A Brief History of Sawback Alpine Adventures

1995-2005: Celebrating 10 years of Mountain Adventure Programming

We began operation in the winter of 1995 and held our first summer retreat programmes in the summer of 1996. It was an exciting summer for all of us, staff and participants alike, a beginning of something new and unexpected. The early staff of Sawback was small: three of us, and our first course had just five participants.

Since that first course our offerings have diversified, and our name has changed from Sawback Wilderness Centre to Sawback Alpine Adventures to reflect the fact that we offer more than just retreast programming. Sawback now specialises in the following:

• Retreat programming (from small groups up to college class-sized groups)
• Custom guided trips - pre-arranged ice climbing, rock climbing, alpine climbing or hiking guide with an experienced qualified guide (see Staff for more information).
• Canmore-based guiding service - Not all guests book in advance, and so we have the resources to obtain guides for your custom guided trip last-minute. If you're in town and need a guide "tomorrow" or even "this afternoon!" then chances are we can accommodate you.

Sawback has also undergone many changes as well: our original co-director, Al Tinholt, stepped down to focus his commitments on career and family though he still works casually as a lead instructor. And we've taken on many new faces as well--see our Staff page to learn more about the folks who make Sawback so special.

Here is a selection of quotes from the group log book of the Venture '96 course:

"In my opinion this day was the most spectacular day of all days so far. We wakened early in the morning, and despite a little bit of confusion and fumbling in the pre-dawn darkness the sight of the moon and the reddening of the horizon brightened everyone’s spirits. We christened our first mountain of the day: Sawback before Sunrise had a breakfast break on "Twilight Peak" and stepped into the dazzling sun for the first blinding time, starting across Northstar Glacier.

"It was fantastic! The pinks and blues turned into bright yellowish orange and you could see for miles and miles. The exciting ridge to the summit of Mt. Gwendoline followed, with daring balance stunts by everyone (tied to ropes!) and special pliees by the most daring. Janis led a devotional, on the summit, on humility. If there was ever a place to feel humble, it was on the top of that incredible mountain - the seven of us probably not even visible from the ground...

"Down we went again - this time on a snow slope - a little down-climbing, some snow-sliding (or whatever it’s called!) and a lot of fun with a gigantic SNOWBALL FIGHT! Nothing like a snowball fight on a glacier. Black Fang peak was next with a technical rock climbing pitch, and then back again to our camp for a very special meal that was destined to become a bit hit! (pasta cooked at 9,500 feet in lukewarm water... ugh!)

"Sleep couldn’t come fast enough to us - [soon] we were settled in for the night, camped high on a wind-blown ridge we spent the night slumbering to the howling and buffeting of the tent."