Joshua Lavigne's Blog

Galena Setup [A Guide's Perspective]

2011-12-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Enjoy!

Cragging in the Bugaboos

2011-08-26T15:00:00.002-06:00

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.

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 Jon Walsh 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.

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, Sendero Norte, and Labyrinth.

Approaching the east face, with only a 30min approach
most days didn't start before 10am.

The 2nd pitch of Sweet Sylvia, a sporty 5.12.
Photo: SM

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.

Simon stepping off the belay into a perfect 25m hands to fingers splitter.

Pitch 6 was a sustained 55m 4" crack, luckily it wasn't overhanging. Even with 3 number 4 Camelots it was still runout.

Stepping left into the crux second pitch of Sendero Norte. A stiff .12+ which is often wet at the crux.
Photo: SM

Climbing the Split Pillar of the east (Pitch 4). A spectacular 5.10 hands to fingers layback. As Gery Unterasinger said" one of the better granite pitches in the 5.10 range in Canada"
Photo: SM

The second crux of the 7th pitch on Labyrinth. A slab dyno just below the belay.

Pitch 3 on Labyrinth, a spectacular .12a overhanging fat fingers splitter.
Photo: SM

Simon Meis and me topping out late in the pm after another day of cragging.

North Face of Mt Temple, Greenwood/Locke

2011-08-03T18:11:00.009-06:00

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.

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.

Strategy:
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.

Gear:

1 x single 60m rope
1 x 6 mm tag line
Single rack (00-#2 Camelots)
12 x quick draws (which include 4 long runners)
3 x ice screws
2 technical tools
Crampons (aluminum crampons didn't work very well)
Rock shoes (we didn't use ours)

Lake Annette in the early morning.

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.

Topping out above the 'Dolphin'

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.

Croby 'the Cosmonaut' Johnston

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.

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.

Crosby starting the 4th pitch, a little loose but with good pro.

Crosby stepping right on the 6th pitch.

Common Knowledge on the Washburn face

2011-07-13T12:05:00.005-06:00

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 Cassin Ridge. 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.

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.

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.

Raphael descending below some small but intimidating seracs. It took 4 hours to get from 14000 ft camp to the Peter's Gl.

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.

The route Common Knowledge 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.

Raphael S. gettin amongst it on the Candelabra pitch. He place 4 pieces of marginal rock gear over 30m of climbing. A bold lead.

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".

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.

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.

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.

The last rays of the sun.

I arrived to a quiet camp, 26 hours after leaving. My exhaustion was complete and so was the trip.

For a complete description of the ascent check out Raphael Slawinski's blog, he did a great job telling the story.

We would like to thank MEC for there generous support via their Expedition Support Program.

Cassin Ridge in Under 24 hrs

2011-07-06T11:50:00.014-06:00

Denali 2011: Spring Chicken Road Trip

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 Utah desert.

This was my first trip to the Alaska Range but Raphael Slawinski's forth, so I followed his lead in strategy and style. Our original objective was to attempt the Denali Diamond on the southwest face but conditions were ill suited for an attempt, so we diverted our energies to the uber-classic Cassin Ridge. 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.

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 Cassin in Under 24 here or on my Vimeo site. Also, for a complete account of the our accent of the Cassin, check out Raphael's blog

Arriving at the airstrip below Mt. Hunter. The usual chaos as disoriented climbers arrive and exhausted climbers leave.

A rare site in AK, the moon traversing the horizon above the two summits of Mt. Hunter.

Dropping down the West-Rib cutoff. The Cassin Ridge starts via the Japanese couloir at the right of the image.

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.

Raphael climbing through the 1st rock band. Lots of low angle terrain with short steps of mixed climbing.

Hour 16.5. Don't look too deeply into Raphael's eyes, he might remove your soul!

We would like to thank Mountain Equipment Co-op for their generous support via the

Expedition Support program

Indian Creek

2011-06-01T15:42:00.002-06:00

I just returned from my annual pilgrimage to Indian Creek and the Utah desert. 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.

"Balance, that's the secret. Moderate extremism" Edward Abbey

All Photos By: Joshua Lavigne

Heading home

Delano enjoying 'the crack' a little too much.

Lydia Marmont hiking the uber-classic 'Scarface'

The standard 'Creek' tape job. Day 1

Delano Lavigne trying hard to make his hands fit. Sometimes smaller is better!

Lydia Marmont enjoying splitter thin hands.

Tsunami 300m M5, WI5+

2011-05-03T22:52:00.004-06:00

After a long winter of skiing I've finally had enough. I put the misery sticks away and sharpened the ice tools. Raphael Slawinski 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 Rocket Man. It is located just to the right of the iconic route Riptide in the spectacular cirque below Mt. Patterson .

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.

