Summer 2010 - The Alpine Club of Canada

Vol. 25, No. 2 Summer 2010 

Skiers complete 

Jasper to Lake 

Louise route 

page 8 

My last great 

mountain 

page 6 

publication # 40009034

STONES INTO SCHOOLS 

and 

THREE CUPS OF TEA 

Two bestselling books that are changing the way 

people think about changing the world. 

Available in paperback 

from Penguin Books 

Twitter: 

gregmortenson 

“Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest to 

build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and 

Afghanistan is proof that one ordinary person… 

really can change the world.” —Tom Brokaw 

W W W . S T O N E S I N T O S C H O O L S . C O M 

A member of Penguin Group 

www.penguin.com • Also available on Penguin Audio and as an eBook 

photo © Greg Mortenson, south face of K2 (8,611 meters)

The Alpine Club of Canada 

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40009034 

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 

The Alpine Club of Canada 

Box 8040, Canmore, AB 

Canada T1W 2T8 

Phone: (403) 678‐3200 

Fax: (403) 678‐3224 

info@alpineclubofcanada.ca 

www.alpineclubofcanada.ca 

Executive Committee 

Peter Muir President 

Gordon Currie Secretary 

Neil Bosch Treasurer 

David Foster VP Access & Environment 

Roger Laurilla VP Activities 

Carl Hannigan VP Facilities 

Isabelle Daigneault VP Mountain Culture 

Evan Loveless VP Services 

Marjory Hind Honorary President 

Lawrence White Executive Director 

Publication 

Lynn Martel Gazette Editor 

Suzan Chamney Layout & Production 

Meghan J. Ward Editorial Assistant 

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Submissions to the Gazette are welcome! 

For submission guidelines, please e-mail 

the Gazette Editor with your ideas at 

gazette@alpineclubofcanada.ca. 

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SW-COC-001271 

What’s Inside... 

Members 

10 Heritage Club milestones 

18 Executive role a chance to become 

engaged 

21 Peaks named for Club members 

Access and Environment 

12 Environment Fund to aid 

“Wolverine Watch” 

Facilities 

14 Postcards from the edge 

Mountaineering / Climbing 

6 My last great mountain 

8 Skiers complete Jasper to Lake 

Louise backcountry route 

13 Website application handy trip 

planning tool 

20 Dolomites trek a memorable 

journey 

24 Ski mountaineering camp offers 

invaluable lessons 

What’s Outside... 

Cover photo: 

Inset photo: 

Safety 

10 Wabi-sabi for alpinists 

16 Five days of disaster 

Mountain Culture 

11 Pat Morrow named Mountain 

Guides Ball Patron 

22 Library update 

23 Club member’s book highlights 

Arctic environment 

23 2010 Canadian Alpine Journal 

Editorial / National News / Awards 

4 Short rope 

4 Notice 

5 Route finding 

9 Happy birthday CMC 

13 ACC Grants awarded in 2010 

22 National Volunteer Awards 

22 Quick draws 

26 Beyond the Club 

26 Canada’s national park system 

turns 125 

Margaret Gmoser skis along the remote Siffleur River valley in Banff 

National Park during an 18-day Jasper to Lake Louise traverse. Photo by 

Tony Hoare. Story on page 8. 

Mount Kilimanjaro appears in snowy splendour as seen from Jo Ann 

Creore’s hotel in Moshi, Tanzania. Photo by Jo Ann Creore. Story on 

page 6. 

Corporate Supporters 

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 goods or services of the type they offer. 

Corporate Sponsors 

Corporate Members 

CMH 

HELI-SKIING 

The World’s Greatest Skiing 

Backcountry Access 

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MSR (Mountain Safety Research) 

Myron & Catherine Tetreault Foundation 

Lafarge 

Ortovox Canada 

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Outdoor Research 

Patagonia 

Rocky Mountain Books 

Yamnuska 

Alpine Club of Canada Gazette Summer 2010 3

Lynn is all smiles on her way to the summit 

of Pioneer Peak during a spectacular week of 

skiing and peak bagging at Fairy Meadow in 

April. photo by Scott Bingen. 

Short rope 

by Lynn Martel 

lots of symbolism in mountain 

climbing. You can get up to 

“There’s 

the summit of a mountain, but 

you can never stay there. It’s not yours, 

but you can go back. The experiences are 

borrowed.” These words of alpine wisdom 

were shared with me by long-time Alpine 

Club of Canada Calgary Section member 

and über-keen peak bagger Rick Collier. 

And as I watched the Vancouver 

Olympic Games on TV this past winter, I 

thought about their relation to the Own 

the Podium program, and to the ACC. 

A gold medal is, ultimately, the result 

of fierce individual drive and accomplishment, 

but it cannot be achieved without 

a substantial supportive team behind 

the athlete. In the end, the collective 

efforts of 26 Canadian athletes, plus their 

coaches, families, friends, sponsors and 

even the fans who support their efforts, 

yielded Canada its highest number of 

medals ever, and the highest number of 

Olympic gold medals ever achieved by 

any country. 

The collective value of team effort 

is something understood well by most 

climbers. And while most climbers and 

ski mountaineers are content to embark 

on adventures for nothing more than the 

joy of the experience, others do embrace 

the thrill and sense of accomplishment 

experienced through competition. 

Within the ranks of the ACC are athletes 

representing Canada on the competitive 

Visit the ACC’s online store for: 

✦ Select climbing, hiking and ski 

touring guidebooks 

✦ Large selection of topographic maps 

✦ ACC labelled apparel and accessories 

✦ “Mapitfirst” software 

ACC members receive a 

15% discount off our retail prices! 

www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/store/ or phone 403 678-3200 ext. 1 

climbing and ski mountaineering World 

Cup circuits. Without the support of 

the ACC, their opportunities—and 

successes—would be greatly diminished. 

The Club will continue to support these 

athletes and their teams as they take the 

steps they hope will result in those sports 

being included in future Olympic Games. 

The benefits of teamwork however, 

are not limited to competitive athletic 

endeavours. In this issue you’ll read about 

how Vancouver Island Section members 

teamed up with other outdoor groups to 

win an important land-use battle. You’ll 

read stories by members who give credit 

to trip-mates whose different strengths 

enabled them to accomplish dream 

adventures. You’ll read about how Club 

members responded like team members 

committed to a common goal through 

the results of the Club Library survey 

conducted over the past few months. And 

you’ll learn about how the ACC team 

grew one section larger this year, as it 

welcomed the new Section Laurentides. 

What’s especially unique and gratifying 

about belonging to a team such as 

the ACC, is that our members don’t join 

to pursue individual gratification. Even 

though our competitive climbers and ski 

mountaineers compete for medals, they 

do so as representatives of their country, 

and this Club. Alpine Club of Canada 

members volunteer to lead trips, instruct 

novices, share skills and experience, 

share our collective history and cultural 

contributions and simply to be part of an 

organization that is much greater than 

its individual parts, and which improves 

throughout time through the great gifts 

our members share with each other. 

Like all organizations, the ACC 

faces challenges, which, in a country as 

geographically massive as Canada, can be 

diverse. Our experiences in the mountains 

may be borrowed, but the rewards 

of embracing them as a united team are 

invaluable. 

Notice 

The Spring 2010 Gazette contained a 

story congratulating David P. Jones for 

being named an Alpine Club of Canada 

Honorary Member. Unfortunately, 

Jones’ bio included an error. Jones never 

contributed and has never claimed to 

have contributed to the project that 

discovered high altitude retinal haemorrhaging. 

The Gazette regrets the error. 

4 Alpine Club of Canada Gazette Summer 2010

Route finding 

by Peter Muir 

In the last issue of the Alpine Club of 

Canada Gazette, I remarked the Club 

had embarked on an exciting new 

strategic plan. The Board began exploring 

ways and means to convert vision and 

mission into reality at its recent Spring 

meeting. But that was not the only significant 

new development it considered. 

After many years of dreams of 

expanding our membership into the 

large and active Québec climbing scene, 

the ACC welcomed a new Québec section 

on May 15. The Board unanimously 

accepted the application of ACC 

Laurentian Section/Section Laurentides. 

In explaining his group’s desire to join 

the ACC, Laurentides president Gaétan 

Castilloux said, “We want to be a 

member of your association because it is 

going in the same way as us: developing 

the mountaineering sport in security and 

safety.” 

Located north of Montreal, the 

Laurentian Section offers great new 

opportunities to expand our vision in 

the Québec climbing scene. It is a very 

exciting development. The ACC thanks 

Laurentian/Laurentides for joining in 

our vision. David Foster, Vice President 

Access & Environment, Isabelle 

Daigneault, VP Mountain Culture, Cindy 

Doyle, Outaouais Section representative 

and Steve Traversari, Montreal Section 

representative, among others, were instrumental 

in introducing the ACC to this 

area of Québec. 

Not be overshadowed, while all this 

was going on, Dave Dornian and the 

Competition Climbing section are hard 

at work arranging to ensure Québec 

competitors are included in the national 

and international competitive climbing 

scene. Still more in Québec, David 

Foster, Lawrence White and a dedicated 

group are toiling on a new agreement to 

continue our good relationship with la 

Fédération québécoise de la montagne 

et de l’escalade (FQME). The agreement 

will give mutual benefit to members 

of both organizations as we both seek 

to maintain access to climbing sites in 

Québec and across Canada. 

“Access to cliffs and climbing areas 

remains a vital concern in all parts of 

Canada,” said a statement recently 

released in Québec by the ACC Access 

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Efficient design: clean lines and easy-to-use features for the 

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& Environment Committee. “The Alpine 

Club is committed to working with other 

organizations, and individual climbers, to 

secure access to cliffs and mountain areas 

on terms that are reasonable for climbers 

and landowners, and that respect the 

environment. We share a common interest 

in this, and we believe that working 

together is essential to our success and to 

the future of our sport. We want a future 

where all climbers—ACC members, 

members of other clubs and independent 

climbers—have equal access to the places 

they love to climb.” 

