Centennial Events Photo Album

Vol.
21,
No.
3
Fall
2006
Centennial
Events Photo
Album
page 12
Researchers study
Juneau Icefield
page 6
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SWISS MADE
ABSOLUTE ALPINE
The Alpine Club of Canada
What’s Inside...
Editorial
Mountain Culture
4 Short Rope
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Phone: (403) 678-3200
Fax: (403) 678-3224
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www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca
Cam Roe, President
Peter Muir, Secretary
Gord Currie, Treasurer
Roger Laurilla VP Activities
Isabelle Daigneault, VP Access & Environment
Carl Hannigan, VP Facilities
Bob Sandford, VP Mountain Culture
David Zemrau, VP Services
Mike Mortimer, Director, External Relations
David Toole, Director, Planning
& Development
Glen Boles, Honorary President
Bruce Keith, Executive Director
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Mountaineering / Climbing
9 Canada’s McColl wins Youth World
Championships
10 Yukon Centennial Camp expands
region’s climbing record
16 De-constructing avalanche
decision-making
18 Touched by history at Abbot Hut
Facilities
21 Solar powered lights installed at Fay
Hut
22 Kokanee and Fairy Meadow ski
weeks available
Science
6 Researchers study Juneau Icefield
15 Club hosts Canada’s first mountainfocussed climate change
workshop
8 Art: Exhibit pairs artists and
mountaineers
12 Centennial Events Photo Album
13 Fall Centennial events listing
14 When nature is calling…
National News
4 Canada Post honours ACC with
special Centennial stamp
5 Progress!!
22 Hans Gmoser – Canadian
mountain pioneer
23 National Office news
24 Centennial Fund Campaign
Awards / Notices / Classified Ads
9
11
14
20
23
Karl Nagy Memorial Award
Financial Grants
Awards
Get the Goods
Classified Ads / Notices
What’s Outside...
Front cover:
Inset:
Canadian Pacific’s Empress 2816 steams toward Field BC to pick up ACC
members en route to Rogers Pass for the 101st Annual General Meeting;
photo by Dan Neil: www.cloudtoground.com
An aerial view of Taku Glacier at its terminus reveals an epoch of
advancement that has slowly decreased due to a diminishing mass balance
throughout the last decades; photo by Pablo Wainstein.
Corporate Supporters
Associate Members
The Alpine Club of Canada thanks the following for their support, and encourages
you to consider them and the advertisers in this newsletter the next time you purchase
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The Alpine Club of Canada is proud
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Printed on recycled paper
Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks
and Wildlife Foundation (ASRPWF)
Association of Canadian Mountain Guides
(ACMG)
Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA)
Ecole Nationale d’Escalade du Québec
(ENEQ)
Federation of Mountain Clubs of British
Columbia (FMCBC)
Fédération québécoise de la montagne et de
l’escalade (FQME)
Mountain Culture at the Banff Centre
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
(Banff, AB)
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
3
Lynn contemplating Nevada Taulliraju (5830 m) in
Peru’s Cordillera Blanca
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Short Rope
BY LYNN
MARTEL
I
must confess, while Alpine Club of
Canada members across the country
celebrated our Club’s Centennial by
participating in a wide variety of exciting
events and activities throughout the
summer, I was exploring the mountains
of Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. While I was a
reluctant to miss out on the fun captured
in this issue’s Centennial Photo Album,
Peru was too good to pass up.
Among the rewards of experiencing
new mountains is the view – not only the
stunning Peruvian Andes, but also the
refreshed view by which I now look at
Canada’s mountains.
It’s not just the spectacular peaks
and valleys of the familiar Rockies and
Columbia Mountains, but what I don’t
see. Granola bar wrappers, empty water
and energy drink containers, soiled toilet
paper. Trekking in Peru highlighted for
me the importance of recognizing the
impacts we leave on the mountains we
love – cultural as well as physical impacts.
As climbers and skiers, and as ACC
members, we must accept our obligation
as stewards of the mountain environment.
One thing the mountain views in
Canada and Peru share is what we’re
seeing less of every season – glaciers.
Everywhere, they are shrinking at an
alarming rate.
The ACC was created not just
to marvel in the view from the
mountaintops, but also to share it. The
Club was formed for the purpose of
gaining and sharing mountaineering
skills and also knowledge – about
glaciers, forests, flowers, rocks and
hoary marmots. Professional mountain
guides sharing the high alpine with their
clients built our first alpine huts. Now
as North America’s largest operator of
backcountry huts, ACC members share
their huts with non-members, guides
and clients, snorers and non-snorers. Hut
guests experience the epitome of sharing
– from washing dishes to chopping
firewood to changing outhouse barrels.
At international conferences, the ACC
shares its approaches for waste removal
and maintaining clean waterways.
Whether it’s leading a rope at a
Club camp, volunteering on an ACC
committee, or learning to operate a nail
gun to help renovate a backcountry hut,
ACC members share the role of Canada’s
mountain ambassadors.
In this issue, you’ll also learn how,
in its Centennial year, our Club has
taken the sharp end of the rope in
the climate change matter by hosting
Canada’s first climate change workshop
focussed specifically on mountains.
Mountaineering club representatives
from around the world will discuss
how our recreational activities might be
affecting the alpine environment, and
how shrinking glaciers are likely to affect
our alpine activities.
The view of shrinking glaciers is a
responsibility all mountaineers share.
Canada Post honours ACC with special stamp
BY LYNN
MARTEL
T
o help the Alpine Club of Canada
celebrate its Centennial, Canada
Post unveiled a special postage
stamp on July 19 at the Civic Centre in
Canmore, Alberta, where ACC members
and all Canadians got to see the stamp
for the first time.
One of two special (and completely
unrelated) stamps that were released
in July, the appearance of “The
Mountaineering Stamp” was a closely
guarded secret until the public unveiling.
“I think it’s beautiful,” said ACC
Executive Director Bruce Keith. “It’s
extremely colourful, it indicates a lot of
thought was put into the design.”
The idea for the stamp was born in
the late 1990s, the collaboration of several
ACCers, including long-time member
Bev Bendell and Mountain Culture
Committee members. Initial plans were
then pursued by another long-time ACC
member and Centennial Committee
Chair Mike Mortimer.
“It goes back a long way,” Keith said.
4
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
“Way back in ’98 members were thinking,
‘what can we do to make the Club’s
Centennial special?’”
Keith wrote to Postmaster General
Andre Oullette that year, and waited until
the end of 1999 before he received a reply,
saying the request/suggestion was being
channelled through Canada Post’s usual
committees.
“After that we didn’t hear anything
back until 2002,” Keith said.
Keith assured CP the Club was still
interested in pursuing the project, and
offered to help in any way possible.
A couple of years later, a researcher
visited Canmore to interview several key
people and gather research.
When in 2005, the list of stamps to be
issued for 2006 was announced, the ACC
Centennial stamp had made the list.
“When we heard about that, we offered
to help with the design, and the background
research,” Keith said. “But they said no, they
would assign a regular research consultant,
as per standard procedure.”
While an idea for a commemorative
coin – more complicated and more costly
– never materialized, Keith said the
ACC is thrilled to have its own special
postage stamp – the first Canadian
stamp to feature climbers in action. The
stamp’s Day of Issue booklet includes a
portrait of ACC founder A.O. Wheeler
– the second time the family has been so
honoured. The booklet’s cover shows the
stamp at an angle so the climbers appear
With photos, old topographical survey map
and ACC badge, the Day of Issue cover with the
actual stamp in the corner resembles a scrapbook
capturing old and new faces of climbing.
Progress!!
BY
DAVID TOOLE
T
he Alpine Club of Canada’s online member profile registration is
now available.
The Club’s Information Technology
team has been making some good
progress on keeping ACC members
up-to-date on the IT front – meaning
that systems and computers are forming
a more significant part of our lives at the
Club. We recently set up a program that
will allow members the ability to create
their own profile and have access to basic
information the Club has on file for them
in its database.
This capability will allow members
to update their profile to keep their
personal information current. It will
also allow the IT team to offer other
features, some immediately and some
to come shortly. For example, when
you visit the Club’s home page now at
www.alpineclubofcanada.ca you will
see a link to the Member Profile area.
