i started heading in to the ghost river valley at semi regular intervals over twenty years ago.

given the nature of the area and its near dmz like quality [between the privatized and gridded prairie to the east and the state’s attempt at a “public” “wilderness” to the west], it has personally, and at alternating times, been a place of leisure, a waypoint on a line of flight and a respite enabling spiritual/emotional coalescence.

and so someday if we sit around a campfire and swap tales, maybe i’ll tell you about some of the unique folks met, the near misses, or the strange impromptu happenings that have occasionally coalesced around me while i was out in this temporary autonomous zone… [speaking of the latter: i saw two cop cars for the first time ever this year… and all of the way out at the big hill… hmmm…]

until then the above were ten snapshots from a few of the many days that i was fortunate enough to have spent out climbing and camping this last [and now seemingly over] summer:



1. one of the first days of climbing in the new season for one person. and the first day of climbing ever for the other one. wouldn’t have believed it if i didn’t see it with my own eyes, but one of the highest water crossings i’ve ever made it through led to a sans guidebook series of on sights, the difficulty of which i’ve never seen a climber pull off on their first day out…

2. a lot of smoke in the valley from the b.c. fires in this snap, and it was also the first test of a new and likely rare ghost approach system: a prius and a dirt bike… and it works well: by the end of the season and using this combo, i was able to make it from a campsite below the std wall back to the paved road in 29 minutes. ha!

3. no need to comment other than to say an iconic pitch on an iconic ghost moderate.

4. this was the third time i’d climbed this classic route. that is significant as i can probably count on one hand the number of longer routes i’ve climbed twice: repeats just aren’t my thing. and the third time was likely the charm as i plan to personally retire from this climb now. not interested in writing over memories involving a fellow human’s first gear lead; followed by getting spit on by the sky while surrounded by an increasing volume of thunder cracking around us as i topped out; all to be followed by the beautiful confusion of the other human topping out and saying it was their favourite pitch and climb to date.

5. ironically a few of these shots had an automatic hdr filter applied and this wasn’t one of them… in fact outside of a crop, there has been no processing done to this snap and so those colours were as we experienced them.

6. after i took a look back at this photo, i told my partner that she was a robotic dog at her side or maybe a half inflated balloon short of a perfectly idealized depiction from a 1980s cyperpunk novelist’s hallucination. heavy smoke in the air and a valley ripped by floods only a few short years ago apparently do that to a photo…

7. the river. it sustains the valley, it provides for a good half dozen adventurous crossings on a heavy laden dirt bike and it has been witness to everything from a first people’s tribal battle that inspired the valley’s name, early white folks trying to find their way across the rockies, to the now ubiquitous red neck shooting parties.

8. always beautiful to climb being overlooked by the wall that has been the site of more of my favourite climbing days than any other in the canadian rockies. and one of a few rockies sport climbing venues where you will almost always have the place to yourself.

9. if the tent looks soggy it’s because we were getting rained/snowed/snowballed on… it felt like that day was the one where seasons changed… and given the forecast for the last couple of weekends, both past and future? it probably was...

10. i was probably as confused as you are… all four appendages in the same crack and no bolts in sight on a canadian rockies limestone based route? to stop the confusion: yes it exists and yes it is excellent. but bringing it back to reality: it’s also only about 15m long… aka: you win some, you lose some.



[nuts and bolts: not a fan of the sounds of rifle/shotgun/50 cal shooting sessions, pop up mini raves, red necks on dirt bikes/quads/trucks or not knowing whether your vehicle is going to make it back today/tomorrow/next week? then the ghost may not be for you… otherwise? if you head out it’s also still possible that you’ll end up having the entire place to yourself. the ghost is about a 45 minute drive from calgary, ab to the start of the gravel road driving. depending on how fast you drive it’s another 15-45 minutes on a mostly unmaintained gravel road to the big hill where most two wheel drive vehicles will stop. finally from there, it’s another 15-45 min drive to most areas or another hourish+ if you’re hiking from the big hill. most of the climbing is in the 5.10-5.12+ range on walls that cap out at a max of about 400m [with a few sweet sub 5.10 longish routes thrown into the mix]. some is well/over bolted, but most is a mix of natural and bolt protected and much, if not most, was done ground up, so there is much spice and adventure to be found]

[finally: thanks to the spirit that was in large part responsible for enabling the rekindling of the affair and subsequently ended up in 9 out of 10 of the previous shots... not sure if i was completely deserving of this blessed of a summer, but either way i’m taking it.]