B l a c k D i a m o n d E q u i p m e n t . c o m 

search “LAUNCH SERIES” 

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MATT HAGE 

These are exciting and busy times for 

the ACC; the future is bright. 

Be safe and have fun out there, 

—Peter Muir, ACC President 

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. 


My last great mountain 

by Jo Ann Creore 

Okay, it’s not a Himalayan giant. 

In fact, it barely qualifies as a 

scramble. But when you are 

72, your knees are shot, and your VO2 

max is edging toward VO2 zilch, Mount 

Kilimanjaro (5895 metres) can be a personal 

Everest. 

For me, climbing Kili was an afterthought. 

I had booked a 12-day safari in 

Tanzania. When I learned how much 

time would be spent just getting there 

and back, I looked for a way to extend 

my stay. And there it was: the highest 

free-standing mountain in the world, 

rising in snow-capped splendour not far 

from where I would land at Kilimanjaro 

airport. Maybe I wanted to prove that I 

wasn’t over the hill yet by climbing the 

biggest hill in Africa. 

Some of the tour companies I 

contacted wouldn’t take anyone my age. 

Most offered only group climbs with 

fixed schedules. The website of Tusker 

Trail revealed an attention to safety and 

detail that spoke to the mountaineer in 

me. They also offered solo climbs, enough 

luxury for an old lady (private biffy!), and 

a willingness to meet my demands: a rest 

day on the way up and three full days for 

the descent, 11 days in total. 

On the morning of December 10, 

2009, a truck crammed with 11 porters, 

6 Alpine Club of Canada Gazette Summer 2010 

Jo Ann Creore stands on the 5895-metre summit of Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, holding the 

banner of a society that trains service dogs for which she raised money with her climb. Frank, a porter 

charged with carrying her daypack above 4600 metres, holds the left corner. photo by Thobias Meella. 

my guide and me, plus seemingly tons 

of gear, wallowed through muck to the 

Lemosho trailhead. We had box lunches 

before hiking and as I looked for a 

dry hummock to sit on, two armchairs 

materialized, one for me, one for my 

guide, Thobias Meella. The protocol for 

the trip was set. I would do nothing but 

Jo Ann Creore and one of her porters, Frank, make their way along the trail through one of Kilimanjaro’s 

unique climate zones. photo by Thobias Meella. 

climb and Thobias would do nothing but 

guide. The porters saw to everything else, 

cheerfully and skillfully. I have never been 

so well cared for, as this experienced crew 

anticipated my needs before I was even 

aware of them. 

Our daily routine varied little. After 

breakfast Thobias did a medical check 

using a questionnaire, pulse oximeter 

and stethoscope. I would carry a light 

daypack. Thobias had the medical kit, a 

tank of oxygen and some of his own gear, 

while Ernest, a trusted porter, followed 

close behind me with a hyperbaric bag, 

stretcher, other emergency gear and all 

of his own equipment. Not long after we 

hit the trail the camp porters would rush 

by us, carrying enormous loads. Most 

days they served us a hot lunch on the 

trail. The first time I topped a ridge at 

noon and saw the mess tent, cook tent 

and my biffy, I could scarcely believe it. 

After lunch it usually rained. Camp was 

always fully set up when we arrived, wet 

and cold. Porters would race to relieve 

Thobias and me of our packs and show us 

to our tents, while Ernest had to fend for 

himself. Tea, rest, dinner, another medical 

check, and then bed. 

It should have been easy. The trail is 

good and there is only one section, the 

Barranco Wall, where you have to take

your hands out of your pockets. But 

even 40 years ago I would have found it 

a rugged hike. As we climbed steadily 

through the wildly different vegetation 

zones, I devoted more and more attention 

to the trail and my ability to handle it, 

and less to the incredible scenery. I finally 

handed the camera over to Thobias and as 

a result I have a unique record of myself 

in action. 

“Pole, pole,” (slowly!) is the mantra 

of Kilimanjaro. Go up too quickly, push 

yourself too hard, and you risk acute 

mountain sickness. People die on this 

mountain every year. Although altitude 

defeats some climbers even before the 

midway point, the summit day breaks 

more hearts. Most groups leave Barafu 

Camp (4600 metres) at midnight in 

order to reach the top at sunrise. Thobias, 

Ernest and I left after breakfast. As 

we pushed upward we met several disappointed 

climbers being helped down by 

porters. 

My O2 saturation (the level of oxygen 

carried in the blood) declined as we 

gained elevation, returned to normal (95) 

after the rest day, then plummeted above 

5000 metres. As I approached Stella 

Point on the summit ridge, Thobias stuck 

the oximeter on my finger and got a reading 

of 68! I put the camera on video and 

told Thobias I wanted a record of O2 68. 

In the video I look like a climber nearing 

the summit of Everest, six breathes to 

every step. 

We didn’t go to the top that day, as I 

had already been climbing for 10 hours. 

Instead, we camped in the crater at 5600 

meters, where I enjoyed the best sleep I 

had experienced in days. On the morning 

of December 18, under a cobalt-blue sky, 

we slowly made our way up a steep little 

trail to the ridge, then along it to the 

summit. As we neared the ugly sign that 

marks the top of Africa, I was overcome 

with emotion. I thought of all the joy that 

climbing had provided over a lifetime 

that has seen me on summits from Denali 

and Logan, throughout the Alps, into 

Nepal, to Huascaran in Peru and from 

the west coast of BC to Baffin Island. 

This would be, I knew, my last great 

mountain. There were tears. Then the 

obligatory triumphant summit photo and 

we headed down. 

Why did I make it to the top when 

younger and fitter people sometimes 

fail Tusker Trail, with their professional 

attention to my welfare, deserves a lot 

of the credit. The Lemosho Route has 

a better success rate than the popular, 

but brutally short, Machame Route. 

Fortunately I had a wealth of experience 

to draw on. When my body faltered, I 

could put my head down and remind 

myself, “You’ve been this tired before and 

toughed it out. You know you can take 

the next step, and that’s all that matters.” 

It was not only the stately beauty of 

Kilimanjaro that made it a fitting end to 

my climbing career, it was also the fact 

that the summit did not come easily. 

Asante, Kili! 

Since the 1960s, Jo Ann Creore has 

climbed on four continents, attended numerous 

ACC camps, earned a Silver Rope for 

Leadership and introduced many novices 

to the joys of climbing. She used her Kili 

climb to raise funds for a society that trains 

service dogs. 


Skiers complete Jasper to Lake Louise backcountry route 


After nine major ski traverses, 

Chic Scott joked he should have 

known better before embarking 

on his tenth. 

In March, Scott and Margaret 

Gmoser, both long-time Alpine Club 

of Canada members and both just 

months shy of their 65th birthdays, skied 

18 ½ days from Jasper to Banff carrying 

45-pound packs, camping at night and 

cooking over a backpacking stove. 

“It was a real adventure,” Scott said. 

“This was a big trip, it was full-on. I’ve 

never been so tired in my life. It was as 

hard as any trip I’ve ever done. Maybe 

being older was a factor.” 

Margaret Gmoser, Chic Scott and Faye Atkinson 

(rear) climb out of the North Saskatchewan Valley 

heading south up into the Siffleur Valley in the 

Siffleur Wilderness Area. photo by Tony Hoare. 


The two long-time friends, who met 

as high school students on youth hostel 

mountain outings, were accompanied 

by two “youngsters”, Faye Atkinson, 

49, a Colorado River guide, and Tony 

Hoare, 54, a Vancouver-based adventure 

photographer. 

The foursome started out from Signal 

Mountain trailhead in Jasper, mostly 

following the Skyline hiking trail, then 

linked to the Eight Pass backcountry ski 

route, first pioneered by mountain guide 

Willie Pfisterer who was Jasper National 

Park’s first alpine specialist in the late 

1960s. 

For Scott, whose previous long ski 

expeditions include the first Great Divide 

Traverse in 1967, when he and three 

partners skied for 21 days from Jasper to 

Lake Louise by crossing icefields and 

high alpine passes along the Continental 

Divide, it was the first time linking the 

Signal Mountain to Poboktan Creek 

section. 

“I’m calling that the 13 Pass Route,” 

Scott said. “That route alone takes about 

a week and is just as good as the entire 

Wapta Traverse. It stays up high almost 

all the time, just with no glaciers—and no 

huts.” 

From Poboktan Creek they crossed 

Jonas Pass and skied through the White 

Goat Wilderness Area to reach the David 

Thompson Highway via Cline River. 

At that point everyone responded 

positively to Scott’s suggestion they ski 

out to Nordegg “for a hamburger”. 

“Not only that, beer too,” Gmoser 

added. “All of us perked right up.” 

“We got there at day 13 and we were 

tired,” Scott admitted. “But we weren’t 

quite ready to quit yet.” 

Having received daily updates from 

the group via a SPOT satellite communication 

system, Banff residents and 

ACC members Jeanette Fish and Chuck 

O’Callaghan decided to rendezvous 

with the skiers at their David Thompson 

food cache. Everyone was surprised 

when Fish and O’Callaghan spotted 

Hoare and Gmoser hitchhiking on the 

side of the road. Not only was the lift to 

Nordegg appreciated, so were the goodies, 

including fresh vegetables, Fish and 

O’Callaghan bore. 

After enjoying multiple showers 

and plentiful meals for two nights in 

Nordegg, the skiers continued up the 

Siffleur River to Pipestone Creek, reaching 

Skoki Lodge after six days just in 

time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a 

group known as the Green Waxers. 

