tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130284808866795492024-02-06T20:38:45.025-07:00Joshua LavigneJoshua Lavigne's Video BlogJoshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-77005557979543632412012-05-05T18:29:00.004-06:002012-05-10T01:25:44.981-06:00<br />
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It has been a long time since I last posted, since the new year my life has taken some unexpected turns. My good friend, climbing partner, mentor and inspiration in life...Carlyle Norman...died. She was struck by a rock high on a Patagonian spire, she survived for a while but then fell to her death, on January 16th. She came to rest at the foot of Aguja Saint Exupery. The closest place to heaven that I have seen on earth. If you want to read an account of the accident, go to <a href="http://alpinist.com/">alpinist.com</a>.</div>
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This blog site will no longer be the main site in which I share my stories. I might update it from time to time and keep it running -- it ranks well in the search engines -- but I will be posting most of my new material at my site -- <a href="http://joshuaLAVIGNE.com/">joshuaLAVIGNE.com</a> --. </div>
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But before I leave, I would like to post a couple more stories. Here are some photos from Jonny Walsh's and my free ascent of Spicy Red Beans and Rice. Located on the west face of the North Howser Tower in the Bugaboos. We did the first free ascent of the route over 2 days in August 2011. </div>
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The photos are a mix of Jon Walsh's and mine. We carried Jonny's Canon 5D and my Lumix GF1 on this climb so that we could get some high quality video. A little cumbersome at times but worth it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9jh3SXjLZP4jUUeTEQ5X5S6UYTJxSMJgMH43KGB2dI3Q3gVNEVwqLQ4YoEUvavDi8k6S3KaehZJvtC5se7ZZhyphenhyphenHv6KQSh3ERIBg5EaQCAwIi6AMXSUqOmMAPz7ENRV08MWgyt3bY93k/s1600/IMG_0672-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9jh3SXjLZP4jUUeTEQ5X5S6UYTJxSMJgMH43KGB2dI3Q3gVNEVwqLQ4YoEUvavDi8k6S3KaehZJvtC5se7ZZhyphenhyphenHv6KQSh3ERIBg5EaQCAwIi6AMXSUqOmMAPz7ENRV08MWgyt3bY93k/s320/IMG_0672-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Jon Walsh<br />
Approaching to the base of the route...Sketchy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The summit ridge above the west face of the North Howser Tower</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Jon Walsh<br />
Attempting too free Young Men on Fire. We bailed after this pitch and continued climbing the Shooting Gallery to access the upper face where we joined Spicy Beans and Rice (SB&R)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Jon Walsh<br />
Trying to imitate Peter Croft with the four point stemming.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Jon Walsh<br />
Climbing the first 5.10 pitch above the bivy ledges. The Warrior continues up straight and the route SRB&R continues up and right. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonny leading out in the evening light. The first of several 5.11+ pitches on the climb. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waking up, 8 pitches up below the headwall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Jon Walsh<br />
Getting into the meat of it on the first 5.12 pitch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Jon Walsh<br />
Re-joining the Warrior in the upper corner systems of the Headwall.. A beautiful and well protected 5" crack, </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The summit!<br />
My seventh time to the summit via the west face, it's gotta be pretty good back there : ) </td></tr>
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<br /></div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-75582527826581910782011-12-12T21:45:00.000-07:002011-12-12T21:45:20.316-07:00Galena Setup [A Guide's Perspective]<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/33438573" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe><br />
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Well, the CMH heli ski season is revving up and it seems to have started with a bang. There is already a solid base of snow (2 metres), which means it looks more like January then December. Lots of the early season hazards are nicely covered and the classic pillow drops and steep glads are ready to go.<br />
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I am very excited to be skiing at CMH Galena again, the best place to ski in the world (thats right!). The team is super psyched for the season to start, which you can see in this short video.<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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</div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-91173700295612934892011-08-26T15:00:00.002-06:002011-08-26T19:27:26.354-06:00Cragging in the Bugaboos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Climbing in the Bugaboos is always a highlight of the summer and definitely one of my favourite places to climb. The rugged hike through wildflowers as you climb towards Applebee, the mystic and grandeur of the spires as they glow in the evening light, and the long shadows draped across the glaciers as a lone headlamp weaves down the Bugaboo/Snowpatch Col. There is something eternally special about the place.<br />
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Last week Simon Meis and I took advantage of a splitter forecast to session the east face on Snowpatch. We decided to forgo the usual journey across to the west side so that we could focus on hard free climbing close to 'home' (Applebee). The locals Chris Brazeau and <a href="http://www.alpinestyle.ca/">Jon Walsh </a>have been climbing on the east side for several years now, establishing some world class routes. While climbing with Jon the week prior he was adamant that I needed to sample the routes on the east face.<br />
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So, with a large free-climbing rack, a backpack full of puffy jackets we set our sites on free climbing as much as we could with as little walking as possible. In the five days that we were in Applebee we climbed, Sweet Sylvia, <a href="http://www.alpinestyle.ca/sites/default/files/Snowpatch%20topos060.pdf">Sendero Norte</a>, and<a href="http://www.alpinestyle.ca/sites/default/files/Snowpatch%20topos060.pdf"> Labyrinth</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrh0FrrDRc-wLTxst8-pa2OXBr1OgYP9ra-5JZNAjmgYnmfmJHuY0S2A7k3MZdOLfZpp_dVjrrXSVmK-aK8TTbW8xIs54pRHccZ_1IBA-bsA74GPQwMSdNHIhTWwfq0Sc8Y7By2JDP124/s1600/Bugaboos-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrh0FrrDRc-wLTxst8-pa2OXBr1OgYP9ra-5JZNAjmgYnmfmJHuY0S2A7k3MZdOLfZpp_dVjrrXSVmK-aK8TTbW8xIs54pRHccZ_1IBA-bsA74GPQwMSdNHIhTWwfq0Sc8Y7By2JDP124/s320/Bugaboos-2.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching the east face, with only a 30min approach<br />
most days didn't start before 10am. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rdW_GIIZIA8hSJZ_Z7RBBUBpxcqEkl4aQNEwrjtI-uQ0T-Q-VQewTJtzXhtZfrllfMUAI0nvhqYFtJliqoYkfwfhwCl44gGUiLCtASzgH7aQiIvIX1lez82spQOJBMK5fmPG4khCTSw/s1600/Bugaboos-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rdW_GIIZIA8hSJZ_Z7RBBUBpxcqEkl4aQNEwrjtI-uQ0T-Q-VQewTJtzXhtZfrllfMUAI0nvhqYFtJliqoYkfwfhwCl44gGUiLCtASzgH7aQiIvIX1lez82spQOJBMK5fmPG4khCTSw/s320/Bugaboos-4.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 2nd pitch of Sweet Sylvia, a sporty 5.12.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: SM</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BAprFYSc2CjC4SakK-4owZmjuqdLJsOe2h8yhARnbLLxFz7vRUlv92x2ckoGTN1IGqzYgRow9lvBSwSas0vSZkK1Dv8HSzgXBPG8OJPbQTrOXD6qI-eOeHJFu7ZFOfdE8Mc8zqXEx2Q/s1600/Bugaboos-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BAprFYSc2CjC4SakK-4owZmjuqdLJsOe2h8yhARnbLLxFz7vRUlv92x2ckoGTN1IGqzYgRow9lvBSwSas0vSZkK1Dv8HSzgXBPG8OJPbQTrOXD6qI-eOeHJFu7ZFOfdE8Mc8zqXEx2Q/s320/Bugaboos-6.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simon susing out the right hand variation to pitch 5. The original ascent climbed an overhanging 5.11+ hands to 5" crack, a Craig Luebben classic. The right hand variation climbs a 5.12 hands to fingers to 5" offwidth thus avoiding the 4" section. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ShHYzIg25zzbfjeHEB_wAp0kmBO_Q5PayJHBEk_2cDgkNVDZ94sEbnBshkJot46koKj4oG4OdeIsNgQvqmM_hczqoWh7q9McJxMOupcQcDvEyYdJ5lOPPME0Fb-XavtSSdsreUKJirw/s1600/Bugaboos-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ShHYzIg25zzbfjeHEB_wAp0kmBO_Q5PayJHBEk_2cDgkNVDZ94sEbnBshkJot46koKj4oG4OdeIsNgQvqmM_hczqoWh7q9McJxMOupcQcDvEyYdJ5lOPPME0Fb-XavtSSdsreUKJirw/s320/Bugaboos-9.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simon stepping off the belay into a perfect 25m hands to fingers splitter. