Year in Review – 2024

Happy New Year to you! I hope you had a year filled with love and friendship and are looking forward to new adventures in 2025.

This is my fourth time reviewing the past year. I love this opportunity to both reminisce and evaluate how my year went. Plus it’s a nice snapshot to remind myself just what exactly happened.

Highlights

My life revolves around family, friends and bringing those together with my love of the mountains. I also volunteer a lot, and combined with running a company from home, I stay pretty darn busy. My ‘creative outlet’ is this blog. I can remember the fun hikes and skis that I’ve done, but it’s also meant to help others get out and do some adventuring on their own.

Of the 233 days of exercising (65% of the year), I will only focus on summer routes, summer cycling, and winter skiing. All others are runs, walks or indoor climbing.

Climb Mountains

Last year, I hiked, scrambled or summer mountaineered on 40 routes. I am happy to say that the vast majority were routes new to me. This is important, as I always try to suss out new routes. Some were big deals, with lots of elevation and long distances. Some were on my list forever and needed to come off. And some were lucky ‘oh sure, I’ll go’ hikes that I absolutely loved.

Here are routes I accomplished in 2024

• Moab, UT – 4 hikes
• Stone Mountain, Atlanta
• Missing Link – hike
• Wasootch Ridge – hike
• Prairie Mountain x 2 (for paragliding) – hike
• Mount Yamnuska – scramble
• Pasque Mountain Horseshoe Traverse – hike
• Moberly Homestead – hike
• Valley of Five Lakes – hike
• Sulphur Skyline – hike
• Kokanee to Silverspray Traverse
  • Kokanee Hut – hut
  • Giant’s Kneecap – mountaineering
  • Kokanee – Kane – Woodbury Glacier Traverse – mountaineering
  • Woodbury to Silverspray Traverse – scrambling
  • Silverspray to Trailhead – hike
• Forum Peak and Akamina Ridge Traverse – hike
• Mount Cory – scramble
• Remillard Mountaineering Camp
  • Courthouse – mountaineering
  • Yardarm – scramble
  • Tango & Serendipity Peaks – mountaineering
  • 3/8 and 1/4 Dome – scrambling
  • Apogee – mountaineering
• Table Mountain – hike
• Northover Ridge – two day backpack
• Castle Mountain – scramble
• Fairmont Hoodoos – hike
• Mount Field – scramble
• Cooper’s Launch – hike
• Skaha Red Tail area – hike and climbing
• Portugal – four days of hiking on the Via Algarviana Trail
• Mount Hoffman – hiking

Of all these trips, three were extra special because they had been on my list FOREVER. What really makes them special, is that NONE of them would have been completed without good friends who helped plan and organize these trips. Thank you, my special people!

Kokanee to Woodbury Glacier Traverse

This was on my List for 9 years!!! I needed people who were trained and technical as me to do it. The route turned out to be intense, and we had zero beta. Gail finally tracked down a Park Warden who gave up some way points on Google Maps. That allowed us to actually nail this route. A huge thank you to my team – Gail, Dianna, Michael, Heather and Mike

Castle Mountain

I originally attempted this in 2012, but it was a big snow year, and we were turned back by way too much snow, tantalizing close to the summit. My friend Erin organized this scramble, and we had the best day with amazing views and great conversation.

Northover Ridge Backpack

This was on my list forever, but I just could not get it organized. My problem? There are several ways of doing it, and I could not focus on one solution. When my friend Emma said she was organizing it, I was SO in. I was very happy with her route and the amazing group of women she gathered together.

Cycling

My good friend Deb LOVES to cycle, and she loves to challenge herself with fondos. This means I am signed up, and also have to love fondos 🙂 Seriously, I am very thankful to her for organizing these amazing trips. While I did about 20 rides last year (including indoor training), the highlights were the Moab Fondo, and the Cranbrook Fondo. Apart from the fondos, I again went back to the Okanagan and cycled some most excellent gravel routes, including the Kettle Valley Railway and trestle bridges.

Moab Fondo

Moab was May 4th, which is REALLY early for us here in Alberta. I was lucky to have a few outdoor rides that were warm enough to not freeze. I had one ride in the SNOW! Not fun! The day of the Moab Fondo was the best ever. No wind, and not too hot. We got very lucky.

Cranbrook Fondo

This was the end of the season in September. We had a group of about 8 riders from our club. We spent two nights, and really enjoyed our friendships, food and cycling. I highly recommend this fondo.

Kettle Valley Railway Cycling

This is an iconic cycle in the Okanagan area, all because some volunteers decided to save some derelict old bridges. Thank goodness they did!