“We ended the trip with two days 

of partying at Skoki,” Scott said. “It was 

nice to sleep in a bed, eat good food and 

be warm. There, Marg and I decided to 

pack it in. We’d skied 300 kilometres and 

Margaret’s knees had been hurting for 

10 days. She never complained; she just 

motored along.” 

Hoare and Atkinson continued skiing 

to Banff via Baker Lake, Pulsatilla Pass 

and Mystic Pass to Mount Norquay— 

Atkinson likely the first woman to ski the 

entire Jasper to Banff route. 

With this year marking the 80th 

anniversary of the first Jasper to Banff 

ski traverse, Scott said he and his companions 

planned their trip as a fitting 

celebration. In 1930 Swiss-born Joe Weiss, 

who pioneered five massive ski traverses 

in Jasper and Banff parks between 1929 

and 1933, led four others for 15 days 

following the now Icefields Parkway. 

Scott said his recent route, following 

the parkway’s east side, had been skied 

twice, in 1976 by Donnie Gardner and 

Larry Mason and in the late 1970s by Bob 

Saunders and Mel Hynes. 

“But I don’t think anybody’s skied it 

since,” Scott said. 

Gmoser, a grandmother who raised 

two sons while her husband Hans, who 

died in 2006, ran his heli-skiing company, 

Canadian Mountain Holidays, said she 

appreciated being able to experience such 

a trip in her prime. 

“Both of us are 65 this year,” she said. 

“We’re both in shape, so let’s go!” 

Although blessed with sunshine on 

all but one day, the trip was always hard 

work, as they carried five to seven days’ 

food between caches. While windswept 

passes made for easy travel, in the valley 

bottoms they sank two feet with each 

step. 

“It was hard work, from the moment 

we woke up,” Scott said. “There was no 

rest. We split into teams at the end of the 

day, one person shovelling out a cooking 

area, another shovelling out tent pads. 

After an hour, hour and a half, we’d have

Congratulations 

to the Calgary Mountain Club for 

reaching its 50-year milestone this 

summer. Originally formed as an 

alternative to the Alpine Club of 

Canada in the Rocky Mountain region, 

the CMC nurtured many of Canada’s 

leading edge climbers, particularly 

between the years 1960 and 1990, 

including Glen Boles, Chic Scott, 

Barry Blanchard and Don Vockeroth, 

all of whom are also ACC members. 

Happy birthday CMC! 

Margaret Gmoser climbs Elusive Pass in Jasper National Park. 

photo by Tony Hoare. 

a great camp. Sip of whiskey, off to bed, 

sleep like a rock for 10 or 11 hours, then 

up into a cold morning again. We’d rouse 

from our slumber and things would be 

frozen, frost on the tent, cold boots. Then 

all day we were constantly making decisions. 

On glacier trips you can often relax 

into cruise mode, but on this trip every 20 

seconds you had to make another decision—ski 

over this log jam or take your 

skis off and climb over something.” 

The adventure, however, was unforgettable, 

along with some of the views. 

“We had no navigation problems, 

no white-outs—even though the valley 

bottoms were the pits,” Gmoser said. 

“Starting from the north we needed that 

visibility, there are some tricky spots and 

we had to avoid cornices and ski some 

steep side slopes. But the [avalanche] 

stability was good; there were no naturals C 

[avalanches], no whoomphing. We felt 

M 

good about that. And the northern 

Y 

section had some of the most beautiful 

mountain scenery anywhere.” 

CM 

Admitting to counting on multiple MY 

doses of “vitamin I” (ibuprofen) to relieve 

CY 

the pain from having her kneecaps 

CMY 

removed years ago, Gmoser said she and 

Scott owed great thanks to Atkinson and 

Hoare. 

“I felt bad I couldn’t contribute to the 

trail breaking, but they said no, we like 

breaking trail,” Gmoser said. “I thought 

I should call it quits at Nigel Creek, but 

they convinced me to carry on. We could 

not have done this trip without Faye and 

Tony. They broke trail the whole way. Our 

Stratos 34 1_3SQ EN ACC Gazette.pdf 5/3/10 2:06:13 PM 

little group of four got along so well. We 

were tired and cold and wet and hungry 

but we got along just great. We made 

group decisions. There was never a cross 

word. 

“It was an awesome trip. It’s definitely 

one of the greatest things I’ve ever done.” 

Reprinted with permission from the 

Rocky Mountain Outlook. 

K 

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Wabi-sabi for alpinists 

by Frank Pianka 

In the West, our concepts of beauty 

and perfection are largely rooted in 

the Greek ideals upon which we’ve 

built most of our culture. Expressed in 

architectural stone or in a mathematical 

formula, beauty and perfection are 

wrapped in a comforting sense of permanence, 

but in the East, there is the Zen 

aesthetic of Wabi-sabi, which celebrates 

the transient nature of all things. The 

challenge of figuring out the real meaning 

of the characters wabi and sabi can take 

us to some interesting, oddly familiar 

places. 

For example: the first time you use 

your new ropes, your partner chops one 

with his ice axe; you no longer use the leg 

loop on your harness to back up a rappel; 

you can’t get your butt up that favourite 

route anymore; your friend is no longer 

your friend. Wabi-sabi recognizes three 

realities: that nothing is finished, nothing 

is perfect, and nothing lasts. 

In some Japanese art, imperfections 

and signs of wear and tear are not 

shunned but celebrated in acceptance 

of these tenets—the archetypal tea cup, 

aged, bearing a small crack, its rim not 

quite a perfect circle. Wabi points to 

impermanence or imperfection and sabi 

to the grace that comes with age, when an 

object’s life and its impermanence show 

in its patina and wear, or in visible signs 

of caring repair—satisfying solace for 

all aging climbers! (Sabi is related to the 

Japanese word for rust.) 

It may be a philosophical stretch, but 

this view may provide a framework for 

managing our climbing experiences. You 

may have a harness you’ve been using for 

the last 10 years. It’s comfortable, familiar, 

and proudly shows the wear marks of 

someone who’s been on more than a few 

routes. You love that harness for all those 

reasons, for its wabi-sabi. Maybe it’s time 

to move it to the display wall. Maybe it’s 

no longer a harness but an “objet d’art”. 

The same goes for any other piece of 

gear that you’ve come to really like, but 

especially ropes. Rarely do you have a 

backup for your rope and none of your 

gear is going to last forever anyway, 

right Better to replace it a year early 

than one second too late. What about 

techniques like building an anchor Are 

you finished learning everything there is 

to know about anchors Are your anchors 

perfect Recognize that techniques 

change. That’s not to say there’s no 

place for using a body belay in climbing 

today. But if you know you are never 

finished learning, your growing skill set 

will help you move comfortably across 

the climber’s continuum of challenge. 

You’re less likely to experience paralysis 

by analysis, but recognize that even your 

high-level expertise will not last forever. 

Consider your climbing partners. Are 

you finished building your relationships 

Are they perfect Will they last If all 

this sounds like reason for despair, note 

that wabi-sabi celebrates its tenets. Just 

knowing that you aren’t finished anything 

and it won’t be perfect can bring a little 

serenity—particularly comforting when 

working on house repair projects during 

the off-season! 

But, should you still be striving for 

perfection Is that the goal—to forget 

the Middle Way and at least try to get 

things perfect After all, for us in the 

West, “anything worth doing is worth 

doing well”, right Ernest Rutherford 

was an experimental physicist best 

remembered for his gold-foil experiment 

and subsequent discovery of the atomic 

nucleus. Legend has it that using just the 

junk laying around the lab, he was able 

HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB 

WARNING: “Art” - Not suitable for climbing. 

photo by Mike Pianka. 

to cobble together apparatus to run some 

famously significant experiments. He 

had a sign in the lab that read, “Anything 

worth doing is worth doing well… 

enough for the purpose at hand. It is 

surely foolish and probably even wrong to 

do it any better.” 

If Ernest was around today, I’m 

not sure he’d see the sense in climbing 

anything, but I think he’d have the least 

difficulty understanding the Middle Way 

of efficient alpine climbing. 

Frank Pianka, a retired Physics 

teacher, is the Thunder Bay Section representative 

and a member of the ACC Safety 

Committee. 

HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB 

Heritage Club milestones 

Every year, the Alpine Club of Canada celebrates those members 

who have been with the Club for 25, 35 and 50 years. The Club 

recognizes these members with a special lapel pin, with the 25- and 

35-year members receiving an attractive certificate and the 50-year members 

receiving a handsome wall plaque. 

In 2010, 15 members reached the 25-year milestone, 18 members reached 

the 35-year milestone and six members reached their 50-year milestone. 

Congratulations to everyone, and especially to all of those named below— 

you are in very esteemed company! 

50 years 

Isabelle MacPherson, Toronto, Ontario 

Tim Mason, Calgary, Alberta 

James Gardner, Victoria, British Columbia 

Edouard Potworowski, Mont-Royal, Québec 

Peter Spear, Calgary, Alberta 

Carol Stevenson, Alliston, Ontario 

HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB 

HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB HERITAGE CLUB 


Pat Morrow named Patron 

of the 2010 Mountain Guides Ball 

With his camera always at the 

ready, Pat Morrow lives by the 

photographer’s creed f8 and be 

there. The results of his passion for photographing 

some of the most beautiful 

landscapes and precious remote cultures 

of the world, as well as his life-long commitment 

to climbing and the mountain 

environment have made Morrow an 

ideal Patron of the 2010 Alpine Club of 

Canada Mountain Guides Ball. 