After you follow the easy registration
steps you’ll be presented other options,
Continued from page 4.
vertical. Delegates at the International
Mountaineering and Climbing
Federation (UIAA) meetings in October
in Banff will receive a collectors’ edition
as part of their gift package.
“It’s a huge milestone in the Club’s
evolution and history,” Keith said. “The
stamp program is an excellent way for
all Canadians to know about Canadian
events, including those that focus
primarily on one aspect of geography or
history.”
Xerxes Irani of Calgary’s Non
Fiction Design, one of the two artists
commissioned to design the stamp, was
present at the unveiling, along with Ivan
Hlavenka from Canada Post, and about
50 ACC members and staff and general
public.
The event also included a screening of
a short film on the history of the Club,
produced by ACC VP Mountain Culture,
Bob Sandford.
“Our members should be extremely
proud,” Keith said.
including the ability to change your
contact information – such as when you
move and want to register your new
address. In addition, you will be able to
indicate your interest in subscribing (or
unsubscribing) to the ACC NewsNet,
which provides news about the Club as it
happens via e-mail.
In the future we will be offering
on-line ability to join or renew your
membership, purchase items from the
Club store, book huts and carry out other
transactions, all via the Club’s secure
website.
The ACC’s skilled IT team has
worked hard to get this up and running
and we think you will be impressed with
the result.
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Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
5
Researchers study Juneau Icefield
BY
PABLO WAINSTEIN
W
ind started to blow and I
felt the chills on my back.
My partners and I had been
working all day on Taku Glacier on
Alaska’s Juneau Icefield, digging snow
pits and setting up ablation stakes to
measure the losses and gains of snow
and ice of the icefield. Known as a mass
balance, the process requires digging
several snow pits four or five metres
deep to see how much snow is left from
the previous year’s snowfall. After the
first layer from the previous winter is
determined, its depth is measured and
snow samples are taken from the pit wall
to calculate the snow’s density and water
equivalency. Covering about 671 square
kilometres, with a maximum depth of
about 1400 m, Taku Glacier is considered
a maritime temperate glacier because it
is located near the ocean coastline and its
ice is on average 0°C from the surface to
the bottom.
As a member of the Juneau Icefield
Research Program ( JIRP), I am part of
a research team that works in a huge
and awesome outdoor lab. Watching
water carve its way through ice, building
a piping system that looks almost as
Pablo Wainstein conducts ground penetrating
radar surveys to determine the glacier’s depth and
inner hydrology.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
complicated a Swiss cheese, I have
worked on several glaciers in Alaska,
Alberta, British Columbia, the Andes
and Patagonia. In all those places, glaciers
share a common denominator – they are
retreating.
In 1946, a young PhD student named
Maynard M. Miller, full of energy and
a keen interest in understanding the
frozen world around us, decided to
begin research on the Juneau Icefield,
which stretches from Juneau, Alaska to
the southern limits of Atlin Lake BC.
He formed a group of researchers and
mountaineers in order to explore and
trace access routes onto Taku Glacier.
After struggling through the Alaskan
bush they were astonished with what
they saw – an enormous natural lab to
study glaciers. The expedition was very
successful, triggering the formation of
the JIRP, one of the world’s longest
research and educational programs in
glaciology. With slightly more than 60
years of operation, thousands of students
haven gone through the program, and
many prosperous research careers have
developed.
Based in Juneau, every year the
program receives students from Canada,
the U.S. and other parts of the world
interested in learning about natural
systems, glaciology and climatology, and
more importantly to gain experience in
fieldwork. After spending some days in
Juneau, traveling around the Mendenhall
and Herbert Glaciers, students, staff
and researchers begin their long journey
that for years has been done by foot
and ski across the icefield. Supplies and
equipment are flown in by helicopter.
Along the route, JIRP has established
several research stations that enable
safe and effective fieldwork. Alaska can
sometimes present such hostile weather
that research is hindered by the needs
of survival during the eight weeks of the
program.
Years ago, much more time was
dedicated to normal daily routines.
Nowadays, thanks to the facilities and
organization, researchers can dedicate
more effective time to their teaching and
field experiences. The group stays two
weeks per station. As the team moves
forward into the icefield toward the town
of Atlin BC, the weather becomes drier
and more comfortable. Near the icefield’s
northern limits, where the landscape
has been transformed by retreating
glaciers, nights are sometimes coloured
by vibrant northern lights. Countless
different geomorphologic features such
as moraines, lakes and rivers have evolved
due to the warming period the earth is
suffering.
As glaciers advanced during colder
climate periods of past geological history,
ice eroded the valley bottoms and
sides, scraping out material that then
accumulated at the front or margins
of the glacier. Later, during periods
of warmer climate, ice bodies began
retreating, leaving behind elongated
accumulations of debris – moraines –
which sometimes act as natural dams that
incite the collection of meltwater forming
a pro glacial lake. These are common in
the Canadian Rockies.
Through JIRP’s 60 years of research,
glaciers have been retreating drastically.
Camp 10, one of JIRP’s largest stations on the Juneau Icefield, accommodating up to 50 people, has been
the main camp for the research program’s operations throughout its history.
PHOTO BY PABLO WAINSTEIN
There is no doubt about the warming
period the planet is suffering, although
what is still disputable is what proportion
human activity is responsible for. Lemon
Creek Glacier, a small outlet of the
Juneau Glacier, (11.2 square km), has been
thinning and retreating dramatically since
1953 – thinning at a rate of roughly 1.77
m per year, and retreating 17.8 m per year.
Taku Glacier, due to its larger size and
inertia, was for decades the only glacier
on the Juneau Icefield that had advanced.
Not for long though, its mass balance
began to decline in 1980.
Skiing back to camp, Dr. Miller
queried me on the snow level of the pits
we had just dug. This year we’ve had little
snow and crevasses are opening sooner
than other years. The snow pits were
shallower than expected, on average the
remains of the previous winter’s snowfall
is roughly 3 m. He shook his head,
grabbed my shoulder and asked…“What
is nature telling us? If we could just speak
Inside a 3.5 m snow pit, researcher Matt Beedle
samples the wall to calculate the snow’s density
PHOTO BY PABLO WAINSTEIN
and water equivalency.
its language, we could understand so
much more!”
With the end of the summer, we close
up camp and move to Atlin, where the
shining sun feels warm. Sitting on the
lakeshore, waiting for my long expected
shower, I looked at the surrounding
mountains and smiled.
As the program’s logistical manager
and research associate, work never ends.
Alpine Club of Canada member Pablo
Wainstein is a former Director of Chile’s
CDUC Mountain School.
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
7
Exhibit pairs artists and mountaineers
to create alpine impressions
BY LYNN
MARTEL
E
with an exhibit featuring historical ACC
photographs to help celebrate the Club’s
100th anniversary.
The project required a considerable
amount of planning and coordination,
which amounted to something akin to
triangulation – attempting to balance
each of the artists’ styles and mediums,
the mountaineers’ artistic preferences
and choice of location, and the potential
relationship between the artist and the
mountaineer.
“We didn’t want to define what they
wanted to do,” Gottselig said. “But we’d
look at things like this place has a lot
of rocks, let’s pair him up with a stone
sculptor.”
“And knowing this mountaineer
might appreciate an abstract,” added
Massie.
Logistics were another concern, with
the organizers asking the artists such
questions as, “How far are you willing to
walk?”
“Nobody had to strap on crampons
– that was a fear of some of the artists,”
Mortimer laughed.
The outings took place throughout
the 2005 summer. Alpinist and mountain
guide Barry Blanchard chose the base
of Mount Yamnuska, veteran mountain
guide and former rescue specialist Kiwi
Gallagher chose for Massie to paint
Mount Robson,
Painting – Ridge of Melting Faces, Golden BC, the location chosen by ACC General
while mountaineer
PAINTING BY LEONA AMANN
Mountaineering Camp organizer Brad Harrison
and filmmaker Pat
Morrow picked a
spot in the Yukon.
