Low budget trip to Banff ice climbing questions

[Pencil_Pusher]

Hi all. How do you drive there cheaply? I hear the Canucks have expensive gas.

Good places for ice climbing, bivy spots free of wardens, bars/taverns to hang out till midnight before crashing in cold bivy, how to talk/act like a Canuck to avoid local pissing wars and the such...???

Those were some thoughts that came to mind, any help/info would be appreciated. I'm assuming once there we can buy a book for ice climbs of the area. Is this Weeping Wall in that area?

I've got a jalope for a car, with chains though I'd prefer not to use them. Oh yeah, where can I pick up one of those red maple leaf bumper stickers?

[Dru]

The Drake or Grizzly Paw for beers.

 

Got a 4wd - the Ghost for free camping

 

Otherwise camp at Yamnuska parking lot no one checks in winter and only 25km drive to Canmore.

 

Banff is for posers and Japanse tourists. Canmore is for posers too but most of them at least climb.

 

I know of a couple of free, warm bivi spots but they're secret so I leave them for you to discover.

 

How to talk Canadian, for Americans: do a web search on "Rick Mercer" and you will find some interesting info.

[jja]

Pencil_Pusher said:

I'm assuming once there we can buy a book for ice climbs of the area.

 

You can buy the book around town, check out FF or Marmot.

[Figger_Eight]

Yup...stay in Canmore. I tried camping out there in the winter once and got sick of being cold (but I'm a big wussy). There are super cheap ass motels for like $40 canadian in Canmore, which turns out to be a couple of bucks and change in US.

 

Buy your booze at the border.

 

Don't order a canadian bacon pizza - they get cranky

 

The catwalk into Johnston Creek is cool.

 

There's sometimes good music at the Rose and Crown in Banff.

 

Don't get run over by the bus loads of Japanese tourists.

 

Its a toque, not a hat.

[Pencil_Pusher]

Dru said:

 

I know of a couple of free, warm bivi spots but they're secret so I leave them for you to discover.

 

How to talk Canadian, for Americans: do a web search on "Rick Mercer" and you will find some interesting info.

Are you talking about this goofball?

 

 

I tried searching the tourist info and park stuff search on the web, nothing much to tell of ice climbing there. Gravsports.com didn't result in too much either.

Thanks for the other tips too. One thing I found along the way was Cody Ice

 

Any more helpful info is appreciated.

[sobo]

Pencil_Pusher said:

Hi all. How do you drive there cheaply? I hear the Canucks have expensive gas.

Good places for ice climbing, bivy spots free of wardens, bars/taverns to hang out till midnight before crashing in cold bivy, how to talk/act like a Canuck to avoid local pissing wars and the such...???

Those were some thoughts that came to mind, any help/info would be appreciated. I'm assuming once there we can buy a book for ice climbs of the area. Is this Weeping Wall in that area?

I've got a jalope for a car, with chains though I'd prefer not to use them. Oh yeah, where can I pick up one of those red maple leaf bumper stickers?

 

Gas up in Radium, before heading into the Park. Check out Johnston Canyon (just "jump off" the catwalk to access climbs), Canmore, Heart Creek, Grotto, Lady Wilson, Rogan's, Professor Falls and Curtain Call in Lake Louise nearby (both PF and CC will be CROWDED!). Weeping Wall is along the Icefields Parkway north and west of Banff a ways. They have hostels out that way that you can stay at for a small "joining fee" and a charge. Way warmer than car-camping. You need to give them an address in Canada somewhere. Make one up, no one cares (except maybe Dru )

 

Pick up the Joe Josephson guide either before you go (so you can plan better to maximize your route-grabbing) or pick one up in Banff at Monod's or the other store across the back alley from Monod's (can't remember the name, but I replaced my crampons there the last time in town - bent the front points on a pair of FootFangs at Johnston Canyon - bulletproof ice!! . )

 

Get your bumper sticker at the border crossing in the gift store - be "protected" from the moment you go in country.

 

Drink your beers in Canmore at either of the two fine drinking establishments there. I think The Drake (as mentioned by Dru earlier) is one of them there. The other one has one of those double names (The *this* and *that*); can't remember it now. Good breakfast grub in Banff at Coyote's.

 

Have fun, and enjoy! I'm green with envy!

[Dru]

Since Will Gadd is off in Nepal climbing peaks the best Rockies ice conditions report at the moment is the live-the-vision.com bulletin board. Sounds like most of what's in is in the Front Ranges and Kananaskis.

 

Will Gadd's "Canmore pages" on gravsports.com have tips on how to go out on the town.