Beginning with youthful forays into 

his home range, BC’s Purcell Mountains, 

Morrow has spent his life following his 

insatiable curiosity into the great mountain 

ranges of the world. He’s participated 

in 20 high altitude expeditions worldwide, 

with more than 500 days of trekking 

in the Himalaya alone. His drive and 

determination lead him to become the 

first person to climb and photograph his 

way to the highest summits on the seven 

continents, which he completed in 1986, 

becoming only the second Canadian to 

summit Everest along the way, in October 

1982. To make his Seven Summits accomplishment 

possible, Morrow co-founded 

Adventure Network International in 

order to reach Antarctica’s highest peak, 

Mount Vinson. While he is no longer a 

partner, ANI remains the only commercial 

company to take private individuals 

into Antarctica’s interior regions. 

Beginning with helping to create the 

Purcell Wilderness Conservancy, Morrow 

continues to contribute his photographic 

and filmmaking skills, as well as his 

personal activism, to several major conservation 

initiatives. 

Throughout his career, he has received 

numerous accolades including seven 

National Magazine Awards for photography, 

the Order of Canada (1987), the 

Summit of Excellence at the 1990 Banff 

Mountain Film Festival, and the ACC 

President’s Award in 1988 and 1996. He 

has co-authored or illustrated three books 

on the Himalaya and two on the Yukon, 

and contributed photos to dozens of 

other books and hundreds of magazines. 

Shifting to video and film work 10 years 

ago, Morrow has shot or worked on 

dozens of mountain-related films. He and 

his wife Baiba won the Peoples’ Choice 

Award at the 2005 Banff Mountain Film 

Festival for their documentary, The Magic 

Mountain. 

Morrow currently chairs the Conrad 

Kain Centennial Society, whose goal is to 

promote the legacy of the first mountain 

guide ever hired by the ACC in 1909. 

“Besides being an accomplished 

mountaineer, Pat has given selflessly of 

his talents to the mountain community,” 

said ACC Executive Director Lawrence 

White. “Whether in the western 

Canadian ranges, or through his story 

telling from the Himalaya, Pat remains 

a humble ambassador of our mountain 

culture. His acceptance as patron for the 

2010 Mountain Guides Ball is an honour 

for the Alpine Club.” 

Morrow, 58, lives in the small community 

of Wilmer, BC, in the same 

Rocky Mountain Trench Conrad Kain 

made his home. 

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Environment Fund to aid “Wolverine Watch” 

by Tony Clevenger 

For ages, alpine 

climbers and ski tourers 

have been inspired by wolverine 

tracks that follow aesthetic lines and 

retreat to locations that can only be 

defined as wild. 

Some call the wolverine the toughest 

animal in the world. It roams huge 

territories along the spine of the Rocky 

Mountain cordillera, taking on cliffs, 

summits and icefalls, all through some of 

the worst weather nature can create. One 

of the few mammals anywhere perfectly 

adapted and evolved to cold, snowy conditions, 

wolverines are rare, occur at low 

density and move over vast home 

ranges. They inhabit alpine and 

subalpine zones and their populations 

have experienced considerable 

range reduction over the last 50 

years. 

In the Canadian Rockies, 

little is known about this 10- to 

20- kilogram, bear-like mustelid; 

“Gulo gulo” in Latin. Yet, 

the conservation of 

this enigmatic species 

requires sciencebased 

information 

to guide and evaluate 

management actions. 

There are fewer than 300 

wolverines left in the 

lower 48 states today. 

Population estimates in 

western Canada are higher but 

nonetheless obscure, as most 

land managers in BC and 

Alberta are cautious about 

population estimates and 

deeply concerned about the 

species’ conservation. 

In 2010, research assistants Ben 

Dorsey and Tawnya Hewitt and I 

received a grant from the Alpine Club 

of Canada Environment Fund for our 

Wolverine tracks leave a distinctive diagonal set 

of three prints in the snow on the Takkakaw Falls 

road in Yoho National Park. photo by Lynn Martel. 

project, Wolverine Watch: 

Implementing wilderness conservation 

through education and citizen 

science. Wolverine Watch is a 

citizen-science based approach 

to help add to information 

on wolverine occurrence in 

the Canadian Rockies, increase 

awareness regarding their tenuous 

status, and recruit people 

who may be interested in assisting 

with a survey next winter. 

Prior to our survey, important 

baseline information on 

wolverine occurrence (sightings 

and track observations) needs to 

be collected. By participating in this 

project and information gathering, we 

seek to unite the energy and passion of 

the skier, climber and conservationist to 

protect wilderness flora and fauna. 

During the 2010/11 winter, our 

researchers will carry out a large-scale 

survey for wolverine in Banff and Yoho 

National Parks. We will examine how 

roads such as the bustling Trans Canada 

and Highway 93 affect wolverine movement 

and gene flow using a noninvasive 

genetic sampling technique consisting of 

baited barbed-wire “hair traps”. 

Because of their extensive movements 

and low densities, hair trap surveys need 

to be conducted over a large area and 

within some of the most remote habitats 

of the mountain parks. The traps consist 

of barbed-wire wrapped around a tree 

where a whole beaver carcass is secured to 

entice the animal to climb. Last March, 

we set up hair traps at six sites in the 

Banff-Yoho area to learn whether wolverines 

would approach the traps, and if 

so, how they would react to the offering. 

Each site had a remote, infrared-operated 

camera to help confirm wolverine and 

other visitors. After one month, three of 

the six sites captured wolverine visits on 

camera, with three sites netting 35 hair 

samples. At one site, researchers observed 

two wolverines. 

The “skunk-bear” lacks the caché 

of “grizz” or the noble grey wolf. But 

the more we learn about this forgotten 

species, the more grizzly bear conservation 

looks trivial and simplistic compared 

to wolverines. Rare and elusive, 

wolverines avoid all types of human 

disturbance—roads, forest-cutting, 

snowmobilers and heli-skiing—all of 

which fragment the land they need to 

keep their populations intact. On top 

of that, climate change is melting their 

numbers away, as declining snowpacks for 

wolverines mean less carrion (their main 

food source) and lower survival of litters. 

They are the FIRST land mammal to 

show a population decline due to climate 

change and are now being called the 

land-equivalent of the polar bear. 

Wolverines make a compelling case 

for the conservation and management 

of our wild areas and the landscape corridors 

that link them. The more being 

learned about this long-overlooked critter 

in North America today, the clearer the 

need to safeguard the mountain ecosystems 

on which they depend. 

We look forward to hearing from 

ACC members about any “Gulo” sightings, 

how they might help expand our 

scientific knowledge and learn about this 

increasingly threatened species emblematic 

of Canadian Rockies’ wilderness. 

Please visit www.WolverineWatch.org 

to learn more, or contact Tony Clevenger 

at apclevenger@gmail.com to participate. 

Lead researcher for Wolverine Watch 

Dr. Tony Clevenger has a PhD in wildlife 

ecology, and has been conducting wildlife 

research in the Mountain Parks since 1996. 

This project is part of a five-year partnership 

between Montana State University’s 

Western Transportation Institute, Miistakis 

Institute for the Rockies and Parks Canada, 

studying the impacts of the TCH wildlife 

crossings. 

A remote camera captures a rarely-seen wolverine 

climbing a tree to access a beaver carcass secured 

there for researchers to collect hair samples on 

the barbed wire “hair trap” wrapped around the 

tree. photo courtesy Tony Clevenger.

Website application handy trip planning tool 

It’s handy, helpful and it’s free. 

Geokov.com is a free web application 

with topo maps, trails, conditions 

and an information exchange. It offers 

information on trails, avalanche conditions, 

weather and roads for different 

regions across the country and with a 

click on the map, provides geographic 

coordinates. Photos and Wikipedia info 

ACC Grants awarded 

The Alpine Club of Canada is 

pleased to award this year’s grants 

to the following worthy mountain 

related projects. 

The Jen Higgins Memorial Fund was 

awarded to Canadian Jasmin Caton and 

her expedition partner Kate Rutherford 

(US) for their proposed ascent of an 

unnamed granite pillar in Tasermiut 

Fjord, Greenland. It was also awarded to 

Line Veenstra and Madeleine Martin- 

Preney for their kayak-accessed ski tour 

to BC’s Waddington Range. 

The Jim Colpitts Memorial Award 

was presented to ACC Calgary Section 

member Mike Moran, 24, who used 

the funds to participate in Yamnuska 

Mountain Adventures’ crevasse rescue for 

ski mountaineers course in April. Mike 

aspires to be a trip leader for the Calgary 

Section. 

The ACC Environment Fund was 

awarded to Kelvin Ye for his project, 

Research on the impact of human 

disturbance on the cliff ecology of 

Gatineau Park; Ricky Munday, Carol 

Sparks and Iain Mackay for their 

Australasia 3 Peaks Glacier Expedition; 

and Anthony Clevenger, Ben Dorsey and 

Tawnya Hewitt for their project entitled 

Wolverine Watch—Implementing wilderness 

conservation through education 

and citizen science. (see story on page 12) 

The John Lauchlan Memorial Award 

was presented to Chris Atkinson and 

Chris Jones for their proposed ascent of 

Tangmonja, an unclimbed peak high on 

the Tibetan Plateau. 

The Karl Nagy Award was given to 

Edmonton Section member Ian Curran. 

An active trip leader for both the Rocky 

Mountain and Edmonton Sections, 

Curran aspires to be an amateur leader at 

the ACC General Mountaineering Camp. 

of many natural features can be spatially 

located on the map. The application 

allows users to create customized maps by 

overlaying icons, routes and polygons as 

well as various environmental data (such 

as forest fires, water bodies, geology and 

land cover) over different base maps for 

trip planning and field work/research. 