Fortunately,
when the
mountaineers –
who were selected
as a cross section
of ACC members
from different
generations who
have contributed
significantly
to the Club
through climbing
exploits or various
organizational
efforts – chose
their locations,
ven before there were
mountaineers, there were
mountain artists.
Then in 2004, as a group of art
loving Alpine Club of Canada members
contemplated different ways to help
celebrate the Club’s Centennial in 2006,
they focussed on one of the key tenets
of the Club – “The promotion of art and
literature as applied to mountain regions.”
What would happen, they proposed,
if an artist were to team up with a
mountaineer? Now after two years of
organizing, planning and coordinating,
Canmore artists Susan Gottselig and
Donna Jo Massie, and their good friend
Heather Mortimer from Calgary – all
long time ACC members – are excited to
see their project come to fruition.
To create The Artist and the
Mountaineer: An Alpine Club Centennial
Project, the three women paired up 13
mountain artists with 13 respected ACC
members. Each duo then travelled into
the mountains together to a location
of the mountaineer’s choosing where
the artist would attempt to capture the
essence of that mountaineer in a place
that was significant and special to them.
The resulting pieces of art will be
displayed at the Whyte Museum of the
Canadian Rockies in Banff from October
13 thru January 2007, in conjunction
8
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
Artist Brent Laycock with mountain guide Barry
Blanchard
PHOTO BY CRAIG RICHARDS
there was only one overlap.
The triangulation process Mortimer
said, ended up taking on a bit of a life of
its own.
“It’s not just the selection of the artists
and the selection of the mountaineer, but
also making sure the chemistry between
them is amenable,” Mortimer said. “As
a consequence of that chemistry, the art
reflects that connection.”
The artists were chosen based on
a variety of criteria, including their
proximity to the Canadian Rockies and
their subjects, availability, and style and
medium – ranging from pen and ink
sketches to sculptures, and from realistic
to abstract.
The one thing that tied the artists
and the mountaineer together was an
underlying love of the mountains, she
added.
“There are a lot of insights people
have gained from one another,” Mortimer
said. “Some of the pairs even blossomed
into friendships, and they went back out
into the mountains together on other
occasions just for a hike.”
On their initial outing – some of
which involved creek crossings and hikes
to ridge tops or mountain passes, but no
technical climbing – the artists made
sketches and took photographs and notes
to guide them back in their studios.
Canmore videographer Joseph Potts
then filmed the artists working in their
studios to create a looped videotape
which will run as part of the exhibit.
As well, exhibit curator Craig
Richards photographed each of the artist/
mountaineer pairs, creating images that
will appear in the exhibit catalogue.
“I think the concept is fantastic, from
the experience of being with one person
who thought it was a special place, to
I
n August, Vancouver’s Sean McColl
won both the Lead and Speed events
at the Youth World Championships
in Imst, Austria. A constant threat on
the 2006 World Cup circuit, McColl, 19,
has consistently placed top 10. As well, in
her first international competition, Katie
Mah pulled her way to a solid third place
in the Youth B division. Twenty-four
members of the Competition dÉscalade
Canada (CEC) Youth National Team
competed in Austria, producing Canada’s
best ever overall results at a World
Championships.
After a series of sanctioned events
across Canada, the CEC Open National
Bouldering Team for 2006/07 was
announced in May. With hometowns
from North Vancouver to Halifax to
Saskatoon to Gatineau, Quebec, the 10
females and 10 males represent a true
cross-section of the country.
To learn more, go to:
www.competitionclimbingcanada.com
Continued from page 16.
create something special artistically out of
the relationship that was created between
the artist and the subject in that place,”
Richards said. “It follows along the lines
of what they (the ACC) did at the early
camps, when the climbers would go out
and experience the mountains through
their climbs, while the artists were also
brought out into the mountains to create
from what they experienced.”
Historically, the project creators said,
the ACC fostered the artist/mountaineer
relationship, particularly at the annual
camps where mountaineers, artists and
scientists would gather, often generating
different interpretations of the mountain
landscapes, complete with an art tent at
the camps. Today the Club’s activities
tend to be more segmented, they said.
“Through this exhibit we hope
to bring together the culture, the
mountaineers we’re here to honour and
the art,” Massie said.
The Artist and the Mountaineer runs
October 13 thru January 2007 at the Whyte
Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff.
Reprinted with permission from the
Rocky Mountain Outlook.
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wins Youth World
Championships
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The Karl Nagy Memorial Award was established in 2001 to assist aspiring
amateur leaders and guides develop their leadership skills. Until his death in 2000,
Karl set an outstanding example as a mentor in the mountains and was well known
for his leadership, safety and success.
This award provides an opportunity for ACMG (Association of Canadian
Mountain Guides) candidates and Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) aspiring amateur
leaders to participate at the ACC General Mountaineering Camp.
Amateur ACC leaders and ACMG candidates are given priority in alternating
years; 2007 is set for an ACMG candidate. All applicants must be current ACC
members. In years designated for ACMG candidates, applicants must also have
passed their ACMG assistant rock guide, assistant alpine guide and/or assistant ski
guide exams. Deadline for applications is January 31, 2007. For more information,
visit: www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/activities/leadership.html#nagy
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
9
Yukon Centennial Camp expands region’s climbing record
STORY
& PHOTOS BY PAUL GEDDES
T
party onto the glacier
as scheduled. The 2006
climbing season had been
particularly hampered
by poor weather
throughout May, and
several parties couldn’t fly
in to their destinations
Yukon Centennial Camp with Mounts Walsh and Steele in the distance
at all. Unfortunately,
Donjek, Badham and Eclipse were all
our window of flying
popular objectives for most of the group.
opportunity closed with us – short two
With a stable weather forecast, Helen
flights and four members of our group.
and three of our strongest members set
Willa Harasym, our volunteer logistics
off on a three-day expedition to establish
manager, provided the necessary support
a high camp at the Walsh/Steele col,
to the splinter group at the airstrip until
a day’s travel on skis with sleds from
flights could resume four days later.
basecamp. Their reaching the 4507Reading, grocery trips to Haines Junction,
metre summit of Mount Walsh was an
and eating and socializing with other
accomplishment beyond our expectations.
stranded climbers occupied their days. By
Enjoying the best weather of the 2006
the time the flights resumed, one delayed
climbing season, we were restricted to
participant had decided that the potential
camp only one day, for 12 hours during
isolation of the Saint Elias was more than
a period of rain – very unusual for the
he cared for and he stayed out to hike and
camp’s 2830-metre elevation. We also
tour the lowlands.
enjoyed mostly excellent conditions,
With everyone finally together, the
despite a wide variety of temperatures.
camp was now in full swing. One or
During the first few days we experienced
more climbing objectives
Camp participants proudly display ACC Centennial flag
winter-like ski conditions on north
were accomplished each
facing slopes, then after the rainstorm,
day except one, all skillfully
conditions firmed up. In the last days of
planned and executed by
the camp the glacier surface was very soft
Association of Canadian
by late afternoon.
Mountain Guides guide
Taking advantage of blue skies, we
Helen Sovdat, assisted by
flew out a couple of days prior to our
Tim Styles, an ACMG ski
scheduled departure date. Again, we
guide.
managed to fly out all but four of our
The climbing record of
team before a two-day weather delay. A
the rarely visited Eclipse
brief respite in the weather allowed for
Glacier was greatly
the quick two flights needed to get the
expanded during our nine
four remaining climbers out, but there
days of active climbing, with
wasn’t enough time for a third flight
11 peaks climbed – four of
to fly out the last of our gear and food.
them first recorded ascents
It would be a week before the weather
and four by new routes.
his past June, I was out with a
group of Alpine Club of Canada
climbers, ‘whooping it up’ in
the Icefield Ranges of the Saint Elias
Mountains.
During several previous expeditions
by me and other Toronto Section
members to the area, an inventory
of climbing opportunities had been
tabulated: Pinnacle Peak 1990, Donjek
1992, Slaggards 1997, Steele 2000, Latus
Arm 2003 and South Walsh 2005.
Donjek, the site of our 1992 camp, was
selected as the prime location for the
Club’s Centennial camp for several
reasons: its close proximity to the lee
side of Mount Logan, relatively simple
aircraft access to the Kluane Lake airstrip
and a multitude of reasonable climbing
objectives, all approachable on skis.
