognizes 

these members with a special lapel pin, with the 25 and 35-year 

members receiving an attractive certifi cate suitable for framing and the 50year 

members receiving a handsome wall plaque. 

In 2007, 32 members reached the 25-year milestone, 18 members reached 

the 35-year milestone and 3 members reached their 50-year milestone. 

Congratulations to everyone, and especially to all of those named below 

– you are in very esteemed company! 

50 years 

Morrin Acheson, Samedan Switzerland 

John Christian, Bethesda Maryland 

Francois Garneau, Chicoutimi Quebec 

✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦. 

HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB ✦ HERITAGE CLUB 

Astronaut Dave Williams PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA 

McGill University with a science degree, 

he pursued a distinguished career in 

medicine, focusing on scientifi c research, 

and as an emergency physician. 

In 1992 the Canadian Space Agency 

selected Williams and three others 

from 5330 applicants to begin astronaut 

training. In 1998 he made his fi rst trip 

into space as a mission specialist aboard 

Space Shuttle Columbia. During the 

16-day fl ight, the seven-person crew’s 

experiments focused on the eff ects 

of microgravity on the brain and the 

nervous system as Columbia orbited the 

earth 256 times, covering over 10 million 

kilometres in 381 hours. 

From 1998 to 2002, Williams was 

the fi rst non-American to hold a senior 

management position within NASA as 

director of the Space and Life Sciences 

Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. 

In 2001, Williams became the fi rst 

Canadian to have lived and worked in 

both space and the ocean, through his 

participation in the joint NASA-NOAA 

(National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration) NEEMO 1 mission, 

a week-long training exercise aboard 

Aquarius, the world’s only underwater 

research laboratory. During his second, 

18-day NEEMO mission, the crew 

conducted research aimed at delivering 

medical care in remote locations – a 

cost eff ective means of developing space 

technology. 

For his upcoming mission, Williams 

will make three space walks of six or 

seven hours’ duration each, installing 

elements to further construction of the

International Space Station. 

Weightlessness off ers a number of 

advantages living inside the shuttlecraft, 

he said. 

“Because there’s no gravity, we can 

use all the available surfaces,” William 

explained. “I can run my sleeping bag 

diagonally across the ceiling and have a 

restful sleep.” 

Some challenges astronauts face 

are similar to expedition climbers’, he 

said, including working as a team and 

understanding technology, equipment 

and body movement. 

“Th ere are many similarities between 

space walking and rock climbing,” 

Williams said. “In climbing you’ve got 

the rope, when you’re space walking 

you’re on a tether the whole time. Tether 

management is a big deal, just like rope 

management. You don’t want to get your 

tether fouled or tangled up. You look at 

the task, calculate the degree of diffi culty, 

a lot like climbing. In space walking, 

there’s a lot of hand over hand movement, 

quite similar to rock climbing, but 

primarily using arms, not feet.” 

Williams said this time he expects 

to see much more of Canada as the 

spacecraft orbits the earth every 90 

minutes, traveling at 25 times the speed 

of sound. 

“Th ere is no way you can really 

describe how beautiful it is,” Williams 

said. “Th e view is constantly changing, 

from sunrise to sunset every 45 minutes. 

It’s spectacular looking at the planet 

from space. But you also really become 

sensitized to the impact human beings 

have on the planet. You can really see the 

pollution. 

“For me, space travel represents the 

pinnacle of exploration. Th at desire 

people have to explore – that’s still there. 

And there’s still lots to explore.” 



I do not like ice climbing. Th e freezing air makes my 

eyes water and catches in my throat. Each painful breath 

rises in a small puff . So what am I doing hanging off 

this frozen waterfall? I could be skiing or rock climbing, 

even hanging out at the mall. Anywhere else would do. 

I look over my shoulder and see cars snaking along the 

highway far below. Th e restaurant is a pinprick beside 

the road. Th ey’ll be serving up the usual lukewarm coff ee, 

hamburgers, greasy fries and I can just taste that hot 

chocolate with whipped cream sliding across my tongue. 