An amazing day out and a classic alpine ice route!

Photo: Raphael Slawinski

Climbing the Riptide approach gully with the climb to the right

Photo: Raphael Slawinski

Traversing out on the second pitch

Raph couldn't resist the temptation of the chose. Like a bee to honey.

Photo: Raphael Slawinski

Starting the fourth pitch with some thin ice to spice things up

Raph taking the lead on the final 2 ice pitches. They call him the professor but he bossed up these ice pitches.

Photo: Raphael Slawinski

Raph getting creative with the lens. The rope cut through a snow mushroom and I'm trying to squeeze through it.

Photo: Raphael Slawinski

Enjoying a moment in the sun after topping out on the seracs.

CMH Galena Week 11-12, "A Guides Perspective"

2011-03-30T09:51:00.000-06:00

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.

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!

CMH Galena Week 11-12, "A Guides Perspective" from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

Mixed Climbing in Storm Creek

2011-03-21T23:06:00.003-06:00

After 21 days of ski guiding I was ready to get out and stretch the arms. Raphael, 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!

Check out the short video clip below.

Furry needles decorate the trees as we approach Storm Creek

Juan leading off on the first pitch

Raph stepping out on the second pitch of Cosban

Great rock, good gear and thin ice, what else could you ask for.

Mixed Climbing in Storm Creek from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

CMH Galena Week 7 " A Guide's Perspective"

2011-02-18T22:32:00.001-07:00

The snow just keeps on falling at CMH Galena, 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.

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.

Joshua.

CMH Galena Week 7 'A Guide's Perpective' from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

Heli-Assisted Ski Touring with CMH Adamants

2011-01-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

I spent the week of Jan 22nd to 29th ski touring at the CMH Adamants lodge. 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.

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!).

Joshua

Heli-Assisted Ski Touring in the Adamants from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

CMH Galena Week 4 "A Guide's Perspective"

2011-01-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Enjoy Webisode 3
J.

Galena Week 4 "A Guide's Perspective" from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

CMH Galena Webisode 2 "A Guide's Perspective"

2011-01-12T08:53:00.003-07:00

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).

I will let you know how it goes ;)

J.

Week 3 Jan 3-8th "A Guide's Perspective from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

Guiding Satoshi Shimizu

2011-01-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Satoshi Shimizu is from Japan and he loves ice climbing. He travelled to the Rockies to climb for a week, first with some friends and then hiring me through Yamnuska Mounain Adventures. 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.

Here is a short video of his trip.

Guiding Satoshi Shimizu from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

Satoshi following Whiteman Falls

Carlsberg Column

The end of another day

The top of Whiteman Falls

Christmas Sampler

2011-01-04T08:37:00.002-07:00

Christmas 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.

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.

Peace Bro.

Christmas Sampler from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

Nemesis

2010-12-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

I 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.

Check it out. Joshua

Nemesis from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

CMH Galena

2010-12-07T19:58:00.001-07:00

I just returned from 5 days of "guides training" (skiing and drinking) at the CMH Galena and Monashee 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.

I put together a short video clip of the Galena ski experience, check it out below. Joshua

Mike Welch, the manager of CMH Galena took some great photos of Lars Andrews, making the 120cm of snow look a whole lot deeper!

CMH Galena Set-up from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

Soloing 'the experience'

2010-11-01T18:12:00.004-06:00

I had the opportunity to present at the Night of Lies 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.
Enjoy the footage from Chamonix, France and the Bugaboos, the North Howser Tower, west face.
Peace

Soloing 'the experience' from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

Mt. Cromwell, Elzinga/Miller in a day

2010-11-01T18:05:00.005-06:00

Mount Cromwell 3330 m (text by: Raphael Slawinski)
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.

Mt. Cromwell Elzinga/Miller in a day from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

Sir Douglas - NW Face Double Direct

2010-10-15T00:28:00.003-06:00

Joshua Lavigne & Raphael Slawinski

Sir Douglas - NW Face Double Direct from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

East End Boys

2010-10-05T19:13:00.006-06:00

I spent another spectacular fall day climbing. This time I went out with Andrew Wexler 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.

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.

East End Boyz from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

M.I.A. Kala

Chamonix Alpine Granite

2010-09-12T17:24:00.002-06:00

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.
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.

I brought my GF1 camera and my Go Pro headcam to try and capture some of the essence of the Chamonix alpine experience.

Enjoy!

Peace.

Chamonix Alpine Granite from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

ACMG Alpine Exam 2010

2010-09-11T19:43:00.001-06:00

Well, 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.

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.

Peace, J.

ACMG Alpine Exam 2010 from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

Rockies Road Trip 2010

2010-08-17T20:40:00.000-06:00

Delano Lavigne, and Emily McClay 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 Zig Zag (5.12a+) on Yam.

