Getting enough to eat and the art of dealing with demons.

Had a great day of personal growth and reflection, along with a few serious moments with a great friend, Roger Strong.

Roger, a Seattle native, came up for a quick trip to the Canadian Rockies this week. As it turns out we were only able to do one route together, in spite of having more ambitious plans. More often than not when you make 'big plans' you end up getting a little less so in the words of the great American alpinist Scott Backes "always bight off more than you can chew, this way you don't risk going hungry". These words are so true. Roger and I originally had plans to climb a couple more days but "life happens" and I'm glad we went big on the one day we did have together. To defend the Backes theory we set out on Feb 2nd to do both "The Shadow" and "Riptide"(VI WI7 R, 225m) on the North aspect of Mt. Patterson in the Canadian Rockies. We got up early (4:30) and did the approach in the dark to allow enough time to do both routes. As it turned out, doing the second ascent of "The Shadow" took us all day and we ended up skiing the 50 degree slope below the route in the dark of night with headlamps and 50lb packs; an adventure in its own right.

"The Shadow" is 4 pitches long and we felt it went at M7r. It was first done several years ago in March by Jon Walsh and Caroline George.(See Caroline Ware's account of the first ascent of The Shadow as well as her story on a great trip to the Can Rockies. http://www.gravsports.com/Ice%20Pages%20Folder/Route%20Descriptions/ware_walsh_trip.htm). The line itself will never form the same way two years in a row as it consists of very thin ice throughout. Certainly if the ice was even 1" thicker on the final pitch it would have been way easier. Bottom line, if you are heading up to this route or other tradition mixed lines in the Rockies you better be ready to battle.

In current conditions every pitch was serious. We did get the odd ice screw(mostly 10cm screws but the odd 17cm screw as well. Ninety percent of the climb was protected by rock gear (pins, nuts, and cams from .2"- 4"). Half of the rock gear placements were shit and the other half were maybe OK. As good as a mid sized can in a frosty slippery crack can be.

Roger, a new dad with a beautiful 7 month old baby girl named Maya, is a major bad ass. Roger was the captain of a crab boat in the Bering Sea before becoming a sales rep for Black Diamond in the NW USA. From my experience he never hesitates to suffer and battle on the sharp end. It is intimidating to climb with him because I know if I hesitate on heading up a pitch he would happily take over. When climbing with Roger you must not hesitate. On the other hand if the shit hits the fan, on a serious route, Roger would be your man. The lovely thing is that these are the qualities of all the climbers in my tribe and they know who they are.

Personally, I had some of my own moments that day. A couple weeks ago when Roger and I started to discuss ideas for our climbing trip together I was feeling strong in the head. I was ready to battle, felt confident, and pretty much ready to take on anything. Easy come, easy go. The day before the climb, the more confidence Roger portrayed the more self doubt that sunk into my own head. In truth I haven't been climbing much at all this winter. It has certainly been my slowest winter season since I started climbing in 1994. In spite of the lack of fitness I know that alpinism involves a huge mental component and I was hoping that I would be confident going into the objectives and that I could rely on the last 15 years of experience to come through when it needed to. Attitude and perspective are everything. Fitness and experience are of course essential but without confidence you might as well stay at home. Luckily, climbing usually involves a partner and a good partner with bring out the best in you.

Then I had this seriously disturbing dream the night before the climb. I haven't had a restless night before a climb in a long time. I used to have these as a less experienced climber but more recently have always been able to sleep well before a big, serious day. This night I had several 'interesting' dreams with the final one involving myself, Roger, my wife Marion and a friggin' plane crash! That is not a great way to wake up before a serious day.

All in all I did OK that day but as I climbed through the runout terrain I had way too much going through my head. My wife, my job, the thought of crushing bones. I did give Roger the last final lead, which ended up being the crux on the route. The pitch involved two overhanging offwidth sections with large snow mushrooms that had to be chopped out and ultimately the leader had to take these in the head as they collapsed. This, only to reveal loose rock jammed in the back of the crack with equally grim protection. Roger sent!

Sadly, I do feel that I shed some of the cobwebs in my head but will likely continue the season as a self employed sales rep with an ideal of doing my ACMG full ski guide exam in April. I'm afraid that the next time I get out for a 'real' adventure that I will again have to deal with some demon's. Perhaps, obviously, these 'demon's' are what keeps us safe in the mountains and maybe should be called judgment. As I said earlier, perspective is everything.

Climbing is so rewarding and that is why we all do it. It is the experience of the moment and it is always the lessons and richness of life that in brings once you have a chance to absorb the experience.

Excited for the next adventure.

