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South Ridge (Kain Route) on Bugaboo Spire, 1980

September 19, 2012

In a cool drizzle, we staggered under heavy expedition loads toward the commanding site of the Conrad Kain Hut, step by step, panting up the trail, gaining height alongside the shattered tongue of the Bugaboo Glacier. The mountain air, with its elixir of alpine scents, filled our lungs and strengthened our hearts. […]

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Climbing Andromeda Skyladder, a threatened Rockies classic

September 17, 2012

In 1980, I teamed up with Frank Wieler for the annual climbing pilgrimage to the Rockies. Our first objective was the great right-hand ice wall of Mount Andromeda known as the “Skyladder,” a route I’d had my eye on since my first visit to the Columbia Icefields with Tom Hocking, in 1978. […]

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Climbing a mountain of expectations: September’s annual assessment

September 13, 2012

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is […]

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Victoria’s stylin’ summer cyclists

September 10, 2012

I dallied with autumn in the Yukon, just a couple of weeks ago. Now, in Canada’s Caribbean, the nights draw in and chill bare knees. Just yesterday, during our first rain in some time, I noticed the yellowing of the neighbourhood horse chestnuts. Still, we’ve had some warm days, and many cyclists remain happy in […]

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Belgian bikepackers Kelly & Joris near crossroads

September 6, 2012

Kelly Kempenaaes and Joris Doossche have come a long way. When I met them last week in Blue River, British Columbia, they had already bike toured South America and the United States, and were continuing their northward trek, towards the Yellowhead Highway (16) where they would turn right, towards Jasper, Alberta, and ultimately, New York. […]

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Thanks for the holiday: days to remember

September 3, 2012

A re-entry into city life, on the Labour Day weekend reminds that holidays are not to be taken for granted; they were hard-won by yesterday’s “anarchists and rioters.” The two-week journey I just enjoyed would have been impossible for workers less than a century ago, unless they were “riding the rod” looking for work, or […]

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