–- Excerpt from Extreme Edge, by Alpine Club 

of Canada Vancouver Section member Heather 

Kellerhals-Stewart, a book about climbing written for 

a young adult audience. As with her previous book, 

Witch’s Fang, Kellerhals-Stewart plans to donate all 

royalties from the sales of her latest book to the ACC. 


Glaciers shaped by weather, gravity and setting 

BY PABLO WAINSTEIN 

As climbers, skiers and lovers of 

the outdoors we are constantly 

amazed by the mountain 

landscape that forms our playground. Our 

photo archives are stuff ed with pictures 

of glaciers and the landscapes that have 

been shaped by ice throughout thousands 

of years. Rock walls, open wide valleys, 

moraines and glaciers are all linked by 

a common geological history of ever 

changing features driven by slow but 

incredibly big forces. 

Glaciers are active systems that 

live in a subtle equilibrium with the 

surrounding environment. Th ey grow and 

shrink; advance and retreat, all delicately 

governed by a mass balance between what 

they receive as snow intake, what they 

expel as meltwater, and by sublimation 

(the conversion between the solid and the 

gas phases with no intermediate liquid 

stage). 

Th e main mass inputs are achieved 

through precipitation as snow and rain 

that can refreeze in the glacier’s interior, 

and from avalanching from affl uent 

valleys. Th e main output by far is melting 

and is presented as meltwater. Secondary 

processes such as calving and ice 

avalanching also play major roles. Calving 

is the process by which ice slabs are down 

wasted into the water if the glacier ends 

Would you like to receive easy tips on how you can help the environment? 

ACC NewsNet subscribers get the tips. 



in a lake or the sea. On the contrary, if the 

glacier ends in dry land – as the majority 

of alpine glaciers do – the process is 

called ice avalanching. Th e latter is 

slightly less frequent since there is no 

water to exert buoyancy pressures under 

the ice and fracture it. Unfortunately, 

terminology is sometimes confusing but 

its goal is to be as descriptive as possible. 

Website shares Canada-wide trail and route info 

Do you know of a great trail – so great you’d want to share it? 

Trailpeak.com is a user driven website featuring information on over 

3000 trails, routes and destination for hikers, mountain bikers, climbers, 

backcountry and cross country skiers, snowshoers, kayakers, canoeists and even kite 

and windsurfers. 

Th e Canada-wide site provides information from Vancouver Island to 

Newfoundland, complete with topo maps, links to GPS coordinates, satellite imagery 

and local weather forecasts. 

It also shares user submitted reviews on Google Earth, gear, routes and trails, plus 

user blogs and feature articles on adventure destinations. And it off ers an outdoor 

navigation course. 

Route and trail info can be searched by activity, diffi culty or by province, location 

or region, and include distances and diffi culty ratings - all aimed at providing users 

with comprehensive information for their outdoor activities. 

To learn more, check out www.trailpeak.com 

Even though we see many iced areas 

in the mountains, not all can be called 

glaciers. Glaciers are made out of ice that 

experience movement and deformation. 

As such, they require a minimum size and 

depth that will promote movement due 

to the action of gravity. 

Glaciers have two recognizable areas 

that are fundamental for their survival: an 

accumulation zone and an ablation zone. 

Th e two are separated by what is called 

the ‘equilibrium line’. Th e accumulation 

area is where snow falls and fortunately 

is preserved throughout the year, adding 

mass to the glacier. Th e ablation area is 

where there is more melting than mass 

infl ow. Both need to be in equilibrium 

in order for the glacier to maintain a 

constant size. Nowadays many glaciers 

present a considerable meltdown due 

to warmer/drier winters that suppresses 

precipitation, and/or warmer summers 

that incite a larger meltdown. Th ere are 

some exceptions, such as Taku Glacier 

in the Juneau Icefi eld in Alaska, which is 

still growing mainly as a result of its huge 

accumulation area and its large inertia, 

but these are just that – exceptions to the 

rule. 