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.

Enjoy the Video! Joshua.

Rockies Road Trip with Delano Lavigne and Emily McClay from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

Best of Chamonix

2010-07-27T04:13:00.001-06:00

After spending 2 months in Chamonix, France I am heading back home to Canmore. I'm posting my favorite images and climbs of the trip.

Chamonix, Cemetery

South Face of Midi, Ma Dolten Var. 7B+

Soloing the Gervasutti Piller, TD+ 800m

Ross Berg, Mountain Guide and International Playboy

Crosby Johnston, climbing The Republique, 24p 6c+

The Republique on the Charmoz

Summit of The Republique

Approaching the Grand Capucin

Climbing the Triple Direct on the Grand Cap, 7b+ 400m

Approaching the summit of Mt. Blanc for the 3rd this season

Monte Rosa Traverse, the summit of the Parrotspitze

Grand Paradiso and Mt. Blanc

2010-07-04T09:28:00.004-06:00

The Grand Paradiso (the summit to the right)

After taking a couple days off of work, where I managed to solo the Frendo and then climb with Crosby Johnston on the south side of the Midi, I went back to work for Edward Bekker on a week long mountaineering program. We started the week by climbing the Grand Paradiso in Italy and then climbing Mt. Blanc. A great week with fantastic weather and an awesome group.

Lining up for the summit push

Waiting our turn to hold the summit Madonna

The wonderful Chabod Refuge with hot showers

and incredible Italian hospitality

Appraoching to the Tete Rousse Refuge
on the regular route on Mt. Blanc

Heading up Mt. Blanc on a quiet day,
over 250 people reached the summit!

Watching the sun rise at 5:30 am, we summitted at 6:30 am.

European Guiding, Monte Rosa

2010-06-26T12:40:00.002-06:00

Italian Guiding Insignia

After spending 2 weeks floating around the Chamonix valley the skies cleared and the guiding season started in full. My first European guiding trip turned out to be the incredible Monte Rosa Traverse, summiting six, 4000 meter peaks and spending 4 nights in the exceptional Italian Huts including the Margherita Hut at 4556 meters (the highest in Europe).

The guides meeting at the Sella "Hut"

Looking back towards Mt. Castor

Looking across at my "shadow"

Short roping up towards Col of Mt Liskamm (4527m)

Our fearless Italian Mountain Guides

Filipo and Paulo

Summit Madonna across from Margherita Hut

Looking over to the Matterhorn from the Margahrita Hut at 4556m

Freeing Moonlight Buttress

2010-06-03T07:43:00.001-06:00

My yearly pilgrimage to the south has come and gone and once again it was worth all the effort to get away. Simon Meis and I started our trip in Zion Utah where we set our sites on freeing Moonlight buttress. After climbing a couple warm ups (Monkey Finger and Shune's Buttress) we spent a day climbing the crux 4th pitch of Moonlight Buttress with the plan of freeing the climb the next day. We left at 10am the next morning (waiting for the climb to go into the shade) and climbed the route free in around 8 hours. It was my second time on the route and Simons first and we both agree that it is by far one of the best multi-pitch trad routes anywhere, we would climb it every year if we could. I have posted a short video of our ascent.

Moonlight Buttress from alpinesummits on Vimeo.

Simon Meis sending Big Baby

2010-05-31T20:46:00.001-06:00

I watched and filmed Simon grunting, thrutching and stacking up Big Baby for over an hour, a pretty awesome show, albeit a little slow. I convinced him to where a head cam, so now you can watch it up close and personal too.

Big Baby, Indian Creek 5.11+ from alpine summits on Vimeo.

May Road Trip Photos

2010-05-31T20:30:00.003-06:00

Simon sending Big Baby

Spring desert flowers

Another day in the Creek

Climbing Riptide on Mt. Patterson

2010-05-04T07:48:00.001-06:00

After a long winter of NOT ice climbing (John Freeman spent 10 weeks in the desert and I heli skiing for most of the winter) we managed to get our psyche up to go and climb Riptide. It was a great day with the climb living up to it's reputation of shitty ice and terrifying approach slopes. The big disappointment of the day came at the end while skiing out, John fell and broke his neck at (C7). It took 2 weeks for the doctors to find the break all the while John was biking and climbing.

Riptide from alpine summits on Vimeo.

Yamneering with Andrew Wexler, Climbing Grey Scale

2010-04-23T23:48:00.001-06:00

Lately I have been trying to get onto this movie kick, so last weekend I made the effort to collected some footage while climbing with Andrew Wexler on Grey Scale. He put up with my antics as I wore a head cam and played with my new Lumix GF1, (good thing I belay with a GreGre). You can check out the rough clip of the footage I put together.
Joshua

Grey Scale from alpine summits on Vimeo.