It can also access and serve topographic 

maps, 1:50000 scale Canada-wide and 

BC TRIM 1:20000 scale maps from 

Photo: Jared Jumping, Fitz Roy Range, Argentine Patagonia © Topher Donahue / Aurora 

The Banff Centre 

presents 

BANFF 

MOUNTAIN 

film 

BOoK 

AND 

FESTIVAL 

October 30 – November 7, 2010 

Tickets and packages on sale 

Tuesday, July 27 at 12 noon 

Banff Mountain Film Festival 

Presenting Partners 

Banff Mountain Book Festival 

Presenting Partners 

government servers. Use it to access panoramic 

photos and Wikipedia descriptions 

of many mountains, lakes, parks and 

other features. You can even submit your 

own trip report for a particular region 

and view reports submitted by others for 

road, trail, climbing/skiing conditions, 

snowpack/avalanche conditions, wildlife 

encounters or conflict of use and other 

related incidents. 

Check it out at Geokov.com 

The World’s Best 

Mountain Films and Stories 

www.banffmountainfestival.ca 

1.403.762.6301 • 1.800.413.8368 


Dear 

The Largest Network of 

B A C K C O U N T R Y . 

Postcards 

from the 

Edge 

A.O. Wheeler Hut 

Rogers’ Pass, Glacier National Park 

Dear Janet, 

Scourged a day off from the 

CPR to get in an over due 

day of skiing. Beautiful, 

sunny day and powder 

snow. Gives one a new lease 

on life and something to 

carry back. love, Dan 

Mrs. Brown, 

Vancouver 

Stanley Mitchell Hut 

Little Yoho Valley, Yoho National Park 

Dear Teach , 

23 of us came in on 

highline trail , cold 

and snowing. Cabin 

in perfect condition . 

Everyone had a lot 

of fun . Thanks to 

the Alpine Club of 

Canada. From Suzie 

Prof. Ford 

Banff High 

School 

Wates-Gibson Hut 

Tonquin Valley, Jasper National Park. 

Dear Mom, 

Leisurely hike in. Found 

the hut in excellent 

condition. Saw a small 

avalanche from the seracs 

on SW face of Outpost. 

The 12th was largely wet 

and was filled in with 

chores. A humming bird 

appeared for a moment and a porcupine 

showed up in the evening. The novices in the 

party really appreciated the luxurious hut 

and magnificent fireplace. Love, Mary 

Mrs. Burke 

Edmonton 

w w w.alpineclubofcanada.ca | 403.678.

Bill Putnam (Fairy Meadow) Hut 

Adamant Range, Selkirk Mountains 

. H U T S in Nor th America 

But, now we must grieve 

For it’s our time to leave 

The helicopter will soon be here 

Our guess is that 

When our paychecks get fat 

We’ll be back again in a year 

See you soon, Anne 

Sally Jensen 

Portland Oregon 

Elizabeth Parker Hut 

Lake O’Hara, Yoho National Park. 

Dear Cousin, 

Hiking, rock climbing and 

swim in Lake O’Hara. I’m 

sure we’ll each find our way 

back here someday. 

Janis 

Peter Sinclair 

Toronto, Ontario 

3200 x 1 | info@alpineclubofcanada.ca

ACC trip leader and Wilderness Medical Consultants founder Dr. John Peachell takes a lunch break while 

climbing Mount Tupper in Rogers Pass, in BC’s Glacier National Park. photo by Lynn Martel. 

Five days of disaster 

by Mark Lane 

My outdoor trips are great. Well, 

usually they are. I’ve climbed 

the wrong summit, suffered 

an unplanned bivy, survived rain, snow, 

whiteout and lightning. But these are 

mere trifles compared to my last Alpine 

Club of Canada trip. Heinous, frightening, 

epic, blood, pain and disease—five 

days of unrelenting disaster that changed 

me forever. 

Seventeen of us met at the Canmore 

Clubhouse. Our leaders were John 

Peachell and Shelley Secord. I had heard 

John was a cardiac surgeon, but he looked 

like a climber to me, deriving his energy 

from successive caffeinated beverages. 

Shelley’s abundant energy appeared 

natural. 

Our first day was uneventful, but 

the following morning someone at the 

front of the group called out, “Hey, 

check out this dummy sleeping on the 

trail!” “Maybe he’s not sleeping,” Mike 

responded as he knelt next to him. “Dude, 

are you okay” Getting no response, Mike 

bent low over the victim. After 10 seconds 

he exclaimed loudly, “Hey, this guy isn’t 

breathing!” 

Kazue sprang into action, slipping 

a medical mask over the victim’s nose 

and mouth, and giving him a couple of 


measured breaths. Mike quickly took a 

pulse check. “His heart has stopped,” he 

announced, and immediately started cardio 

pulmonary resuscitation. Rod, our technical 

guru, pulled a portable radio from his 

pack and called for help. Several minutes 

later the drama concluded as a bright red 

rescue helicopter landed in a cloud of dust 

and debris. We helped load the victim into 

the rescue basket and watched the helicopter 

cruise down the valley. 

After a leisurely lunch we hit the trail 

with gusto. Maybe too much gusto. As we 

powered uphill, Jason suddenly clutched 

his chest and sat down, breathing heavily. 

Ray stepped forward and carefully questioned 

him about his medical history—it 

turned out Jason had had angioplasty 

several years earlier and was taking nitroglycerine, 

which he had unfortunately left 

in his car. Again, Rod’s radio crackled to 

life and again the red rescue helicopter 

came to whisk Jason to civilization. 

Our third morning passed uneventfully 

and we were beginning to think the 

worst was over until Mike tripped, tumbled 

over a small cliff and crashed into 

some trees. Francis immediately ensured 

everyone else was safe, then climbed 

down to Mike and methodically checked 

him from head to toe. Despite the distraction 

of Mike’s incessant complaining 

about pain in his leg and numbness in 

his toes, Francis completed his exam, 

diagnosing a broken femur. He enlisted 

Laurie’s help to treat it while he monitored 

and recorded Mike’s vital signs. 

Laurie deftly fashioned a splint from 

several trekking poles and an avalanche 

shovel and soon had Mike immobilized 

from toe to shoulder. 

As the helicopter thundered down the 

valley, a sense of impending doom now 

settled over the group. Before long Jodi 

vomited twice in rapid succession and sat 

down heavily, hugging her abdomen. Dan 

quickly checked her out. “I think she’s got 

Club member Dr. John Peachell plays the part of injured backcountry hiker as students of his Wilderness 

Medical Consultants first aid course practice their skills. photo by Lynn Martel.

a ruptured appendix,” he said, to which 

John replied, “So, what’s your plan” 

“Evacuate!” everybody cried, but evacuation 

wasn’t in the cards this time. Rod’s 

radio didn’t have the correct repeater 

frequencies, so we set about protecting 

Jodi from the elements and treating her 

for shock, hoping she would survive the 

night. 

Day four arrived abruptly with the 

scream of the helicopter’s engine. Rod 

had figured out the radio during the 

night and put in a rescue call. Moments 

after the helicopter left, I tripped on a 

protruding root and pitched down a steep 

scree slope. Something snapped sharply 

and an exquisite pain flooded my ankle. 

As I lay screaming in the dirt, Julius 

calmly sat down and began writing in his 

book while Kristin and Carsten roughly 

poked and prodded my body, relaying 

their findings to him. When Kristin 

calmly commented, “Cool. His tibia and 

fibula are BOTH sticking through his 

skin,” I freaked out! “I’m in serious pain 

here and you guys are writing a novel! 

Fix my ankle!” 

“Helicopter’s here,” Rod said, and 

shortly afterwards I was airborne, swapping 

climbing stories and trying to barter 

for morphine from the rescue technicians. 

My trip was definitely over, but the others 

were still out there. 

That afternoon, as Shelley led the 

group over a small rise Kazue called out, 

“It’s John, he’s bleeding all over the place!” 

Sure enough, John lay shivering on the 

ground, babbling about a bear and bleeding 

from the chest, forearm, head and 

throat. Carsten immediately took charge 

as the group quickly and efficiently 

identified and assessed John’s multiple 

injuries: bleeding from the right side of 

the chest, sucking chest wound on the left 

side, open fracture of the right radial and 

ulnar bones, lacerations to the top of the 

head and left side of the throat, broken 

left ankle and pending shock. The ground 

was soon littered with the paraphernalia 

of the rescue—backpacks, first aid kits, 

splinting material, tarps, sleeping bags 

and foam pads. The group kept John alive, 

stable and comfortable until advanced 

medical care became available, this time 

by ambulance via the nearby highway. 

Despite our misadventures, many 

agreed the trip had been their absolute 

best. Just so you know, none of the injuries 

mentioned in this article were real; 

they were simulations orchestrated by 

active ACC trip leaders John Peachell 

and Shelley Secord for their company, 

Wilderness Medical Consultants’ 40-hour 

wilderness first aid course. 

To sign up for your course, visit 

www.wildernessmedicalconsultants.ca 

ACC member Shelley Secord, left, uses novelty 

shop props to create life-like wounds on Dr. John 

Peachell’s body for students of their Wilderness 

Medical Consultants’ first aid course to attend to 

during a practice scenario. photo by Lynn Martel. 


The Gazette continues to recognize the contributions of some of the Alpine Club of Canada’s dedicated volunteers. Now a Vancouver Island 

Section member, Evan first joined the Club as an unafilliated member in 1991. He was not active within the ACC until he accepted the position 

of VP Services on the Executive in 2009. He lives in Cumberland with his wife, Sue, and sons Zach, 8, and Clem, 3. The entire family loves 

exploring their backyard trails on the Island, and travelling throughout BC. In addition to volunteering with the ACC, Evan works with his 

community and helps with efforts to conserve and promote Strathcona Park. 