When our group arrived on the
shores of Kluane Lake on June 2, the
last remnants of the winter ice were
still evident. Beginning our flights into
basecamp the following day, we felt
very lucky to get the majority of our
10 Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
Financial Grants
T
hrough the generosity of many donors, the Alpine Club of Canada has
funds in place to support mountaineering related projects and initiatives. The
annual deadline for submission of grant applications is January 31, and the
announcement date for grants awarded is March 15.
The Environment Fund provides support for projects aimed at contributing to the
protection and preservation of mountain and climbing environments, including the
preservation of alpine flora and fauna in their natural habitat. The focus of the Fund is
wilderness conservation.
The Jen Higgins Fund promotes creative and energetic alpine related outdoor
pursuits by women age 25 and younger. These projects should demonstrate initiative,
creativity, energy and resourcefulness with an emphasis on self-propelled wilderness
travel, and should provide value and interest to the community.
For complete information and application forms, visit our website:
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/funds/index.html or contact the National Office.
Continued from page 6.
stabilized sufficiently to allow a flight
back in to retrieve it. For the curious,
there are ravens (and we saw an eagle) at
this elevation!
Piloting all of our fixed wing flights
was Donjek Upton, to whom Andy
Williams, icon of flying in the Icefield
Ranges for the last 30 years, passed the
torch. Donjek is the son of Phil Upton,
who decades before mentored Williams
as his successor.
Yukon Alpine Centennial Camp
participants included Bill Walker, Ted
Wood, Jan Ijsakkers, John Raich, John
Myles, Uta Schuler, Jim Given, Bob
Bolin, Klaus Haring, Roger Wallis, Willa
Harasym, Helen Sovdat, Tim Styles,
Jessica Logher (cook), and Paul Geddes
as camp manager.
Everyone involved would like to thank
Mountain Hardwear (Space Station
basecamp tent), Bean North (premium
fair trade organic coffee), Icefield
Discovery (fixed wing flights), Trans
North Helicopters, Mary and Gerry
Whitley (volunteer logistical support
Whitehorse) and the ACC.
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Distribu
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Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
11
entennial
Events
C
Photo Album
1
3
5
4
2
6
Centennial Events
October
Member Survey – help shape the future of
your Club! (see notice on page 5)
October 10-11
Climate Change and its Affect on the Alpine,
workshop – Banff Centre (see page 15)
October 12
“Women Who Have Made a Difference”
seminar – Banff Centre.
October 12-14
The General Assembly of the International
Mountaineering and Climbing Federation
(UIAA) in Banff.
October 13
The Artist and the Mountaineer, The Whyte
Museum of the Canadian Rockies grand
opening (see page 8)
Heritage Room and Pat Boswell (Toronto
Section) Cabin opening at the Canmore
Clubhouse
October 14
The Great Canadian Slide Show
Elizabeth Parker and the Alpine Club of
Canada play
Centennial Dinner and Dance, Banff Park
Lodge – SOLD OUT.
Spring 2007
The Canadian Alpine Journal 2007
Centennial Edition
This Way to the Stars – complete collection
of Canadian Alpine Journals 1907-2006
available on DVD
To participate in Centennial events visit:
8
7
11
10
www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/centennial
Centennial celebration photos:
1.
Yoho Camp participants climb Mount President;
DAVE MCCORMICK
ACC members pose beside the Empress 2816 CPR
train en route to the 2006 AGM at the Glacier Park
Lodge in Rogers Pass BC; PHOTO BY CRAIG DOUCE
David Toole and Isabelle Daigneault show off the
Yoho Pass commemorative cairn; SUBMITTED PHOTO
Bob Sandford admires Lloyd “Kiwi” Gallagher’s
historical costume; PHOTO BY WENDY EDGE
Vancouver Island Section members form “100”
on the summit of the Golden Hinde, VI’s highest
peak. From left: Gordon Nienaber, Hinrich
Schaefer, Julie Deslippe, Philippe Benoit and Jain
Alcock-White; PHOTO BY SANDY BRIGGS
Cam Roe and Dave McCormick admire the view
atop Mount Kerr; SUBMITTED PHOTO
Members enjoy the AGM dinner at the Wheeler
Hut. Clockwise from left: Pat Morrow, Richard
and Louise Guy, Marg Hind, Chic Scott; PHOTO BY
LAWRENCE WHITE
Peak Weekend 2006 participants hold the ACC
Centennial flag atop Mount Victoria; PHOTO BY
YVONNE KLEINLOGEL
Arnica Palechuk rock-jocking in the Premier
Range, Cariboo Mountains; PHOTO BY BRAD HARRISON
Liz Boles and ACC Honorary President Glen Boles
celebrate in front of Mount Vice-President Falls;
PHOTO BY ISABELLE DAIGNEAULT
High Camp at the 2006 Centennial GMC with view
to peaks of the north Cariboo Mountains; PHOTO BY
ROGER LAURILLA
Yoho Camp participants fill the staircase at
Stanley Mitchell Hut; SUBMITTED PHOTO
PHOTO BY
2.
3.
4.
5.
9
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12
12.
A volunteer’s commitment to the Alpine Club of Canada
The Gazette continues to recognize the contributions of some of the Alpine Club of
Canada’s (ACC) dedicated Executive Committee volunteers. Isabelle Daigneault joined the
ACC in 1997. She served as Access & Environment representative with the Montreal Section
from 1999 to 2003, and with the National Access & Environment Committee in 2004. In
2005, she joined the Club’s Executive as VP Access & Environment. Isabelle lives in Montreal
where she works in the Information Technology industry.
When nature is calling…
BY ISABELLE
DAIGNEAULT
I
t seems our lives are like a
whirlwind… people come, people go,
things happen. In all the insanity, the
Alpine Club of Canada has kept me close
to some of my most important values
– respect for the wild and serene places of
our world and the great comradeship that
comes from living the basics and sharing
outdoor experiences.
I grew up in Quebec’s Eastern
Townships in a natural setting where I
spent a lot of time walking and skiing the
wooded areas and farmland surrounding
us. I always felt peaceful – picking berries,
absorbing the smell of the ferns, listening
to my feet walk through fallen leaves and
even gliding across snowy meadows. It
was and continues to be comforting to
me.
My parents took my brother and me
hiking and skiing on weekends starting
at a young age, and in 1995 I started rock
climbing at Val David in the Laurentian
Mountains of Quebec. My boyfriend at
the time introduced me to climbing and
then showed me pictures of the ‘BIG’
mountains – the Canadian Rockies. The
relationship ended, but the mountain
legacy stayed. I felt the calling.
I joined the ACC in 1997 as a member
of the Montreal Section looking for
climbing partners. I found not only
climbing partners but also great people
and discovered a great organization
that offered me the potential to further
discover what nature had to offer.
The Club offers so many outings
and courses. I participated in many of
them and was fascinated by it all. Fellow
ACC mates led many adventures and
through them, I learned many things. I
recall my first multi-pitch climbs in the
Adirondacks, feeling overwhelmed by the
view and the teamwork it took to get to
the top of the ridge. It seemed I was truly
experiencing the very basic things of life
with these people, in true humbleness.
There I often found myself, hanging off
a cliff at the belay, in close quarters with
the third party on our rope!
My first few telemark turns on crusty
snow in the Laurentians with fellow
ACCers Andrew, Martin, Chris, Jackie,
Suzie and Maria were awkward, but we
shared many laughs. A few years later,
I joined them on a ski trip to Fairy
Meadow and then on a Section camp
at Lake O’Hara – and the good times
are still rolling. Ohhh – the many holds
we pulled on, the many turns we carved
in snow, the many trips we took to the
Rockies to relish in the piles of rubble,
the stories of this and that, the songs
around the hut table, the scotch, the cabin
games – it is such a tribute to the human
spirit!
AWARDS AWARDS AWARDS
G
et your award nominations in by the December 31 deadline
for the exceptional ACC volunteers of 2005. Choose the
appropriate award: Don Forest Service Award, Distinguished
Service Award, Eric Brooks Leader Award, Silver Rope for Leadership
Award. All the award criteria and nomination forms are available at:
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/awards/index.html or call the National Office
at (403) 678-3200 ext. 108 to receive information by mail.
