Burgers ‘N ICE

Ice climbing in the Canadian Rockies. Every year I go to far-off Canada to indulge in winter sports. What once began as a pure skiing adventure has degenerated this year into a small ice climbing revival on my part. Thanks to a change in strategy, I was supposed to endure 6 whole days in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, more precisely in Golden. In view of a probably very ski-heavy winter season, I had also packed the ice climbing equipment this time – and that was “good thinking”, as they say in Canadian. As for the surfer the North Shore on Oahu, this is the ice climber the area around Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. In the Banff and Icefields Parkway national parks, a fantastic ice line follows the next. All in front of a stage that is unparalleled. Canadian kitsch par excellence: Endless coniferous forests, rugged, almost dolomite-like lime colossus and in between only a very lonely and abandoned highway … We also see this as the only indication of civilization as we look beyond the valley from our frozen waterfall. No cafe, no gas station and mobile phone reception? Yes, you have almost nowhere here anyway, which corrects the experience value a little upwards. The popular and much-quoted “full-core mentality” in central European latitudes would probably not be a real problem in the Canadian Rockies. Persons suffering from this acute perceptual disorder would probably mercilessly weed out Mother Nature … In the spirit of Charles Darwin, well, Canada has remained wild. Admittedly, the days are long and the distances are great. Without “Truck” nothing goes and two hours one way to the “Climb” are not uncommon. One longs for the ice climbing arenas of the Gastein Valley, where you can still hum to the music of the car radio at the entrance. But you are rewarded, rarely do you feel this country so intensely, so immediately…. and at the latest with “Nasty Habit” and “Burgers ‘n Fries” at the fireplace in Lake Louise, the hardships are sunk with you very deep in the leather sofa. Who is still thinking about skiing? More on this …