Hello everyone!
It has been another hectic week of rock climbing learning and experiencing the great outdoors in Alberta. Rock climbing has become a big part of my life over the last few years and appeals to me because it’s such a good combination of problem solving and physical ability. When you are leading a climb, you also need to tussle with the ‘fear’ of falling by tuning out the mind chatter and focus on the moves and problem solving aspect. Just to clarify, falling is generally safe and requires training itself and you can be good at falling after practice! Knowing how to fall correctly and safely allows you to push your climbing limits. There are some life metaphors in there somewhere but I am not sure :)
Me at the Yamnuska Bluffs
Before I dive into the update here’s a quick and dirty primer on climbing types:
Top rope: the rope goes through an anchor at the top of the climb and loops back down to the climber/belayer.
Ben on top rope at Lake Louise. We were practicing placing gear into rocks which is why he has all that gack on his harness.
Sport climbing: climbing routes that have bolts added by other climbers. The goal is to climb up without a top rope and clip the rope into these bolts protecting you from falling further than the last clipped bolt allows.
Aidan climbing some sport routes at Zygote. Leading up a climb is often referred to as the pointy end of the rope!
Traditional climbing: using removal pieces of gear that fit into rock cracks. The gear either has a shape or the ability to contract and expand to fit into the crack tightly and allow you to fall on the piece without falling further than the gear allows.
Luke was also on top rope but practicing traditional climbing with the safety of a top rope.
Our week started off quite slowly focussing on some easy top rope climbing at a local crag called Wasootch. Within about 2-3 days we had learned the basics of sport climbing (revision for me) and started doing more lead climbing. I led a number of pitches and generally felt really confident climbing. The climbing was easy and the mind chatter was obviously at a minimum.
Eventually we started looking at traditional climbing. We practiced a lot of placement both at Wasootch and Lake Louise.
Views for days from our climbing location
Louise Falls is still frozen after what feels like we’re in summer!
On our approach to the back of the lake we crossed the Uber-classic Louise Falls which is an extremely popular climb in the winter and apparently is still in condition to climb, even after the balmy days that the region has experienced.
We also did some hard sport climbing at Sunshine slab. The goal was to climb and push your limits. I started on some easier climbs that allowed me to climb easily without worrying about falling too much. It was a fantastic experience and I was able to climb a classic of the location called ‘The Arete’. This route is sustained through the beginning and gains the corner of a massive piece of rock which you climb to the top. I also took a substantial fall while climbing another route called ‘Easy Corner’ which was surprising but good for the head game when it comes to climbing. All climbers go through this but it made me realize that falling is not a big deal especially on well protected sport climbing. Falling also builds your grit when it comes to climbing so that you can climb harder routes!
Our instructors for the rock section: Jacob and Carl. They were fantastic instructors with a wealth of knowledge! Here they are teaching us rock rescue concepts with the backdrop of the Fairmont and the valley in Banff.
What we were looking at all day!
We wrapped up the last two days with some rock rescue techniques to haul climbers up a route on big multi pitch climbs or lower climbers if needed. Given we were in an amazingly scenic location, not sure how much people paid attention.
I am sadly running behind schedule on my newsletters because it’s been a hectic week leaving you tired everyday after long days out. We also just wrapped up the alpine climbing section which I will write about soon!
Take care everyone!
Cheers,
– G