This beautiful bi-level come to you completely developed with an attached double garage, 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, fireplace, air conditioning, stainless steel icemaker fridge, s/s stove, s/s dishwasher, Nutone hood fan, massive ensuite with 2 sinks, walk-in closet, jetted tub and corner shower. The entry is very spacious and enjoy tile floors in the kitchen, entry and all three bathrooms. Large deck off of dining room with storage underneath, enjoy the RV parking and corner lot.

You will be delighted to call this 1/2 duplex home! It has a nice entryway that brings you into the living room, kitchen and dining room that`s very open. Then in the back of the home upstairs are 2 bedrooms and a full bathroom with tub and shower. You can enter the yard through the side door or go downstairs where you will find a large bedroom, 2 piece bathroom, huge laundry area, lots of storage and a large family room. Home owners just installed brand new shingles on the roof! Exterior also has newer vinyl siding, gutter and soffits. Inside, the home is freshly painted, basement windows may not meet egress.

Our day started at 2:00 AM. It definitely didn’t freeze last night, so our night in the tent was quite comfy. I had my camp cooker going, making a pot of coffee by 2:15. We drove to the trail head, about 5 minutes from our campsite, and started our climb by 3:15 in the pitch dark.

For an hour and a half, we traversed uphill on loose scree and small boulders. We heard the loud crack and rumble of a serac letting go from a cliff right in front of us. It really made me think about the potential dangers that glacier climbers face! Soon we were scrambling up a small rock cliff. It was really neat, because glacier streams danced down the valley beside us creating small waterfalls – beautiful!

As we got over the top of the rock wall, we found ourselves on the edge of the Athabasca glacier which leads us directly to the AA Col. We stopped here for a snack and to rope up for our traverse on the glacier. The risk of ice crevasses is constant on this slope of the glacier, adding to my excitement and apprehension. Soon we met two groups coming down that told us the winds were too high and the snow was too slushy for them to continue on up. Our guide (Erica Roles from Yamnuska Mountaineering Adventures) decided that we would go find out for ourselves.

We travelled across the glacier. The poor snow conditions often found us post-holing, adding to the intensity. Thank goodness I only disappeared up to my waist and not into an ice crevasse! The wind started to pick up its tempo here – it was very gusty, making us stop and hold onto our ice picks until it died down. And we travelled on. At about 8500′, it started to sleet, then hail. That’s about the time I started to think about beaches…and wondered why I’m on a mountain…in the snow…in July!!

We pushed on to the bottom of the AA Col, where we stopped for a short break and to short-tie for a steep ascent. As we started to climb, the quality of the snow was even worse than before. The howling winds and exhaustion were making it difficult to climb. We pushed up and up and we could feel ice under our feet with every step. Apprehension and anxiety about falling mounted with every step we took. We reached the top of the AA Col around 9:30 and had another snack and a short break.

We headed up toward the summit of the Silverhorn on Mount Athabasca. Bad weather and low-lying clouds were setting in and the wind was blowing wet, granulated snow chunks in our faces. We trudged on. Because we have a reason to be here – we’re climbing for kids! By 11:00 we were on top of Silverhorn peak, where we huddled together like horses in a blizzard! We tried to get warmth from each other and wait out the storm. Turns out the storm waited us out!

Erica decided to make a dash for a rock face over the edge of the Silverhorn, where we took shelter from the raging winds. There WAS NO SHELTER! The wind was blowing around 50K there – and she said it would be way higher where we had just moved from! We huddled again. The storm didn’t let up. With fears of being literally blown off the mountain if we attempted the final 200 feet to the summit of Athabasca, we decided the kids would rather have us alive! We turned around and headed for lower ground. Good thing we turned around – that storm didn’t let up for 3 more hours!

By the time we got back to the Jeep, we had put in 13 and a half gruelling hours of hard work. We were exhausted and very hungry! It was an experience that enriched our lives.

Today we hiked up Parker Ridge and got debriefed on snow and ice safety. This included different foot placements, how to self-arrest using an ice axe, use of crampons, ice anchors & rescue techniques, knot tying.

Our day ended around 5:00. We returned to the campsite, had supper then packed up our gear for the climb tomorrow. It was early to bed, because we’re looking at a 2:00 AM wake-up! It doesn’t appear that it will freeze tonight, so we need to get on the trail early to make sure we’re up and down before the snow becomes unsafe.

After months of waiting, planning, waiting, fundraising and WAITING, the day is finally here!  Today we made the journey from windy Lethbridge to beautiful Canmore, Alberta where we’ll spend the night.  At 7:30 AM we meet the guide atYamnuska Mountaineering Adventures, where we get debriefed on the weekend climb.  We’ll also be fitted for gear suitable for snow and ice climbing.

There’s a big folk festival going on in town this weekend.  It’s really helping us channel the spirit of the mountains!  This is a pic of 3 Sisters mountain, here in Canmore.  Enjoy…plenty more to come!