Last post from Sam - Via Ferrata in Banff

These are some shots from my Via Ferrata experience in Banff which was great fun. On Mt Norquay, the base of which is where our hotel was so quite convenient. All the same the bus I was supposed to catch didn't show and cheers to the fabulous staff at the Juniper Hotel, when I asked about the bus Steve, one of the waiters who'd just finished a shift, offered to drive me up. 

Party of 4 on the scramble, Nancy from Calgary and Dan and Tegan, a father and daughter team, from Ontario. Amazingly Tegan was a diabetic who is scared of heights and has a bung knee. She suggested at one point that they may have been given a bum steer and told it was easy. Her Dad got what seemed it could be a mix of lack of fitness and altitude sickness and was quite unwell for much of the climb so I think they were both pretty happy to see the base again at the end but probably had quite a sense of achievement when done.

    Chairlift route to via Ferrata 

    Starting point for the climb

    Deer

We started with a chairlift ride during which a couple of deer grazing right underneath us watched us go by. Lovely start. Then from about 6800 ft it was a short walk up a trail and the Via Ferrata began. Meaning 'iron road' it is a system of climbing using anchors and cables secured to rock faces of the mountain and you attach yourself to the cables using a harness system. It was apparently started in WWII so soldiers could make their way around otherwise inaccessible areas. It means that as long as you have reasonable fitness even with no climbing experience you can navigate areas of the mountain that would otherwise be reserved for rock climbers.

    Climbing

    Nancy on her way up 

    

Early in the piece Nancy pulled out her camera and was taking photos hanging off the side of the mountain so I offered to take a shot of her. She posed, then reached for the camera and for some reason I felt the distance was a stretch too far so suggested I put it in my pocket until we were better positioned for a handover. I slipped it into my vest pocket - or so I thought. I heard clackety clack and after a moment realised I had just dropped Nancy's camera down the mountain! We spent some time working out where the camera was on the trail below so we could retrieve it later, at that stage not knowing poor Tegan was terrified of heights and having her stuck behind me while we worked it through.

    Just before the fateful dropping of the camera

    Banff down in the valley

We mostly had a great time although it was touch and go for Tegan and Dan for a while who sat facing away from the spectacular view at one of our stops while they both recovered their composure. In all we climbed about 260 vertical metres in a combination of climbing with the anchors and cables, 1 suspension bridge and a few unsecured trails. There were many points where it would have been almost criminal not to stop and admire the view which was absolutely spectacular. I'm afraid the photos don't really do it justice.

Nancy's camera was recovered by a group who started after us. Luckily this meant she recovered all her previous photos but unfortunately the camera wasn't shock proof so it turned out to be a bit more expensive an outing for me than I first expected, but still well worth it.

    Tegan and Dan at the top of our climb admiring the 360 stunning view