AWARDS AWARDS AWARDS
14 Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
Isabelle Daigneault hiking in Newfoundland’s
Gros Morne National Park
SUBMITTED PHOTO
As I experienced great friendships,
developed my skills and accessed many
new places (some I never thought
I’d visit), I felt the need to share the
exhilaration of my discoveries with others
and contribute to the Club. I also felt
grateful to mother nature for providing us
with such beautiful, natural, diverse places
and thought: what would my life be like
without these wild places? Really, what
would the Club be without these wild
and unique places?
I wanted to give back so I became
involved as Access & Environment
representative at the section level in
Montreal from 1999 until 2003 and
then gave a hand to the National Access
& Environment Committee in 2004.
Since 2005 I have been serving on the
National Executive, leading the Access &
Environment portfolio.
It is such a delicate balance to keep
accessing our wild places and practicing
the recreational activities that we do. Our
‘impact’ on the environment is something
that we need to continually study and
negotiate with other stakeholders.
In the mountains and in nature, I’ve
found an astounding heritage, friends,
truth and passion. The outdoors has
also allowed me to keep my sanity in
this hustle and bustle world. I believe I
am not the only one who feels this way.
There are so many interesting people in
the ACC. Each person I have met within
the Club resonates with stories and
experiences.
I hope to continue my mountaineering
pursuits as long as nature keeps calling
to me, and as long as my legs can answer
that call.
ACC hosts Canada’s first mountain-focussed climate change workshop
BY LYNN
MARTEL
A
s part of its 2006 Centennial
celebrations, the Alpine Club
of Canada presents a workshop
titled Climate Change and its Affect on the
Alpine. This is Canada’s first ever climate
change workshop to focus on mountains
– examining the physical and recreational
impacts of climate change in alpine
environments worldwide, and seeking
out ways in which the international
mountaineering community might
respond to these changes.
Running at the Banff Centre in
Banff, Alberta October 10 and 11,
workshop sessions include such topics as
Climate Change Impacts on the World’s
Mountains from a Global Perspective,
the Implications of Global Change for
Canadian Mountains, and the Role of the
UIAA and its Member Organizations in
Addressing Climate Change Impacts on
Mountain Regions Globally.
Speakers include Dr. Shawn Marshall,
University of Calgary Associate Professor
in glaciology and climatology – whose
presentation will include a field trip to
Bow Lake and the Columbia Icefield
– and Dr. David Sauchyn, chief scientist
at the Prairie Adaptation Research
Collaborative at the University of Regina,
and member of the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
The workshop is one component
of the General Assembly of the
International Mountaineering and
Climbing Federation (UIAA), taking
place in Banff October 14. Eighty to 100
international delegates are expected to
attend, including the presidents of at
least 70 international mountaineering
organizations.
The UIAA’s first general assembly to
include discussions on climate change,
the aim of the workshop is to put forward
the latest information and emerging
climate change adaptation strategies as
a basis for establishing a protocol for
action allowing the ACC to recognize
and address climate change impacts on
Canada’s mountain regions. It is hoped
that the protocol will serve as a template
for alpine organizations around the world
interested in doing the same.
Public attendance at the workshop is
welcome and encouraged.
The UIAA General Assembly also
includes:
Mountain Medicine seminar
Women and Mountaineering
presentation
Training Standards workgroup.
For registration information and
a complete listing of events, visit:
www.uiaainbanff.ca
Rain. It gives life.
It brings new growth. It cleanses the soul.
PSST!
Do you wanna be a famous
writer? Ok, how about just a writer?
Contact the Gazette editor at
gazette@alpineclubofcanada.ca
to have your article, story or event
published in the Gazette.
But if you’re not prepared for the rain, it can test your tolerance.
The PreCip Jacket by Marmot. The Rain Stops Here™.
Beth Rodden between climbs in Lofoten, Norway | Photo Ace Kvale | marmot.com
B O R N P R O F E S S I O N A L LY
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
15
De-constructing avalanche decision-making
SKIERS ASCEND EMERALD GLACIER ON THE WAPTA TRAVERSE
STORY
& PHOTO BY MURRAY TOFT
S
o, you’ve racked up a couple of Recreational Avalanche Courses and maybe
even started on Canadian Avalanche Association professional certifications.
You’ve learned a lot about weather, snow mechanics, profiles and shear strength,
terrain shape and the destructive capability of avalanches; and learned techniques for
observing/recording phenomena of several kinds. You’ve spent (not nearly enough) time
considering the complex decision-making process and the human factors that affect the
‘final call’ of whether to ski or not to ski. And you’ve practised how to respond when
things go bad.
then Jasper National Park’s alpine
Yet with all this must-know
safety specialist. These “five foreboding
knowledge and technique, you’re
questions” became important cues for
wondering if you’re really ready to step
simplifying and applying the right
out front with your peers and lead a trip
knowledge and skills base in critical
this coming winter. With so much to
decision-making. I hope they help you
keep track of when making that final call,
stay on top this winter.
how you approach that decision is key.
Over many years of involvement
1) Are we in avalanche terrain or
with avalanche courses I was continually
threatened by avalanche terrain?
This basic first question should
intrigued by a phenomenon I called
prompt a number of insights and
‘academic cross-over’. After classroom
awarenesses when you consider how you
theory sessions and short-term technique
might get hit from avalanches started by
labs, students repeatedly scored high
either your group (triggering, settlement/
in their knowledge base when exams
propagation), other skiers above you
were about theory. Yet even a couple
(triggering pockets of instability), or from
of days after a written exam, the same
the environment itself (natural causes like
students were often lacking when faced
temperature change or wind over-loading
with decision making in real avalanche
start zones). When you think about how
terrain, showing a lack of transference
planar, convex and concave landforms
from classroom to field. Eventually I
combine with slope steepness to create
decided this was because the students
conditions that could catch you, you
were on information overload, and lacked
should commit to finding safe terrain
important cues to help sort through
as a matter of habit. Follow the high
the volume of classroom theory for an
ground or least exposed ground whenever
appropriate response.
possible.
The solution to this paralysis came
from a hierarchy of questions shared
2) Is the snowpack stable?
with me years ago by Willi Pfisterer,
Keeping track of the winter snowpack
16 Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
history, plus considering the current
weather forecast and avalanche bulletin
before you leave home, gives you a
preliminary idea about stability and
what to look for as you begin your tour.
The bulletin allows you to anticipate
suspicious layers in the general region.
Consciously making visual observations
for natural activity as you drive to your
trailhead, noting recent snowfall amounts
and taking a current temperature should
help kick-start processing the “What
about stability…?” question.
As you gain altitude in your particular
drainage, draw upon your full arsenal
of tools and techniques to gain more
precise local information on relative
snowpack strength or weakness. Feedback
from simple sounding techniques with
your ski pole leads to further shovel
tests, compression tests, and perhaps
Rutschblock tests to discover where
potential shear layers are and how
sensitive they are to extra load. Start
forming an opinion about the additional
concentrated load you and your party
can apply to the snowpack and if it will
support that load given the terrain you
intend to travel through. Your on-going
observations provide immediate feedback
about stability, which leads to route
finding and group management decisions.
If your tests keep showing Good
results, your likelihood of safely skiing
in avalanche terrain is increased. If the
snowpack isn’t acceptably stable, why are
you there? You should be able to defend
your reasoning in either case.
3) If it goes, how much will go?
This is a concurrent question with  2
that is answered as you discover the depth
of the significant shear layers. Applying
the results to the terrain features you
intend to move through provides a sense
of scale. Open planar slopes or convexities
may be susceptible to surprisingly wide
propagation leading to significant volume
in a release of even shallow layers. In
more convoluted and discontinuous
terrain, a potential release may be
contained within terrain features. At this
point an honest estimate of potential
avalanche size will temper your decisionmaking. Could the conditions you find in
your tests lead to a Size 1.5 avalanche or
greater?
4) If it goes where will it go to?
