Saturday, the first day of August, 1970, will always live in my memory as one of the most thrilling days of my life, for, on that day, under perfect weather conditions, and in the company of a most delightful person, I climbed to the very tip of the main summit of Mount Victoria, the snow and ice mountain that forms the magnificent backdrop for Lake Louise. This was the realization of a thirty-year-old dream, born Read more
On Sunday, May 3, a group of 11 members from the Edmonton section headed out for a brand-new via ferrata experience near Canmore, guided by Brent Peters. We met at Grotto Pond on a beautiful Sunday morning, sharing stories from the weekend—many of us having stayed at the ACC Canmore Clubhouse—before getting geared up. Brent outfitted us with helmets, harnesses, and lanyards, and walked us through proper safety and technique before we began. The route Read more
In looking through some old Edmonton Section trip reports that I recently acquired, I noticed how often section members have led trips to Mount Temple, starting in our early years to most recently, last fall. First climbed in 1894, Mount Temple is now an established but challenging scramble. It has an elevation of 3544 meters and is the highest peak in the Lake Louise area, dominating views. From 1990 or earlier and into the 2000’s, Read more
Bang, bang, bang! The sound of ski boots gently persuading doors open and closed at Fairy Meadow foretold the overnight snow volume before we even looked out the window. The hut and sauna were wavering under the weight of three days worth of steady snow. Even the flooring was showing signs of distress under mother nature’s load. This was my third pilgrimage to Bill Putnam’s paradise. Our team of 20 roamed far and wide around this Read more
A brief note in recognition of International Women’s Day 2026 (Sunday, March 8, 2026). Left to Right: Jean Davidson leaving the summit; Doris Campbell crossing the glacier; Sylvia Evans on the way to Tonquin 1952. The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) was founded in 1906 when Victorian ideas of appropriate activities for women were being replaced by more modern ideas of feminine capabilities. Most European mountain clubs were still segregated by gender, but the ACC Read more
Don Campbell (1920 – 2002) was an enthusiastic member of the Edmonton section, and wrote about his early experiences in the club in this article. He joined the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) at the age of sixteen, adventuring out on climbs with Edmonton section founders Cyril Wates, Helen Burns, Rex Gibson, Dr Harry Bulyea, and others. He was a frequent photographer of activities and mountain landscapes on club trips. Despite a shoulder injury that had limited his climbing, Read more
The morning of January 24, 2026, two groups of Edmonton climbers departed the Rampart Creek hostel, one bound for the Balfour wall and the other to Tangle falls. As we were relatively large groups (~10-11 in each), there was some anxiety about getting scooped, especially because we overshot the pre-arranged call time by ~30min. Thankfully, each site was free of people when we rolled up. At the Balfour wall we set up 5 ropes on Read more
On November 29, the Alpine Club of Canada Edmonton Section partnered with the Queer Climbing Collective to run a 2S/LGBTQIA+ intro to indoor climbing evening, the Every Body Welcome Climb. The Queer Climbing Collective (QCC) has been operating since 2021 with the support of the Edmonton Section. QCC aims to break down barriers to climbing for 2S/LGBTQIA+ climbers, who have historically been under-represented in both the climbing community and the larger outdoors community. QCC runs Read more
I first heard of Helen Burns during my Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) Edmonton Section photo competition research this past summer and was intrigued by her climbing and club accomplishments. She was the first female Chair of the Edmonton Section, but little else was written about her. Intrigued, I set about researching details of her life as written in newspaper accounts and other sources. My research revealed that she was an integral member of the Read more
Modern day avalanche safety is a focus for the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) and is far different from early attitudes. Read the Avalanche Safety Training and the Edmonton Section article for more information. The winter of 1937-38 was a bad one for avalanches in the Canadian Rockies. With growing numbers of skiers enjoying the winter playground found in the mountain backcountry, it was only a matter of time before avalanches began to receive increased Read more
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