The sun was out, the sky was blue, the temperature was heading up towards 20 degrees and my brain was saying “get ye away from this desk and off to the High Rockies Trail”. So that’s what I did. Continue reading
Heart Mountain Loop. A steep, unrelenting, hands on scramble, followed by an undulating and spectacular ridge run as you gradually make your way up to and beyond the summit of Heart Mountain. And then a steep, technical, rocky descent that eventually gives way to an equally steep but more forgiving single track through the trees that gradually flattens out as you head back to the trail head. It’s only around 10.4km but that comes with more than 1,000m of elevation. It’s quite the workout. Continue reading
Thank you Yamnuska. It was epic. It’s only about a 10km loop but you pack of lot into those 10km: a challenging but largely run-able climb that gains around 994m in elevation; easy-going forest trails that deliver you to the exposed and more technical backside of the mountain before reaching the summit with its breathtaking panoramic views. From there, a scorching, scree-skiing descent leads you around the frontside of the mountain and back into the trees before returning to the trailhead. It’s a blast. Continue reading
One down (well, almost), three to go (sort of).
Mount Lady MacDonald, elevation 2,606m and one of the four peaks that make up the Canmore Quad, the others being Mount Grotto, Ha Ling, and the East End of Rundle. An 8km out-and-back and really quite challenging. It put the whole prospect of attempting the Canmore Quad at some point in the future in a new, more frightening, perspective. Continue reading
Happy new year! Okay, so a little late in the day, as indeed was my first run of the year which took place only yesterday but was so worth the wait. 7km of pure, snowy, sunny trail bliss: Continue reading
Covering 70km from the Goat Creek trailhead on Highway 742 just outside Canmore, to Elk Pass on the Alberta-BC border, the High Rockies Trail looks set to become an absolute must for trail runners, mountain bikers and hikers. And with good reason. Continue reading
As the trail running season draws to a close (well sort of, running doesn’t stop for winter) what have I learned from this past season and how will it influence the next? Continue reading
This past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada. In keeping with tradition, this was marked by the consumption of vast the amounts of turkey and pumpkin pie throughout the land; and by some 1,400 runners from all over Canada and beyond descending on the Canmore Nordic Centre for a truly awesome day of racing at the Grizzly 50k Ultra Marathon and Relay – a day of broken records, personal bests and individual triumphs. Continue reading
I don’t consider myself faint hearted but i’m not sure i’ll be doing the Rundle Traverse anytime soon. Unlike local runner Simon Donato and Ryan Atkins that is, who last week completed the 23km run along the eleven peaks of Mount Rundle, with some 3,100 metres of elevation gain in 10 hours 25 minutes – beating Dow Williams’ FKT by 2.5 hours. Continue reading
You may remember from the “The Racing Post” (or as I call it, the “tempting fate post” as no sooner had I clicked “publish” than I was sidelined by injury for three weeks) that i’d set my sights on three key races for this season – Rundle’s Revenge, TrailStoke and the Grizzly Ultra.
The first of these, Rundle’s Revenge, took place last weekend at Canmore Nordic Centre under sunny skies with temperatures in the low 30s. Continue reading
Canmore Runner 