Executive role a chance to become engaged 

by Evan Loveless 

Growing up on Vancouver Island, 

I started getting into outdoor 

activities in my early teens. My 

Grade 6/7 teacher introduced me to the 

outdoor world, and little did I know at 

the time that we would become fellow 

Alpine Club of Canada members years 

later. Russ was always taking us on field 

trips, but the highlight was when he 

took us to the Strathcona Park Lodge 

and Outdoor Education Centre for a 

week of hiking, climbing, canoeing, camp 

craft and survival techniques. By my late 

teens I was hiking and climbing in the 

mountains of Strathcona Park and doing 

extended canoe trips. I started skiing 

when I was nine, so ski touring became a 

natural progression later in life. 

Upon moving to Victoria to continue 

with school, I hooked up with some 

young climbers and was introduced to 

technical rock climbing. I dabbled a bit 

on the Island but a trip to Squamish one 

weekend changed everything. I dropped 

Evan Loveless chills out by the Balmaceda Glacier, Chile (near 

Torres del Paine). photo by Andrew Findlay. 

out of school and over the next few years 

a pattern emerged: tree planting in the 

late spring/summer; a couple of weeks of 

climbing in Squamish before a climbing 

road trip to the US in the fall; back to BC 

for ski season in the winter/spring; tree 

planting in the late spring/summer. In 

my mid-20s I met my future wife Sue (an 

ACC member since about 1985), who was 

from a Banff family, and I was introduced 

to the Rockies. 

After several years of bouncing around 

and working seasonally as a means to play 

and travel, (and go to school) my wife 

and I settled back on Vancouver Island, 

started a family and I took on work that 

allowed me to be at home. Over the 

past nine years I have worked as a selfemployed 

tourism and recreation consultant. 

I also did a four-year stint working 

with the Federation of Mountain Clubs 

of BC, a position that presented a unique 

perspective on BC’s tourism industry and 

its interface with public recreation. 

So what does any of this 

have to do with the ACC, and 

why I am volunteering on the 

Executive Not much, really, 

except to help illustrate my 

passion for the outdoors and 

the mountains. I have never 

really engaged with the Alpine 

Club over the years. I have 

been an on and off member 

since 1991, but have never 

gotten involved in the Club. 

We were always bouncing from 

one place to the next and when 

we did finally settle down, the 

kids came along. Sue and I 

did most of our climbing and 

adventuring together or with 

friends, and now we mostly do 

“softer” trips with our kids and 

other families. 

The biggest attraction for us 

however, and the main reason 

for keeping our membership 

in the ACC, has definitely 

been to use the Club’s huts. I 

think I have stayed in every ACC hut at 

least once. Our eldest son, Zach, has also 

stayed in several of the huts and keeps a 

tick list. I also always enjoyed getting the 

Canadian Alpine Journal and dreaming of 

new trips. 

When I was asked to join the ACC 

Executive I figured it would be a good 

way for me to get engaged with the Club 

and use some of my skills and experience 

on the Executive and in the management 

of the organization. Over the years I have 

been involved on many boards, processes 

and committees regarding tourism/ 

recreation and land use planning. For me, 

the ACC is the representative body for 

mountain-oriented recreation in Canada. 

It assumes an interesting place in the 

history of Canada and has an influence 

on me as a Canadian. From the beginning 

the ACC has been rooted in mountain 

conservation and access, and I want to 

see this tradition continue. I wanted to be 

part of the organization, and serving on 

the Executive has allowed me to do that. 

We now live in Cumberland in 

the Comox Valley. Over the past few 

years I have started to re-explore my 

old tramping grounds—Strathcona 

Park. In addition to my position on the 

ACC Executive, I also serve as Vice 

President of the Strathcona Wilderness 

Institute, an organization that works 

to provide awareness and education 

about Strathcona Park. I am also heavily 

involved in the Cumberland community 

and my son’s school. I have done a few 

trips with my fellow Vancouver Island 

Section members, including some with 

Russ, which is always fun. When our kids 

are older, Sue and I both hope to get back 

in the mountains more, and to become 

more involved with our section. 

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Dolomites trek a memorable journey 

by Graham Noble 

It’s not about the destination, just the 

journey. 

With that guideline in mind, the 

“Noble Nomads”, including members of 

the Alpine Club of Canada and Achille 

Ratti started out on the 130-kilometre 

Alte Vie 1 trail at the beautiful Lago di 

Braies (1494 metres) in the shadow of 

Croda del Becco (2810 metres). 

The initial section wound gently 

through wooded terrain, a blessing for 

those unused to hauling a backpack, but 

the respite was temporary as the path 

stiffened to climb towards Prato Piazza. 

Forest gave way to a barren rock-strewn 

valley before we reached the shrine at 

Porta Sora’l Forn (2388 metres). After a 

quick tea break at Rifugio Biella (2300 

metres), we welcomed the downhill 

stroll to Rifugio Sennes, our first night’s 

accommodation. As we would experience 

throughout our journey, rifguio staff provided 

a warm welcome. Whether private, 

or run by the Club Alpino Italiano, these 

facilities offered comfortable accommodation 

and hearty meals. 

With improved September weather, 

day two delivered a typical Dolomite’s 

trek with a downhill meander serving 

as a warm up to the inevitable climb. 

Although the AV1 trail remained between 

2000 and 25000 metres, most days 

brought one or two “bumps in the road.” 

The trail, however, offered tremendous 

variety with steep meandering climbs, 

both gentle and rugged traverses either 

under cliffs or tightly clutching the tops 

of them, and providing fabulous views 

of mountains ahead or valleys way below 

that made the climbs well worth the 

effort. Frequent way marks were easily 

identified but guidebook and maps were 

necessary. 

The following days took us through 

the well-trodden but beautiful Parco 

Naturale Fanes-Senes-Braies to Rifugios 

Scotoni and Dibona. Along the way, we 

climbed through Forcella Del Lago’s 

narrow passage and our highest point 

thus far, 2486 metres, then dropped 

steeply but not before we caught sight 

of the Lagazuoi ridge in the distance. 

The following day we climbed towards 

Cinque Torri and Nuvolau before crossing 

Passo Giau, even encountering real 

mules on the mule trail (who would have 

thought), as we rounded Croda De Lago 

to Rifguio Palmieri. 

With no sleeping in on Sunday 

morning, we head towards the magnificent 

Monte Pelmo (3168 metres). With 

Rifugio Venezia closed, we were excused 

the climb to 2476-metre Forcella Val 

D’Arcia, and instead headed downhill via 

Citta di Fiume to spend a pleasant evening 

at Rifugio Staulanza (1766 metres). 

If there is a downside to travel in 

September, it is the mid-month closure 

of many rifugios, which created a short 

and long day schedule. On the upside, we 

enjoyed the short relaxed days that reenergized 

us for the longer treks. 

Day six was one of 

those long days, but for 

us completing the huge 

traverse of the Civetta- 

Moiazza Massif was 

the highlight of the 

whole trek. We started 

early with a downhill 

plod but before long 

were climbing the steep 

rocky path up Cima 

Coldai. Our first stop, 

Rifguio Coldai (2132 

metres), was perched 

like an eagles’ nest 

on the lower edge of 

The Noble Nomads’ trek began at Lago di Braies 

with their first day’s climb, Croda del Becco, 

obscured by mist. photo by Graham Noble. 

Forcella Coldai. From there we enjoyed 

another striking view of Monte Pelmo, 

but when we turned around the view 

changed to shimmering Lago Coldai 

and beyond, the vast panorama of the 

Cordevole Valley far below us and in the 

distance. We were even treated to the 

sight of Marmolada, at 3342 metres, the 

Dolomites’ highest peak. 

Crossing Forcella Negro, we entered 

Val Civetta and traversed the high scree 

path below Civetta’s cliffs, which formed 

a huge wall for the next seven kilometres. 

Descending from the valley, we circled 

southeast, passing the palatial looking 

Rifugio Vazzoler (1714 metres) before 

beginning the steady climb and fragile 

traverse first to Forcella Col Dell’ovso 

(1823 metres), then Forcella Del Camp 

(1933 metres). Night fell before we 

rounded Moiazza’s south wall to Rifugio 

Carestiato (1839 metres), and welcomed a 

beer after a long day. 

On the seventh day we crossed Passo 

Duran (1493 metres), entering the forest 

trail first to Malga Moschesin, where we 

stopped to cook lunch, then on to Rifugio 

Pramperet (1875 metres). Although closed 

for the season, the refuge offered us a 

“winter room” with a double and triple 

bunk—the only bed I’ve ever slept in 

where my nose scraped the ceiling. 

The next day we cancelled our early 

start, too cozy to venture outside until we 

The author’s son, Bryce Noble, leads the way up the ridge to Forcella De Zita, the 

second highest point on the Dolomites’ Alte Vie 1 trail, followed by Bryce’s cousin 

Kate and her brother David Noble. photo by Graham Noble. 


Peaks named for Club members 

Two Alpine Club of Canada members 

recently had peaks named in 

their honour. 

Syd Watts Peak, which overlooks 

Ruth Masters Lake in BC’s Strathcona 

Park, was officially named for Watts 

by the Geographical Board of Canada. 

Founding member of the Island 

Mountain Ramblers, Watts, now 82, 

received the ACC Distinguished Service 

Award in 1990. The 1840-metre mountain 

was named for him in appreciation for 

his dedication to the mountains of his 

home area on Vancouver Island, and for 

his generosity in taking countless hikers 

and climbers on safe adventures in the 

Strathcona Park area since his first trip 

there in 1949. 

Also in BC, in March the name 

Mount John Clarke was officially 

adopted by the provincial government 

for a summit formerly known as Sun 

Peak, located near the midpoint of the 

Sims Creek-Princess Louisa Inlet route 

that Clarke pioneered, and where he 

took many youngsters and adults over 

the years via a demanding week-long 

crossover hike from the Squamish 

watershed to tidewater. The mountain 

overlooks the Sims Valley where the 

had to. Mother Nature eventually called 

and we set out for another beautiful day. 