The Winter Alpine Leaders Pack

A common practice for alpine climbs, with difficult terrain, is that the leader climbs without a pack or with a very light pack and then the seconding climber climbs with a heavier pack or, in some cases, the big pack is hauled.
I have just obtained a new piece of the puzzle in the quest for the perfect gear to meet the needs of the 'leader pack'. The 'needs' are it must be lightweight, simple, pragmatic, and just tough enough.
The new Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Daypack http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/86 is the ultimate pack for a 'leaders pack'....and you can get it for less than $30. This pack is also useful when I am guiding to give to my clients or for climbs where you end up coming back to the base and don't need to bring everything with you.
All of the below necessities will easily fit into the 20 liter pack for a light and tight package. The shoulder straps are bar tacked on and the siliconized Cordura is super tough for the weight. The fact that the material is very 'slippery' also help it from getting snagged on all but the sharpest rock or equipment. The one thing you may want to do is jury rig a sternum strap which I will do with 3mm cord and an accessory biner.

My typical package is as follows:
1. Patagonia Das Parka: with 170g of Primoloft One it offers good protection from the elements even when a bit wet. In demanding alpine terrain things will get wet and down insulation is a bad choice. On warmer days you could replace the Das Parka(http://www.trailspace.com/gear/patagonia/das-parka/), with the Micro Puff Hoody (http://www.trailspace.com/gear/patagonia/micro-puff-jacket/) or Nano Puff (http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/product/patagonia-mens-nano-puff-pullover?p=84020-0-804).
2. .5-1L of water or sport drink
3. A first aid kit aka a role of good quality tape and perhaps some hard pain killers. Really what are you able to do when hanging from a couple ice screws. You can stop bleeding(tape), splint(tape), and numb the pain(drugs).
4. Energy: in form of bars, gels, cheese, and dried meat.
5. Tikka2 XP Headlamp(http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/headlamps/compact-tikka-2/tikka-xp): I have more than once been caught by darkness mid-pitch on something that looks like I would cruise but.....
6. Extra Gloves/Belay gloves

A good tip is to keep all the small items (food, lamp, tape) in the pockets of the Das Parka so that when you pull the jacket out everything doesn't fall out of the pack.

This is what I use. Other thoughts?


The photo to the left shows the meat of the "leaders pack".
The photo below is the Sea to Summit pack stuffed into it's own sac.

My Favourite Photo

This photo is of my Grandpa and Grandma Owens, taken in 1938 in the northern mining town of Goldfields, Sk. Grandpa had just come out of the gold mine and was met by his new bride. Life was hard, simple.... minimalist.
I have always known that much of my inspiration in life has come from my heritage but this photo says it best. Hard and happy.
Life is very different now, compared to back then and I can't say I want to become a miner but, it does show a certain ideal that today I have to fight to achieve when back then there wasn't an option.

"The Road Less Traveled" M4+, WI3+ 60 Meter in Ranger Creek

The route follows the left facing corner in the middle of the photo and ends on a slabby ledge above the ice. 'Lone Ranger' to the right and 'Thin Universe' etc to the left.
Nov. 11/08 with Doug Scatcherd and Sylvain Riopel.

Have to say I felt a bit sly doing a new line in an area that is seeing as much traffic as this one is.
It was a bit of a fluke because I took a rock rack up to R and D (for some odd reason) and after doing that route this was the next best option with multiple parties on 'Chalice and the Spoon' and 'Lone Ranger'.

'No Use In Crying', New route on Upper Weeping Wall

"No Use in Crying” IV, M7, 205m FA: Rob Owens, Jon Walsh Feb. 13/08

I have climbed on the Weeping Wall and surrounding climbs perhaps 60-70 times. Many of these trips have been very memorable as it is simply such an amazing area. Ten minutes of walking to endless potential in terms of climbing lines. A few years back, during a particularly fat season, I went through and counted 16 different 'lines' that the weeping wall had to offer. Many of those were nothing more than unnamed albeit, aesthetic variations to the famous climbs we all know well. It wasn't until a month or so ago when I was climbing the Right Hand of Lower Weeping Wall, with my girlfriend Marion, that I spotted this line off to the left of the fatter ice lines. I wasn't even sure if it had any ice on it but was intrigued enough by the 'Scottish/Canadian Alpine' nature of the feature; snow covered rock, just enough cracks for natural protection, and thin splatterings of ice throughout. This is the type of climbing I have grown very fond of lately. Climbs that will be relatively hard, without the need of bolts and that offer the chance of perhaps 5 star climbing experiences!

