Feature section: The ACC Ottawa Section
There's an Alpine Club in Ottawa? With over 400 members, the Ottawa Section is a unique jumping-off-point for eastern hiking, climbing, skiing and more
by Bill Barrett, Section Chair, Ottawa Section
and David Foster, Former VP Services, Ottawa Section
Anchor clinic, Rockfest, September 2018.
People ask, “Why an alpine club in Ottawa? Where are the mountains?” Yet for more than 400 members, the ACC Ottawa Section is their go-to group for outdoor activities.
Father and son, Giant Mountain, Adirondacks, August 2022.
Many members have come to the Ottawa region for a job or to study and they are looking for others who climb, ski, or hike. And while we don’t have the alpine terrain of western or northern Canada, we do have many areas for great, easily-accessible adventures.
Within an hour of Ottawa, members are on ice or rock at Calabogie, or on a Gatineau Park backcountry trail to hike or ski. Within two hours you can climb at Montagne d’Argent, Lac Poisson Blanc or Val David in the Laurentians. To our west, good ice climbing can be found at Bancroft and Diamond Lake as well as multi-pitch rock routes at Bon Echo. Expanding the radius to four hours gets you to New Hampshire’s White Mountains, Vermont’s Green Mountains, the Adirondacks in New York State, and the Charlevoix region northeast of Quebec City.
This fall there are three weekend outings planned to the Adirondacks and one to Vermont. Hiking, climbing, and skiing in the east are accessible and on a scale that is doable for a wide range of members.
For some, membership is a step towards alpine activity in Western Canada. This past summer 15 Ottawa members enjoyed hiking at Lake O’Hara while staying at Elizabeth Parker Hut. Other section members spent time out west with friends they have made in the club. Building your skills in the east and then testing yourself in the more challenging Rockies is a goal of many members and one supported by a tradition of western section summer camps.
The Ottawa Section has been described as a hiking section, with many of our members looking for opportunities to trek in Gatineau Park and the eastern ranges nearby. But that is changing as many new members who are focused on climbing join the club. Many gym climbers join to access a section climbing outing or training day. We have a partnership with the University of Ottawa Climbing Club that sees their members welcomed into the section at no charge to take advantage of club activities on the local crags. The section has collaborated with the Southern Ontario Ice Festival, providing sponsorship money and inviting members to the next festival in February 2023. The section and members also support Crag Care, a volunteer group that maintains the popular Calabogie climbing area.
The climbing community is growing across Canada, and Ottawa is no exception. This year, three new crags have opened on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. Climbers in the region are seeking out new experiences and building the sport.
A section exists to bring members together in a shared activity – to have fun and to learn from one another. In addition to supporting the wider climbing community the Ottawa Section organizes two group events each year; Hikeapalooza and Rockfest. On these weekends between 40 and 50 section friends, new and old, gather to hike and climb, to exchange stories, share a meal and a drink and continue traditions that began over 70 years ago.
Established in 1949, members of the Ottawa Section were instrumental in establishing rock climbing in our region in Gatineau Park and at Bon Echo. The 1970s and 1980s saw members extend their reach to the western mountains and the arctic, with notable expeditions to Ellesmere and Baffin Islands, and play a significant role in the ACC’s Centennial Climbs in the Yukon. Renowned Ottawa members like Helmut Microys set the standard of the era and remain an inspiration to this day. More recent “uber-leaders” like Darrell Newman, who regularly lead 40+ hikes each year, keep the section strong and growing.
The Ottawa Section has a long history of volunteer commitment and this continues to the present as a new generation of climbers, hikers and skiers take people out on adventures both near and further away. Why join an ACC Section in eastern Canada, come and see!
Join a local ACC Section
Our regional sections are our strength. Membership in a section enables you to participate in numerous summer and winter mountaineering, rock climbing, and skiing activities, coordinated by experienced amateur leaders in your local area. The majority of activities offered by sections are either free or are offered on a break-even basis to members. Through section trips you’ll learn all the basics you need to travel safely in the mountains, while meeting new friends to enjoy your experiences with.
