Ghostly Happenings

2 Days of climbing in the Ghost, what could be better? Brian Spear and I headed out early Saturday morning. As we got to the top of the big hill we noticed the roiling clouds ominously building momentum. We had planned on climbing the Wraith but decided to change our objective with the weather in mind. Instead we headed for the Sentinel crag where Brian had put up a bunch of routes. I haven't "cragged" very much so was looking forward to this less committing experience. Especially if there was a chance we could get rained on. Gord and Cameron were already on a route when we got there. I had met Gord briefly once while climbing on Consolation. Brian knew both of them from various activities and had also taught them and friends a couple courses over the years. There was another couple climbing in the same area and Brian was happily giving them beta. So while it didn't provide the typical Trad climbing experience where there is virtually no other people, it wasn't shoulder to shoulder climbing either.

We climbed Vuja-de, One Cool Mouse and Thanksgiving. The pitches varied from 5.9 to 10c. Seconding a 10c pitch is still challenging for me so I shamelessly pulled on gear and did what I had to do to make it up the harder pitches. I still had fun and never felt too scared so it was all good. I opted out of the last pitch on Thanksgiving since it was 10c with an interesting traverse around an arete. It was visually appealing but my feet were sore and I was getting tired. I decided to end the climbing of the day on a high note rather than struggling any further.

We were sharing a secluded campground with Gord and Cam. After dinner and some brewskies or rye&coke depending on your poision, we all decided to head into "town" ACC Town to be exact. The Alpine Club of Canada was having their annual Ghost Rock Review and were all camped out at the base of the big hill. We stopped by there with a couple beer in hand to socialize and check out the babes & babettes. Turns out my friends Therese and David were there so it was fun to catch up with them.

I have mixed feelings about the Alpine Club social climbing weekends such as this review. On the one hand the people within the club are very fine folk and it would be great to get to know some of them better. But on the other hand, I'd rather poke needles in my eyes than stand around a crag with 30 other people, shooting the shit, enjoying the sun and oh.. maybe getting on a rope to do a single pitch climb. I tried that with the Ice Review and found the pacing of the day too slow, too social and doesn't resemble the climbing experience I enjoy. However to hang out after the fact, enjoy some company and some beer - that's a whole different story.

I called it a night by about 11:30pm since we were climbing the next day. I'd like to know some peoples' secret to partying the night before and being able to effectively climb. Since I had the vehicle I unilaterally decided it was time to go back to our campsite much to Gord and Cameron's displeasure. But go figure, they didn't like the idea of a 40min walk back to the campsite drunk and in the dark. Brian got us back to camp as we all loudly sang off-key to "I will survive" on my Mp3 player. Gord and Cam continued with their drunken revelry until all the fire-water was gone. The next morning, Brian and I left the hung-over duo to meet up with another climbing partner Luke, at the base of the big hill. Unfortunately Luke took a wrong turn driving out and ended up at the Native Reserve. He backtracked and found us eventually. So after hanging out for almost 2 hrs we were headed to our climb.

We opted for moderate climbing and found a nice 5.9 route around the corner from the Wully Wall. called "Sounds Like a Rodent". I looked up into the valley and saw a lone strip of ice baking in the sun. I felt a tinge of regret that I couldn't climb it. although I knew full well it was just a dodgy piece of styrofoam right now. While the rock climbing was good (loose rock aside) I'll remember the rap down the adjacent gully more. A "classic" Rockies rap meaning the rope is raining rocky shrapnel on your head as you rap. Oh joy. A very good reason to have a prussic on the rope. The rock formation in this gully is beautiful, curved and weather-worn. It almost has the ambiance of caving, if I'd ever been caving and knew what I was talking about, if I was underground and if it was dark. See the immediate connection? Nevermind.

All in all it was a great weekend. I drove back with that satisfied feeling that only being in the mountains seems to bring me. I have a sense of unease knowing that I probably won't be climbing or out in the mountains for the next couple weekends. Time to start drinking heavily and indulging in unhealthy behaviors. Wait I do that anyhow. Nevermind - again.