Northern Ontario Ice

My hometown is a secret climbing heaven. While California and Rockies climbers descend in droves on crowded ice falls, climbers in my hometown quietly enjoy some of the best ice climbing east of the Canadian Rockies.

White Lightning (WI3) -- a local classic

This sleepy town has some of the best climbing east of the Rockies!

I go home to visit family and friends, but as a bonus, I get to strap on the crampons and ice tools, and get in some ice climbing with my brother. I even somehow convinced Teresa to get out ice climbing as well. 

We climbed a bunch of moderate classics over 3 days, and didn't see another climber the entire time. Amazing. The first thing we climbed was White Lightning, a beautiful 60 meter ice climb a 10 minute drive from town, up on Mt. McKay.

Teresa working the moves on White Lightning

Kyle on a variation

Of course, we did things other than ice climb! We brought Teresa to the Hoito for breakfast. A Thunder Bay landmark. The Hoito is a Finnish restaurant, founded in 1918 and might be the oldest, continuously operated Co-op owned restaurant in Canada. The service is slow, but the food is good!

Ready to eat?

The family - waiting patiently for Finnish pancakes!

  The next climbing day we headed out to Orient Bay, which is a 90 minute drive from town. Orient Bay is amazing, the area holds ~60 ice climbs, several of them greater than 120 meters in height, with most of climbs being less than a 20 minute walk from the road. If Orient Bay were located near a major city center, it would be as famous as Hyalite Canyon or even Ouray! But, being in Northwestern Ontario, you are pretty much guaranteed to have the place to yourself most days. No Lee Vinning style TR cluster fu@k here!

The routes range from easy beginner routes routes like Tempest (WI2) and Cascade Falls (WI3) to amazing spectacular pillars and test-pieces like Parallax (WI5) and Reflection Wall (WI5) -- something for everyone

One interesting and unique feature of the local ice, is that it tends to have a yellow color. I believe this is because of the minerals in the rock.

Tempest (WI2)- Easy classic!

Teresa climbs Tempest - note how close the road is!

We climbed a couple of easy ice climbs, enjoying the warm (-8 C) weather. 

Approaching Cascade Falls

Belay slave!

 

Kyle leading up Cascade Falls

On the last climbing day, Teresa was ready for a break, so Kyle and I headed out to Squaw Bay for a quick afternoon climb. It turned out to be my favorite climb of the whole trip. The climb was called Alpine Outing, a very interesting 2 pitch climb up into a gully system.

Super fun climb in Squaw Bay

Squaw Bay is really neat place to climb. Its located right on Lake Superior, and the climbs are a short walk from the road. It has an almost alpine feel to the place, despite a very short approach and being only a few minutes from town.

Squaw Bay - Sleeping Giant in the background

Kyle led the climb, making it look easy. The crux section is very thin, and requires a bit rock gear to protect it, and you actually use the rock band along with the ice to climb through the difficult section. It does not look hard from the ground, but it is deceptively steep, and also much longer than it looks. 

Kyle places a screw before committing to the crux moves

We reached the first belay, and Kyle fired off the second pitch. The next pitch sort of goes around the corner and climbs up a narrow ice filled gully, which ends with a fairly difficult and interesting steep section.

The narrow ice gully on the 2nd pitch

Final tricky section before exiting the climb

The top of the climb was glorious. The sun was shining, and there were terrific views of the lake. 

Kyle rigs the rappel at the top of Alpine Outing

We headed down, and then back to town for more family visiting time. 

Along with Christmas arrived, came a cold snap of -20  to -30 C temperatures, so that's it for ice climbing this trip. 

We did a bunch of visiting of old friends (and their various children) including Scott and Sarah, Eli and Sarah as well Chris and Carolyn. Its always great to see how everyone is doing, and nice that old friends can take times out of their busy lives to catch up.

Teresa and I also braved arctic temperatures to explore Thunder Bay's recently renovated water front.  Its very nice and I'm sure a lovely place to hang out when its not -25 C

Chilly

Frozen water-front

 On Boxing day, the temps dipped even further with wind-chill approaching -35 C. I decided it would be a good idea to test out my Alaska gear by going a quick hike up Mt. McKay (1,450'). Mt McKay is the largest "mountain" in the Nor Wester Mountains which ring Thunder Bay. Its on First Nation lands, and has two distinct plateaus, the first having a lookout and structures for the First Nations, and a flat topped summit. 

Summit plateau of Mt McKay as seen from the lookout. First Nations Pow Wow structure in the foreground

It was a quick (~ 45 min) jaunt up about 1000' to the summit. It was extremely cold, but double mountaineering boots, and my Rab Xenon + buffs kept me toasty warm on the ascent.

I have not climbed Mt McKay since I was 12 years old. It seemed to big at the time!

Very cold summit selfie

Looking down on Thunder Bay from the Summit of Mt McKay

It was a wonderful visit home, lovely to see family and friends. As always climbing with my brother is a special treat, I'm glad that our passions converge on something we can both enjoy together.

Its always great to see some of my oldest friends, catch-up and see how much has changed. Looking forward to my next visit!

Bye TBay! Until next time!