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwJ0D24G0jE50rMAG1aL_Be7rWi66d9yNAHxyuQzKiCNUItWHu-I-PYTkyM4_bVxm5Wub5WRgk_5ZwGoPYK3_J4zXNmMlxSVALHNX3P4dQTJDF3CyC1SvombrOY57h4b1TvoFoZfo-qY/s1600/Bugaboos-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwJ0D24G0jE50rMAG1aL_Be7rWi66d9yNAHxyuQzKiCNUItWHu-I-PYTkyM4_bVxm5Wub5WRgk_5ZwGoPYK3_J4zXNmMlxSVALHNX3P4dQTJDF3CyC1SvombrOY57h4b1TvoFoZfo-qY/s320/Bugaboos-12.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pitch 6 was a sustained 55m 4" crack, luckily it wasn't overhanging. Even with 3 number 4 Camelots it was still runout. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5uFrqcGXnCm1lQprlpuzP5r6_gn97UzHmxstHfw8_hEp2Y0_7q1-fpYisJAhEE3T3UCy80xVq1HVWZtnKu5Z9YUz3UAg9sCeT6xyaRjMldee_k_-EVkfqq0brgdnZAQ5OKS0w9ZeohlE/s1600/Bugaboos-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5uFrqcGXnCm1lQprlpuzP5r6_gn97UzHmxstHfw8_hEp2Y0_7q1-fpYisJAhEE3T3UCy80xVq1HVWZtnKu5Z9YUz3UAg9sCeT6xyaRjMldee_k_-EVkfqq0brgdnZAQ5OKS0w9ZeohlE/s320/Bugaboos-16.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stepping left into the crux second pitch of Sendero Norte. A stiff .12+ which is often wet at the crux. <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: SM</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZGK8vKmN5_WcfkgiL_0frN_4XpS3AN9ZNXBBBfXizWZ-X4WhGzAeLnzhp9ePbVZyXgrhEU2aYnSUiFnQFPQl0jN29R9aMhIk-CoB7lNq5K1DXlobvEIj85zRzmBK2Lp4VwI1ypQNorM/s1600/Bugaboos-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZGK8vKmN5_WcfkgiL_0frN_4XpS3AN9ZNXBBBfXizWZ-X4WhGzAeLnzhp9ePbVZyXgrhEU2aYnSUiFnQFPQl0jN29R9aMhIk-CoB7lNq5K1DXlobvEIj85zRzmBK2Lp4VwI1ypQNorM/s320/Bugaboos-18.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Climbing the Split Pillar of the east (Pitch 4). A spectacular 5.10 hands to fingers layback. As <a href="http://vertical-unlimited.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html">Gery Unterasinger</a> said" one of the better granite pitches in the 5.10 range in Canada"<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: SM</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_4OFPIvern5QNPHraPsvqNsHo8JQ_o0dQCobtYqVIzGtEU0NrkJXTgtU3CaM1qvR1JDL7Z6tiWccPvOS5d-9hgrMiYL3-frzAN7pLtade_wF9ljlu5v1Wa_36DXR1ty6Kmrnhd3FzNA/s1600/Bugaboos-24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_4OFPIvern5QNPHraPsvqNsHo8JQ_o0dQCobtYqVIzGtEU0NrkJXTgtU3CaM1qvR1JDL7Z6tiWccPvOS5d-9hgrMiYL3-frzAN7pLtade_wF9ljlu5v1Wa_36DXR1ty6Kmrnhd3FzNA/s320/Bugaboos-24.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second crux of the 7th pitch on Labyrinth. A slab dyno just below the belay. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpPqkRXJSjaWf2JlJA6_yv8u3vliucrI2qu2iEfh7fSlwAYO7Os9EIWiP0h9KwLTMMyOL4ZkNbDSoTbfnlIvRdtBnzml8EfjbHh_JJ3Y8OlXzjOMWfjmvlJb9aS5ObD8K6F5eY4Y9POA/s1600/Bugaboos-23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpPqkRXJSjaWf2JlJA6_yv8u3vliucrI2qu2iEfh7fSlwAYO7Os9EIWiP0h9KwLTMMyOL4ZkNbDSoTbfnlIvRdtBnzml8EfjbHh_JJ3Y8OlXzjOMWfjmvlJb9aS5ObD8K6F5eY4Y9POA/s320/Bugaboos-23.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pitch 3 on Labyrinth, a spectacular .12a overhanging fat fingers splitter.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: SM</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Le9CRpdSfA6felpqGyP-lbuFWpJd3wW7C6ZcekYSyPoToBQD2fZqUV4StDeekdKIjx2VetvU-Inu9-Ax8AJqerCZrHFySsf3IfiamyKetNM_s43fc1Jdics6SLnP6Te2S2XbyNtfGyc/s1600/Bugaboos-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Le9CRpdSfA6felpqGyP-lbuFWpJd3wW7C6ZcekYSyPoToBQD2fZqUV4StDeekdKIjx2VetvU-Inu9-Ax8AJqerCZrHFySsf3IfiamyKetNM_s43fc1Jdics6SLnP6Te2S2XbyNtfGyc/s320/Bugaboos-20.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simon Meis and me topping out late in the pm after another day of cragging.</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_2015258550"></span><span id="goog_2015258551"></span>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-43524018325034510682011-08-03T18:11:00.009-06:002011-08-04T00:14:07.567-06:00North Face of Mt Temple, Greenwood/Locke<iframe frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/27267883?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500"></iframe><br />
On Aug 2nd, Crosby Johnston and I climbed the North Face of Mt. Temple aka the 'Eiger of the Rockies'. There is no doubt that the Greenwood/Locke is a "must do" as stated in the Selected Alpine Climbs and I was psyched to do it with a long time climbing partner.<br />
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Crosby is usually a coastal rate, often found grunting up Squamish test pieces or swimming with the seals while kite boarding. He rarely finds himself swinging those medieval-looking-thingies, we call ice tools or pimping up steep limestone. And, I rarely find myself tying in with him but when I do, I know an adventure will ensue. Crosby is currently lurking in the rockies 'training' for the ACMG alpine exam, which usually entails slogging up 'the classics' all while practising the dark art of guiding. I convinced him (easily enough) that training should also include the 'true' rockies classics and that only when you are strung out on a steep and loose limestone face can you discover the secrets of the dark arts. <br />
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<b>Strategy:</b><br />
We started the day in Canmore, leaving at 3am. After an hour of fast hiking we arrived at the snow cone below the Dolphin (1900m @ 5:15am) . We soloed most of the lower face, roping up just before the first traverse right below the second icefield (I only had aluminum crampons which I would regret). It took us just under 2 hrs to arrive at the first rock band. We started the technical climbing while donning gloves, crampons and ice tools. A beautiful ice runnel in the back of a chimney presented itself half way up the first pitch. One of the best I have ever climbed in the alpine. One 60m pitch brought us to the base of the 'prominent ledge' that traverses the face. We found good ice screw placements on the traverse contrary to the guide book description. After gaining the rock buttress we climbed 6 pitches to reach the top (with a little simul-climbing of course). We climbed all the pitches free with light boots but I would recommend having rock shoes if you are not comfortable climbing 5.10. The rock climbing was aesthetic and had plenty of good protection. Only the last pitch was really loose (in relation to Rockies standards) but there was still good pro.<br />
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<b>Gear:</b><br />
<br />
<ul><li>1 x single 60m rope</li>
<li>1 x 6 mm tag line</li>
<li>Single rack (00-#2 Camelots) </li>
<li>12 x quick draws (which include 4 long runners)</li>
<li>3 x ice screws</li>
<li>2 technical tools </li>
<li>Crampons (aluminum crampons didn't work very well)</li>
<li>Rock shoes (we didn't use ours)</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQX9_lWB1_yJtbbSFAD6Pq1ThpdFhoTfA8QPFw1apEB98Jnqx28WWTJc97DtlOQe1fqlD3xPwvAzqkrY7WxwtOWTGh1_iX_UyzEm52m4IGVF1OVoWk6dfTDy2lyfozKt5OPPDeU6iHJ8/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQX9_lWB1_yJtbbSFAD6Pq1ThpdFhoTfA8QPFw1apEB98Jnqx28WWTJc97DtlOQe1fqlD3xPwvAzqkrY7WxwtOWTGh1_iX_UyzEm52m4IGVF1OVoWk6dfTDy2lyfozKt5OPPDeU6iHJ8/s320/Greenwood-Locke-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Annette in the early morning.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhBW68cDY2i2PuvxNSK0Pkdd3KA412wI0ZkGlN_opeWsyz89Y-1uK_ay_VB7WyfwBGOfUXiD1bITdA_xV9FLz4U5Vt2X01mE7ZH-WCRahXkoFetfqa8Qo-1OsXvB4EDB8Oqx27vijoS4/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhBW68cDY2i2PuvxNSK0Pkdd3KA412wI0ZkGlN_opeWsyz89Y-1uK_ay_VB7WyfwBGOfUXiD1bITdA_xV9FLz4U5Vt2X01mE7ZH-WCRahXkoFetfqa8Qo-1OsXvB4EDB8Oqx27vijoS4/s320/Greenwood-Locke-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crosby marching up the 'right hand' gully as the sun rises on the seracs above. It took us 2 hrs to climb to the base of the technical climbing.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_D2cgdcjduGIJjS1q67-0Qlfnm6BvVMsyPvYgBiDBeMD206ngPZ17VUuLvd9Row_eIsVA_AGsu6AJwkoq5gzCQwhZPEy1eQE6wGc8W3SSvXWqlIBqsgD_BtwDvs3G2AX8LVpucde6jJw/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_D2cgdcjduGIJjS1q67-0Qlfnm6BvVMsyPvYgBiDBeMD206ngPZ17VUuLvd9Row_eIsVA_AGsu6AJwkoq5gzCQwhZPEy1eQE6wGc8W3SSvXWqlIBqsgD_BtwDvs3G2AX8LVpucde6jJw/s320/Greenwood-Locke-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Topping out above the 'Dolphin' </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7zDHhTd5hGDAFfkOnUX2VJ7_2MGjuN-HhoovG7SIqV0cZ9lKJVBZmx01Ofmo6-tk-sSUKUYtIrczFryKdWb_VZF5YklimNhCIndRRvzo_tUBjFkSCTx2wdjewFhgp6Z1uOWT7TLsrRo/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7zDHhTd5hGDAFfkOnUX2VJ7_2MGjuN-HhoovG7SIqV0cZ9lKJVBZmx01Ofmo6-tk-sSUKUYtIrczFryKdWb_VZF5YklimNhCIndRRvzo_tUBjFkSCTx2wdjewFhgp6Z1uOWT7TLsrRo/s320/Greenwood-Locke-4.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traversing right at the top of the first snow field. This small section of ice is the only ice we climbed on the snow fields. