Categories
canada general

why fondue went out of style (or, we nearly burnt the damn house down)

For Christmas dinner, we also tested out my fancy schmanzy new fondue set. Well fancy schmancy retro fondue set, that Secret Santa had bought for me from the Canmore thrift shop.

 
We read through the instruction book carefully. It was full of helpful tips.

“Fondue and friends make a gay after-ski party.”

“Liven up this informal party with bright coloured table decorations. For the buffet centrepiece, glue coloured paper cups end-to-end to hold attractively-arranged flowers.”

“Needless to say, more extensive burns should receive a doctor’s prompt medical attention.”

“In addition, a fire extinguisher should be as easily accessible to the dining area as it is to other parts of the house.”

 

 

And although we did set the placemat under the fondue slightly on fire, and at one point there were large leaping flames, and at another point we were unsure how we’d ever be able to get the thing to stop burning, save letting it burn itself out entirely … well, the cheese fondue was still deliciously tasty.

Categories
canada climbing general

the ghost

The Ghost River Wilderness Area is an amazing place.

Hiking in

We hiked in to climb Fang and Fist, WI5. Before this, the hardest thing I’d climbed was WI3 (or maybe WI3+).

Fang and Fist

This photo was stolen from the Interwebs – it was taken not long ago, so the climb looks roughly the same now. Because when we arrived at it, I was too busy being terrified by how steep it was (and wondering if I’d actually be able to climb it) to think of taking photos.

The mission was successful though. Despite my fear that my arms would fall off, we managed to get up all 400 metres before the sun set, only to rappel down and hike out in the dark (hurrah for headlamps).

Categories
canada general snow

new years day 2008

8:30am at work, as the sun desperately tries to rise.

Categories
canada climbing general

completely lacking in cougars

We parked in a parking lot in the middle of Canmore (well, not the exact middle perhaps, but it was certainly surrounded by houses, and there were lots of people out walking their dogs and that sort of thing) and started walking up Cougar Creek.

Cougar Creek

 

Partially frozen, the walking got interesting at times; there was some falling through to lower layers of frozen creek, hardly any cougar attacks, and lots of crossing back and forth across the creek.

And this would be why it’s nice to be the lightest one in the party

 

A side fork and a couple of hours later and we were at the base of Ghoster Coaster, a WI3 route that is about 150 metres long.

Climbing in a canyon

 

Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of the most interesting pitch, which was 50 metres of scrambling over driftwood that had been frozen into place. This was followed by a short ice pitch, then the top out, which was a fairly memorable bit of mixed ice/rock/dirt climbing.

Not the top out, though it gives you a good idea how windy it was in the canyon

 

After the rap down we walked out along the frozen creek by the light of the full moon, and still weren’t eaten by any cougars.

Categories
canada general

my deer christmas friend