cfire Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Climb: Canadian Rockies-some Date of Climb: 2/11/2006 Trip Report: Jim and I headed up to Alberta for the annual Valentine's drunken ice trip. We figure we might as well give our wives' boyfriends a chance to enjoy their company on this Hallmark holiday. Our numbers have dwindled over the years, but this was the 9th for me(skipping the year I had a broken leg) and just as many for Jim. We tend to take our drinking and eating as seriously as our climbing on this trip, so we had nothing planned except I wanted to do the Scorcerer as I hadn't been on it yet. I picked Jim up in Conway and we were off to the border. We started drinking at the Abbotsford airport while waiting for our flight, and we pretty much kept up the pace when not actually on ice. Flew into Calgary(thank god for duty free airplane bottles of vodka for the plane ride!) and commenced to hit our usual night spot there and flip loonies until well into the night. On to Cochrane for the night and up early the next morning to get into the Ghost, as we figured we had better do the Scorcerer before we were completely pickled for the trip. The Ghost was as dry as I have ever seen it. No snow at all on the river bottom. The river crossings were mellow and we made it to the bottom of the 4x4 road in record time. "think we should try driving up the road in our GMC Envoy"? "Sure, it's a rental"! We made it about 1/2K when one of the running boards on the Envoy met their demise on a high spot. After some careful body work with the hammer if my ice tool, the running board was back on and we performed a 37 point turn around and limped back down the road..."guess we're walking". The walk in to the Scorcerer is actually very mellow and quite scenic as you pass the Bastion walls and go by some lakes. After 1 1/2 hrs we were at the base of the climb. The Scorcerer As we were gearing up, another 2 dudes(from Seattle)arrived at the base looking very sad about seeing us there. That's when I realized I had forgotten to write the name of the climb we were doing on the back of the car. Sorry guys They turned around and went back down. The Scorcerer was a GREAT climb! 4 pitches in all, and they were all full length pitches. The first was WI4, the second was WI3, and the last 2 were full on WI5. Cool cave at the top of the 3rd pitch to hang out in. Good thing as I took forever to lead the last pitch as I thought I would take the proud line to the left side. Turns out the ice was very dinner platey and the bulletproof. Starting screws took forever and I ended up dropping one(booty for spring hikers). Out of there before dark and on to Canmore. Dinner at the Grizzly Paw and many microbrews later we were in our room. The next day we wanted an easy approach as the microbrews were hanging around. Headed for Field and got in line for Carlsberg Column. It was way fat and had folks lining up. Carlsberg Column on left Cascade Kronenberg on right Headed up and got in line. I had done this one before, but it is still a favorite. Solid grade to the top. Back to Field, find beer in the general store, sit in the sun and watch kids play hockey outside as we drink beer. Went to the Drake that night(saturday) and it was rocking. Good band playing as well. Drank inumerable beers and many many shots of Zambuco(don't ask, I just drank when they were handed to me). Unknown how I got back to the hotel. The next morning was not pretty. But, we were going to keep our climbing streak in tact so we decided to go somewhere easy. Johnstone canyon fit the bill as a short drive, easy hike in and good top-roping around. We had been there many times before, but maybe not on a weekend. We did the hike still drunk from the night before. Jim led a nice pitch to the top, and then we set a toprope up for a cool looking roof pitch thing. Cool looking pillar with roof at top. We climbed in a complete haze as the booze started to wear off and hangovers set in. Just as I topped out on the toprope there was a huge cheer. Little did I know that a busload of Japanese tourists had arrived at the lookout and were watching us climb. It felt like the Olympics! Little did they know that I was so very close to staining the climb the color of Traditional Ale. We limped back to the car with a few hundred of our closest friends on the trail. Back to the Drake for dinner and a final Trad, the room and bed. Layed in bed watching Olympics. Flew home and have been de-toxing all week. My liver function is almost back to normal! Gear Notes: ice gear, thrashable rental car, multiple bottles of liquor at the border duty free shop, Approach Notes: no snow in the ghost, everything else normal snow cover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 holy shit kronenberg is fat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfire Posted February 18, 2006 Author Share Posted February 18, 2006 Very fat! i climbed it last month and it was as big as I've ever seen it. Pilsner isn't a pillar either. It's just a huge curtain all the way across. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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