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0TB7sTSeHaiYxhrjKtlVX1ZBYQAFtR9cKintuW1CzEWe4x2X3FFN90eLokuSbaSLbNpABtYHuJivtMzIvL0xu9-jzMeVBhtmc0wdWqvV8MO4C2tgQoK9GdlbPqHpJSbDNsFijvwZDbw/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0TB7sTSeHaiYxhrjKtlVX1ZBYQAFtR9cKintuW1CzEWe4x2X3FFN90eLokuSbaSLbNpABtYHuJivtMzIvL0xu9-jzMeVBhtmc0wdWqvV8MO4C2tgQoK9GdlbPqHpJSbDNsFijvwZDbw/s320/Greenwood-Locke-6.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Croby 'the Cosmonaut' Johnston </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zo6_It55vVOhd1S7tgMrgOI9D4xYk64I9YQJibkbUpefkPR6vHtrQsPHbt8Wka3t9GsDka2UbsEMHDExfTrSTyBZhy83hyphenhyphenCAnXdpEr_13uZH9FBnyoWKQoOpYJTUa_nU6vyNoz0FTGI/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zo6_It55vVOhd1S7tgMrgOI9D4xYk64I9YQJibkbUpefkPR6vHtrQsPHbt8Wka3t9GsDka2UbsEMHDExfTrSTyBZhy83hyphenhyphenCAnXdpEr_13uZH9FBnyoWKQoOpYJTUa_nU6vyNoz0FTGI/s320/Greenwood-Locke-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traversing left towards the rock buttress on the 'prominent ledge' that crosses the face. Notice the large amount of rock fall in the snow. This is probably the most dangerous place on the face for rockfall hazard. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcHY6UkqFZSzp-XNnd0CLrW500EdI6XY4zIUC7fKrH3I9N-nNmSGuJLZlJ37huyPkpXqe2dbSjQ6XHR5vjfMXwxJE9HycOr_dT_5lEOk9oxDu1V1Vh9GPaOa5QK-hRAZkwi7KTQQYcfg/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcHY6UkqFZSzp-XNnd0CLrW500EdI6XY4zIUC7fKrH3I9N-nNmSGuJLZlJ37huyPkpXqe2dbSjQ6XHR5vjfMXwxJE9HycOr_dT_5lEOk9oxDu1V1Vh9GPaOa5QK-hRAZkwi7KTQQYcfg/s320/Greenwood-Locke-8.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at the first pitch of rock climbing on the buttress. A previous team had chopped out a bivy site on the snow fin below. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgqsc8ppEsIA1ZjOxtuiCe8MlsX_EucdOxUIqpjXljyBSSHGpHkmPr09ONPAXo-ceqm-XaNx2ZRtxRvbsFcG4ICtW8OxxXar_Had5Hxbk6dm8aCtMI1HcOpc9UClVoaybsWs6C4d2Oe8/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgqsc8ppEsIA1ZjOxtuiCe8MlsX_EucdOxUIqpjXljyBSSHGpHkmPr09ONPAXo-ceqm-XaNx2ZRtxRvbsFcG4ICtW8OxxXar_Had5Hxbk6dm8aCtMI1HcOpc9UClVoaybsWs6C4d2Oe8/s320/Greenwood-Locke-9.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crosby starting the 4th pitch, a little loose but with good pro. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPhjIb8edscNn24-0XjHb50sd_Angs47kYgv6GSa8yPi5rn2vNoEy74tKYgHJ5HWz3NawZ_GPDOInL1gCiUmSlElGuTTt0l9_JuxSoxMfiPaPg1mGp-4a8O0203bqfBDEEdvpxIOaewE/s1600/Greenwood-Locke-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPhjIb8edscNn24-0XjHb50sd_Angs47kYgv6GSa8yPi5rn2vNoEy74tKYgHJ5HWz3NawZ_GPDOInL1gCiUmSlElGuTTt0l9_JuxSoxMfiPaPg1mGp-4a8O0203bqfBDEEdvpxIOaewE/s320/Greenwood-Locke-10.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crosby stepping right on the 6th pitch. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com5Lake Louise, AB T0L, Canada51.4168949 -116.2129820000000151.309838400000004 -116.4464415 51.5239514 -115.97952250000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-79715023659402038442011-07-13T12:05:00.005-06:002011-07-13T16:47:00.304-06:00Common Knowledge on the Washburn face<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/26363232?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="520"></iframe></div><br />
It was day 18 of the trip. We had just spent 3 days sleeping and eating copious amounts, trying to recover from our ascent of the <a href="http://Cassin Ridge.">Cassin Ridge.</a> Our base camp friends had all left and the 14000 ft camp was starting to feel abandoned. The snow walls fortifying our tent were drooping and looked more like ruins that would tumble over in the next breeze. We where starting to feel the pull of civilization, but we where also feeling like we needed to climb again to make the trip complete.<br />
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We woke up at 3am after a restless night. The temperature was -20c and we moved slowly. I could feel the hesitation in both our movements. At any moment if either one of us would have expressed doubts, we would have went back to bed. We pushed through the discomfort and packed our bags.<br />
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We left the security of our shelter and leaned into a cold, and relentless wind. We had a four hour descent ahead of us, with ample opportunities to justify a retreat. Once again we forged forward, without talking or looking each other in the eyes. The lack of motivation to continue was like a thick haze, I was wondering when it would clear. I got my answer when we made a long, overhanging rappel above the bergshrund.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMk9ZIJ2kGfy98qQGJVGLesmCRWsRTv19dN07vvqb4qJCfx74cyZEWR-2VHdrvI7UUDxfUdmWpiax7bLazV10VO-Kit7fTFLVbd7Vg5bJk7WHTUqojccm4cSss3SSsPMCyV3exnEUVH6k/s1600/blog-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMk9ZIJ2kGfy98qQGJVGLesmCRWsRTv19dN07vvqb4qJCfx74cyZEWR-2VHdrvI7UUDxfUdmWpiax7bLazV10VO-Kit7fTFLVbd7Vg5bJk7WHTUqojccm4cSss3SSsPMCyV3exnEUVH6k/s320/blog-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Raphael descending below some small but intimidating seracs. It took 4 hours to get from 14000 ft camp to the Peter's Gl.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2c-5bYDd3KU5c0u8y249neVa3VoAUVeYfZFHiB3joB8gswfvsKfoHtDUvqOnGm-DQBYHCiH3Ei_b6w3DiZTOt9tm33HQr_Isb1L6wQShrq5MNVsBt_vqBEc4O7Ay_8G6C2cjm892K9w/s1600/blog-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2c-5bYDd3KU5c0u8y249neVa3VoAUVeYfZFHiB3joB8gswfvsKfoHtDUvqOnGm-DQBYHCiH3Ei_b6w3DiZTOt9tm33HQr_Isb1L6wQShrq5MNVsBt_vqBEc4O7Ay_8G6C2cjm892K9w/s320/blog-2.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The route Common Knowledge marked in red. The lower half of the route is 1100m long and the upper (where the line goes right) is 1000m long. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>The route <a href="http://c498469.r69.cf2.rackcdn.com/2002/108_mahoney_shadows_aaj2002.pdf">Common Knowledge</a> presented itself in front of us. A thousand one hundred meters of ice climbing (up to grade WI6) would lead to the upper face. From there we would have to slog through fresh snow (at times 85 cm deep) for one thousand meters! We soloed a large majority of the lower face and then roped up for four pitches including 2 pitches of simul-climbing. Raphael, being the stronger climber took the lead for most of the technical portions. I was disappointed I was not leading more of the harder pitches but this feeling fizzled when the midnight sun dipped below the horizon and the 'summit' slopes rose indefinitely above me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmPoJgZn_5M8cbc6qBIPxdAvYe9iU0Q_rD-E1rIV8UoNMNhH9dEskvWpM-m8ii-DqT9cEIubN0esShzRhLBXT21Chc3w7DymA5-8OfZNg9GFANh87U6A27VljFRQs3Pv9m-o3oTflcV00/s1600/blog-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmPoJgZn_5M8cbc6qBIPxdAvYe9iU0Q_rD-E1rIV8UoNMNhH9dEskvWpM-m8ii-DqT9cEIubN0esShzRhLBXT21Chc3w7DymA5-8OfZNg9GFANh87U6A27VljFRQs3Pv9m-o3oTflcV00/s320/blog-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raphael S. gettin amongst it on the Candelabra pitch. He place 4 pieces of marginal rock gear over 30m of climbing. A bold lead.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GFvQAvrB-79cssDqwhFR1WVHLQS8RU9QTR9hz09Fo83xM1ryYcRyj0d6sA71kAwuPTn9YBxXob4UizURz8XtbUqGSV6KY9yquAHKqzBav5v2X1BRGEDtn28acC19J39ovVE-L1ED-DI/s1600/blog-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GFvQAvrB-79cssDqwhFR1WVHLQS8RU9QTR9hz09Fo83xM1ryYcRyj0d6sA71kAwuPTn9YBxXob4UizURz8XtbUqGSV6KY9yquAHKqzBav5v2X1BRGEDtn28acC19J39ovVE-L1ED-DI/s320/blog-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The waterfall ice pitch and the last of the steep ice climbing. As the first ascentionist said "...a pitch of WI 4 that would be more at home in Crawford Notch, NH, than at 14,000 feet on Denali". </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hour 24 came and went and my body started to shut down. I barley had enough energy to keep my fingers and toes warm or for that matter, move upwards. Raphael continued on above. With a bitting wind pushing from the east and arctic temperatures, stopping was not an option. Once he saw me nearing the summit he quickly disappeared, traversing towards the fixed lines. A thick windslab slowed my progress as I was approaching the crest of the face. His steps had already blown in and I was re-breaking the trail. I would look back at my steps and disappointment would rob any hope I had left. I was completely empty. My blood was dry, my body was cold, my mind was transparent and my consciousness was now looking down at me. I laboured through, knowing that I only had one option.<br />
