Note for Dec 15, 03: - Colin Stirling ("Stoits") and I had an excellent day out in the mountains. We left Red Deer at 8:00AM, maybe a bit too late for the shorter winter days. This was Colins first time ice climbing and my first time setting up a top rope so it was an interesting day. We played around on a short 5 meter step, then moved over to a 20 meter pitch. We stopped climbing at 4:30, relaxed at the bottom of the falls until 5:30, then made our way to the highway in complete darkness without headlamps.

Note for Nov 14, 04: - There is quite a bit of ice forming in the Gallery. It was pretty wet today from the abnormal temps but still made for a descent day out.

I wasn't sure if we would even run into any ice with the positive temps we have been having lately so I took my dog along thinking we weren't going to spend all day on ice. When we got to the COE to rent some crampons the guy said that the gallery was in and in the best condition compared to others in the area. Colin and I were of course happy about this but the look on my dogs face didn't seem as enthusiastic. When I take my dog hiking, I usually let her off the leash because in the past she has been good about following and listening. Not today. Twenty minutes up the creek, she ran in front and explored up to the edge of the creek channel. Without thinking twice she took the next couple of steps off the ledge and out of site. At this point I didn't know how far it was to the bottom or if it was straight down vertical to the creek. My mind was in adrenaline mode here and I quickly climbed down to see her panting in the creek with her paws wet and a smile on her face. It turns out she fell about 3 feet vertical at the start, which probably felt like a long distance to a foot tall dog, then slid down a 45* ice gully into the creek. Thank God that was it. She was shooken up for sure but she walked away like it never even happened. When we got to the gallery we belayed from the top and even though it was flat ground, I tied her up to a tree to be safe. I'll always throw a leash on her on any exposed terrain from now on.

In hindsite she is getting old and her vision/depth perception isn't so good. I think from now on it's trail and park walks for her, but she probably has no complaints about this.

Dates Climbed -Dec 15,03 - Nov 14, 2004

Location - David Thompson Highway

I have climbed here twice. The red line was with Colin and the blue line with Phil last season.

Before the climb right after we left the parking lot.

To get to the top of the falls you have to go up this ice ramp. Here is Stoits coming up.

We climbed the curtain on the left all day. Last year with Phil we climbed the curtain on the right.

This is at the top. Instead of belaying from the bottom, we belayed from the top of the climb. That way, you don't have to worry about ice falling on your belayer.

Looking at our climb. It was about 20 meters of vertical ice.

Going over the top.

Here is Pure Energy. Its a 30 meter fall of WI4 ice. This climb is one of my goals for this season.