Num Ti Jah Weekend 2007

Well I just deleted the post I made last night. I'll try again, here goes....


We just got back from a 3 day trip to the icefield parkway. We travelled to Num Ti Jah Lodge http://www.num-ti-jah.com/map.html which is located 40 km north of Lake Louise. We had spent a few days there last year and found the place quite nice and quiet so we decided to return this year (thanks to a Christmas gift from memere et pepere, les Pellerin, les Leger and les Bourgeois). The first day we got there, we took a snowshoe trip up towards Bow Falls http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathieuandstacey/428869591/. It is quite wintery up there with lots of snow and wind. We turned around at mid afternoon and returned to the lodge to enjoy a nice sauna and a good meal. The next day, we woke up to 10 cm of new snow and some more still falling. We wanted to do a nice ice climb but we had little choice since most of the climbs have disapeared due to lots of sun and rain in the last month. We drove north towards Jasper and found a nice climb called "Shades of Beauty". The name comes from the fact that its in the shade and its found along a creek called Beauty Creek. The hike in was nice, lots of deep pools of water with frozen waterfalls.

Once we got to the climb, we geared up and started making our way up. The climb is 3 pitches long with a nice ledge between each pitch. You can see the climb in the picture below, it followes the 3 successive curtains of ice.

The climbing was nice, quiet, and snowy. The snow kept falling all day which made the place even more quiet, all we heard all day was the hooting of an owl. Unfortunatly the owl couldn't understand or speak any English so he was useless in relaying climbing commands between climber and belayer. The snow muffled our voices and we had a hard time hearing each other between each pitch. Stacey now refuses to climb with me if we don't have two way radios. We had brought them but unfortunatly we forgot to check the batteries.

At the end of the last pitch, the wet snow had gotten us soaked to the bones. Stacey was wearing full goretex rain gear and she still was wet. She went thru 3 pairs of gloves to try to keep her hands dry. The picture below is Stacey coming up the last bit of climbing. The creek is way below in the valley.

We got back to the car 8 hours after leaving and made our way back to the lodge. The drive took almost twice as long on the way back due to 30+cm of snow that had fallen during the day. We even got in a complete whiteout when we reached the Columbia icefield. Its still winter up there. The next morning we left the lodge with a total of 40 cm of snow on the car and by the time we got to Calgary it was +9 and sunny.

Merci encore pour le beau cadeau de noel.

Mathieu and Stacey.

Fruit, flowers, and stuff

Sea water rushing over glass pepples on a beach in Kauai, Hawaii.

Spring comes quickly on a south-facing deck in Saskatoon!

Stacey's Moms indoor garden in Saskatoon

Ma enjoying the flowers in Waterton !!!!!

Climbing in 2005

This in Sept 2005 on the top of Fortress Mountain in Kananaskis Country. My good friend Jesse joined us for some fall scrambling. The valley below was littered with golden larches.

This is heading up Fortress Mountain in typical fall conditions.

Mat enjoying a beautiful lunch spot overlooking Skaha Lake on a fall trip to do some sunny cragging near Penticton, BC.

This is a favourite area for Mat and I to go climbing, it's called STD Wall (that stands for Silver Tounged Devil Wall) and it is a short but bumpy 4WD ride to the Ghost River Area. Here we are in late fall enjoying some warm sunshine. Behind is Black Rock Mountain, which is a hike to the top to an old fire lookout.

Mat is leading a 5.7 trad route in Skaha

I love taking pictures of Mat on toprope looking very macho, mainly because he is rarely on top rope, the purist!

Moncton 2005

Mat and I all dressed up and a wedding to go to... Mat's friend Dan gets married in Moncton in August

Climbing in Quebec overlooking the St Lawrence Seaway

On Mat's parent's sailboat near Shediac, NB. Stacey doing well coping with sea sickness!

Las Vegas March 2005

AHHH, the city of lights, loud slot machines, and roller coasters on the outside of hotels (Stacey's first roller coaster ride ever!). Yes, everything is big in Vegas, we found out. We took a trip down in March of last year, spent some time on the strip before we escaped to Red Rocks.

Beautiful and sunny Red Rocks, no I am not gardening! Belay gloves and a sun hat are a must.

We climbed a trad route with many parallel chimneys one day and learned two very important lessons.... Always buy the newest and updated version of the guidebook (where do you think that shiny line of bolts goes?), and don't promise to have the rental care back by 5PM!

Our home

We have been learning how to do rennovations and improvements with the help of Stacey's parents. In December we spent a few days tiling the kitchen backsplash with slate, and building a roof in the basement to complete the finishing work!

This is where we live in Calgary, Alberta. We live in a townhouse in the northwest part of the city, which is a western suburb of our big sprawling city. The great thing is that Mat gets a nice bikeride to work everyday and we have no traffic lights to get out the mountains!

Forgot the camera weekend

February 24th 2007, we got out ice climbing with my friend Dave Lister from back home (New Brunswick). Got into a bit of a wet spot in the South Ghost and required some fancy glacier techniques to get us moving. However even with a clever T-slot anchor and a come-along whinch we only got the truck moving 4 feet in one hour. Thankfully Stacey had walked to the bottom of the big hill and recruited some help. Photo by Dave Lister.

Hawai'i 5-0

We went to the islands of Kauai and Oahu for 9 glorious days in February. We spent part of our time with my parents, who had been holidaying already for about a month, as you can tell from their tans.

Wilson
Originally uploaded by Mathieu and Stacey Photos.

Ok so i've figured this blog/picture thing. This is a picture of our friend Wilson, we found him on the Napali coast trail on the north shore of Kauai (the western most inhabited island in Hawai'i).

Some beautiful blooms on the island of Kauai

Mathieu and Stacey on Nahani Ridge

Mathieu and Stacey on Nahani Ridge
Originally uploaded by Mathieu and Stacey Photos.

Photo taken in early november 2006

Valley of the Sun

March 3rd 2007. Spent a beautiful day climbing in the valley of the sun in the North ghost. Here is our friend Brian Martz climbing one of the many steps in the Valley of the Sun. Mathieu and Shannon are on standby below.

We pinballed our way into the ghost today. The drive in was very drifted in. We only had to dig ourselves out once and it was in snow, no ice or water involved (as opposed to last weekend). Pictures by Stacey.

Getting this thing started

OK so i've moved away from home 3 years ago and haven't been keeping in touch too much with friends and family. THis is the easy way out by just posting some of the stuff we have been up to. I'm hoping not to turn into a computer junky and spend too much time here.