Now you’re starting to think
consequentially. If you can visualize a
release of any significant size moving you
and your group down into mature timber,
or into large exposed boulder fields or
creekbeds or other hollows (crevasses)
where the runout is confined, or over
cliffs where trauma is even more likely,
the route-finding decisions and further
progress should be pretty obvious. In
your mind’s eye you need to re-play the
destructive avalanche video footage you
saw in class to keep you brutally honest
and avoid hazards that can swallow
you from below. Err on the side of the
mountain; a little slough when confined
can add up to a lot of snow.
When run-out zones take avalanche
debris onto open, planar terrain such as
bug squisher
wide, open valley bottoms or frozen lakes
where the forces are diffused and spread
out and anyone caught may “wash out”, a
different equation presents itself, leading
to the final question:
5) Can we live with the consequences?
Depending upon the group’s
backcountry mileage, even minor
settlements or sloughing can have
a rattling affect on an individual’s
performance, let alone a significant
release that could move people. The
“what if ” question adds to the clarity
as your mind conjures up the many
possible scenarios that could fall out of a
poorly made decision. From lost skis to
twisted knees, to an overnight out, to the
worst-case scenario of a fatality, you have
to think about how you will respond if
things go bad. Is forcing the route a risk
worth taking? Or are you confident in
your assessment and ability to respond?
The choice is yours.
Think about these questions and have
a safe winter.
Murray Toft is a well-traveled
Association of Canadian Mountain Guides
(ACMG) guide and ACC member.
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Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
17
Touched by history at Abbot Hut
BY
MARGARET IMAI-COMPTON
P
In Sean Dougherty’s Selected Alpine
Climbs in the Canadian Rockies, Mount
Lefroy (3423 metres), is described as,
“A classic Rockies ascent; almost all
Rockies habitués have climbed it at
some time. Low angled snow/ice slopes
lead the whole way to the summit.” The
description of the normal route sounded
rather casual and certainly possible for
even novice mountaineers. But in the
grander context of 110 years, the contrast
between Abbot’s demise on Lefroy
and my successful climb boggles the
imagination.
In 1896, Abbot and his friends started
from a small wooden lodging at the end
of Lake Louise, climbed to Victoria
Glacier via the Death Trap and then
assessed their options at the pass. Their
equipment was simple – canvas and
leather rucksacks containing a lunch of
perhaps hard boiled eggs, some crusty
bread and dried sausage; a length of hemp
rope and wooden handled ice axes. They
wore tweed jackets and wool knickers;
their footwear consisted of leather
hobnailed boots. I don’t know if climbing
helmets were necessary equipment at the
time.
One hundred and ten years later, I had
the comfort and shelter of the Abbot Pass
Hut both before and after my climb. I
also had the leadership of Geoff Ruttan,
an ACMG (Association of
Looking toward Mount Lefroy’s west face from Mount Victoria's Canadian Mountain Guides)
PHOTO BY PAUL POTVIN
ridge.
assistant guide. I was dressed
in an extravaganza of GORETEX© that would ensure I
stayed warm and dry as storm
clouds moved in; my pockets
were stuffed with Clif Bars©
and gels so I could refuel
within minutes. Our climbing
gear consisted of ice screws,
prussiks, webbing, a water
resistant climbing rope and the
skills to construct Abalakov
anchors in the ice. None of this
was available to Abbot and his
climbing party in 1896.
And what were the rescue
possibilities when Abbot fell
on the snow/ice slope? Imagine
the horror of his friends as they
helplessly watched him slide to
his death. Today, there’s a phone
hilip Abbot perished on August
3, 1896 while attempting to
climb Mount Lefroy near Lake
Louise. His death was the first recorded
mountaineering fatality in Canada. One
hundred and ten years later, on August 3,
2006, I climbed Lefroy blissfully unaware
of the significance of the date.
Later that afternoon, one of my fellow
climbers on the Alpine Club of Canada
Lake O’Hara Camp pointed to Abbot’s
photo and biography mounted on the
wall of Abbot Pass Hut, and noted the
corresponding date of Abbot’s death.
“Do you realize you climbed Lefroy
on the anniversary of Abbot’s death?”
Terry teased. “Making a little history
yourself, are you?”
Initially, I felt honoured to be
connected to such a significant
event in Canadian mountaineering
history, particularly as this Centennial
year for the ACC has been steeped
with commemorative events and
publications. Later that evening, I sat
and contemplated Abbot’s photograph
in the hut, and reflected more deeply
on the connection. I tried to imagine
what Abbot and his climbing party’s
expectations would have been when they
embarked on their climb, and worse still,
how they dealt with the aftermath of his
death on Lefroy.
Margaret Imai-Compton signs Mount Lefroy’s
summit register.
PHOTO BY GEOFF RUTTAN
(yes – a phone!) in the Abbot Pass Hut,
our lead guide had a satellite phone, and
helicopter rescue has come to be regarded
as a standard rescue option.
For me, the ascent of Mount Lefroy
was the highlight of the ACC Lake
O’Hara Camp. While the group’s
collective desire was to attempt Mount
Victoria (3464 m), I opted for Lefroy
because I had summitted spectacular
Victoria the previous summer with Jim
Gudjonson, the lead guide on this trip.
While Geoff and I were climbing
Lefroy, we tracked the progress of our
team on Victoria across the Continental
Divide. We watched the three rope teams
make good time over the initial rock
sections, pop into view again as they
crossed The Sickle and then periodically
become visible at various points on the
ridge en route to the south summit. The
entire team was successful on Victoria
and even managed to locate the summit
register, which eluded my team last
summer.
Despite variable weather at the
beginning of the camp, our group
summitted Mounts Yukness (2851 m)
and Odaray (3158 m) as warm-ups to
Victoria and Lefroy. There is a first for
me on every trip, and in this case, it was
the distinctive ‘zinging’ of static on our
ice axes as we congregated around the
summit cairn on Odaray.
“We’re out of here!” Jim firmly
shouted over the buffeting of the wind as
the storm enveloped the mountain.
Lake O’Hara is nature’s exquisite
gift to the planet, so it was inevitable
that whatever we climbed, it would be
spectacular. But thanks are also due to the
ACC for a well-organized and guided
trip. Jim Gudjonson, Geoff Ruttan and
Kirk Becker (who joined us at Abbot
Pass Hut to lead another rope), made it
possible for all of us to accomplish our
desired climbing objectives. Our camp
manager, Dave Dornian, ensured that we
were well fed and watered, in addition
to leading a rope on every outing. Our
merry group of climbers originated from
across Canada – from Fort McMurray
to the Maritimes and points in between.
It was fitting that this camp, designed
to celebrate the area in which Canadian
mountaineering had its origins, was
composed entirely of Canadians
– Brigitte and her dad Leo Parent, Ron
Perrier, Terry Morris, Peter Morley,
Joanne Winfield, Deb Perret and me.
So how does one summarize a Lake
O’Hara mountain adventure? The famous
Group of Seven artist, J.E.H. MacDonald
said it best in 1924:
“I got to the beautiful Lake O’Hara
lying in a rainbow sleep, under the steeps of
Mount Lefroy and the waterfalls of Oesa.
And there I realized some of the blessedness
of mortals … I have memories of the clearest
crystal mountain days imaginable, when
we fortunates in the height seemed to be sky
people living in light alone.”
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for the sake of your arches? Would you give up
circulation in the name of safety? Protection
in the name of performance? Would you ever
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Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
19
!
w
Ne Members receive 15% off
Getthe
Goods
ALL regular retail prices
Active Wear
Centennial Jacket
T-shirts
Black micro fleece with
embroidered Centennial
logo. Mens & Womens
S, M, L, XL
with ACC logo or ACC leaf image
100% Heavy Cotton, available in S, M, L, XL
Colours include: Ash Grey, Natural, Khaki,
Sage Green, Forest Green, Denim Blue,
Cornflower Blue, and Medium Blue
Accessories
Retail price: $59.95
Short-sleeve:
Long-sleeve:
Retail price: $11.95
Retail price: $15.95
Centennial Beanies
Stainless Steel Mug
12 ounce, double walled mug to keep
your beverage at the
desired temperature.
Non-slip rubber base.
With ACC logo.