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Once I started traversing the west buttress towards the fixed lines I thought I was ok, but this was a false sense of security. Until I was in my sleeping bag I wouldn't be able to stop. At one point, I remember turning my back to the wind and while standing there, trying to get some rest, I closed my eyes and fell asleep. When I opened them I had the same adrenaline rush as you get while falling asleep behind the wheel. This was a sobering feeling and i was starkly reminded of my situation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivlT7B7HXKipU7cZ10T3SjoAMi2lRqfspyaj_JTEfjQAuT_w5xuWjqBciHKxAZi5ZmjQjS8mypTiz4hAB4_maQBRhaZRU-fNjLXmV_c3sIax6SUyxdqIDI77ioyYfVIFA7iaxXUt-RQkw/s1600/blog-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivlT7B7HXKipU7cZ10T3SjoAMi2lRqfspyaj_JTEfjQAuT_w5xuWjqBciHKxAZi5ZmjQjS8mypTiz4hAB4_maQBRhaZRU-fNjLXmV_c3sIax6SUyxdqIDI77ioyYfVIFA7iaxXUt-RQkw/s320/blog-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raph slogging up avalanche prone slopes. At times there was 85cm of snow to break trail through, slowing our progress to a snails pace. At this point I think I told Raph we should go one at a time, just in case. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwupW2LceFpuvDuMK8niZdDrWBlfwxdtFZ5cvRZHuPLa25916gTvlmsIcycPifBvfqFtOE5q0ZveBmb04cetCMST2OlApTOLTmqiHxpFvQbvBEdFlzsB6izkCJwUxhw_iiSO3LafBBVrA/s1600/blog-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwupW2LceFpuvDuMK8niZdDrWBlfwxdtFZ5cvRZHuPLa25916gTvlmsIcycPifBvfqFtOE5q0ZveBmb04cetCMST2OlApTOLTmqiHxpFvQbvBEdFlzsB6izkCJwUxhw_iiSO3LafBBVrA/s320/blog-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last rays of the sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I arrived to a quiet camp, 26 hours after leaving. My exhaustion was complete and so was the trip.<br />
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For a complete description of the ascent check out <a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/">Raphael Slawinski's blog</a>, he did a great job telling the story.<br />
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We would like to thank <a href="http://www.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp">MEC</a> for there generous support via their <a href="http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302887950#">Expedition Support Program</a>.Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0Denali Wilderness within Denali National Park, Denali Park, Rte 3, McKinley Park, AK 99755, USA63.1148002 -151.1926058000000262.224474699999995 -153.24600530000004 64.0051257 -149.1392063tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-79759796377581413442011-07-06T11:50:00.014-06:002011-07-13T16:40:51.827-06:00Cassin Ridge in Under 24 hrs<iframe frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/26046094?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500"></iframe><br />
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<b>Denali 2011: Spring Chicken Road Trip</b><br />
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Our trip to Denali started on June 4th. We left Calgary early on a Saturday morning and by Sunday evening we were setting up our tent below the spectacular north buttress of Mt. Hunter. It was quite the shock, especially since I had just returned from the <a href="http://vimeo.com/24505224">Utah desert</a>.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This was my first trip to the Alaska Range but <a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/">Raphael Slawinski's</a> forth, so I followed his lead in strategy and style. Our original objective was to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">attempt the Denali Diamond</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> on the southwest face but conditions were ill suited for an attempt, so we diverted our energies to the uber-classic Cassin Ridge</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. After 14 days of travel, acclimatization and many days of resting we got the weather window to start climbing. Our strategy for the route was to do it as a day climb. A committing but simple style. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">One of my goals on this trip was to collect enough video footage to piece together a few shorts. This was a difficult feat while trying to keep up with Raphael. Many times, I found myself getting frustrated because I was only getting ass-shots. The other added challenges were the extreme cold, 'high altitude lassitude' and the style of the accent that we were committing to. But somehow I managed to collect enough. You can watch the video of the <a href="http://vimeo.com/26046094">Cassin in Under 24</a> here or on my <a href="http://vimeo.com/26046094">Vimeo site</a>. Also, for a complete account of the our accent of the Cassin, check out <a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/">Raphael's blog</a></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XZn2LlV2JfeXA3RDlxW_kw7UaB6rBT7WokZcAy2RUSFdhYqkOvcJ88nBokOdj6J-1C9gSHfalsLpi6lrSZVIqDA90D5AoBu_8QK9Fe0oygKcEvReif-zSlO-XI8R9Y-B4DnzJkBP0ao/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XZn2LlV2JfeXA3RDlxW_kw7UaB6rBT7WokZcAy2RUSFdhYqkOvcJ88nBokOdj6J-1C9gSHfalsLpi6lrSZVIqDA90D5AoBu_8QK9Fe0oygKcEvReif-zSlO-XI8R9Y-B4DnzJkBP0ao/s320/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XZn2LlV2JfeXA3RDlxW_kw7UaB6rBT7WokZcAy2RUSFdhYqkOvcJ88nBokOdj6J-1C9gSHfalsLpi6lrSZVIqDA90D5AoBu_8QK9Fe0oygKcEvReif-zSlO-XI8R9Y-B4DnzJkBP0ao/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Arriving at the airstrip below Mt. Hunter. The usual chaos as disoriented climbers arrive and exhausted climbers leave.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2dPVSe42hzT-uR8EYdYbjTnJ-1EVr2SXdkXfYTn9mu_ZWXGWzY-LaUNPtIc3HFXe0OfUIVaVNUycOG1frT_Bv1dWjQEIlXiocTx8oMtP4Juu634d6eUa2NZl5IyyEKMemVMqM25Jsl4/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2dPVSe42hzT-uR8EYdYbjTnJ-1EVr2SXdkXfYTn9mu_ZWXGWzY-LaUNPtIc3HFXe0OfUIVaVNUycOG1frT_Bv1dWjQEIlXiocTx8oMtP4Juu634d6eUa2NZl5IyyEKMemVMqM25Jsl4/s320/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2dPVSe42hzT-uR8EYdYbjTnJ-1EVr2SXdkXfYTn9mu_ZWXGWzY-LaUNPtIc3HFXe0OfUIVaVNUycOG1frT_Bv1dWjQEIlXiocTx8oMtP4Juu634d6eUa2NZl5IyyEKMemVMqM25Jsl4/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">A rare site in AK, the moon traversing the horizon above the two summits of Mt. Hunter.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ80T1Fu59do-7RB4fnCOC4a26M_ipqRjtr2J_MU-q_LcdWg0P7CsfUNgYmGD3mHEPgJqdS2-tpv7uJnq2z2BJYrnd1U-Tp57fWDSRjcQbHXfKyOaWoTvWt-u8NyhVUYShPPDtdNNcoVE/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ80T1Fu59do-7RB4fnCOC4a26M_ipqRjtr2J_MU-q_LcdWg0P7CsfUNgYmGD3mHEPgJqdS2-tpv7uJnq2z2BJYrnd1U-Tp57fWDSRjcQbHXfKyOaWoTvWt-u8NyhVUYShPPDtdNNcoVE/s320/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-5.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Dropping down the West-Rib cutoff. The Cassin Ridge starts via the Japanese couloir at the right of the image. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPE5gz6rsqaFu2B0nwJlRxjRwHwNISxDyKey5JQWcKioH_GYWyVQFzzrgKo409_xpLtrVSN2hBneqwolXDi5QDhcBoE7Ha7gjlXTR4yXDxPu7YZIpcuyqguj_M22FdeKiNX7JPRdHpIog/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPE5gz6rsqaFu2B0nwJlRxjRwHwNISxDyKey5JQWcKioH_GYWyVQFzzrgKo409_xpLtrVSN2hBneqwolXDi5QDhcBoE7Ha7gjlXTR4yXDxPu7YZIpcuyqguj_M22FdeKiNX7JPRdHpIog/s320/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Raphael leading out above the Japanese couloir. We roped up for the first portion of the climb (up to the Hanging Glacier) but then removed the rope for the remainder of the climb. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhPcZt_ncAO1f1j0bG4LJSfDsB4YfUsOfVpgsVTMQ4hsrcwjOdacWEcExxFRVWB3YO7RYYjN5ZmL9FoO6zLPte9exVPW1RICSgiou71Lt7npOBimK1tSjJxiqJSBFMbH2i3ym8yOgVf4/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhPcZt_ncAO1f1j0bG4LJSfDsB4YfUsOfVpgsVTMQ4hsrcwjOdacWEcExxFRVWB3YO7RYYjN5ZmL9FoO6zLPte9exVPW1RICSgiou71Lt7npOBimK1tSjJxiqJSBFMbH2i3ym8yOgVf4/s320/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Raphael climbing through the 1st rock band. Lots of low angle terrain with short steps of mixed climbing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGA11b7yec_oQfv4pt_fqBp56mQfYxIXMwN7QgMCu5IEJ1F7qTbapVQWYfc1Mis16cjvjWs7RPqHFpMqvkRPfohe2CcFz3ony5vUlqr-G5cuc0mLhig7wWo3G2G0md09Jg8va3jHNXbQ/s1600/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGA11b7yec_oQfv4pt_fqBp56mQfYxIXMwN7QgMCu5IEJ1F7qTbapVQWYfc1Mis16cjvjWs7RPqHFpMqvkRPfohe2CcFz3ony5vUlqr-G5cuc0mLhig7wWo3G2G0md09Jg8va3jHNXbQ/s320/Skyladder_JLPhoto-1-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Hour 16.5. Don't look too deeply into Raphael's eyes, he might remove your soul!</span></div></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">We would like to thank Mountain Equipment Co-op for their generous support via the </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302887950">Expedition Support program</a></span><br />
