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High Altitude Fun in Canada
Heli-hiking in the Canadian Rockies
By Corinne Humphrey
I half expected the guides to discourage me, but according to Bruce, the lodge manager and long-time guide, "Everything is super-super safe – you'll be fine." I was committed. I was also anxious, but excited, to step out of my comfort zone. My anxiety resurfaced the next morning when other guests wished me luck, but then asked if they could have my berry cr笥 brulee that night if I didn't make it back.
The helicopter landed on Syphax Glacier where the snow crystals sparkled in the sun. With Bruce in the lead, four of us roped up, grabbed our ice axes and stepped across a small crevasse, making our way toward the first cliff face. After my initial struggle with getting tangled in the rope, I settled into a comfortable rhythm and maneuvered around it.
Our destination was Mt. Syphax, a 9,500-foot peak. We made our way steadily, hiking and scrambling over rocks until we reached the summit marked by a wooden cross. I was relieved to know that the cross was a tradition and not there to mark the grave of some hapless climber. We ate our lunch perched on a dining table-sized pile of slate and quartzite slabs – the original "Hard Rock Cafe." It was a thrill to add my name to the summit register, proof of my accomplishment in this land of thin air and sharp mountains.
Our way down began with a short walk across a mini-snow-pack, and then backtracking the way we had come. We took turns leading until we reached the point of our first rappel. My prior climbing experience combined with Bruce's calm voice urging us to "...just step off the edge," took the fear out of inching down the rocklike fleece-clad spiders on a braided web strand.