Welcome To Climbing Camp

Camaraderie, conversation and conservation are key at the Alpine Club of Canada’s annual General Mountaineering Camp

- Leslie Anthony

A SCATTER OF PEOPLE, a heap of gear, a helicopter, someone plucking a Spanish guitar in the background and singing like an angel ... all swathed in a veil of wildfire smoke as a gentle rain patters down. It’s day one of week six of the Alpine Club of Canada’s 2018 annual General Mountaineering Camp and the big swap is underway — 36 people flying out with baggage, garbage, empty gas cylinders, blisters and sore muscles, and the same number flying in with an even larger load including food and other camp supplies.

Steeped in the history and heritage of alpine exploration, the GMC has been set in a different remote mountain locale each summer since its inception in 1906 — when almost 100 ACC members climbed and explored British Columbia’s Yoho Pass, wore their Sunday best to evening meals and bunked in canvas tents. These days, $2,000 per person will get you space in a modern tent, top-shelf guiding and instruction and outrageous gourmet meals. This year’s edition of the 112-year tradition is at Hallam Glacier in the Monashee Mountains north of Revelstoke, B.C., three bumpy hours from town to the staging area at which we’re now gathered.

From here, the pilot expertly navigates through thick smoke by shadowing valley walls and streams to camp, set high on a moraine near the toe of the glacier. Passengers debark into a marvel of modern wilderness technology, featuring solar panels, rudimentary plumbing, propane kitchen appliances and showers, a portable drinking water treatment plant, sinks with bladder pumps, comfortable latrines and large tents for cooking, dining, storage, drying and even a library. The rocky surroundings are constellated by some 30 roomy nylon tents for campers and staff. Though occupying a similarly stark setting, it makes Everest Base Camp look like a low-tech ghetto.