Climbing the Middle Sister Part 1

This is part one of a series of videos dedicated to showing the scramble up the Middle Sister of the Three Sisters near Canmore Alberta Canada.
Please be sure to watch all the parts or at least part 3 if you're short of time.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• climbing
• hiking
• scrambling
• scree
• screeing
• rocks
• rocky mountians
• canada
• canmore
• alberta
• september
• 2009
• hot
• girl
• backpack
• walking
• river
• water
• stream
• stream bed
• trees
• forest
• sign
• road
• logging
• banff
• wilderness
• bushcraft
• suomi
• braids
• boots
• mountaineering
• summer
• sunshine
• socks
• feet
• knickers
• talus
• shale
• fun
• funny
• hilariousscree
• rocky
• mountains
• running
• danger
• ankle
• leg
• breaker
• breaking
• shattered
• rock
• jumping
• dangerous
• rockfall
• rockslide

[416xplod]

@2:20 we went to the right and it took us along the creek which eventually dried out and was just rubble all the way to the end of the tree line and then we were stuck. If im right does the left side go up a hill into the trees?

[TheMapper]

@416xplod the creek bed gets pretty steep, but just before you get to that point you start heading up to the left on the side of the creek bed. there is a kind of crumby trail there, early in the spring it is often missing as it has been washed away over the winter, but the ground in that area is all pretty hard packed glacial till. you side step all along that and then you are above the waterfall area... after that you slog along farther up some scree piles until you are in a little valley.

[Mkamalid]

OK THIS IS VEERY IMPORTANT...at minute 3:33.

that path at the end of it there's a Y intersection, the right side was all rocks and it was open and it was leading for little sister, and left side, well it was narrow and dark and scary :D...

in the vid it seemed u picked left but i cant quiet make it..i hope the description makes sense its like the first MAJOR Y intersection.

left or right?

[TheMapper]

part2: what you want to do is just follow the stream until you climb up over some rubble piles left by an old glacier and then you are in the upper cirque, from there it is easy to skirt around some cliffs and then scramble up the backside of the mountain. you can kind of see some of that in part 2 of the series:)

[416xplod]

@TheMapper So @2:20 i go left and just follow that trail all the way to the top?

[TheMapper]

sounds good, i'd like to see where you turned off the trail:)

[Mkamalid]

hmm...sorry to ask this but u got an email mate?, i have the location on video but its too big i will either cut 2 seconds out of it or capture as image and send it. then I can be clear :D. you can mail it to my youtube acount i'm not sure u want ur email adress out on the open, I'll email u mine right now

[TheMapper]

well, pretty much the little trail that is there goes from one side of the dry creek bed to the other several times, i think it must cross the stream bed about 4 or 6 times as you work your way up the valley. the key to getting up the middle sister is to stick with the main stream, that is stay to the right stream bed the whole time, however you don't want to leave the stream bed too soon or you just end up at the bottom of some cliffs and can't get anywhere without ropes.

[TheMapper]

part2: i also take a sweater to go under the windbreaker. i take a hat with a wide brim as well as a toque, i take some leather gloves for my hands for when i'm coming down particularily nasty scree. my camera and extra batteries, rope if i'm going to need it but i try to avoid needing it, i take a small sewing kit in case i have to repair my backpack like sewing a strap back on... had to do that once and wasn't too happy about it :) LOL. and of course you need lots of food that is light.

[TheMapper]

hehehe, maybe i should make a vid of all the stuff i take with me :D

pretty much i always take enough with me to survive over night if needs be. i mean, if i break a leg or something i don't want to starve or freeze to death :) so i always take a good windbreaker(one with a hood), a poncho, extra socks (i hate having wet feet and walking in wet socks if i can avoid it) 2 or 3 canteens of water a flashlight a knife, a folding saw, matches a lighter and a flint (more than one way of making fire:)