Technical Canmore Quad in a Day: 5.8, 57 km and 5,000 metres

Rockies-based Adam Campbell and Squamish-based Eric Carter have completed the Technical Canmore Quad, which follows harder-than-scrambling routes to the summits of Ha Ling, Grotto Mountain, Mount Lady Macdonald and EEOR. The four-peak link-up is a popular in-a-day challenge in the Bow Valley.

Campbell and Carter likely just became the first duo to climb all peaks in a day via technical climbs, completing the massive link-up in only 18 hours and 30 minutes.

They started with EEOR’s North Ridge 5.8 400m, then ran to the Northeast Face 5.6 450m of Ha Ling, then ran to the East-Southeast Ridge III 5.4 of Lady Macdonald and ended with the Northwest Ridge II 5.3 of Grotto.

The full link-up covered 57 kilometres and 5,000 vertical metres. “We had perfect weather,” said Campbell. “We watched a tornado and lightening storm roll over Calgary and the Prairies as we traversed Grotto as the full moon was rising. It was an unreal end to the day.”

Campbell’s 2020

In January, Campbell lost his wife, Laura Kosakalski, after she was caught in an avalanche on Mount Hector. A month after Kosakalski’s death, Campbell wrote about the avalanche in gripping detail, which you can read here.

For those who’ve been following Campbell’s journey on social media, then you’ve seen the inspiring ways Campbell has been commemorating Kosakalski; from touching stories from their adventures to pushing himself on peaks they wanted to climb.

Campbell, one of Canada’s top mountain runners, recently climbed and set a fastest known time from car-to-car on Mount Columbia at seven hours and 48 minutes in memory of his late wife. The trip was about more than going fast, and on the summit he stopped for a brief moment to complete his mission.

“I brought some of Laura’s ashes up Columbia and spread them on the summit,” he said. You can watch a clip of the moment in the video below.

Along with his record time on Columbia, he also set a new car-to-car record time on Mount Joffre of 11 hours and 10 minutes last week. With fellow record-setting runner Andy Reed, they linked Yamnuska, the Goat Traverse, Anklebitter Ridge, Gap Peak and Mount Fable in a push.

Campbell continues to reside in Canmore, represents Arc’teryx and has a number of major peaks he’d still like to climb this year.

When asked how he’s been coping over the past few months, he said: “I’m up and down, but I’m trying to do as much as I can to commemorate Laura and live in a way that she’d be proud of.”

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May 20th, 2019 – LK and I had one of our best ski days together on top of Mt Columbia, the highest summit in Alberta. She described it as one of her favourite days on skis. Yesterday I took some of LK’s ashes to the summit. I buried a small memento in the snow and set her free into the wind – which in true LK fashion blew back onto me and all over my hands, as well as onto one of my partners – she would have found something like that hilarious, so I can’t help but feel that she made it happen. It was incredibly emotional for me, but also fitting to see a part of her set free in a setting that meant so much to her and us – I love you my Mister. This is all so incredibly hard but I’m glad I can continue to have memories like that with her. Thanks also to @kyleektoth and @jeffperron for helping to make that moment happen and for a truly incredible day in the mountains ❤️? #justbekos

A post shared by Adam Campbell (@adamo1979) on Jun 20, 2020 at 8:21am PDT