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</span></span>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-1044915971266620382011-06-01T15:42:00.002-06:002011-07-13T16:38:17.478-06:00Indian Creek<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24505224?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500"></iframe></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I just returned from my annual pilgrimage to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Indian Creek and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> the Utah d<span id="goog_1371100309"></span><span id="goog_1371100310"></span>esert. This was my sixth trip to the 'Creek' and it still fills me with the same awe and wonder as the first time. The physical climbing, desert climate and dirtbag living all seem to purify the body and soul. I usually leave broken and bruised and this trip was no different.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Balance, that's the secret. Moderate extremism</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">" </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Edward Abbey</span></span></b></span></b></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa9kxyjrFoq0CgLX628pfSAbvjRa0heldT8TmwuuecOWZ4gBTZUXogKOLv0VNDPWPWlhanjYzOqRGnWdJ3Ond-elXwnm-_4_nVRYxQoUi509jsBlUt1jSG4BRLI5jRKBob-eFqbJ_S3s/s1600/Indian+Creek-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa9kxyjrFoq0CgLX628pfSAbvjRa0heldT8TmwuuecOWZ4gBTZUXogKOLv0VNDPWPWlhanjYzOqRGnWdJ3Ond-elXwnm-_4_nVRYxQoUi509jsBlUt1jSG4BRLI5jRKBob-eFqbJ_S3s/s320/Indian+Creek-27.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></span></span></b></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa9kxyjrFoq0CgLX628pfSAbvjRa0heldT8TmwuuecOWZ4gBTZUXogKOLv0VNDPWPWlhanjYzOqRGnWdJ3Ond-elXwnm-_4_nVRYxQoUi509jsBlUt1jSG4BRLI5jRKBob-eFqbJ_S3s/s1600/Indian+Creek-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></span></span></b></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">All Photos By: Joshua Lavigne</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rf3TIZwJI-m_gOrhOYkePT27WR5pLEMvFp1utQdvmM-GGPCeCWAkU9EHwmA9A6xbWRb5_09ixIGacjmI-Op0F7JRPtVRvhbg1Oest0V8pOgN6q0WqRb_m1cS95HXACZBf0BEh3DGgyg/s1600/Indian+Creek-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rf3TIZwJI-m_gOrhOYkePT27WR5pLEMvFp1utQdvmM-GGPCeCWAkU9EHwmA9A6xbWRb5_09ixIGacjmI-Op0F7JRPtVRvhbg1Oest0V8pOgN6q0WqRb_m1cS95HXACZBf0BEh3DGgyg/s320/Indian+Creek-9.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Heading home</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDw-eTfsOJpnGbQdIynV2zgqNeDv4HWZjWp5S3GNCiVi8wvL5LtomFq8BtId9xfsKaK8F4iJfBGGMEzeeIuPJkSQo0vd3Rjnud8XOX-731GW_i97CZBcSGc_FPUhi7fMFZ_KakPhBd_s/s1600/Indian+Creek-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDw-eTfsOJpnGbQdIynV2zgqNeDv4HWZjWp5S3GNCiVi8wvL5LtomFq8BtId9xfsKaK8F4iJfBGGMEzeeIuPJkSQo0vd3Rjnud8XOX-731GW_i97CZBcSGc_FPUhi7fMFZ_KakPhBd_s/s320/Indian+Creek-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Delano enjoying 'the crack' a little too much.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM4Gr6w_vIxmpIS_K2itV940RxeftQIRR7_9AolgjXM2Oe97Lw9XgvelWYEBhVMNCpiSttmdNz5QZrpMOOq7RTcdgYJmcFZvU-_7-9WGUEE1DGNuNTZ2YX2J5wOcorKOCW5eUUvvwYksk/s1600/Indian+Creek-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM4Gr6w_vIxmpIS_K2itV940RxeftQIRR7_9AolgjXM2Oe97Lw9XgvelWYEBhVMNCpiSttmdNz5QZrpMOOq7RTcdgYJmcFZvU-_7-9WGUEE1DGNuNTZ2YX2J5wOcorKOCW5eUUvvwYksk/s320/Indian+Creek-13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Lydia Marmont hiking the uber-classic 'Scarface'<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOwSrG5f4d-GVcnQQk-wICwR6dl5-SzBfBJ3mUTYUni_HP4CEBvaooiy9Ew43xElt17uJY_IeADBZL4Uy1qmB1W2YDoG20a7L49qgdPzow2H4LM7GpzejEL9B9VV2ZzUW9SImnHgAga8/s1600/Indian+Creek-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOwSrG5f4d-GVcnQQk-wICwR6dl5-SzBfBJ3mUTYUni_HP4CEBvaooiy9Ew43xElt17uJY_IeADBZL4Uy1qmB1W2YDoG20a7L49qgdPzow2H4LM7GpzejEL9B9VV2ZzUW9SImnHgAga8/s320/Indian+Creek-20.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The standard 'Creek' tape job. Day 1<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeE_CMGxE2OJ3mt3J54FIGsiqGkGr-oWZdVdgyVuELh2Lj2cyUsxjxobPNnG6d72WXvF-KnZwF6Y5qQj3ITrFboLVDpEbNTbCDXrQkE0829cyQpqxKVIL8E0ipMY1Tqf0-MTOTdnftU1M/s1600/Indian+Creek-38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeE_CMGxE2OJ3mt3J54FIGsiqGkGr-oWZdVdgyVuELh2Lj2cyUsxjxobPNnG6d72WXvF-KnZwF6Y5qQj3ITrFboLVDpEbNTbCDXrQkE0829cyQpqxKVIL8E0ipMY1Tqf0-MTOTdnftU1M/s320/Indian+Creek-38.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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Delano Lavigne trying hard to make his hands fit. Sometimes smaller is better!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPNwhnmbJUlF_HfbwVSa0shvHsLPmCzJLE062lj2Q-vxKDQ66pd8PsHv495Cs59FFdXWPLdydUDFcQPtNjbktTYr_vxs6fCdKjgBN1bxYX8TYNA_BFg27iXC0gCmsl68gv192lQwz0BE/s1600/Indian+Creek-45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPNwhnmbJUlF_HfbwVSa0shvHsLPmCzJLE062lj2Q-vxKDQ66pd8PsHv495Cs59FFdXWPLdydUDFcQPtNjbktTYr_vxs6fCdKjgBN1bxYX8TYNA_BFg27iXC0gCmsl68gv192lQwz0BE/s320/Indian+Creek-45.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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Lydia Marmont enjoying splitter thin hands.<br />
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</span></b></span></b></span></div></div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-61911793697849863082011-05-03T22:52:00.004-06:002011-07-13T16:36:12.131-06:00Tsunami 300m M5, WI5+<iframe frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/23246549?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500"></iframe><br />
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After a long winter of skiing I've finally had enough. I put the misery sticks away and sharpened the ice tools. <a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/">Raphael Slawinski</a> and I made plans to go check out an alpine ice line that had caught his eye. He had scoped the line while climbing the classic mixed route<a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/2011/04/twelve-years-later.html"> Rocket Man</a>. It is located just to the right of the iconic route Riptide in the spectacular cirque below Mt. Patterson .<br />
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At first glance it looks like it is threatened by seracs but up close they seem fairly benign. We climbed the route in 6 pitches. To access the ice we climbed 3 very alpine like pitches with thin ice and scrappy mixed climbing. Once we were established on the ice, three sustained pitches brought us to the top of the seracs.<br />
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An amazing day out and a classic alpine ice route!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdmLflikn_F5jsC4Df1nGd1oLE12iOKah7AScZ7eMi0sv71_AVegclXj3YjbJO6I2N0CkB_CKKrrPAD679WHmRhHs3bLb7RWHr8b-63irNJ97MfthUAUXIIzKMXm1yK30GsxZFFvxBTU/s1600/IMG_4486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdmLflikn_F5jsC4Df1nGd1oLE12iOKah7AScZ7eMi0sv71_AVegclXj3YjbJO6I2N0CkB_CKKrrPAD679WHmRhHs3bLb7RWHr8b-63irNJ97MfthUAUXIIzKMXm1yK30GsxZFFvxBTU/s320/IMG_4486.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Raphael Slawinski</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"></span> Climbing the <a href="http://vimeo.com/11445498">Riptide</a> approach gully with the climb to the right</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjtDT7lNgn29abcwA9TtXBp07sX7Lu-cAPt8YmfvIEoviCEcJR659x7dNR0uzSlFH1S6OQAS3PCXHWPliEGqbNV-MOu_I47bb3chvmOoo7gOLdH3xATrG63ir0RWxAPZc0fHfhk7DCDw/s1600/IMG_4495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjtDT7lNgn29abcwA9TtXBp07sX7Lu-cAPt8YmfvIEoviCEcJR659x7dNR0uzSlFH1S6OQAS3PCXHWPliEGqbNV-MOu_I47bb3chvmOoo7gOLdH3xATrG63ir0RWxAPZc0fHfhk7DCDw/s320/IMG_4495.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Raphael Slawinski</span> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Traversing out on the second pitch</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1oaWkLEuwEg53HFlDyTb28yiZduoGGTzI-HyIYw1aAIpGNGuy5LoqdawUQhFbyEI-8rN8Xlfio0h1sa6pMKbCwf47ixxhaNYSjQVEbXn5ROK8_C9DjgBIKu-_-MRZxymc0VpHGu1iSnA/s1600/-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1oaWkLEuwEg53HFlDyTb28yiZduoGGTzI-HyIYw1aAIpGNGuy5LoqdawUQhFbyEI-8rN8Xlfio0h1sa6pMKbCwf47ixxhaNYSjQVEbXn5ROK8_C9DjgBIKu-_-MRZxymc0VpHGu1iSnA/s320/-2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="213" /></a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raph couldn't resist the temptation of the chose. Like a bee to honey.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRrKErq1s-mQP86qKgyap27ClENWclPB5WibVNSYyhbtOltyBYXwpAZG6Gc_4IP39W5mR9bFq-nsKXJe3j6f3rua34wngZMXZa2Mzcqs8OqNbU6uiblS37CHcEhEoh-UDxDwOAa85i8o/s1600/IMG_4511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRrKErq1s-mQP86qKgyap27ClENWclPB5WibVNSYyhbtOltyBYXwpAZG6Gc_4IP39W5mR9bFq-nsKXJe3j6f3rua34wngZMXZa2Mzcqs8OqNbU6uiblS37CHcEhEoh-UDxDwOAa85i8o/s320/IMG_4511.