Tag Archives: Rockies

What makes an alpine climb a classic? [Revised January 2025]

Introduction This essay and collection of trip reports were originally published in VOCJ66 (2023-24, pp. 62-80). Since publication, I’ve had a chance to refine the ideas in the essay portion; I now think that my previous category of an “aesthetic classic” … Continue reading

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Bow Valley Blues

Written by Julian Larsen Summer 2024   Prologue In spring I had heard whispers from Nick Ayers and Evan Wong about a big Rockies trip. Evan had a photoshoot for Monod Sports in Banff, and had a list of objectives … Continue reading

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The Greenwood Jones [V, TD, 5.10, 1300m] on the North Face of Mt Temple

§1 | INTRODUCTION The North Face of Mt Temple provides one of the more dramatic views along Highway 1. It rises ~1300m from base to summit, providing a world-class backdrop for visitors to the Lake Louise area. Often likened to the … Continue reading

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A Ski Descent of Mt Robson (Kain Face via the Patterson Couloir)

Trip Date: May 7th-10th, 2024 Participants: Noah Macdonald, Charles-Antoine Leblanc Summitting and skiing Mount Robson has been a dream of mine for longer than I can remember. On May 9th, I finally made that dream come true. Brevity is a virtue … Continue reading

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Racing Glaciers: An Expedited Berg Lake Adventure

Berg Lake: a place of blue waters, roaring waterfalls, and glaciers reaching down from jagged peaks all the way to the water’s edge. From the moment I heard about this special mountain Shangri La I knew I had to visit. … Continue reading

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Impromptu Rockies Road Trip

This trip report is ancient history, from early-September 2018. I wrote it but for some reason never posted it anywhere. The trip report feed has been pretty quiet lately for obvious reasons, so here’s some light reading of a coupl’a … Continue reading

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Southern Rockies Whitewater Triple Crown: Daisy/Slate/East

Welcome to Crested Butte, Colorado: In spring, the snow melt makes some of the best kayaking in the world. It lasts about a month, then it’s dry. The runs here are steep and high up, cutting through slate out of … Continue reading

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Ice Climbing in the Rockies. With Mountains, Frost Bite and Albertan Culture.

Part 1: Driving, Driving and more Driving.  And some Ice. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEP! I awoke with the cardiac arrest I associate with all alarm clocks.   It was 7:30, 23rd December 2015, the morning after my last exam and the subsequent … Continue reading

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Rockies Ice 2014: Part 5 – The Thunder Down Under

I arrived in the Calgary Greyhound station weary, and battered. Sleep had come hard, as was typical on such ventures, and the ride from Vancouver was not made any easier by being on the tail end of a flight form … Continue reading

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Rockies Ice Climbing: Part 4 – The Stacked Nuts

We are ever-so grateful for Alfred letting us lot of dirtbags using his condo, but that was quite likely the worst night any of us had on the trip. The condo was a like a furnace. Way too hot to … Continue reading

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