mike's local guide to: climbing

Kananaskis Obscure (various stuff) — a great little guide put together by Greg. Download + print, or go to Wicked Gravity and get a copy for $2.

Joy (5.4, 10pitches) Kananaskis [action-pic, bivouac.com, route-pic, my pics] Very awesome easy climb. Don't go in the wind and beware the cliff-band at the bottom of the grassy gully on decent. Around 8 hours car-to-car. Brad and I did 6½ 70m pitches.

Mt. Lorette (II, 5.4) Kananaskis — Excellent moderate alpine ridge climb with some very nice positions. Brad and I needed just over 4.5 hours (running approach and part of decent, belaying 2 pitches); the next year a group of 4 of us took 12 hours (two rookies).

ESE Ridge of Lady MacDonald (I, 5.4) [wiki, trip-report, bivouac.com] — Excellent moderate alpine ridge climb, very similar in character to Lorette. But with more ridge-climbing, more people and more bolts (!). Around 6 hours car-to-car.

Valley View on Cascade (6p, "5.8+") [topo, bivouac.com, someone's pics] — On "Bankhead Buttress" of Cascade. No longer "mixed", but fully bolt-protected. Take at least 9 runners if you don't want to split the last pitch. The crux pitch is well-protected at the crux, as promised (and isn't any harder than 5.9). Similar to Gray Waves but without the crowds that climb now has due to inclusion in the new Sport Climbs book (and Valley View is more sustained for the grade, which is nice).