Approach: Climb the Lower Weeping Wall, Icefields Parkway, BNP (on the FA we did Sniveling Gully). From the top of ‘Sniveling Gully’ the line takes the major rock weakness on the upper headwall about 100 m to the left of the top of ‘Sniveling Gully’.

Route: On the FA the route appeared to lack any significant amount of ice but surprisingly 80 percent of the tools placements were in ice, often ice filled cracks. The route is a very high quality, all naturally protected, mixed line. The nature of this climb offers great training for the terrain often covered on the larger mixed faces in the Canadian Rockies. The climbing is never too desperate, with pretty good gear placements, but overall quite sustained. It is unknown how much ice this feature holds in a normal year but is expected to be icy in most years due to the melt freeze cycles that this wall is continuously exposed to.

Rack: 2 x 60m ropes, 6 ice screws (3 x 10cm, 2 x 13cm, 1 x 17cm), 6-8 mid sized nuts, 6 pitons (mostly knifeblades), an ice piton/hook, cams from .2 - #3 Camalot, with doubles from .3- .75, and 12 runners/draws.

Pitch 1: 60m, M6. Follow a shallow, right facing, iced up groove to a big ledge below a short steep wall. Piton and a horn belay.

Pitch 2: 60m, M6. Climb the iced up vertical corner crack for 20m to lower angled terrain. Avoid continuing up ice to the big tree. Instead trend along a snowed up, sketchy slab to deeper snow below a dry, shallow scoop. 2 nut belay is fixed in the bottom corner.

Pitch 3: 25m, M7. Climb the right side of the scoop to a small ledge. Once the appropriate gear is in place, launch over the first of 2 overhanging bulges with surprisingly good tool placements and good opportunities for gear. Belay on lower angled terrain, off ice screws. Rock gear can be found if the ice is too rotten.

Pitch 4: 60m, M6. Start with 20m of dry tooling up to a left leaning, right facing corner. Follow this, with funky mixed climbing and a spectacular ice climbing exit to the top of the wall. Ice screw belay.


Every pitch has amazing quality....if you’re into this kinda thing! Jon and I both agree it is one of the best winter routes we’ve ever done.

Cheers,
Rob O.

New Route on NW Face of Mt. Bell

Had another great day out recently. This alpine crag climbing is really fun and these routes are a dime a dozen here in the Canadian Rockies. After a couple good routes early season I may now be ready for a winter of skiing. I am off to do my ACMG Assistant ski guide traning and exam this winter.

"Zeitgeist (german for "The spirit of a Generation)"

IV+ 530m M7- WI5R

FA: Rob Owens, Steve Holeczi. Nov. 8 /2007

Rack:10 screwsNuts/ Cams to 3" with double .75/1/26 pins mostly KBs, Bird beaks, ice hooks, 12 draws.

High quality quartzite mixed climbing. It took us 2 attempts and there is a lot of snow clearing on the pitches so bring lots of gloves.

Approach via Taylor Lake which is 9 kms west of Castle Junction. 2.5hrs to base.

P1-WI4 60m (2 nut fixed belay).

P2-4 -150m snow up the gully with short mixed steps.

P5-WI4+ 55m Beautiful narrow Scottish snice corner to belay behind pillar.

P6-M6+ 30m Short but steep drytooling around fragile pillar. Belay in alcove.

P7-M7-WI5 30m Excellent and sustained pitch on right wall. Crux is traversing back left to fixed 2 nut belay.

P8-M6+WI5R 55m Awesome pitch through mixed roofs to steep veneer protected by cams.

P9-10 80m of snow and M4 scratchy terrain.
P11-M5 30m Super positive, steep, well protected dry tooling to ridge

P12-M4 40m Climb up into obvious alley-way around corner to ridge.

We rapped the route. Most of the anchors would now be covered in snow.

New Alpine route on unclimbed(?) Peak up Chickadee Valley

“Owens/Walsh” on the North Face of "Mt. MOG" 2680 Meters,

IV+, M6+, A1, 600 Meters(of elevation gain),

October 26th/2007.

Chickadee Valley is just on the BC side of the continental divide more or less opposite the Stanley Headwall valley. I first noticed this peak/face while ski touring last spring. The line looked great in the spring but there would have been a lot more snow to deal with and the climb would likely have taken a lot longer.

An awesome day, ice splatterings on every pitch but only 2 ice screws used on the entire route. A couple hard pitches with lots of easier mixed(m4)inbetween which allowed us to get to the top and down in 16 hours. Snow conditions were perfect...neve in places!