 

If buying weed at the Canmore Hotel ask the kid with the doo-rag to return Pete's Axar

[Dane]

You'll not need chains once inside Canada i suspect. Roads are very good and serious snow fall in the Rockies is seldom. Do the Hostel thing. A search on line will show you much as will the guide book. Nice to have a warm place to sleep when the highs come in. Mid week most of the climbs aren't going to be too busy.

 

Climb Cascade and Professors staying in Canmore but then head north for the hostels and the Weeping wall/ Polar Circus area and more solitude.

 

Getting a beater car across the border will take cash in your pocket and a smile I suspect. Good luck! The climbing is worth the effort.

 

 

 

[specialed]

Dru said:

If buying weed at the Canmore Hotel ask the kid with the doo-rag to return Pete's Axar

 

Nah. Just give him a swift kick in the face instead.

 

Best on the cheap plan for the Rockies, is head up with a posse (like 5 or 6 folks) then go from motel to motel in Canmore or Golden and find the cheapest rate for "2" people. Cram everone in one room and it will only cost like $10.00 US a night per person. Bring your double burner in and cook your own meals too.

[Scott_J]

Dru said:

The Drake or Grizzly Paw for beers.

 

Got a 4wd - the Ghost for free camping

 

Otherwise camp at Yamnuska parking lot no one checks in winter and only 25km drive to Canmore.

 

Banff is for posers and Japanse tourists. Canmore is for posers too but most of them at least climb.

 

I know of a couple of free, warm bivi spots but they're secret so I leave them for you to discover.

 

How to talk Canadian, for Americans: do a web search on "Rick Mercer" and you will find some interesting info.

 

What the fuck you doing Dru. Don't give out good beta! Send 'em to the tourist places and leave the best for guys from the Sault St. Marie and Vancouver, eh.

[Dru]

you can find all the beta I gave out in other places on da Web so im not revealing anything new... like the secret bivi in the ***** ******* *****

[murraysovereign]

Just for the record, in addition to the gear stores in Banff there is also at least one on Main Street in Canmore. "Valhalla Pure Outfitters", I think it's called...something like that.

[sobo]

specialed said:

 

Best on the cheap plan for the Rockies, is head up with a posse (like 5 or 6 folks) then go from motel to motel in Canmore or Golden and find the cheapest rate for "2" people. Cram everone in one room and it will only cost like $10.00 US a night per person.

 

You're right on, specialed. We've done that a few times before, with like 4 to 6 guys. Bring your thermarests and beeping slags and crash out on the floor. Last ones in from drinking get the floor. Or you could arrange it in advance to switch off each night.

 

We ended up donning our crampons one night in the room and buildered up the interior walls. Interestingly, I never heard about the repair bill, altho the Ptarmigan Inn probably wouldn't want us back.

 

Hey Pencil Pusher! If Cascade is on your climb list, don't shrug off the warnings about avy danger on that route! You can get a really good look at the collection bowl above the route on a drive back from Canmore to Banff. SCARY!

 

Don't crowd up the route (if there's others coming up) with your rap, but just slog up the last (diosconnected) pitch and go down Rogan's Gulley for the descent.

 

And if you're going to Banff via Golden, take a coupla hours and do Lady Killer and Pretty Nuts. They're both really close to the road. I'm not sure if the issue with the railroad has been fixed (with respect to access to Pretty Nuts).

[specialed]

The Canmore Inn (I think) where we stayed was the best. Their rates were just as good as the strip mall motels and they had a jacuzzi, sauna, and an awesome bar. I don't know if the high school chicks from Calgary that were in the jacuzzi were included in the price or whether they just happened to be there though.

[Dru]

specialed said:

The Canmore Inn (I think) where we stayed was the best. Their rates were just as good as the strip mall motels and they had a jacuzzi, sauna, and an awesome bar. I don't know if the high school chicks from Calgary that were in the jacuzzi were included in the price or whether they just happened to be there though.

 

they sure got excited when Baby Orca stripped down for the Ja-COOZ though

[randygoat]

Hey I tried to ask a similar question on our North Eastern Ice website from our Canadien neighbors but got almost no answers at all. I guess it's the language barrier, most of them up there only speak French.

C'est la vie and screw em' anyway, eh.

[Pencil_Pusher]

That's a good book, "Waterfall Ice, Climbs in the Canada Rockies, eh". They let me in their country last week so getting in with the jalope should work, whether it survives the trip is another question... the gear inside will be worth more than the car. Thanks for all the tips, I've printed this out for a reference. Found a few good places to hang out at night Which one is the best?

Be back with beta but probably no booty.

[sobo]

Pencil_Pusher said:

Found a few good places to hang out at night Which one is the best?

 

That's going to be quite the drive each night, from Banff to Calgary, ya know, eh?