I had never really heard of mountaineering before, let alone from the Alpine Club of Canada in Montreal. I defined myself as a hiker, yet I kept finding myself looking for something that was hard to define, an itch that left me a little more dissatisfied with every hike I did.

I remember feeling a cure the first time I climbed L’Accropole des Draveurs. The bare summit, the view, and the rock; it spoke to me. But it wasn’t till June 10, 2017 with my friend Alex that I had my epiphany. He was my new brother-in-law, and I told him I hiked. He said “me too man, have you ever been to the ‘Dacks?”. I said “no”. He said, “would you like to go?”. I said “let’s go”.

We decided on doing the Cascade-Porter combo. As we approached the alpine area and saw the rocky summit of Cascade through the trees, I dawned upon me and I shouted “that’s what I wanted!”. From there on out, I decided all my outings would be in the Adirondacks.

We had a couple of friends with a Westfalia van and while speaking about the ‘Dacks, they said, “we know of a beautiful, cheap place to camp in the middle of the Adirondacks, David found it by chance when he was looking for a place to sleep on his triathlon outings in Lake Placid. How about a weekend getaway?”. “Hell, yeah.” 🙂

After 2 hours of driving, including a magnificent 40 min on the 9N, we find ourselves turning left onto Styles brook Road, just before the entrance to the village of Keene. After 1 or 2 km, we came upon a small rustic wooden sign indicating the entrance to the site, with the surprising inscription “Alpine cub of Canada – Montreal section”. Huh!?!

Back from this great weekend, I dashed to my computer to do my little Google search “Alpine club of Canada”. Bam! All the info was right there!

Since 1906, the Alpine Club of Canada has been promoting alpine experience, knowledge and culture, responsible access and excellence in mountain skills and leadership.

Based in Canmore, Alberta, the ACC is also the Canadian regulatory body for competitive climbing, sanctioning local, regional and national events, and building, coaching and supporting the National Team. It also hosts the Mountain Guides’ Ball, an annual gala event of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) and the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG).

The Alpine Club of Canada is made up of 22 regional chapters that manage a network of 28 huts across Canada, including one in the United States. In Quebec, there are 3 sections of the Alpine Club: Outaouais section, Laurentian section and Montreal section. It is through the sections of the Alpine Club of Canada that a multitude of mountain activities are offered to members.

It didn’t take much, I was now a member of the Alpine Club of Canada – Montreal section!😀

After 3 years of membership, I have now had the chance to participate in many activities such as the annual BBQ, the Winter Fest and the New Members Weekend. I have met some great and passionate people. I shared unforgettable evenings and made friends. And thanks to some of these friends, I will have the chance to realize my first altitude project in the coming months. In addition, the section organizes an alpine program every winter.

I am also in my second year as a member of the executive committee team as the Social Activities Coordinator with a gang of mountain-loving enthusiasts who all have at heart to create an ever more dynamic section for its members and I hope to participate in it for a long time to come.

Paul, Steve, Paul, Luc, Luc, Luc, Edwige, Will, Jacques, Guillaume, Vince and Gaby, it’s a great pleasure to be part of this team with you, I can’t wait for confinement to be over!

Be alpine! 😀