Posted by John Entwistle on Fri, Jul 23, 2010 @ 10:00 AM
For the first week of the summer season, I was invited up to the Bobbie Burns Lodge for some high flying fun. So, on the morning of July 6th I met up with a couple of other people from the office and the rest of the guests, and we were on our way up to the lodge! We did an afternoon hike so that the guides could figure out groups for the following day. Then we came back to an amazing dinner, drinks on the deck, and bed!
The following morning we were awoken by the bell at 7:15am for our stretch class. The stretch room was filled with all sorts of nervous chatter as today was the day that we would be tackling the via ferrata. With people moving back and forth, debating if they would do it or not, I was thinking nothing of it… I mean, come on, this thing is safe, you are clipped in the whole time... how bad can it be! So, after more contemplation over breakfast, we loaded the helicopter for the flight up to the base.
When we arrived at the start, Mark, one of our guides, pointed up to a distant peak. He then explained to the group that was where we would be in a couple of hours. At that point, it really didn’t seem possible that we would be sitting on top of something so far away.
So we started the climb. We reached the first rope across a patch of snow. This was great practice for the clip out clip in techniques for our harness system. After walking around the corner, we reached the first rock wall we had to climb…
It was at this point that I realized that I don’t do this sort of thing… I would be far more comfortable skiing down most of this, but climbing up… Yikes! On my way up the first pitch, which was only about 20 feet high, I thought to myself- Oh jeeze, I am pretty high up! And this was just the beginning...
For the 20 feet I felt was high at the beginning, would turn in to 3,000 feet by the end. And so I kept climbing, one iron step at a time. Winding our way up through boulder fields and ridgelines, we crossed planks, small bridges, and boulders. Eventually we hit a snack spot just below the first peak.
It was at this point where Sarah asked me how it was going. The only words I could think of were: “I am completely out of my element”. And this was true, because I was. After taking some mocking from the other group, we passed them to cross a snow patch to the start of the first peak. Now, the first peak truly does look impressive from any angle. Mostly because it looks exactly like the fang of a creature that could eat you. As someone who has never rock climbed on natural rock, I was intimidated to say the least. Of course the fact that I let the entire group ahead of me didn’t help either… Having to look up towards the summit to see nothing but the harness clad rear ends of my climbing partners all the way to the summit did not exactly instill the confidence in me that I needed. So, up I went. As I reached the Nimbus sub peak, I truly felt on top of the world. Even though the higher Nimbus peak is right beside you, connected by what can only be described as a behemoth of a suspension bridge, you still do feel like you are as high as you can go. It is at this point that you make the short decent to the start of the famous bridge.
The bridge. The bridge is one thrilling thing to look at. 2x4’s unevenly spaced across a span with a 2500 foot drop to the valley floor below. It is seriously something straight out of Indiana Jones, minus the snakes, I hate snakes… So after 96 shaky steps across the bridge, you reach the other side where you never thought you would be so happy to hug a big piece of rock. Then you look up and you realize you now have to climb something higher than the peak you were standing on 20 minutes ago. So you unclip from the bridge, and clip in to the cable which leads to the summit. Of course when they built the via ferrata, the guides put the route as close to the edge as possible so that you could experience maximum exposure the entire way up. This I was actually ok with as I found that you quickly get used to the heights and it becomes much more comfortable. The climb to the summit finishes of with a section where you literally have to hoist yourself up on to the summit. This is one of the greatest feelings in the world as you push that last little bit to finally reach the summit. Once on the summit, we sat down to enjoy our lunches that we had packed that morning.
Of course, standing on the summit would seem like a great place to have a drink of water. At least that is what I thought. So I unclipped my water bottle from my backpack and wedged it between my legs. It turns out that stainless steel water bottles do not grip very well against metal carabineers. Next thing I know, one of our guides was yelling at those below to watch out as my water bottle bounced the 3,500 feet to the valley floor. Needless to say I was, by my own fault, very thirsty for the rest of the day.