A steep climb early on is normally not 

much fun, but the climb up the exposed 

ridge to Forcella De Zita was exhilarating 

and we stopped on the col to soak in the 

views around us. At 2395 metres, this was 

the second-highest point of the trek, and 

the last time we would be so high. 

From there the descent to Rifugio 

Pian De Fontana at 1632 metres was 

unrelenting. We dropped further to 1424 

metres before making our last climb, 

crossing Forcella La Varetta at 1701 

metres, then heading downhill to 1590 

metres. Unequipped to tackle the Via 

Ferreta Schiara traverse, we left path 514 

for 518 down the wooded Val Vescova’a 

and the bus stop on the Agordo-Belluno 

road. 

It took a while to sink into our tired 

bodies, but the trek was over. We’ve done 

it! It was a bit of an anticlimax, but as 

they say, it was never about the destination, 

just the journey. 

Squamish Nation’s Ut’sam/Witness 

Project, which Clarke helped found 

in 1997, takes place every summer. An 

Honorary member of the ACC and the 

BC Mountain Club, Clarke, who died in 

2003, was also an honorary member of 

the Squamish Nation and a recipient of 

the Order of Canada. He is credited with 

600 first ascents, all in a self-reliant style 

with minimal use of air transport. He 

contributed numerous articles detailing 

his climbs to the Canadian Alpine 

Journal, and was a tireless advocate for 

conservation of BC’s wild, natural places. 

Clarke was especially committed to 

wilderness education for school children 

and First Nations youth. The Wilderness 

Education Program and Witness Project, 

both of which he was instrumental in 

founding, continue today and are his 

lasting legacy to the youth of British 

Columbia. 

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Exum Mountain Guides: 

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Location: Oman, Arabian Peninsula 

Photographer: Gabe Rogel 

P E O P L E / P R O D U C T / P L A N E T 


Library update 

by Suzan Chamney 

As the status of the Alpine Club of Canada’s Library and plans for its relocation 

can best be described as a “moving target”, this report is based on the most current 

information as this Gazette goes to press. At this point, the Club is moving 

ahead with plans to put the collection into storage until it can be housed permanently. 

However, we are still looking for appropriate alternative locations to house the Library, 

with hopes that something will materialize before the actual move. A Request for 

Proposals to pack the books in acid free 

boxes, including a contents inventory of 

each box, and to oversee the move of the 

collection into short-term storage, will be 

issued shortly. 

Volunteer Robert Omeljaniuk has 

reviewed the list of books to identify 

publications that obviously should be 

culled from the Library holdings versus 

those that should be retained, as well as 

noting any “significant” titles. Books that 

are identified as those to be culled will be 

removed from the collection before it is 

boxed up for storage. 

Details are being worked out in 

regards to the renovations that would 

be necessary to ensure appropriate 

environmental controls are in place to 

safeguard the collection against fire, water 

and vermin should it be moved into the 

Canmore Clubhouse. 

National Volunteer Awards 

Congratulations to the following dedicated volunteers who were recognized 

for their outstanding contributions to the national and/or 

section levels of the Alpine Club of Canada in 2009. Biographies of 

the award recipients’ accomplishments can be found on the ACC’s website at 

www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/awards/recent.html 

Distinguished Service Award 

Neil Bosch, Edmonton Section and 

national Executive Committee 

Kit Moore, Toronto 

Sandy Walker, Rocky Mountain 

and Calgary 

Silver Rope Award 

John Huybers, Prince George 

Ken Cox, Prince George 

Eric Brooks Leader Award 

Rob Leblanc, Toronto 

Martin Siegert, Vancouver 

Shaun Fluker, Calgary 

Reinhold Mayerhofer, Edmonton 

Survey update: 

Thank you to everyone who 

responded to our online Library Survey. 

We received 110 responses with many 

positive suggestions. Feedback from 104 

people, or 95 per cent of respondents, 

was that the Club should keep its 

Library. Eighty-two per cent expressed 

a willingness to donate to the construction 

of a library facility. Sixty-five 

per cent thought it should be housed 

in the Clubhouse; 25 per cent were 

unsure where it should be housed. And, 

84 per cent would be willing to pay 

extra membership dues to support the 

Library; of those, 11 per cent selected 

$1; 48 per cent selected $5; 25 per cent 

selected $10, and 15 per cent suggested 

amounts ranging from $15 to $25. 

Don Forest Service Award 

Russ Moir, Vancouver Island 

Andrea Petzold, Rocky Mountain 

Darrel Newman, Ottawa 

Yvon Deschambault, St. Boniface 

Shannon Finnegan, Prince George 

Joanne Bezanson-Earle, Prince 

George 

Kayla Stevenson, Vancouver 

Gary Arnold, Edmonton 

John Booth, Edmonton 

Many thanks to the members of the Awards Committee for their commitment 

to this endeavour: Paul Geddes (Chair), Tom Haslam-Jones, Dave McCormick, 

Rod Plasman, André Mahé and Mike Thompson. 

Quick draws 

Alpine Club of Canada members 

will be able to climb free of 

charge at Kamouraska, Québec 

this summer, thanks to an agreement 

between the ACC and the Society for 

Ecology Batture Kamouraska (SEBKA). 

The agreement is supported by the 

Club’s liability insurance which covers 

all members who climb at the site, 

whether independently or as part of a 

section activity. Civil law in Québec 

requires that all climbing area landowners 

be insured. This is the first agreement 

signed between the ACC and an owner/ 

operator of a climbing site in Québec, 

and the Club looks forward to creating 

similar agreements with other landowners 

in the future. To learn more, visit 

www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/sebka.html 

Kudos to the Vancouver Island 

Section for meeting head-on a campaign 

to open up Capital Regional District 

(CRD) Parks, especially the Sooke Hills 

area from Humpback Road to the Sooke 

River, to mechanized recreation, including 

ATVs, motorbikes, four-wheel-drive 

and mud trucks. The VI Section swiftly 

took the lead mobilizing the support of 

several other like-minded groups including 

Club Tread and the BC Mountain 

Club, resulting in 24 strong voices 

representing 11,000 people speaking out 

successfully against the proposal before 

the deciding committee. Well done! 

Meanwhile, Ottawa Section members 

could use some help from all ACC 

members to work toward preventing 

a climbing closure to be enforced in 

Gatineau Park. To provide your support, 

please sign the on-line petition at 

www.gatineauclimbingaccess.ca 

And kudos again to Vancouver Island 

Section for purchasing its own TrailRider 

with funds from Royal Roads Running 

Club, Saanich Legacy Foundation and 

the VI Section. The non-motorized 

one-wheel apparatus resembles a cross 

between a wheelbarrow and a baby 

jogger, which, with the assistance of a 

few “Sherpas”, allows a disabled person 

to be transported along backcountry 

hiking trails. TrailRider Hiking with the 

Disabled events are listed on the VI trip 

schedule, with several ACC members 

having acted as trip leaders on various 

TrailRider outings. To learn more, visit 

www.accvi.ca 


H e a d s t o n e F o r m a t i o n ∙ J o s h u a T r e e N a t i o n a l P a r k ∙ © 2 0 0 9 A n t h o n y N e i l s o n ∙ w w w . m o u n t a i n p h o t o . c o m 

Club member’s book highlights Arctic environment 

Long-time Alpine Club of Canada 

member Lori Nunn has teamed 

up with wildlife photographer 

Jason Leo Bantle to produce their 

second book for children, Mom, What 

Can Be Done, a story that introduces 

the reader to some of the unique wildlife 

of the Arctic. Touching on the changes 

taking place in the Arctic environment, 

Mom, What Can Be Done is a collection 

of breathtaking images captured by 

Bantle over the past decade while visiting 

the Arctic as a research wildlife biologist. 

“The book encourages the reader to 

respect nature and to find ways we can 

all work together to care for our Earth,” 

Nunn said. “We include ideas we can all 

try to help slow global warming, as well as 

interactive material to help children learn 

about Arctic wildlife. The title of the book 

asks a far-reaching question, one that we 

could all ask our mothers, our children 

could ask us, or a polar bear cub could ask 

its mother, as the incredible cover image 

might suggest. And rhyme makes reading 

the story fun!” 

To order your copy, visit 

www.bantlephoto.com/books.htm 

I was amped. My passengers were a little 

gripped. Chest against the steering wheel, 

I maxed my ’92 Pathfinder around the 

switchback corners of the logging road, 

gunning for the trailhead and the perfect 

granite spires of the awaiting Bugaboos. 

We had endless stone and a dreamy 

weather forecast just ahead. I had limited 

time. My driving betrayed my excitement. 

I had been sentenced to ACMG alpine 

exam hell for the summer. Slogging 

up snow slopes and learning the art of 

Rockies’ choss navigation was my only 

modus operandi. My climbing fitness 

was at an all-time low. I put all of that 

out of my mind, though, because for 

the next 10 days I would be on 

vacation. I didn’t care that my 

arms were weak and my legs were 

now oversized weights pulling me 

down. I was hungry. 

Read the rest of Jason Kruk’s 

story Bugaboo Bluff 

starting on page 18 of the 

2010 Canadian Alpine Journal. 

Get the 2010 

Journal for 

Add a subscription for 

the 2011 volume to your 

membership for a new lower 

price of $22 including 

shipping (in Canada), lower 

still if you also have the Huts 

Option on your membership! 

