Peskett Canyon (or Box Canyon) is a stunning slot canyon that divides Mount Ernest Ross and Mount Elliot, in the David Thompson corridor approximately 55km west of Nordegg, Alberta. Awaiting your discovery here are the ice climbs “Lovely Parting Gifts” (WI3) and “End of the Line” (WI4), and, in the summer, the rapidly-developing rock climbing areas of “Little Russia” and “Solar Panel”.
Disclaimer: explore this canyon with qualified guides, there are overhead snow/ice/rock hazards to assess prior to entering the canyon. On February 28th, 2021, our Adventure Club members were guided by Tim Taylor of Girth Hitch Guiding, as well as Pierre Hungr from Galena Mountain Guides. We were joined by up & coming outdoor leaders from Frontier Lodge (who provided our delicious food, accommodations, and gear), Mac Vidal and Tobi Von Butler.
Wandering up this canyon and doing a couple laps on “Lovely Parting Gifts” made for a sweet close to a full weekend of ski touring and swinging tools for our group of pandemic-weary climbers. We were approximately 6 hours car-to-car, moving 7.5km round-trip at a relaxed pace with around 500m of elevation gain, and taking lots of photos of this super-picturesque destination. We parked on the west side of the highway and started hiking up the right-hand bank of the creek, and on the way out followed the creek back to the highway.
After about a 20-min hike up the right-hand bank, we put on our crampons and followed the frozen creek the rest of the way up the canyon. There are a number of short ice steps to navigate as you make your way, and we stopped to listen to the sounds of a zillion water drops at “The Big Drip”.
Check out the collection of photos from group members below (thank you Del Sutherland, Michael Harvey, Steve Koehn, Brad Kryger, Pete Wardell, and Mac Vidal), and contact Girth Hitch Guiding to experience this highlight of the Rockies for yourself.
Jeff Sutherland 
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