Shoulder Season

Back home in Calgary this week and landed with a thud into shoulder season. Not winter, not summer. The mountains are still cold but the snow is no longer light and fluffy for skiing and, according to the Facebook group, some ice climbs are collapsing with the longer days of sunshine.

I know I could find some mountain adventures that are unique to this time of year if I had the skills. I’ve heard from a mountain guide that this is a great time of year for ski mountaineering. That’s skiing up a mountain to stand on the summit, then skiing back down. Sounds like a really fun outing to me but I know I am missing crucial skills to do this safely. There is the risk of avalanche, especially high this year, and the risk of falling into a crevasse when the route to the summit crosses a glacier. Then there is the technical skiing aspect - what if the route is icy? I’ve used ski crampons to help ascend icy up-tracks but my ability to ski down steep ice safely needs a lot work. I’d rather just rappel but that’s not the point of skiing, is it?

I could seek out some remaining ice climbs at higher elevations. This would require an expert assessment of the quality of the ice and whether it’s still safe to climb. Again, skills I feel I am lacking.

Fat biking is an option on mountain bike trails that are still choked with snow but becoming slushy and muddy. Ok. It’s kind of weird to do a summer activity in the winter, adapting the equipment and clothing to fit the colder temperatures and snow. It’s still fun, don’t get me wrong, but it feels like instead of embracing snow and ice, you’re working to overcome it. Maybe I need more practice on the fat bike to appreciate the nuances.

Rock climbing is an option in this shoulder season, if you don’t mind standing in snow to belay and stuffing a hand warmer in your chalk bag. It’s really a matter of how much you’re wiling to suffer to climb because suffer you will. Numb fingers, wet feet, shivering. Not the relaxed and casual rock climbing of summer.

There is always hiking and scrambling. Snow shoes are fun and micro spikes make walking up icy trails much easier. And of course, I can bide my time in the climbing gym and on the stair-master, but there’s not much adventure in that.

Maybe it’s the transition from two weeks of rock climbing in Joshua Tree to getting home and finding winter still in residence. I need to shift my brain back into winter gear. I know that once I get moving, I’ll feel warm but this shoulder season feels like something to get through, a period of waiting and wishing. It takes a bigger effort to get out and seek adventure. 

I’ll push myself to get after it this week. Maybe a hike, maybe a fat bike ride, maybe both. I just have to get myself moving and create some momentum. Mountain momentum. And I’ll cruise right into summer, ready to crush my summer goals.  

Check out my peak bagging goal on my page "20 Peaks in 2023" and

rock climbing goals on my page "Rock Climbing".  Click links at the top right of this page under "More".