Only an hour drive east of Thunder Bay on the Trans-Canada Highway, the welcoming community of Nipigon is the perfect base for a mixed climbing trip.

hike to two hours or more of deep snow slogg ing, crawling over downed timber and climbing over shor t ice steps and cliff bands. The crags are situated atop broken lower cliff bands and talus fields, and are exposed to the full br unt of the prevailing northwest winds – climbing here can at times feel colder than any place on ear th. In the early season, before Lake Super ior freezes, substantial fog and humidity can leave the cliffs white with an inches-thick coating of hoarfrost, lending a ver y Scottish appearance to the cliff . The major ity of popular mixed routes (and some ver y worthwhile rarely- or un-repeated test pieces) are clustered in two main areas (Icebreakers and Getting Or iented) and accessed from two usuallyobvious trails in mid-season. Deep chimneys along the cliff can hold climbable ice well into May.