Retail price: $19.95
Black Ambler Power
Stretch hats with gold
embroidery “ACC 19062006”
Waterbottle
Green polycarbonate bottle with
Centennial logo. Does not transfer
taste. Dishwasher safe. 1 litre (32
oz.) capacity
Performance fleece
hat that keeps you
warm, dry and comfortable and is helmet
compatible. The hat is 4-way stretch, the
forehead is lined with micro fleece and wicks
sweat away.
Retail price: $ 11.95
Greeting Cards
Enjoy the tradition of
sending season’s greetings with
these 6 x 4 inch cards, featuring
an snowy Elizabeth Parker Hut.
Packages of 10 cards with
envelopes, seasonal message or blank inside.
Retail price: $10.50
Acclaimed Books
The Canadian Alpine Journal 2006
ACC Mountain Leaf Sticker
Retail price: $29.95
(approx. size: 9 x 5 cm)
Retail price: $0.99
Club Logo Pin
Brass ACC pin
(approx. size: 2.5 x 2 cm)
Club Centennial Crest
Retail price: $3.95
Sew-on Centennial logo
crest; leatherette on felt
(approx. size: 7 cm
triangle)
Retail price: $3.95
– edited by Geoff Powter
ACC Huts Poster
This high quality annual journal contains a
wide range of reviews, reports and articles on
Canadian mountaineering.
Full colour, laminated poster
with photos of all 23 Alpine
Club of Canada national
huts arranged around a map
depicting their locations.
Retail price: $32.95
Member subscription price and back issues
of the CAJ available – call for details.
Actual Size: 12” x 18”
More books:
Retail price: $ 11.70
Guidebooks on mountaineering, climbing, skiing and hiking,
as well as history and general interest books.
Maps – topographical and Gemtrek’s recreational maps.
GST & shipping extra.
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/store
(403) 678-3200 ext. 1
info@AlpineClubofCanada.ca
Solar powered lights installed
at Fay Hut
BY
KAREN ROLLINS
I
n June 2006, a work crew of
about a dozen Alpine Club of
Canada members joined staff from
Worley Parsons Komex environmental
consultants to install a solar powered
battery system that will provide lighting
at Fay Hut in Kootenay National Park. A
separate solar powered battery system was
also installed at the outhouse to power
two lights and a ventilation fan.
The system includes four 150-watt
solar panels, which were installed on the
south exterior wall of the hut under the
eaves. The angle of the panels is set to
optimize charging of the system during
the winter months and to help prevent
accumulation of snow. The batteries
were installed inside the hut in a small
storage area under the stairs where they
will be less affected by fluctuating outside
temperatures, which can reduce battery
performance.
The battery capacity is sized with
suitable autonomy to operate the system
on full load even through a period
without sunshine. Thermoelectric
modules were installed on the wood stove
to supplement battery bank charging.
Eight Light Emitting Diode (LED)
lights were installed in the sleeping area,
including two in the custodian’s room,
while five more were installed downstairs
in the kitchen, dining area and entrance.
Two soft compact fluorescent lights
are aimed at the living room ceiling to
provide ambient lighting. These very
efficient LED lights provide a highly
focused light beam suitable for task
lighting.
The main motivation for installing
PHOTOS
the renewable energy system in Fay Hut
comes from the ACC’s commitment
to reduce its use of fossil fuels such as
propane and helicopter fuel. Propane
is currently used in most of the ACC’s
huts for cooking and lighting, requiring
the Club to rely on helicopters to
service those facilities. Helicopters
bring in firewood and propane and fly
out human waste and grey water solids.
By introducing a solar powered energy
system, the need for propane is reduced,
as is the number of helicopter flights. The
Club hopes to install similar systems in
more of its huts, working closely with
Parks Canada to ensure the aesthetic
aspects of the huts designated as Federal
Heritage Buildings are not compromised.
There are other benefits of using
renewable energy power systems too,
including better indoor air quality
(propane emits gases), less moisture
build-up inside the hut (propane emits
moisture), as well as reducing the
possibility of mould forming on the
inside of walls, which in turn increases
BY BRUCE HARDARDT
building life. It’s also
much easier to turn on
a switch than light a
propane lamp.
It didn’t take long after installing
the system for the crew to realize a
major benefit. The volunteer work party
was there not only to install the solar
power generation equipment but also
to build a deck. To test the system, the
work party ran their power tools off the
system instead of running the generator
– and found there was no need to run
the generator for the remaining two days
of the work party. This showed huge
savings potential in terms of not having
to fly up a generator to carry out future
renovation projects – not to mention the
environmental benefits, including noise
and fossil fuel use reduction.
Photovoltaic technology is not new,
but its application in remote alpine
locations is. This first installation by the
ACC will need to be monitored for its
effectiveness.
Feedback from you – ACC members
and hut users – is welcome; send to
info@alpineclubofcanada.ca
Karen Rollins is Chair of the Energy,
Water & Waste Management Committee.
h4HISWASANAWESOMEPROGRAMWHICHWASALLTHAT)EXPECTEDANDSOMUCHMOREv
2ON!LBERTA
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
21
Hans Gmoser – Canadian mountain pioneer
BY
CHIC SCOTT
H
ans Gmoser, the eminence grise
of Canadian mountaineering,
died July 5, 2006, from injuries
sustained in a fall while cycling near
Banff Alberta. Content in recent years to
enjoy cross-country skiing in winter and
cycling in summer, during the 1950s, 60s
and 70s Gmoser laid the foundation of
modern mountaineering in Canada and
helped make Canada’s mountains world
famous.
Born in Austria in 1932, as a teenager
Gmoser discovered the mountains and
developed his skiing and climbing skills.
In 1951, Gmoser and Leo Grillmair
immigrated to Canada, first working
in logging near Whitecourt, Alberta,
then moving to Calgary. Linking up
with the Alpine Club of Canada they
discovered Canada’s incredible mountain
wilderness – rock climbing in summer
and pioneering new routes on Mount
Yamnuska. In winter they ski toured near
Stanley Mitchell Hut in Yoho National
Park.
During the 1950s and 60s, Gmoser
made many notable climbs, including
the east ridge of Mount Logan and a
new route on Denali’s north face (Mount
McKinley). On skis he pioneered highlevel traverses in the Purcell Mountains
and along the crest of the Rockies. His
idealistic articles in the Canadian Alpine
Journal were music to young ears looking
for an alternative lifestyle: “We were
rebelling against an existence which
human kind has forced upon itself. We
were rebelling against an existence full
of distorted values, against an existence
where a man is judged by the size of his
living-room, by the amount of chromium
on his car. But here we were ourselves
again: simple and pure. Friends in the
mountains.”
But as a mountain guide, Gmoser
really made his mark. He began leading
ski tours for Erling Strom and Lizzie
Rummel near Mount Assiniboine in
1953. In 1957 Gmoser founded Rocky
Mountain Guides Ltd., leading climbers
in summer and ski weeks in winter at
Mount Assiniboine, Rogers Pass, BC and
Stanley Mitchell Hut. From 1957 to 1967
Hans toured with ten skiing and climbing
films he made, inspiring audiences across
North America.
Although he loved ski touring from
small wilderness cabins, Gmoser is
today known as the father of helicopter
skiing. In 1965 he ran the first two
commercial heli-ski weeks in the
Bugaboo Mountains. The timing was
perfect: the requisite jet helicopter
technology was just being developed.
By 1968 luxurious Bugaboo Lodge was
open, welcoming clientele from North
America and Europe. Rocky Mountain
Guides Ltd. became Canadian Mountain
Holidays, now with 500 employees and
a dozen lodges scattered throughout the
Kokanee & Fairy Meadow ski weeks available:
Any new openings at both the Kokanee
Glacier Cabin and the Fairy Meadow
Hut will be posted on the website at:
www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/skiweeks.html
Be sure to have a look to see what is currently
available, you may come across a week that works for
you and your group!