I think this style of alpine climbing ie: lesser known, lower elevation peaks with still decent sized faces, is really catching on up here. For many of the still active but seasoned veterans of the M-generation this is a great alternative to bolting yet another mixed route. It hones the skills for bigger alpine walls as it involves climbing in committing situations (in winter like conditions, remote areas, run outs etc, short days)

We aided on short section to keep the pace. It would have gone free at a short but very physical M8ish(overhanging, arcing roof corner crack with decent gear but no feet to start)



After doing considerable research to see if the peak had been climbed we figure it hadn't and called the peak Mt. MOG. 'MOG' stands for Man of Girth of which Eamonn and I both are. Can also stand for 'Part man, part dog".

Decent involved down climbing and one rappel to the south side of the peak and then we decended the drainage to the east (involving exposed down climbing and one short rappel). I think we should have gone down a couloir on the west side of the peak.
Rack= 6 pins (blades to baby angle), the upper two sizes of BD peckers(amazing in thin, ice filled, or expanding cracks and flakes, my new favorite gear for Rockies alpine climbing), 8 nuts(full size range), cams from .5" to 3" ( a #4 Camalot would be useful a couple times but we did without). Worth Doing. The Second crux M6+ pitch. Awesome!

An Excerize in Pragmatic Living on the Bugs to Rogers

I recently completed my first significant ski traverse with some great friends. Daryl Ross, Mike Stuart, Sean Isaac and I flew into the CMH Bugaboo Lodge on April 21 and traversed the Purcell and southern Selkirk mountain ranges to finish in Rogers Pass on April 26.

Photo: Mike Stuart skiing on the Vowell Glacier with the Howser Spires in the background.

We set out to do the trip in 5 to 6 days. The traverse has been done in around 3 or4 days before by a strong team of skiers and mountaineers from Golden. The average time to complete the traverse was somewhere between 10 and 15 days. Having done big trips before I was quite familiar with the idea of going hard, day after day, with short nights and a pragmatic approach to managing terrain. You go when ever you can, human and mountain conditions pending. I loved the idea of getting through the challenging terrain as fast as possible with a team of great friends with relatively diverse backgrounds.

Daryl was the self professed 'wild card'. I have known Daryl for a long time. He is an ex-National team teli ski racer, has an 'off the couch' physique like Lance Armstrong, and his best asset, and ex-tree planter of 6 or more years. The catch; Daryl had never winter camped before! Skiing across the Vowell glacier mid way through the first day was a pretty humerous/humbling time to find out that one of your team members was using the Bugs to Rogers pass traverse to learn how to winter camp. Good thing the group had a good sense of humour.

Sean, Mike and I are really all pretty much in the same boat. We are all climbers at heart but with the idea of becoming ski guides one day we are all pretending to be skiers for a couple seasons. Admittedly we may in fact all be becoming skiers at heart but please don’t tell out sponsors (or in Mike’s case, his wife Kris). As the saying goes the most dangerous situation you can put yourself in is out in the mountains with a bunch of “guides” as everyone thinks the other guy/guide is the one doing the thinking and then of course there is the small ‘guide ego factor’. In the big picture, if Daryl only knew what he may have been getting himself into his humour may not have been so accepting.

Day 1, 15 hours of skiing, 1240 m down, 2300m up, 5 hours sleep.
Day 2, 14.5 hours of skiing, 2630 m down, 1924 m up, 5 hours sleep.
Day 3, 10.5 hours of skiing, 2030m down, 2100m up, 6 hours sleep.
Day 4, 16 hours skiing, 1670m down, 2440m down, 4.5 hours sleep.
Day 5, 14 hours skiing, Sean flys out mid day, 2500m down, 1400m up, 5 hours sleep.
Day 6, 18 hours skiing, 2580m down, 2270 m up. To the car at 12 midnight.

We had 4 days of great weather with clear skies, good overnight freezing, and generally fast travel. Day 4 and 6 were done in mostly ‘white out’ weather and these days took their toll. The travel was slow these days as it was often over glaciers which required extra care in order to avoid skiing into crevasses.

Sean was unfortunately unable to complete the traverse and was evacuated with the help of a helicopter on the 5th day at the McMurdo Hut. No doubt the long days endured combined with short nights and challenging terrain take a toll on mind and body. Thankfully Sean lasted the 5 days required to allow this trip to be used as one of his “long ski tours” in his application for the ACMG ski guide program.

I can honestly say that this was one of the best trips of my life. I have never covered so much terrain in one trip and have a new appreciation for the big ski tours that are commonly being done. What is even more amazing is to think of doing these tours back in the i970’s with old gear, no beta from previous teams, and no communication available without Sat phones or radio contact with the many ski lodges that operate throughout the terrain. No helicopter evacuations back then!