Alpine Club of Canada member Pablo 

Wainstein is a hydraulic civil engineer 

and PhD student with the University of 

Calgary’s Department of Geography.

West Coast members christen Centennial with Lovely Water 

BY RON DART 

With the Alpine Club of 

Canada celebrating its 

Centennial birthday in 2006, 

West Coast members decided on the 

Tantalus Hut on Lake Lovely Water in 

the deep forged Squamish River Valley to 

mark that historic year. 

Th e trip began with a helicopter 

fl ight up over the 

thick forest and onto 

the rock hard landing 

pad near the hut. Th e 

many white-robed 

peaks surrounding 

Lake Lovely Water in 

horseshoe formation 

do have their allure and 

charming appeal, with each rock tip and 

turret drawing the eyes to the canopy 

above and welcoming an ascent. Th e 11 

who signed up for the trip were all keen 

and eager to take to the varied summits 

in the area, and, to the credit of the 

group, most of the peaks were reached by 

diff erent members. 

Alpha Mountain was climbed from 

both its challenging east ridge and the 

gentler Lambda Lake and Russian Army 

Camp approach, the newly fi nished 

Haberl Hut visible from Alpha’s roof. 

Some members scrambled Omega 

Mountain on an overcast and dour day 

– appearing to have scouted out a new 

route. A trip was also taken to the col 

between Serratus and Alpha. Some in the 

group had hoped to trek to the Haberl 

Hut for a few days; a climb up Tantalus, 

Dione and Serratus was the longed for 

goal, but the cat-and-mouse weather 

made such a desire hard to follow 

through on. 

Th ere were also hikes to Iota from 

the Sandspit side, and a round trip up 

the col between Lydia and Niobe (the 

weather being too mist thick to ascend 

Lydia), up Niobe (the clouds parted near 

the cairn on the summit), down to Pelops, 

PSST! 

Do you wanna be a famous 

writer? Ok, how about just a writer? 

Contact the Gazette editor at 

gazette@alpineclubofcanada.ca 

to have your article, story or event 

published in the Gazette. 

From death in valleys 

preserve me, O Lord. 

—Robert Macfarlane, 

Mountains of the Mind (2003) 

under Iota, then a pleasant glissade back 

down the snow thick valley. Each trip 

down from Niobe we managed to fi ll 

our bottles with good Niobe champagne 

from the cascading waterfall and white 

foaming stream. Some crevasses were 

open and obvious while others were just 

inching open. With the weather treating 

us well sometimes, and 

thick clouds and rain other 

days, we had some good 

times in the hut as well 

as on the mountain, with 

many a fi ne tale swapped 

and much mountain lore 

traded and bantered to 

and fro. 

Lake Lovely Water was the site 

of some good swimming and fi shing. 

Cutthroat and rainbow trout often took 

to Ron Royston’s lure and bait, so a 

couple of evenings – and breakfasts – we 

enjoyed well-prepared fresh fi sh. Despite 

damaging his foot the week before, Remy 

Maire (French Alpine Club member) 

joined us for the week. Out on the water 

every day, he was not as successful with 

line and lure as Royston. All of us in the 

group were more than grateful for the 

fi ne dinners Royston prepared. Turning 

Tantalus Hut into the Versailles of the 

Coast Mountains for a week, none of us 

will soon forget the feasts off ered after 

long days on the slopes, rock, ice and 

snow. 

We were most fortunate to have a 

group of people together for the week 

who climbed, worked, ate, drank and 

bantered well together. With rarely 

a dull moment, conversations were 

animated and lively. A few who snored 

quite loudly in the night made for some 

organizational and humorous moments. 