Gazette
FALL 2006
DAVIS
22 Alpine Club of Canada
PHOTO BY TODD
Fairy Meadow Rates
Low Season for members: $250; non-member price: $325
Does not include helicopter (hut fees only)
High Season for members: $700; non-member price: $775
Includes both helicopter and hut fees
Kokanee Glacier Rates
Low Season for both members / non-member price: $675
High Season for both members / Retail price: $775
Includes both helicopter and hut fees
HANS GMOSER
PHOTO COURTESY OF
CANADIAN MOUNTAIN HOLIDAYS
BC interior. The right man for the job,
Gmoser developed a heli-ski industry
with strong ties to the traditional
mountain guiding and climbing
communities, believing that heli-skiing
was a wilderness experience.
A founding member of the
Association of Canadian Mountain
Guides and its first technical chairman,
Gmoser served as the association’s
honorary president. His pioneering
efforts in climbing, ski touring and
heli-skiing created an industry that
today employs hundreds of guides and
thousands of support staff.
A remarkable man who inspired
loyalty and in return would be your
lifelong friend, Gmoser counted among
his friends Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
and the kings of Spain and Norway, yet
he probably knew the name of every guest
and staff member at his lodges.
In 1966 he married Margaret
MacGougan – they met skiing at Stanley
Mitchell Hut. They have two sons,
Conrad (Lesley) and Robson (a ski guide
like his father) and two grandchildren.
Over the years, Gmoser was
greatly recognized, including honorary
memberships in the Alpine Club of
Canada and the International Federation
of Mountain Guides Associations.
He was elected to the Honour Roll of
Canadian Skiing, the U.S. National
Ski Hall of Fame and the Canadian
Tourism Hall of Fame, and received the
Banff Mountain Film Festival Summit
of Excellence Award, and the Order of
Canada.
Not long ago Hans commented:
“Looking back, I’ve had a good interesting
life. I had my time in the mountains. I had
my time as a businessman. So what more
can I ask for?”
CLASSIFIED ADS
sponsored by
ACC CUSTOM PORTERING SERVICES
If you are planning a backcountry
hut trip and would like to have your
food and equipment carried in,
contact the Mountain Adventures
Coordinator, Jon Rollins, for details
at (403) 678-3200 x 112 or e-mail
adventures@AlpineClubofCanada.ca
present the 31st annual
NOTICES
with assistance from
VOLUNTEER FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
MEMBERS NEEDED
We are seeking dedicated volunteers
with experience in fundraising for
not for profit organizations to sit on
the new Fundraising & Development
Committee. If you are interested,
please reply, with a brief outline of
your skills and area of interest, to
David Toole, Committee Chair at:
dgtoole@afdata.com
Geographical
location is not a factor.
OCTOBER 28 – NOVEMBER 5, 2006
403.762.6301 l 1.800.413.8368 l www.banffmountainfestivals.ca
Proud to be a
founding member of the
THE NORTH FACE WINTER
LEADERSHIP COURSE
The North Face Winter Leadership
Course application deadline is
November 1, 2006. This course is
aimed at ACC trip leaders and camp
managers. For more details, see the
enclosed Alpine Huts & Mountain
Adventures brochure, visit our website
at
www.AlpineClubofCanada.ca/
activities/leadership.html or call the
National Office (403) 678-3200 x 112.
2007 CAJ ARTICLE DEADLINE
The submission deadline for articles
is January 15, 2007. Please forward
articles to the editor, Geoff Powter at
gpowter@telusplanet.net
EBULLETIN
Sign up for the ACC NewsNet to
receive current event updates by
e-mail. To subscribe send an e-mail to
NewsNet@AlpineClubofCanada.ca
CLASSIFIED AD RATES:
$20 plus $1 per word + GST
E-mail your ad to:
ads@AlpineClubofCanada.ca
or mail to the address on page 3.
Photo: Will Gadd on Aweberg © Christian Pondella
National Office news
BY
I
BRUCE KEITH
don’t know what it’s been like for you
at work or home over the past six
months, but it’s been crazy busy here
in the Alpine Club of Canada’s National
Office! All for a good cause, though – in
addition to our regular tasks, we have
done everything possible to support the
great amount of work done by Club
volunteers on the various events that
have taken place to celebrate this year’s
Centennial. Those events have been great
fun and have made this year memorable
for all of us in the office.
I’m happy to say that while we have
quite a few new staff members, they are
doing a very capable job of keeping up
with the day-to-day work required to
support the Club’s diverse operations.
Lawrence White and his Facilities
staff have done wonders to provide a
positive experience for everyone who
has used the Clubhouse and our huts
this summer. Sandy Walker and her
Mountain Adventures staff have just
finished planning an amazing program
of trips and camps for 2007. Suzan
Chamney, working in Development and
Communications, and Kevin Lohka and
his Finance and Information Technology
staff, have made significant changes for
the better in their office support areas.
To round things out, Nancy Hansen has
filled in wherever necessary in the office
over the past summer, keeping us all on
track.
In the end though, it is the volunteers
we work with who define the ACC.
Their contributions include organizing
Centennial events, planning and putting
on memorable General Mountaineering
Camps, renovating ACC huts, drafting
the next ACC publication, cataloguing
our Club’s historical documents and
leading section trips – just to name a few.
Your volunteer contributions to the ACC
are much appreciated!
Alpine Club of Canada
Gazette
FALL 2006
23
Centennial Fund Campaign 2004 – 2006
from generous donors, both alive and deceased. Those donations allow the Club to do things that
simply would not be affordable otherwise, including such initiatives as building new backcountry
huts, publishing books, training trip leaders and many others.
Just over two years ago, the ACC set out to raise $1 million over a span of three years
surrounding the Club’s centennial. To this point over $633,000 has been raised.
So only $367,000 to go! Along those lines, please note that a recent decision by Canada’s
Federal Government has made donations in the form of stocks and bonds more attractive to
some people than donating cash. The new rules allow Canadians to donate public securities ‘in
kind’ without incurring a personal tax liability, assuming that the charity of choice is set up to
receive them – just as the ACC is.
T
hese donations are of enormous benefit to the ACC, such as the Boswell family’s contribution
of stocks, which was used as seed money for the replacement of the old Toronto Section Cabin at
the Canmore Clubhouse site. The Toronto Section also pitched in more money, as did a number
of individuals. Those funds, along with a contribution from the Alberta Government, facilitated
construction of the new Pat Boswell (Toronto Section) Cabin - named after Boswell, a Toronto
Section member and former General Manager of the Club. More recently, a pair of Vancouver
based friends of Jim Haberl donated shares in two mining companies toward construction of the
Jim Haberl Hut on the west coast, which was recently completed and now offers comfortable
backcountry accommodations in the spectacular Coast Mountains.
So if your ship has come in, if you recently found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
– you too can make a significant difference to your favourite charity, and thanks to the new
Federal Budget, come tax time, it will be pain free.
Help us reach our $1 million goal!
Canadian donors:
American donors:
The Alpine Club of Canada is a Registered Charitable
Organization and will send you a donation tax receipt. Your
donation will allow the Club to undertake projects that it
could not fund from internal sources.
The ACC Foundation is a U.S. 501(c)(3) corporation,
whose purposes mirror those of the Alpine Club of Canada.
Donations will be put to work in the manner stipulated by
the donor, and a U.S. tax receipt will be issued.
Please mail the completed form to:
Please mail the completed form to:
Alpine Club of Canada
P.O. Box 8040
Canmore, AB Canada T1W 2T8
I will help
YES!
New rules make donating stocks and bonds more attractive
Over the years, the Alpine Club of Canada has been the grateful recipient of many bequests
ACC Foundation
6174 E Borley Rd
Coeur d Alene, ID 83814 USA
I would like to contribute to the Centennial Fund
Please use my donation where it is most needed.
Please use my donation to support the Canadian Alpine Journal DVD.
I would rather donate to another Alpine Club of Canada fund:
Donation Amount:
Mountain Culture
Environment
Library
Clubhouse / Huts
Leadership Development
Name:
I prefer to donate by:
Membership #
I wish to remain anonymous
Mailing / Street Address:
City:
Cheque enclosed
$______
MasterCard
VISA
. Credit Card #
Province:
Home Phone:
Business Phone:
Expiry Date: .
/
Postal Code:
E-mail Address:
charitable registration no. 
 rr
Signature:
Thank you for your support of these worthwhile projects.