Sketchy conditions on Lady MacDonald’s icy knife-edge ridge almost forced local adventurer Simon Donato to turn back from his challenge.
Donato set the fastest known time for the Canmore Four Peaks Challenge in winter recently, but unpredictable icy conditions he encountered made him think twice about conquering the frosty feat.
The challenge, also known as the Canmore Quad, is 53 kilometres long and ascends four popular Canmore mountains by travelling on foot between each. The race starts at the Georgetown Inn and heads to the first summit on Grotto (2,706 metres), then to Lady MacDonald (2,606 m), East End of Rundle (2,530 m), and ends with Ha Ling (2,407 m) then back to the Georgetown Inn.
Donato, 38, claimed the winter record at 14 hours and 39 minutes on Feb. 28. It was his first attempt at the challenge.
“The timing for this was perfect. My friends and I have been talking about doing this for a while, (and) doing it in winter because no one has done it in winter,” Donato said. “I just said, ‘It’s now or never. The time is right and the weather is great.’”
The only risky part of the challenge for Donato was at Lady Mac’s snowy peak, where he debated ending his challenge because of potentially dangerous conditions. As Donato tells it, he’s “no Will Gadd” when it comes to ice climbing, but the adventurer in him chanced the intimidating ice.
Ice axe in hand and micro-spikes on his feet, Donato said he had to talk himself across the ice, but, on the other hand, he loves moments like these.
“It was very scary for me … when I get into a situation like that it’s just trying to keep yourself calm and focused because you’re in the moment and that’s the other thing; I love these experiences, especially when you’re on the sharp edge of it,” Donato said.
“You’re just completely focused, adrenaline is up there, you’re just trying to keep everything calm and logical and it’s all about placement ... it just frees the mind to focus on the present.”
Already accustomed to risky conditions, Donato hosts the television show Boundless, which pits himself and co-host Paul Trebilcock in some of the toughest endurance races across the world. He is in the process of filming 10 episodes for Season 3, which will debut later this year on the Travel and Escape Network in Canada.
It was -14 C when Donato set off on the challenge at 6:45 a.m., which then lasted into the inky evening hours. Icicles crusted his beard as he reached the mountains summits. Throughout the draining venture, Donato’s friends helped pace him between mountains and up and down them.
By the time he was at the base of Ha Ling – the final mountain – he said exhaustion was setting in and his breaks started to pile up. Donato recalled during the summer he carried 60 pounds of ice water to the top of Ha Ling’s peak for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
“I was actually faster in summer carrying that up Ha Ling than I was at the end of this run getting up to the summit with no weight at all,” he said with a laugh.
Although the Canmore Quad is no easy feat, Donato doesn’t expect his winter record to last very long as a few of his friends are already eyeing the challenge.
“With the weather the way it is and the conditions on the summits the way they are, it’s as safe as it’s going to get for any winter attempt,” he said.
In 2011, local Phil Villeneuve set the challenge’s fastest time in summer. Calgary resident Jeff Krar has since set the record at nine hours and 17 minutes in 2014. In all, Donato suspects about 10 people in total have completed the challenge.
When the final stint of the challenge was completed after nearly 15 hours of motion, Donato was able to take a seat in the Georgetown Inn. That’s when the best part about the Canmore Quad happened, he said, as a cold beer had just arrived in front of him.