I will definitely do more of this. Thanks boys!

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Also, thanks to Marc Piche and Gery Untersinger of the CMH Bugaboos and Bobbie Burns lodges. Marc assisted in arranging flights for us into the Bugaboo lodge and Gery aided us in placing a cache at the head of Malachite creek.

Canadian Alpinist is Live!

Over the past year I have slowly been working to get www.canadianalpinist.com also known as www.robowensguiding.com , live and running.
With the amazing help from Michael Grahame in Calgary (web design support), Marion Worm (artistic support), and Kevin Dyck from Bow Valley Computers the project is finally complete. As with any site it will be improved upon and added to frequently. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Michael, Marion, and Kevin for all your patience and support.
Also, thankyou to all the photographers that have graciously allowed me to present their art work in the 'images section' of the web site.

Regards,

Rob

Climbing Film coming to Canmore- HG Productions

My friends Chris Alstrin and Alex Lavigne have put together a multi faceted climbing film called 'Higher Ground' that will have its Canadian Preimier in Canmore on June 7th and the Canmore High School. Check out www.hg-productions.com for more info.

The movie includes many Canadian climbers and many live right here in Canmore. The chapter I am most looking forward to seeing is on 'Andrew Querner' and details his life as an artistically focus climber and photographer.

Scott Semple and I are in a chapter that was supposed to be on an alpine climbing. Well, we failed every time the camera was brought out but somehow the boys still made a chapter work that includes photos of alpine climbing with voice over. Should be interesting and hopefully doesn't focus on our failures too much :).

A fun night out for sure!
Rob

The Town Chute

Above: Looking at the town chute from my office. Just left of the street light.

Above: Sean Easton at the top of the chute in January.

Skiing in the Canadian Rockies can be great..(?)... in the spring when the snow finally looses it's 'bottomless sugar' nature ..... at higher elevations on the West side of the continental divide.... in Kananaskis Country after a good but rare 'upslope storm'.... and then once every 5 years or so we have a pretty descent year all season. This season was one of those years. It snowed enough in the early season (Oct and Nov) that the snow pack was thick enough and did not rot out as much from the cold, dry December days as it usually does.

Myself, on the other hand, mostly missed the good conditions of the season. Busy with ice guiding, office slogging, and the odd day out climbing myself I didn't get to take full advantage of the ski season. Notably though it was my best year for skiing but that isn't saying much.

The rate of 'climbers going skiing' this season would have been considered disgraceful in previous years! It used to be that a 'Canmore ice climber' would never live it down if they were caught going out skiing for 'fun' instead of suffering on another ice or winter alpine climb. We are supposed to ski for approaches to ice climbs only! Hell, none of us even owned ski boots in the past seasons. In the words of local legendary ice climbers: 1) "I do not ski recreationally" Eamonn Walsh 2) "Skiing. It just isn't climbing!" Barry Blanchard.

This is sure sign that the world is going to shit. Even the 'Canadian Rockies ice climber' is so sick of suffering that they have taken up skiing. I have found a solution. When I go skiing I pick the day and objective that will have the worst conditions. The snow should be shallow, hard (old avalanche debris is ideal), and the steeper the better.

With this in mind I can recommend the 'Town Chute'. This is the couloir towering above the quaint little mountain town we all know as Canmore. I look at the beautiful 'line' everyday from my office window..isn't that so nice! It is the perfect way to start a day spent in the office.

I made my way up the backside of Ha ling to ski the line back to town twice this year and both times it sucked! The first was in January when there wasn't nearly enough snow to make for fun. The second was last week just after a huge avalanche cycle had wiped out all the good snow. I timed things perfectly and can proudly say I was not skiing for fun.

Skiing can be as sadistic as climbing.

If you can actually admit that you ski for fun then I have heard that you can have good skiing in the town chute if you choose the right conditions :).

ACC Ghost River Rock Climbing Camp

http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/activities/summer/rock.html

This Summer Sean Isaac, Dave Dornian, and I are running a rock climbing camp for the Alpine Club of Canada based in the Ghost River area and Bow Valley of Alberta. This will be an unforgettable trip taking place in to of the most beautiful and rewarding climbing areas in Canada.

Whether you are looking for classic long limestone multi-pitch climbs, specific lessons in leading rock climbs or rock rescue...., or are looking to increase your skill as a sport climber we have the ability to suit your needs with this camp.

See the link for more details and/or please inquire with me on the nature of the trip. We still have space and already have a great crew of people involved.

Hope to see you out this summer.

Rob