Just because we could!

Following is an article that just came out in the Fall 2012 issue for the Canadian Avalanche Journal. Back in June, we have been asked Ian Gale and I to speak about our Wapta Traverse in a day adventure.
I wanted to share this article for a couple of reasons. With the winter coming up pretty soon here, I hope by reading this you will get excited to get out there. And secondly, I hope this will inspire people to do similar things, explore even further and move fast in the mountains! Enjoy the article!

Valemount Run and Adventure

This past saturday was the second edition of the Mt Robson Marathon near Valemount BC.  Back in May,  I signed-up thinking it would be a great excuse to go back to the area not only to catch up with my friend Reiner but also get some biking and mountaineering done in the area.

The Race:
It was an amazing event, super well organized and really scenic. The trail up to Berg Lake is nice and climbs gradually all the way to it's 12th km where things start to be a bit more steep. I have to say the views were certainly taking away the growing pain in the leg muscles.
Until the last minute, I was going back and forth between the full and the half marathon but for once, I decided to stop being stubborn and listen to friends/ physio/ trainer/.... and went for the 21.2 kms. The race all the way to Kinney Lake and back was still a pretty nice distance. What a spectacular and special place to run! As it turned out, it went quite well... it must've been a combinaison of having new runners and covering the distance almost the whole way with Igor also from Revy and surrounded by new Valemount friends. I certainly made the kilometres go by faster!

Mt Robson in all it's beauty

 Result of the race can be found at:
 http://www.mountrobsonmarathon.ca/therun2half.html



The Adventure:
  The race was not over yet that I was already thinking about the adventure to come the following day.
After discussion, Reiner, Ross and myself decided to get up a local mountain: Crystal Peak. The mission involved biking on a new logging road which took us near the alpine and from there, it was a nice ridge walk & glacier walk to the summit! Peter, a friend of Reiner's parents who also did the race decided to part in our little adventure so it made for a really nice group dynamic.
Pictures are better then words so here's a few shots of the day!

Thank you to Reiner, Rudy and Patricia for the kind Valemount hospitality!
And to Ross, Karen, Carla, Bryon, Martha & Yanna  for the great laughters!

The Destination

Pluto Mt Dog

Rossty

Peter

Reiner 

Summit Smiles

Alpine Snack

Summit Box

View from the Peak

Views from the Peak