If you wish to post some of this, go ahead if you find it worth it.

So Olivier "Well" Ouellette, Mathieu Péloquin (the two leaders) and me
did... (Jean-François Morin and Sylvain Vanier did Chalice and the Spoon,
Virtual Reality and JF did Terminator too.)

Nov 16th: Louise Falls. Lower section was fine but upper curtain didn't
connect. The guys did it with the two bolts in the middle of the wall, under
a roof. Great moves, great climb.

Nov 17th: Murchison. Approach was great since snow was almost virtual. The
ice on the route was fat, good... Mushrooms all over! :)

Nov 20th: Lone Ranger and Chalice and the Spoon. We were up for R&D but a
team was in it; what a good thing! Those two routes were thin and
beautiful... Chalice harder then the Ranger. Ice protection was tricky but
fine it seems.
Nov 21st: Virtual Reality. The guys did it, see Sylvain Vanier's note about
it.
Nov 22nd: Terminator. For the guys. They were kind of disappointed about the
route... It as been done to many time, too much hooks and stairs... A
"highway" to reach it is now done... It seems like it make this route lost a
lot of "ambiance"...?... They were glad to do it anyway.
Nov 23rd: King Creek. For me to lead. Nice place, good set up. Not much ice,
but what was there was good. A standing pillar (about 5m) is up to a good
diaderal lower route; it was fun.
Nov 24th: Bourgeault left-hand. Freaking wet. Bring your scuba diving gear.
We did the first pitch only, since we were soaking wet at the top of it. Too
bad; the upper pitch seems in great shape; mushroom and radically
vertical... :( The first pitch was in great condition even if water was
running down. The ice was soft and slushy but the screws were ok, so Well
said.
Nov 26th: Nemesis. Did the approach with our skins and skis; very fast and
pleasant. Impressive wall....!!!! Nemesis was in shape. Mat as done it in
the past and said it was harder this time; the ice was dry, cracking and
chipping at almost every ice axe move, also for screws. He leaded the first
pitch and... "Tadam!!!" He took is first REAL wipper; 7 meters fall, busting
is explosive quickdraw. No hurt, just a big bruise on his bum. I found it
freaking hard. The 2nd pitch (yes, 2 pitch only, 70m ropes! :) was lead by
Well and... He had a hard but great time, just like Mat, due to the ice
conditions. I was too cooked to do the 2nd pitch :( Also see Well comments
on the route.

Nov 27th: Field, Pilsner, I think. We went far left if you are facing the
cliffs. In the guide book, there's a picture of a huge standing pillar;
didn't look the same area at all! There was actually one standing pillar,
not that big, ok size and a smaller one on his right. Some mixed route on
top of the smaller one for the finish. The ok size pillar (almost in the
middle of the cliff) was ok to climb but hard to protect. The ice was kind
of "empty" and slushy. A bit of running water in the route. The second pitch
was fine. I haven't done it but took some great pics.

Nov 28th: The Sorcerer. We rented a huge 4x4 pick up and went in the Ghost.
Sorry, no tragic event. Appart from the fact that we bought ourselves
cowboys hats and had a sheep skin in the truck for the occasion, thanks to
freaky Well! ;) We tried doing the approach with the truck but... Didn't
work out. Sorcerer... Was in great shape. Mat leaded the first 2 pitches and
Well did the top one. They said the ice was good for crews but sometimes a
little tricky. It was in millions of tiny chandeliers formation; maybe
because of the wind and the spindrift we tough. The ice axes were entering
'til their shaft; we had to be caution because it wasn't alwayts good, it
was tearing down. I tought the 2nd pitch was the harder; freaking vertical,
maybe slightly overhang?... I climbed the last pitch on the side of the huge
amphitheater where our belay was; a mix of mushrooms, chandelier and rock...
Funky. Last pitch was hard too but not as pumpy as the 2nd one. Guys found
it marvellous.

Nov 29th: Haffner Creek. I can see why it is getting so crowded during the
week-ends... I wouldn't go! Did one ice route, totally wet and dripping.
Guys did 2 mixed routes; great pics are to come! ;) One thing I don't get...
Why is people over there are hitting the ice again and again? There are
holes all over the place... While we were there, a "bar fridge" size pillar
fell because of such behavior... Do some hooking! Keep your energy and we'll
keep the ice! :)

So that was our climbing trip in the Rockies. Lot of fun... But unfortunatly
my foreharms and shoulders were not able to quite keep up for some more! ;)

As for the social life in Canmore...
Bagel Co. is a great place to take a coffee, relax in comfortable chair, see
VERY good looking people and... Many Quebecquers!
Flatbread pizza is really good, their curry is too hot but good. The place
it self is cozy and warm.
Zona is a great place to eat, despite what you are saying! :) But kind of
botter us that everything was extra (bread, soup, etc...). Kind of a rip off
technic...
The Bear Paw is a great place to eat good burgers and drink good beer. Even
if they do funny eyes when we asked for mayo for our fries and guacamole for
our burgers! :)

Banff sucks. Ok, this is too hard but just to say... It is faked, plastic.
We tried finding a nice place for a coffee. Nada. Maybe we weren't looking
at the right spots. Too many cheap "gift/souvenirs" shops. Only cool place
we found; the cowboys store! :)

Lake Louise: not much visited the place... But JF says that the best deal in
town is at the bakery/coffee shop; get the end slice of the banana bread's
for 0.25$!!! What can you get for that price today???!!! ;)

We stayed at Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge. GREAT PLACE. Great service, great
people, GREAT SPA. It is unbelivable how a spa ride can get you going and
going and going the day after... Almost like an Energizer bunny!

By the way, if you want the best deal in town to rent a 4x4 truck... It
ain't written in the yellow pages. But call Enterprise in Canmore and ask
for Kelly. (They are located in the Dodge dealer). The same business is also
in Cochrane; it is rulled by the same people. 4x4 at the best price.

There ya go.

Hope some info are worth something for you or visitors like us.

By the way, FYI... MAybe you know all of this but what the heck, you'll know
it again! ;)

The "Alpinist" magazine party is taking place in North Conway this year...
If you are ever around, give us a call and will head down Willoghby! An hour
an and half away from us!

There is the FestiGlace taking place sometime arond mid february.

Also... Some rumors went thru my ears that a big ice climbing event will
take place at the Côte-Nord during February as well... If you haven't got a
peek of it, take the.... I think it is April "Vertical" french magazine and
see the article/picture of Erwann Lelann of the Mulot down there. Also, Mat
and JF are the FA of Speedy Gonzales and the Ruée vers l'Or; ask Guy Lacelle
and Raphaël about it... They oppened a new route last year at Lake Pateur...
Béton d'or.

And finally.... The new version of the Ice climbing guide book for all the
province of Quebec will be available before Xmas! If you are interested in
having a copy of it, let us know, Mat is the official editor and
distributor.

Hope it helps out your curiosity about our corner of the country and it
gives you and Kim a pleasant opportunity of climbing around here. I know you
both must have many friends around but... If you ever need a place, we
always have room for climbers! ;)

Have a good season!

Mélanie Anabelle Massé