Trip participants included Rob 

Eldred, Philippe Leblanc, Gord Sandeski 

(ACC Vancouver Island), Remy Maire 

(French Alpine Club), Neil Kirk, Monica 

Durigon, Lauren Hunter, Erik Frebold, 

Yvonne Bell, Ron Dart, and grand chef 

and hut father, Rockin’ Ron Royston. 


National Offi ce news 

Offi ce welcomes new faces and familiar faces in new places 

BY SUZAN CHAMNEY, DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS 

This winter the Alpine Club of Canada National Offi ce welcomed a number of 

new faces to the front desk: Laura Levar, Chrystel Vultier, Mindy Johnstone, 

Erika Jensen and Scott Chamney as well as their new leader, Maintenance 

Administration Manager, Channin Liedtke, who replaced Carole Perkins when she 

left the Club to join Katimavik, fulfi lling a long time dream. Offi ce Manager, Nathalie 

Turgeon also left the ACC to fulfi l her long time dream of working with the RCMP, 

after which Shelley Freeman was welcomed to the offi ce, having fulfi lled her dream of 

participating on the Marmot Women’s Camp. 

After returning to the National Offi ce for a six-month contract position of Special 

Project Coordinator, Nancy Hansen has left again and become a volunteer member of 

the Board of Directors in the role of Co-Vice President of Activities. One of Nancy’s 

projects was to work on improving the ACC NewsNet and increasing its readership. 

Nancy accomplished both tasks and has also agreed to stay on as its volunteer editor. 

Long time volunteer and Board Member, David Toole has resigned from the Board 

of Directors in order to join the National Offi ce staff on a one year contract, replacing 

Lawrence White as the Director of Facilities, as Lawrence vacated his position to take 

over as Executive Director following Bruce Keith’s retirement after 12 years in the job! 

Bruce has agreed to take on volunteer roles in the future – for which the Club will no 

doubt be extremely grateful! 

Did you know there will be unmanned helicopter rescues available on 

Mount Everest in 2008? ACC NewsNet subscribers read about it. 



CLASSIFIEDS 

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 

Rocky Mountain Books is interested 

in looking at book proposals or 

book manuscripts from Canadian 

climbers and outdoor enthusiasts. If 

you have a proposal or manuscript 

that you would like to discuss, please 

contact Don Gorman via email 

at dongorman@heritagehouse.ca 

or check out our website for more 

information www.rmbooks.com 

NOTICES 

ACC NEWSNET 

Stay up-to-date on the latest 

climbing, access and environment 

news via the ACC’s weekly 

e-Bulletin. Subscribe to the ACC 

NewsNet by sending an email to 

NewsNet@AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

SUMMER CUSTODIANS 

We are currently seeking volunteer 

custodians for many of our 

backcountry huts (including Elk 

Lakes, Wheeler, Bow Hut, and 

others!) this summer season. If you’re 

a passionate alpine enthusiast and 

would like to discuss custodianship 

opportunities please contact Channin 

Liedtke at the National Offi ce 

at (403) 678-3200 ext. 104 or at 

cliedtke@AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

Volunteer custodians receive 

complimentary accommodation at 

the hut during the custodianship. 

ACC CUSTOM PORTERING SERVICES 

Available for all huts summer 

and winter. If you are planning a 

backcountry hut trip and would like to 

have your food and equipment carried 

in, contact the Mountain Adventures 

Coordinator, Jon Rollins, for details 

at (403) 678-3200 ext. 112 or e-mail 

adventures@AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

CLASSIFIED AD RATES: 

$20 plus $1 per word + GST 

E-mail your ad to: 

ads@AlpineClubofCanada.ca 

or mail to the address on page 3.

John Lauchlan Award and ACC team up 

BY LARRY STANIER 

The John Lauchlan Award 

committee, which consists of 

Grant Statham, Barry Blanchard, 

James Blench, Brian Webster and 

Larry Stanier, is pleased to announce 

a partnership with the Alpine Club of 

Canada. Th e Club has agreed to take over 

management of the award’s fi nances. 