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Raphael Slawinski</span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Starting the fourth pitch with some thin ice to spice things up</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6GYge6hel0Aci8BeYqkRUl7_2W7nmlNJxxFomAo2fRGeMhSTEK6h5oaTmZsWhsa2pvq512tIFMuBfQwjpLi-uBsF1yKVOLipMV7npYhhLCUBqDGGagvXjYf4lsb5wlmzHTi7_iKmtA8/s1600/-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6GYge6hel0Aci8BeYqkRUl7_2W7nmlNJxxFomAo2fRGeMhSTEK6h5oaTmZsWhsa2pvq512tIFMuBfQwjpLi-uBsF1yKVOLipMV7npYhhLCUBqDGGagvXjYf4lsb5wlmzHTi7_iKmtA8/s320/-3.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raph taking the lead on the final 2 ice pitches. They call him the professor but he bossed up these ice pitches. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmMAelyHaWNpI4uFcPOI3bBThtNr6VGKcgR_eCy1gG4dfosGbFExGB9mk5pml6GQpNz-AlPkzaxdW0H5xSeDkdxglBxeMjtKhquJckEPyuOE9ZoSusSkN2wgxnpMGYdT5qqyBPdjw_E8/s1600/IMG_4538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmMAelyHaWNpI4uFcPOI3bBThtNr6VGKcgR_eCy1gG4dfosGbFExGB9mk5pml6GQpNz-AlPkzaxdW0H5xSeDkdxglBxeMjtKhquJckEPyuOE9ZoSusSkN2wgxnpMGYdT5qqyBPdjw_E8/s320/IMG_4538.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Raphael Slawinski</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Raph getting creative with the lens. The rope cut through a snow mushroom and I'm trying to squeeze through it.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VvuolIhky8kizqpq_l43pgyu-XWxfznNWMAlo_ZYna1U5-TTIYl6KhX1cW1TS3-s8XI65EDS4W3v2dDnpWM3Bh2pcjHmIn4Kxjb8n4TM00c2_phEptAxkTC04I-yT3y2BMuoT62g7ks/s1600/IMG_4554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VvuolIhky8kizqpq_l43pgyu-XWxfznNWMAlo_ZYna1U5-TTIYl6KhX1cW1TS3-s8XI65EDS4W3v2dDnpWM3Bh2pcjHmIn4Kxjb8n4TM00c2_phEptAxkTC04I-yT3y2BMuoT62g7ks/s320/IMG_4554.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Raphael Slawinski</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Enjoying a moment in the sun after topping out on the seracs. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-45066622100673106442011-03-30T09:51:00.000-06:002011-03-30T09:51:54.723-06:00CMH Galena Week 11-12, "A Guides Perspective"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">My last 2 weeks of work at CMH Galena were some of the best skiing I have ever had. We received over 200 cm of snow, which brought the snow pack to 400 cm. With this much snow the pillow lines and cliff drops were soft and smooth.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />I captured some footage of Hank (77 year old skiing on K2 Pontoons), Jessica (Galena staff veteran of 8 years ) and Charles (CMH U.K. agent). Enjoy!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #645f5e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21518180?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400"></iframe></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/21518180">CMH Galena Week 11-12, "A Guides Perspective"</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</span>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-15086645677555580622011-03-21T23:06:00.003-06:002011-03-21T23:44:59.001-06:00Mixed Climbing in Storm CreekAfter 21 days of ski guiding I was ready to get out and stretch the arms. <a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/">Raphael</a>, Juan and I decided to head up Storm Creek (just up from the Stanley Headwall) to check a couple mixed climbs, Xena (named after Raphael's cat) and Cosban (named after Eamonn Walsh's dog). Two awesome climbs, side by side, decorated with thin ice, featured limestone and natural rock gear. A fantastic day out!<br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/21331801">Check out the short video clip below.</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-EtuGEs-2BNcKRYYl3IRckvctR5vWaHu2bLJLJA_znggz4yqXNbLj-vs-VUPiyFvr-fuRfPUuk2R15xn_-5f6D4_a5H0Ol8PpcnOrBaoPGqaw4hyjgpsvSmhxAjrtbXWvlyD7Z9ghx88/s1600/Resized-1-cpr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-EtuGEs-2BNcKRYYl3IRckvctR5vWaHu2bLJLJA_znggz4yqXNbLj-vs-VUPiyFvr-fuRfPUuk2R15xn_-5f6D4_a5H0Ol8PpcnOrBaoPGqaw4hyjgpsvSmhxAjrtbXWvlyD7Z9ghx88/s320/Resized-1-cpr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Furry needles decorate the trees as we approach Storm Creek</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtWt6v2vM2axwMdxWBlEWqXXsRhmSAxwrRUlfYr2IyuZZUy-Gd_oX9WgAnwgXaEb_38d9vt3u1wU1eXSQq5zU_MlU5RB16_8Uj5541FI1R7qt8bOQ1XM3zUyug9pgABQ6L4FaOAo28kI/s1600/Resized-4-cpr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtWt6v2vM2axwMdxWBlEWqXXsRhmSAxwrRUlfYr2IyuZZUy-Gd_oX9WgAnwgXaEb_38d9vt3u1wU1eXSQq5zU_MlU5RB16_8Uj5541FI1R7qt8bOQ1XM3zUyug9pgABQ6L4FaOAo28kI/s320/Resized-4-cpr.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Juan leading off on the first pitch</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRwaLrXrSDr1OwipeA1yqsjIZcbbZ6yvO0fmzGAubM5Er2E6xKcqZ1laGGT7VCpxK1_utFRhMNAz8PqshrFj4ZYurcRsTITw94Glq8odze2M3HkUDb1nU3anPkFOUqUHOv-Ctr01P0gE/s1600/Resized-5-cpr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRwaLrXrSDr1OwipeA1yqsjIZcbbZ6yvO0fmzGAubM5Er2E6xKcqZ1laGGT7VCpxK1_utFRhMNAz8PqshrFj4ZYurcRsTITw94Glq8odze2M3HkUDb1nU3anPkFOUqUHOv-Ctr01P0gE/s320/Resized-5-cpr.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Raph stepping out on the second pitch of Cosban</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-L4Ggho2D9oRyDZOPhBmNrRMsBRGfNSuk4Hsdb8VWpS4ZHy4QvDAOZMvmV-b4Rgs1JFsdyS_cSUyDPBOgdvhnQg1EoRK9FhoxKGjVDm8_Sx0J-MHeQzFFEIDlAYjRCy4Qym6ys8sdQk/s1600/Resized-7cpr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-L4Ggho2D9oRyDZOPhBmNrRMsBRGfNSuk4Hsdb8VWpS4ZHy4QvDAOZMvmV-b4Rgs1JFsdyS_cSUyDPBOgdvhnQg1EoRK9FhoxKGjVDm8_Sx0J-MHeQzFFEIDlAYjRCy4Qym6ys8sdQk/s320/Resized-7cpr.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Great rock, good gear and thin ice, what else could you ask for.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21331801?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/21331801">Mixed Climbing in Storm Creek</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-46985675270358697572011-02-18T22:32:00.001-07:002011-02-18T22:37:42.637-07:00CMH Galena Week 7 " A Guide's Perspective"The snow just keeps on falling at <a href="http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-skiing/lodges/galena">CMH Galena</a>, with over 300cm on the ground. Week 7 and 8 (Jan 29th-Feb 12th) were particularly good with blower powder day in & and day out.<br />
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During week seven I had the opportunity to ski with Anselme Baud, the grandfather of extreme skiing from Chamonix, France and Gunnar Moberg, from the Swedish freestyle team, now living in Vail. I spoke with them about there week at CMH Galena and shot some video of them skiing, check it out.<br />
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Joshua.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/20002242?portrait=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/20002242">CMH Galena Week 7 'A Guide's Perpective'</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-44525603161545706982011-01-30T22:09:00.000-07:002011-01-30T22:09:10.367-07:00Heli-Assisted Ski Touring with CMH AdamantsI spent the week of Jan 22nd to 29th ski touring at the <a href="http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-skiing/lodges/adamants">CMH Adamants lodge</a>. But this wasn't a normal ski touring week, we happened to have a helicopter at our disposal. Tom Raudaschl (lead guide) and I would look at the map in the morning (with over 1073sq. km of terrain to choose from) pick an area to explore, then fly out and ski tour for the day with no restriction on where we ended up. Once our lungs and legs were finished, the helicopter would swoop in and take us back home to the spectacular Adamants lodge for beers and a hot tub. Now that's my kinda ski-touring.<br />
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I put together a short vid of the 6 days we spent skiing. Enjoy the footage and conversation with Dick Eitel (who has been skiing with CMH since 1968!).<br />
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Joshua<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/19292957?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/19292957">Heli-Assisted Ski Touring in the Adamants</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-74363592376126105312011-01-22T22:00:00.000-07:002011-01-22T22:00:13.945-07:00CMH Galena Week 4 "A Guide's Perspective"Week 2 of guiding at CMH Galena was one for the books, after receiving over 80cm of fresh snow a high pressure system rolled in. We were able to fly north to Westfall Creek where 1000 meter runs consisting of steep glads and dreamy pillow lines were ripe for the picking. <br />
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The snow just kept on coming with over 150cm of snow in 10 days. It looks like the legendary Kootenay winter has returned with a vengeance.<br />