Skiing

I spend my entire winter pouring over ski routes, snow levels, avalanche ratings, and maps. This is the first year that I only went downhill skiing once, and instead focused on my Alpine Touring or Back-country skiing. This is where you haul your own butt up the mountain, and ski down.

I had three week-long ski lodge trips this year: two were self-guided, and one was guided and catered. Spoiled! Good thing that was done last. I also skied into two back-country huts, and I volunteered with the Rocky Mountain Section’s program to help new skiers get acquainted with back-country skiing.

• Cross-Country / Light Touring Skiing – 8 days, usually only done in early or late season when I can’t alpine tour
• Alpine Tour/Backcountry Skiing – 38 days
  • Healy Pass x 3
  • Oxo Peak
  • Snowfall Lodge – five days (too cold to fly in first day)
  • Asulkan Hut – 4 separate skis/routes
  • Rummel Lake (Bit Program)
  • Mosquito Mountain
  • Bow Summit (BIT Program)
  • Vista Lodge – six days
  • Battle Abbey Lodge – six days
  • Forum Ridge in Waterton x 3
  • Commonwealth Loop x 2
  • Cirque Subpeak Attempt
  • Hidden Lake
  • Oxo / Watermelon Benches
  • Crowfoot Mountain subpeak

Battle Abbey Lodge

This was the absolute HIGHLIGHT of the ski season, and possibly the year. This lodge has now been sold, so the likelihood of us being able to afford to go here again is pretty low. Thanks again for good friends who organized this ski trip – Mike and Amber McMinn, and to all the good friends we got to ski with.

Blog Posts

While I am falling behind in my trip reports, I am happy to report that I have published 200 posts! This is a big deal for me, as I find it difficult to write about all the trips with everything else on my plate. Still – what an accomplishment, and I look forward to getting the next 200 done. Of course, that means I have to climb or ski 200 more NEW routes. Yikes!

In 2024, I published 16 trip reports, but I am now including videos so this is slowing down the process. Quality over quantity.

Family & Friendships

I am blessed with a family that also loves the mountains, and I am often with my husband or my two strong daughters. When they are busy, I have a stable of friends who are all very extroverted and have no trouble dragging me away from my house and into the outdoors. Yes, that’s right. I’m a massive introvert, and I don’t venture out very often.

Exercise Totals

Cycling – 40 This includes indoor trainer cycles
Running – 23 I only run during the shoulder seasons when I can’t hike or ski
Walking – 85 I have a great path network from my house
Hiking – 40 Most of these were scrambles, summits and mountaineering. A few were actual hikes.

Downhill Skiing – 1 day at Lake Louise (thanks Larry!)
Cross-Country Skiing – 9 days. Conditions were tough – either freezing cold, or not enough snow at our local West Bragg Creek. Driving four hours to cross-country ski is not a priority for me.
Back-country skiing – 38 days. I had a great year, which included two huts and three lodge trips.

This totals 233 days, or 65% of the year. Five percent more than 2 years ago.

OTHER – VACATIONS & RENOVATION

Most of my totals included cycles and mountain routes from around the world. It takes time, energy, effort and money to get to these places. Sometimes, it’s a quick trip with a lot of exercise, like my trip to the Okanagan. Other times, it’s a lot of driving for just a few days of cycling and hiking, like my trip to Moab. I don’t really write a travel blog, but I will have to write about some of my destinations at one point.

• Hualtulco, Mexico
• Moab,
• Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• Okanagan
• Portugal

The other thing that took up a LOT of my time this year was renovating the main floor of my house. I redid the kitchen, dining/living room and my office, including new flooring. It took several months, with the last bit dragging on for longer than was strictly necessary. I planned it for the summer so that we could bar-be-que outside, and eat most of our meals on the back deck. It got us outside on our deck way more than usual, and thankfully the weather cooperated with very little rain, wind or bugs. The downside was that we did not have an extended fall vacation as we usually do. Instead, we worked on the reno for a few weeks, and then just barely squeaked out a week in BC. We packed a LOT into this short trip, and I’m so glad we made the time.

Goals for 2025

It’s not real if I don’t write it down. Some goals are repeats, but I really like the consistency they give me year over year. I do have one ‘secret’ goal that’ll share with you all if and when I complete it.

• ACC General Mountaineering Camp
• More indoor climbing (10x), and a few outdoor climbing routes
• Backcountry Ski trips (Japan, Meadow Lodge, Kokanee Hut)
• Backcountry hut trips (Shadow Lake Lodge)
• Jasper backpack
• Of all the routes I do, ensure that 80% are new.
• Write 20 blog posts

I wish you all a most successful 2025. I hope your dreams and goals come true.