Th e goal of the John Lauchlan 

Award is to promote the development 

of Canadian mountaineers at an 

international level through the support 

of worthy expeditions and mountainous 

adventures, which makes the ACC 

ACC grants awarded in 2007 

Th e Alpine Club of Canada is pleased to award over $9000 in grants this year to a 

number of worthy mountain-related projects. 

Jen Higgins Memorial Award 

● Sarah Hart, Jacqueline Hudson and Luisa Giles have been awarded $6000 for 

their project: Ikhatta Karna – Th ree Women on Karakoram Granite. Th is project 

proposes a fi rst ascent of the North Ridge of the unclimbed Peak 5700 metres, 

which the team has dubbed ‘Hidden Tower.’ Located in the rock peaks lining the 

Choktoi Glacier region of the Panmah Mustagh Range of Pakistan’s Karakoram, 

this exciting ridge of well-featured granite rises a spectacular 1200 metres from the 

valley fl oor. Th is all-women’s climbing team will use a light and fast alpine rock 

style approach. Ikhatta karna refers to the Urdu phrase for unity, togetherness, or 

team. 

Environment Fund 

● Th e ACC’s Facilities Trail Committee has been awarded $586 for environmental 

protection and access maintenance for Abbot Pass Hut. 

● David Lavallee, Don Van Hout, Becky Bristow and Danielle Droitsch have 

been awarded $900 for their project Blue Gold, Black Gold: An Athabasca River 

Odyssey. In the form of a documentary fi lm, this project aims to give Albertans 

an appreciation of the precious water resources they have, and of the need for 

preservation of these resources. 

● Th e Nordic Cross-Country Ski Club was awarded $400 for restoration and 

maintenance of the High Rim Trail, which runs from Kalamalka Lake Provincial 

Park to Mission Creek in BC, and is used by hikers, bikers, equestrians and 

backpackers. 

● Vanessa Kavanagh was awarded $625 for her project that focuses on predicting 

the eff ects of climate change on rare serpentine barren plant species within Gros 

Morne National Park in Newfoundland. 

● Th e Climbers’ Access Society of Alberta was awarded $500 for their project to 

conduct fi eld research on bull trout habitat to support improved climber access to 

the Ghost River area and to help fund construction of a bridge over a stream bed 

known to be trout habitat. 

Karl Nagy Award 

● Jen Olson was selected as the Karl Nagy Scholarship recipient for 2006. Jen 

will attend a week of this year’s ACC General Mountaineering Camp, working 

alongside guides fully certifi ed by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. 

Already familiar with ACC National Camps, Jen has worked on several including, 

most recently, the Marmot Women’s Ski Camp. Already an Assistant Ski, Rock 

and Alpine Guide, Jen is working toward her ACMG full Mountain Guide 

certifi cation. 

Th e annual deadline for grant applications is January 31. For further information and 

application forms, visit www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/funds 

is an obvious choice as a partner. 

Th is partnership will allow the award 

committee to provide tax receipts to its 

sponsors and to access funds from Th e 

Calgary Foundation. 

Th e JLA is supported fi nancially by 

Mountain Equipment Coop, Arc’Teryx, 

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures, explore 

magazine, Integral Designs, Tony and 

Gillean Daff ern and Lake O’Hara Lodge. 

Nancy Hansen will join the selection 

committee as an ACC representative. 

Th e 2006 award winners, Jen Olson and 

Lilla Molnar, are off to Bulbulimotin, 

in Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains in 

September, 2007 with $5300 of the JLA’s 

funding. 

Do you have a fantastic trip planned? 

Get your applications in by Sept. 1. Th e 

2007 award will provide approximately 

$6000 toward one expedition. 

To learn more, visit the JLA website 

at www.johnlauchlanaward.com

Summer 2007 - The Alpine Club of Canada

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