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Enjoy Webisode 3<br />
J.<br />
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18976830?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/18976830">Galena Week 4 "A Guide's Perspective"</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-71946164783915396372011-01-12T08:53:00.003-07:002011-01-13T08:55:44.450-07:00CMH Galena Webisode 2 "A Guide's Perspective"My first week of guiding at Galena has been by far one of the best weeks of skiing I have ever had. The veteran guides say that this is normal, which makes me wonder what it will be like when it starts to really go off. I think I'm about to find out, another storm is crashing into the Kootenays starting today (Jan 12th).<br />
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I will let you know how it goes ;)<br />
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J.<br />
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18745906?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/18745906">Week 3 Jan 3-8th "A Guide's Perspective</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-61644062234472317302011-01-05T08:34:00.000-07:002011-01-05T08:34:23.587-07:00Guiding Satoshi ShimizuSatoshi Shimizu is from Japan and he <b>loves</b> ice climbing. He travelled to the Rockies to climb for a week, first with some friends and then hiring me through <a href="http://www.yamnuska.com/">Yamnuska Mounain Adventure</a>s. He was keen and fit, having already climbed for 5 days and with only 3 days left. I wanted to show him some of the classics so we started our 2 days together in Field B.C. where we climbed Guiness Gulley and Carlsberg Column. On our second day we travelled to Kananaskis Country to climb Whiteman Falls and Redman Soars. We both had 2 great days of climbing together and Satoshi is already thinking of his return trip.<br />
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Here is a short video of his trip.<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18461437?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/18461437">Guiding Satoshi Shimizu</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NKA0NsY5hLHer0Z7HXHf4ECeVbax7GZRHPMcPW4Vkxlm0-NHu2Rn4bDmap55O2cQsmjfGsNGZ_fMfrLQesUotkMHPyte31tMXnWQsVDe0u1r15UEv8dr_SzVYqH_QKZ-HkFGCMqWt6E/s1600/Resized-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NKA0NsY5hLHer0Z7HXHf4ECeVbax7GZRHPMcPW4Vkxlm0-NHu2Rn4bDmap55O2cQsmjfGsNGZ_fMfrLQesUotkMHPyte31tMXnWQsVDe0u1r15UEv8dr_SzVYqH_QKZ-HkFGCMqWt6E/s320/Resized-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Satoshi following Whiteman Falls</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZOEt7KNI5OFSWogJbtZujpizy20uRXBCXcbDLN3LKKIv78ZTcFH1wqVJqH3EUsJjZ3a-UPvcp0gR8FJKwVFgcjvMzKAYlqtH_HqDSOxzEcOihvg0r5McPfGhrgsFrFZlG3aQ_BDnidA/s1600/Resized-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOZOEt7KNI5OFSWogJbtZujpizy20uRXBCXcbDLN3LKKIv78ZTcFH1wqVJqH3EUsJjZ3a-UPvcp0gR8FJKwVFgcjvMzKAYlqtH_HqDSOxzEcOihvg0r5McPfGhrgsFrFZlG3aQ_BDnidA/s320/Resized-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Carlsberg Column</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY4onY1TRSY5TG8c4hiLleGZFBjrlf8ZqFH3malrspvgjzQIG_16YWbcOvgo09KDRul9jpUblj_YAFObF-r8nbgozLXogSvGhkURoZT0lk3trWWrlZwgLnX1i9D2vmXaWKF8QwLyn37M/s1600/Resized-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY4onY1TRSY5TG8c4hiLleGZFBjrlf8ZqFH3malrspvgjzQIG_16YWbcOvgo09KDRul9jpUblj_YAFObF-r8nbgozLXogSvGhkURoZT0lk3trWWrlZwgLnX1i9D2vmXaWKF8QwLyn37M/s320/Resized-9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The end of another day</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVYiWR5jixg2CVkmZivxYZ3urTqhWGBc9H-pKCbb36vap54VonVC-MqmLmViIXIx5JBBlIinSDZGLTSoYnRnAFzidfKSoN2N4cRXg6HtEm-j9qiBAfeFqdJjhE2-0Bz_AQZS5ZRmRw0Y/s1600/Resized-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVYiWR5jixg2CVkmZivxYZ3urTqhWGBc9H-pKCbb36vap54VonVC-MqmLmViIXIx5JBBlIinSDZGLTSoYnRnAFzidfKSoN2N4cRXg6HtEm-j9qiBAfeFqdJjhE2-0Bz_AQZS5ZRmRw0Y/s320/Resized-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The top of Whiteman Falls</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-7460206623151754522011-01-04T08:37:00.002-07:002011-01-04T08:37:47.220-07:00Christmas SamplerChristmas has come and gone, a combination of nostalgia, board games and a bout of food poisoning sums it up. Luckily my brother came out early so that we could spend some time in the hills together.<br />
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Delano Lavigne, (my younger brother) is definitely one of the 'best off-the-couchers' I know. The moment he arrived we embarked on 5 days of none stop skiing and climbing and he relished in the challenge. We climbed Cascade in 2 hours (his 2nd time ice climbing) and skied Forever Young Couloir (his 3rd time ski touring). Maybe one day he will decide to buy his own gear, forget about doing a PHD and become a real mountain man.<br />
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Peace Bro.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18334196?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/18334196">Christmas Sampler</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-62945801804131633702010-12-14T11:55:00.000-07:002010-12-14T11:55:24.085-07:00NemesisI had the opportunity to climb Nemesis with Raphael Slawinski a couple weeks ago. We hiked up the Stanley Valley in the early morning looking for the climb 'Gentlemen's Day Out', but we didn't really know where to find it. Our default for the day was to climb Nemesis, which we have both climbed half a dozen times or so. It turned out to be more difficult then we expected, cold and brittle ice all the way to the top, with a shower of water adding to the excitement. Even though it was cold and wet I managed to pull the camera out to get some cool footage.<br />
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Check it out. Joshua<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/17695970?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/17695970">Nemesis</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">Joshua Lavigne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-17122411196038602162010-12-07T19:58:00.001-07:002010-12-07T22:46:23.457-07:00CMH GalenaI just returned from 5 days of "guides training" (skiing and drinking) at the <a href="http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-skiing/lodges/galena">CMH Galena</a> and <a href="http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-skiing/lodges/monashees">Monashee</a> lodges. Even with a below average snowpack, about 120cm, the skiing was spectacular. I was blown away by what seemed like endless steep tree skiing and beautiful alpine bowls. I'm looking forward to the 6 weeks of guiding that I will do there. <br />
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I put together a short video clip of the Galena ski experience, check it out below. Joshua<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98G9wRn2hCS0uRvXWjN_af3XDNKioTOdF5k1jONZjW-9z3NKe8FuxL7VBNXPRGrmMAHKtZi8Ep7kVRTsB1k_Zi2lYTWNafjR4XciCEgjdOC0e_IwTvPv8-vXI_AJjaZxI_BdwABHtqrw/s1600/_DSC4120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98G9wRn2hCS0uRvXWjN_af3XDNKioTOdF5k1jONZjW-9z3NKe8FuxL7VBNXPRGrmMAHKtZi8Ep7kVRTsB1k_Zi2lYTWNafjR4XciCEgjdOC0e_IwTvPv8-vXI_AJjaZxI_BdwABHtqrw/s320/_DSC4120.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="http://www.michaelwelchphotography.com/"> Mike Welch</a>, the manager of CMH Galena took some great photos of <a href="http://www.whitecapalpine.ca/about-us/">Lars Andrews</a>, making the 120cm of snow look a whole lot deeper!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEg6rUaQUjBCHlj3ZdC4vJQbCA61zff8X_VfEwCpZ7DU0rGieIfYJ4ZU2JcLX3mgL04rs7jNJVfBI1Xf5rCbYqe_1aSKYEsviO6my6HSY8XLoG97xzXa61cueYSox2ZOLpGmoQyoa1Mw/s1600/_DSC4195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEg6rUaQUjBCHlj3ZdC4vJQbCA61zff8X_VfEwCpZ7DU0rGieIfYJ4ZU2JcLX3mgL04rs7jNJVfBI1Xf5rCbYqe_1aSKYEsviO6my6HSY8XLoG97xzXa61cueYSox2ZOLpGmoQyoa1Mw/s320/_DSC4195.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/17585742?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe></div><a href="http://vimeo.com/17585742">CMH Galena Set-up</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">alpinesummits</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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</div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-89431588648767448202010-11-01T18:12:00.004-06:002010-11-01T19:13:04.002-06:00Soloing 'the experience'<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">I had the opportunity to present at the <a href="http://www.nightoflies.com/HOME_10_YEAR_ANNIVERSARY_BASH.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Night of Lies</span></a> last week. The presentations at this event need to be 10 minutes or shorter. I wanted to show a video about soloing in a slightly different format then my previous films.