North Pillar Repeated 28 Years After First Ascent
The world is changing more quickly than ever before and the Alpine Club of Canada ( acc) is evolving with it. We know that in order to stay relevant, we must step boldly into the future, keep up with current technology and deliver programs that continue to meet the needs of our members. The last few years have seen a number of major changes within the club; and now we are taking another important step in launching a new look for our logo. “While the existing logo has tons of char m and tradition and has symbolized the great things about the club to so many people for a hundred years, the fact is that the old logo no longer represents who we are presently or what we do.” said acc President Peter Muir, “Coils of hemp rope and wooden ice axes are just not what the acc is about in the 21st century.”
One of the biggest issues with the old logo is the fact that it did not represent the two official languages of Canada and of our club. The name of the club is now included in both French and English, separated by 1906, the year of the club’s founding. Our logo must reflect the entirety of who we are today and symbolize our dynamic future. Changing something that’s so established and loved is a significant issue and one that the club took very ser iously. We are proud of our r ich history and the symbol that has represented us so well in the mountain community. For this reason, we decided that our new look would be a re-work rather than a fresh slate, but one that represents the club in a more modern light. In the new logo the ice axe, the symbol of the alpinist, is a modern yet timeless design, and the second ice axe has been replaced by a pair of skis. The hemp rope was removed. The sheep’s head has been reworked into a more abstract look.The shield remains with the or iginal colours of green, grey and white corresponding to the forest, the rock and the snow and ice of alpine environments in which we play. The shield is overset with a new panel, pr imar ily in green, but it will also appear in alter nate colours, representing different areas of the club’s work, which, as stated in our mission statement, is to foster alpine exper iences, knowledge and culture; promote responsible access; and support excellence in alpine leadership and skills.
As we look to the future and the exciting changes that lie ahead, the Alpine Club of Canada is proud to unveil our new logo that represents our vision, preserving, practicing and promoting Canadian mountain culture and self-propelled alpine pursuits, and our members from coast to coast to coast.–
weather windows in years, the alpine duo of Jon Walsh and Josh Wharton have made the second ascent of Alberta’s North Pillar of the North Twin, one of most spoken about and well known routes in North America. It was first climbed in 1985 by Dave Cheesmond and Barry Blanchard. This is the fifth ascent of the face and the fourth in summer.
Walsh and Wharton spent four days car to car to complete the North Pillar. The weather was perfect, “We only saw one cloud,” said Walsh who added, “1985 5.10d is more like 2013 5.11b, we aided a thin seam on the final pitch, we free climbed the rest.” Wharton who had only climbed in the Rockies in winter (Emperor Face, Wild Thing, Greenwood/Locke) said, “I have climbed lots of routes that have a bigger bark than bite, but this route lived up to its reputation.”Wharton left a food stash in the Mount Alberta Hut in 2011, it remained intact until a few weeks ago, “Our stash was gone! We only had 5,000 calor ies between the two of us for the climb, barely enough.” The crux pitch was a chimney on the headwall that Wharton led. “The headwall was impressive, 14 big pitches before the mixed climbing up the r idge,” Walsh said, “We were on the or iginal route most of the way, Kruk and I were off route for most of the headwall on our attempt, we never found their headwall bivi from the first ascent, maybe it fell off, we found one piton about halfway up the headwall.” The evening they returned Blanchard met them for a pint and they shared stor ies about the climb. Dave Cheesmond passed away on Mt. Logan, on the Hummingbird Ridge, during the late ’ 80s, so Blanchard was the only living climber who had climbed the route.
Other ascents of the face: George Lowe and Chris Jones in 1974. Tim Friesen and Dave Cheesmond in the early ’ 80s (they attempted the Lowe/Jones, but it was too wet so they traversed left and up mixed ground naming it Traverse of the Chickens, few know of this route). Barry Blanchard and Dave Cheesmond in 1985. Steve House and Marko Prezelj in 2004 via the Lowe/Jones