Bill and Kathy's Canadian Adventure

2010-03-31T12:42:00.000-06:00

During the months of January and February Bill and Kathy spent 2 weeks in Whistler and then another couple weeks in the Canadian Rockies. While they were here they hired an ACMG guide (Joshua Lavigne) to go ice climbing and backcountry skiing. We put together a short clip of the adventures we did together. Enjoy!

Bill and Kathy's Canadian Adventure from alpine summits on Vimeo.

Waddington Alpinist Trip Report

2009-11-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Erik at Alpinist managed to squeeze my trip report into the newswire line-up. It is a little sad that it is posted right after Tomaz Humar's Death notice. No doubt a visionary alpinist.

Climbing In Pakistan 2008

2009-11-14T19:01:00.001-07:00

Canadian Hainabrakk Expedition from alpine summits on Vimeo.

Simon Meis and I traveled to Pakistan in the summer of 2008. We set up a base camp in the Trango Valley below Nameless tower for 4 weeks. We were successful on several ascents and managed to establish a new route on Hainabrakk Peak. The climb went straight up the centre of the East face, it was 1200 meters long with difficulties up to 5.11+R, A2. Over the course of 3 days we climbed the route using only 1 pin (no bolts) and we free climbed 32 of the 34 pitches. We captured some film while climbing and we took some great photos, enough to put together a short clip (10 min) of the climb. "the Choice" ED 3 1200m 5.11R A2.

Waddington Range Trip Report 2009

2009-11-13T20:31:00.005-07:00

Alpinist Newswire Trip Report

If you are interested I've posted our trip report from Alpinist.

An experienced Canadian team added a significant new route to British Columbia’s Coast Range this summer.

At the end of August, Canadians Joshua Lavigne, Craig McGee, Scott Everett and Carlyle Norman flew into the range and set up base camp on the Sunny Knob outcrop located on the south side of the upper Tiedemann Glacier. As a warm up, they climbed Skywalk Buttress (ED1 5.9, 600m) then split into two teams. Lavigne and McGee were successful on a new route, Defiance (ED2: 5.12 A3, 1450m) a total of 28 pitches with lots of simul-climbing on the relatively popular South Side Mt. Combatant (3756 meters) via the Incisor. Meanwhile, Everett and Norman had planned a 1500-meter traverse from the Gnat’s Tooth to Serra One, but retreated when warm temperatures caused significant rockfall on the upper mixed pitches.

Mt. Combatant has routes on all its major buttresses and is one of the area’s gems, said Alpinist correspondent Don Serl: “It may be the finest of the peaks in the Waddington Range.”

Lavigne and McGee began climbing on August 28. That day they completed the first seven pitches of the Incisor, sharing some terrain with the route Belligerence and finding “steep, technical climbing,” Lavigne said, “including multiple 5.11 pitches that were loose and runout, and a crux pitch of intricate, thin crack climbing.” They fixed their two ropes that afternoon and left their gear at the base of the wall.

Two days later (we did the reci climb on the 28^th, rested on the 29^th and then started climbing again on the 30^th)they returned and continued free climbing—save for one 20-meter section of A3, the route’s only aid—to just below the summit of Incisor, 15 pitches up. The next day, September 1, they found eight pitches of rock along the Jawbone that was “loose and dangerous and at times completely terrifying,” Lavigne said. This took them to the base of Toothless Tower, where they found excellent rock that led them to the summit of Combatant

Sources: Joshua Lavigne, Don Serl

North Howser Tower "the Real Mescalito"

2009-11-11T01:34:00.005-07:00

In the summer of 2007 Crosby Johnston and I blitzed up a new line on the West face of the North Howser Tower, you can check out the newswire for the trip at Alpinist.

...The planned line in my mind, sketched together from four previous trips to the west face, connected a lower corner system (The Shooting Gallery) to the Seventh Rifle gully and then upwards into the cracks in the vicinity of the fictitious line, Mescalito (due to a mistake in the AAJ, Mescalito [VI 5.9 A3-] on El Capitan was transposed onto the North Howser Tower and listed as a new route, resulting in a number of subsequent confusions). We hoped the new line would provide a free route straight up the middle of the west face, filling in the gap on the topo where Mescalito had been drawn mistakenly. Nervous anticipation settled in as we prepared and repackaged our gear for the next day, paring down in all ways possible: no bivy gear, light approach shoes, a single set of crampons, one ice tool and one head lamp...

Welcome to Joshua Lavigne's blog

2009-11-11T01:16:00.002-07:00

Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog, I just started today so there are a few empty spots. Over time I hope to fill it up with photos, videos, trip reports and upcoming guided trips. Thanks for looking and if you have any comments feel free to e-mail me at alpinesummits@gmail.com.

Peace