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Enjoy the footage from Chamonix, France and the Bugaboos, the North Howser Tower, west face.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Peace</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a0a095; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16396924?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a0a095; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/16396924"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Soloing 'the experience'</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> from </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">alpinesummits</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vimeo</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a0a095; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></span></div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-29892134448818103772010-11-01T18:05:00.005-06:002010-11-01T18:24:30.132-06:00Mt. Cromwell, Elzinga/Miller in a day<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a0a095; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Mount Cromwell 3330 m (text by: <a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/">Raphael Slawinsk</a>i)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />The north face of Mt. Cromwell is readily seen from the Icefields Parkway when traveling south. The most notable features of the face are a serac immediately below the summit and, down and right of it, a large snowfield in the middle of the face. The Elzinga/Miller route works its way through the lower rock bands to attain this snowfield, and exits by the right edge of the prominent serac. To the left of these features is a large buttress, taken by the Robinson/Arbic route. When in condition, both routes offer excellent ice and mixed climbing, and are well worth of a closer look.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a0a095; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16032632?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a0a095; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/16032632"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mt. Cromwell Elzinga/Miller in a day</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> from </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">alpinesummits</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vimeo</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-26180561485686481072010-10-15T00:28:00.003-06:002010-10-19T23:40:35.155-06:00Sir Douglas - NW Face Double Direct<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Joshua Lavigne & <a href="http://raphaelslawinski.blogspot.com/">Raphael Slawinski</a></span></b><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/15873434?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/15873434">Sir Douglas - NW Face Double Direct</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">alpinesummits</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
</div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-39229355317469348992010-10-05T19:13:00.006-06:002010-10-05T20:28:01.375-06:00East End Boys<div style="text-align: left;">I spent another spectacular fall day climbing. This time I went out with <a href="http://www.globalalpine.com/">Andrew Wexler</a> to take a look at the route 'East End Boys' on Mt. Yamnuska . The route was uber aesthetic with some great crack climbing up steep roofs and some fun limestone bolt clipping. It is another awesome Yam route that I will climb again. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I collected some video footage while climbing and decided to edit it to the soundtrack M.I.A. 'Jimmy'. I'm not too sure how I feel about it, but I like the footage. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/15575486?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe></div><a href="http://vimeo.com/15575486">East End Boyz</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">alpinesummits</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">M.I.A. Kala</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieV4QBZJHH81pNDTcx3QIfYvmCFkdM_waLfiScW6A53ZUDcuAOQYm1RsFKswPp0oasAbeULk8_xR3-3iLdnCulmvOj1j_pnvMKIcur1X6y1DD6-KkXUPr5WopmCr0O__Yz7B_uovhl7To/s1600/M.I.A.+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieV4QBZJHH81pNDTcx3QIfYvmCFkdM_waLfiScW6A53ZUDcuAOQYm1RsFKswPp0oasAbeULk8_xR3-3iLdnCulmvOj1j_pnvMKIcur1X6y1DD6-KkXUPr5WopmCr0O__Yz7B_uovhl7To/s320/M.I.A.+.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-55739996656753458082010-09-12T17:24:00.002-06:002010-09-12T17:25:43.959-06:00Chamonix Alpine Granite<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"> I arrived in Chamonix, the proverbial alpine climbing promise land, on a rainy day at the beginning of June. I had no climbing partners and no guiding days booked but I had an open mind and a flexible schedule. Initially, the three weeks of biblical rains dampened my alpine mojo but once the skies cleared, my psyche was on. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px;">I guided the big peaks during the week, acclimatizing and getting fit and then rallied my partners Crosby Johnston or Ross Berg to tick off a couple of the classic alpine rock climbs. </span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">I brought my GF1 camera and my Go Pro headcam to try and capture some of the essence of the Chamonix alpine experience.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px;">Enjoy!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px;">Peace. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #645f5e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14911761?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe><a href="http://vimeo.com/14911761">Chamonix Alpine Granite</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">alpinesummits</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</span></span></span></div>Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-51074556090157160822010-09-11T19:43:00.001-06:002010-09-11T19:44:52.556-06:00ACMG Alpine Exam 2010Well, I am finally finished dealing with the stresses of training, preparing, packing and re-packing. I guided all summer and then trained for another month (all the while trying to climb for myself) to get ready for the full alpine exam. The 10 days lived up to there reputation, by bringing on the fire and brimstone. We climbed and guided in the most assorted of conditions, all the while being scrutinized under the hairy eyeball.<br />
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While in the back of the line, I managed to keep things casual by taking pictures and video. I got enough footage to put a short video together. For those interested in taking a peek into the day of an ACMG guide take a look. <br />
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Peace, J.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #645f5e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14803336?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe></span><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/14803336">ACMG Alpine Exam 2010</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">alpinesummits</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313028480886679549.post-83551929459496783492010-08-17T20:40:00.000-06:002010-08-17T20:40:14.940-06:00Rockies Road Trip 2010<a href="http://models.com/work/gq-style-russia-marlon-and-vladimir-in-gq-style-russia/19854">Delano Lavigne</a>, and<a href="http://images.newfaces.com/userimages/images/l/i/z/LIZBRUNO-LIZBRUNO-e90f.jpg"> Emily McClay</a> made a short visit to the Canadian Rockies before driving to Ottawa and then Washington, D.C. I put together a short video of our trip together, we first went to the Bugaboos but left quickly as the weather crapped out. We recovered from our hike in the rain by climbing at Back of the Lake in Lake Louise and as the weather improved we made a quick hit on Ha Ling Peak (NE 5.6) and then<a href="http://www.globalalpine.com/2010/06/zig-zag.html"> Zig Zag (5.12a+</a>) on Yam.<br />
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When Delano left for L.A. on the weekend to go to his gay friends heterosexual wedding, I took Emily up Mt. Little for a training session.<br />
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Enjoy the Video! Joshua.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #645f5e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14222839?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="400"></iframe></span><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/14222839">Rockies Road Trip with Delano Lavigne and Emily McClay</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alpinesummits">alpinesummits</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Joshua Lavignehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04160592243913412139noreply@blogger.com1