Luckily for us, our decent was far more controlled and graceful than that of my water bottle. It involved rappelling, down-climbing, and snow sliding in rain gear before getting to the pick up for the flight back to the lodge.
That night I was so tired that I had a nap prior to dinner and was woken by the dinner bell, although I still think I didn’t actually wake up until about half way through dinner. Everyone had stories to share from their adventures of the day, with the biggest theme being the smiles from all who had accomplished something truly remarkable!
Posted by John Entwistle on Fri, Jun 25, 2010 @ 12:48 PM
June 25! How is it already June 25?!? Where have the last... well, the last 6 months gone! I only have 2 more months here at
CMH before I have to go back to school in September to finish off the last year of my University degree... Now that is a scary thought!
Now, I have a bit of a bone to pick here... You see, 4 years after moving away from home to go to university, my family FINALLY came to visit me over the may long weekend this year. It took them 4 YEARS! But finally, they actually got in their vehicle and drove the 6 hours to come visit.
I figured that with such a rare occurrence, I should probably give them a reason to come visit me more often. So, with some help from our friends at Alpine Helicopters, I arranged to take my brother Scott up for a helicopter tour of the Canmore area. Both of my parents actually declined this opportunity as they would be in Calgary for the day, so I brought my cousin Peter as well.
I decided to completely surprise both Pete and Scott and so didn't tell either of them what we were doing. On the Monday of the long weekend, they would be competing in a Parent/child golf tournament at a local golf course. So naturally, as an excuse of something to do to make them leave the house, I came up with what I thought to be one of the most boring activities possible; a walking tour of the golf course.
As you can imagine, the boys were "thrilled" when I forced them to turn off their video games and movies to leave the house so that we could walk around a golf course with no intention of playing. Begrudgingly they got up off the couch and got dressed. I then forced them both to bring cameras because I told them that I would definitely want pictures of myself walking around the golf course. My brother thought this was a completely ridiculous idea and refused to bring any form of camera. Luckily for him, I had an extra which I brought for him to use.
As we got in the car to drive down to the Alpine heli-port, a Bell 407 helicopter flew directly overhead. I of course pointed out the helicopter to the boys which caused my cousin Pete to explain that there was a heli-port in Canmore. Little did he know, that is exactly where we were headed. So as we started to approach the heli-port, Pete kept trying to point out where it was. Finally we arrived at the turn and he said "Oh yeah, there is the heli-port". So of course, when I made the left turn in to the parking lot, the boys were both slightly confused. My brother, not being a Canmore local, thought that we had arrived at the golf course which just magically happened to be beside the heli-port. It was at this point when I told the boys that I thought a walking tour of the golf course was going to be far too boring, and we should probably go up in a helicopter and do it from the air. I think this just confused them even more.
As we walked in to the building and were ushered straight in to the pre-flight safety room, the boys were in a complete state of shock. They didn't really even have time to realize where we were before they were watching a film on how to walk near the helicopter and adjust your seat belts. We then proceeded to the flight deck where helicopters were taking off left right and center. It was at this point where I think the boys finally were aware of where they were. But it had still not sunk in that they were actually going to go up in one of these things! Finally, our Bell LR6 came in and landed, it was time for us to go. I think that they both thought that this was still a joke at this point... expecting me to laugh and take them walking around the golf course. But sure enough, we got in the helicopter and took off for a flight around the Spray Lakes, Mt. Assiniboine, and the golf course.
Upon return, the boys couldn't really explain what had just happened. When asked by our parents what they had done, they projected what can only be described as incomprehensible verbal excitement. Luckily they have pictures of the events, otherwise not many people would believe, or understand, what they were trying to say.
It was definitely one of those days to remember, and a pretty good story to share on a Friday afternoon!
CMH has been using Alpine Helicopters as their helicopter providers since 1981 for both HeliSkiing and Summer Adventures Operations.
Ps. In case you were wondering... We did manage to see the golf course from the air!