Available mid-July 

www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/store/ 

Joshua Tree 

Anthony Neilson 

Wilderness Landscapes 


In the week leading up to the Ski Mountaineering World Championships, which took place in Andorra March 1 thru 6, several members of 

Canada’s national ski mountaineering team—which operates under the Alpine Club of Canada under the dedicated leadership of long-time Club 

member David Dornian—participated in a skills camp in Sicily. Thanks in part to the valuable racing expertise gained through this camp, the 

11 members of Team Canada, our largest team yet, placed 11th overall out of 23 nations, improving on 2008 when they were 19th among 28. This 

account was written by Canada’s 2010 top female racer, Melanie Bernier. Originally from Ste-Brigitte de Laval, Québec, Melanie lives and 

trains in Revelstoke, BC. 

Ski mountaineering camp offers invaluable lessons 

by Melanie Bernier 

Coming from countries where ski 

mountaineering racing is still 

fairly young, the idea of a sportspecific 

training camp was really appealing 

amongst us members of North and 

South American national teams. 

Since most of us had already planned 

our trip over to Europe to attend the 

World Championships in Andorra 

and the Pierra Menta in France, it was 

hard for us to justify not attending this 

week-long immersion into the technical 

side of ski-mo. Keeping in mind that we 

currently have limited access to quality 

information about the sport and its technicalities 

on our side of the Atlantic, and 

that we are, to some degree, the pioneers 

in this discipline in our respective countries, 

we knew that this camp would not 

only add to our already strong foundation 

and feed our personal desire to progress, 

but would also allow for the sport to grow 

within our own nations. 

From our first meeting with our wellaccomplished 

mentors, Andre Dugit and 

Adriano Greco, it quickly became clear 

that a large amount of knowledge would 

be shared over the journey. Through their 

personal experiences they brought stories 

and advice from the multiple athletes and 

mountaineers they have had the chance 

to encounter and/or coach. Andre and 

Adriano’s level of expertise on the terrain, 

as well as their background in the 

mountaineering world, instantly triggered 

our trust and deep respect which grew 

throughout the duration of the camp. 

From the start, it was clearly said that 

all questions would be answered and 

that the main goal of the camp was not 

to physically train us but give us tools 

to become faster without any additional 

energy use through better technique. 

With the World Championships upon us, 

this camp came just in time to give us the 

opportunity to have a highly productive 

and beneficial taper week. 

The program of the week was established 

in a well-organized manner, taking 

Melanie Bernier sets the pace in the Vertical race at the Ski Mountaineering World Championships in 

Andorra in March. photo by Alex Wigley. 

us through all the different aspects of the 

sport. We shared experiences with gear 

and evaluated all the different companies 

on the market. We talked about the 

good and not-so-good sides of some 

equipment and we also addressed the 

question of maintenance and pre-race 

preparation. Then a quick session on the 

Mount Etna volcano allowed all of us 

athletes to become more familiar with the 

terrain while providing our instructors 

the opportunity to quickly evaluate our 

individual levels and to draw a pretty 

accurate picture of what each of us would 

need to work on over the camp. 

After each training session we 

enjoyed amazing dinner feasts and some 

personal time, followed by information 

sessions on different topics. From 

Adriano’s personal race experience, 

training program ideas, examples and 

video analysis of inspiring races, to 

questions about rules and regulations, 

all questions were answered and all 

topics were relevant. In the field, things 

became substantially more technical, 

starting with the very basics of ski 

mountaineering, simply the way we walk 

and the ergonomics of movement. We 

were forced to tune in to our bodies and 

realize what happens when we’re moving 

and how to use our strong muscles in 

such a way that no energy is lost. We 

went over all the different types of 

walking techniques which can be used 

depending on snow quality and terrain. 

We also tackled the different switchback 

techniques depending on the conditions 

and snow quality in which the track is 

set and learned the step-by-step buildup 

of a perfect and efficient kick-turn. 

We could not forget about the different 

forms of transitions, which allowed 

everyone to decrease our time on a short 

10-minute course by at least two minutes. 

Of course, for every ascent there is a 

great descent. We analyzed and practiced 

the different techniques to cover ground 

quickly and in control while giving some 

rest time to our legs for the next ascent. 

In order to put all the new tips and 

techniques acquired over the week into 

a race scenario, we concluded the camp 

with a small race course. It was a great 

opportunity to practice under a bit more 

pressure and to see how significantly all 


An inspiring guidebook 

for aspiring adventurers. 

Follow in the footsteps of 

Canada’s greatest explorers. 

The wait is over. 

Gillean Daffern returns with a new edition of 

her legendary Kananaskis Country Trail Guide, 

completely revised, redesigned and expanded 

into five epic volumes. Volume 1 is now 

available at your local bookstore. 

THINK OUTSIDE 

the Euro tricks allowed us to improve. 

I don’t think we could put a price on 

the value of such a week. In addition to 

being a great and relaxed learning atmosphere, 

the location where the camp took 

place was really unique and beautiful. I 

must mention the warm and welcoming 

Sicilians, the amazing food and the 

unforgettable cultural experience. It was a 

privilege to be part of such a camp, which 

to our eyes was a rich experience on both 

an athletic and personal level. 

Thank you very much to the 

International Ski Mountaineering 

Federation for allowing this camp to 

happen. Thank you also to the sponsors 

for adding to the positive vibe and 

more importantly, thanks to Andre and 

Adriano for putting this camp together 

and sharing their knowledge, experience 

and their passion for the sport. Ski 

mountaineering racing is really lucky to 

have such dedicated people like them and 

with a similar attitude this great sport can 

only become more popular around the 

world. 

To learn more, visit www.alpineclubof 

canada.ca/ccc/ismc.html 

Team Canada assumes the pose after the Relay race at the Ski Mountaineering World Championships in 

Soldeu, Andorra in March. From left, Melanie Bernier, Julie Matteau, James Minifie, Ian Gale, Stano Faban, 

Alex Wigley, Andrew McNab, Reiner Thoni, Billie Velisek and Jeff Colvin (kneeling). photo by Alex Wigley. 


Beyond the Club 

by Lawrence White 

I 

was an Alpine Club of Canada 

member for a number of years before 

I became a staff member. I enjoyed 

the outings, the socials, the mentoring 

and the overall camaraderie of belonging 

to a club. It never really occurred to me 

that there was a world of influence and 

support beyond my regional section. I 

didn’t think about the ACC in a national 

sense, let alone an international one; for 

example, that it is a member organization 

of the International Mountaineering and 

Climbing Federation which has some 1.3 

million members from almost 60 countries. 

It also never occurred to me that the 

ACC helps influence and guide policy 

at a national level with regards to land 

use and access, or that it provides several 

annual grants to help support other 

Canadians to do good work, to reach 

their goals. This year, your Club provided 

thousands of dollars to support projects 

ranging from an all-female ski touring 

expedition in the Waddington Range, to 

cliff ecology research in Gatineau Park, 

a conference on waste management in 

the alpine, and first ascent efforts on the 

Tibetan Plateau. 

One of the more unique initiatives 

the ACC has been involved with this 

year is in support of the newly formed 

Outward Bound Canada for Veterans. 

This program aims to reintegrate military 

personnel who have been in conflict 

situations through the wonders of the 

mountain environment. Some of our past 

Presidents could speak far more intimately 

about the value of such a program 

than I ever could. Rex Gibson, ACC 

President from 1954 to 1957, served in both 

Great Wars. Major-General William 

(Billy) Wasborough Foster, member of 

the first ascent team of Mount Robson 

in 1913 and Logan in 1925, was ACC 

President from 1920-1924. A number of 

other past Presidents also gave their time 

in service. Needless to say, the response 

from the Outward Bound program has 

been very positive. 

The Alpine Club of Canada has a 

long history in shaping Canada’s identity 

at home and abroad. It’s an identity that 

has been created on the shoulders of our 

past members and too often we forget 

that this practice of service, compassion 

Participants of the Outward Bound Canada for Veterans ski touring course gather on the Wapta Icefields 

in Banff National Park in April 2010. From left, ACMG guide Abby Watkins, Garnet Caton, Mark Miller, 

Francis McCann, Mike Burgess (kneeling), Shaun Arntsen, staff member Marc D’Astous, Brian Hyland and 

ACMG guide Ken Wylie. photo by Marc D’Astous. 

and support has made the Club what it is. 

Too often we forget about the world we 

influence beyond the Club. 

Let’s all try to remember more often. 

Lawrence White is ACC Executive 

Director. 

From left, the Honourable Jim Prentice, Canada’s 

Environment Minister and Minister responsible 

for Parks Canada, joins the ACC’s Lawrence 

White and Alan Latourelle,CEO Parks Canada, 

to mark Canada’s national parks system’s 125th 

anniversary. photo by Paul Kalra. 

Canada’s national park system turns 125 


If you’re spending any time in the 

Canadian Rockies this summer, 

don’t miss the festivities planned 

to recognize and celebrate Banff ’s 125 th 

anniversary. Canada’s entire national park 

system all began when a trio of railway 

labourers discovered a bubbling hot 

spring flowing from the slopes of Sulphur 

Mountain, on the edge of the Banff town 

site. Today, Canada’s first park has grown 

to encompass a system of parks, historic 

sites and marine conservation areas that 

protect 277,000 square kilometres of 

Canada’s exquisite natural landscape, with 

the Alpine Club of Canada vigorously 

volunteering its support for the development 

and expansion of that system since 

its own creation in 1906. Throughout the 

2010 summer, Banff will host numerous 

events, including travelling exhibits, writing 

and photo contests, and Parks Day on 

July 17, when all across the country visitors 

will be able to enter any national park, 

national historic site and national marine 

area for free. 

To learn more visit www.banff125.com 

Upcoming Meetings 

Executive Committee meeting: 

●● 

September 11 & 12, 2010 

in Canmore 

Board of Directors meeting: 

●● 

October 23 & 24, 2010 

in Canmore 


“PERFECT HANDS 

AND BIG CHICKEN HEADS.” 

CLIMBING. 

You have your reasons. We have your gear.

Summer 2010 - The Alpine Club of Canada

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