Will work for food.

Well its almost been a month since I was running around the US without a care in the world, but alas the time had to come when I would have to face the music and get a job...nobody said it had to be a real job though!!!!   I am now hanging out in the hidden gem of a town known as Nordegg.  If you head west of Red Deer until you start to see mountains closing in around you there is a secret land known as the David Thompson Corridor.  The small community of Nordegg is the base camp for all sorts of mountain adventures from easy day hikes on well established trails to beautiful waterfalls, to full on alpine mixed ice and rock routes that can contend with classic alpine objectives in the more well known parks of Banff and Jasper.  For those wanting something in between there are a number of well established sport and traditional climbing venues both single pitch and multi pitch!  The best part though in my opinion are the endless unexplored valleys and rock walls waiting for those looking for something fresh and new!  I landed a job at the local guiding company and the organization responsible for a majority of the development in the area, C.O.E. (the centre for outdoor education).

But before I get too far ahead of myself I should mention a very important event that happened in between the US and my arrival in the Nordegg area.  If you look back to my first post on this blog you will remember that the theme Im trying to blog about is to follow me through my journey to become a mountain guide.  Well, in the last week of may I took my first step towards this career.  I took my first ACMG (www.acmg.ca) exam (the Top Rope Climbing Instructor certification), and passed with flying colours!  While this doesnt allow me to guide rock climbing it does allow me to take beginners out climbing in a top rope setting!

Well this allowed me to get a job at COE for the summer where I have, and will continue taking people (mostly youth) out climbing hiking and rafting during our summer youth camps!  So far my summer has been amazing out at COE (www.coe.ca) doing rafting and climbing trips with school groups.  Next month we will start having groups coming out for different summer programs where participants will be participating in activities such as climbing, rafting, kayaking, caving, hiking and mountaineering.  Im really stoked to combine my past experience of working at a summer camp for youth with my love of outdoor adventure sports!

Meanwhile in to prepare for our summer activities me and my co workers have been out scouting hiking routes and climbing at some of the locations we will be using this summer and while the prep work has been incredibly hard work...I find it hard to call the hiking trips we have been up to work...Anyways I have let my blog updates get a bit backlogged so I will keep descriptions of each trip brief so that this post isnt so text heavy...instead I will fill it with wonderful pictures!

So I will quickly list some things ive been up to and then post pictures from said trips!

Climbing: At various single pitch crags as well as multi pitch routes in the area.

Hiking: From day hikes to overnighters and even a three day hike deep into a beautiful lake to develop a climbing area our guests will use while hiking through the area.

Caving: My first real experience crawling squeezing and chimneying deep into the hills surrounding nordegg...definitely a unique experience.

Rafting: We have done guided trips as well as a staff trip down the saskatchewan river!



My favourite trips so far have definitely been our hike into lake of falls, one of the most beautiful areas I have ever hiked to.  I highly recommend that everyone out there that likes hiking climbing or even caving gets out here...come by COE and pick up a climbing guidebook to contribute to our local bolt fund and support route development in the area.  Also if any of you older youth are interested in a trip COE can certainly cater to your needs as well!  Hope to see you all soon, now for the pictures!!!

Trailhead into martin creek area

My co worker Ian looking out towards nordegg

Ridge walking in the Nordegg area

Ian doing some route finding

Robin having a hot lunch on the summit of Martin peak

Having dinner on the beach of Abraham lake with my oldest friend Mike while he was out to visit

Mount abraham in the clouds

Alpine creek crossings

Preparing for a back country hot dog roast at lake of falls

Lightweight camp set up so we could save our weight allowance for bolts and drill

Huge potential for amazing quartzite route here...only its a 10 hour hike in...

Dinner is served

Ian climbing a snow feild

Pulling the cornice

Alpine scenery in the David Thompson corridor

Remote rappel route

Hiking across a frozen lake in rappel pass

Ian letting me get a head start on the next section

Pocket glacier crossing

One of the three passes we climbed

Hiking back to our car through an old controlled burn site

Coe's staff room...

Entrance to a cave in the Nordegg area

Robin climbing through a wide hallway in the cave

Washing our clothing after caving

Preparing our raft at the saskatchewan river crossing

Coe staff on a rafting mission

Me with the Guide stick while rafting

My crew not working very hard

Robin hiking up the ridge from Kootney planes on a lovely bluebird day

Me hiking up the ridge

Ian and lisa almost at the summit of our first peak that day

Robin doing some blocky scrambling with landslide lake in the background

Ian preparing our favourite summit hot lunch of ichi ban

Im stoic

Representing Hot Drink...the best in backcountry drinks