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The Adventure Zone

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THE BREATHTAKING COUNTRYSIDE outside of Grande Cache, Alberta, is an increasingly attractive destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Once a little-known town north of Jasper, the region has become prime terrain for hiking, cross-country skiing and climbing.

This March, outdoor enthusiasts Dale Tuck, Bev Watson and Keith Darcel are hoping to inspire more people from home and away to explore the local splendour by making the first winter ascent of 8,583-foot Silvertip. The highest and most challenging summit in the area of Willmore Wilderness Park, Silvertip is also one of 21 picturesque mountains in the town's panoramic view that are part of a community hiking challenge called Passport to the Peaks. "This will be the first-ever winter ascent," says Darcel. "But all of these mountains are hikeable and we're hoping to encourage people to climb them."

Battling the seasonal elements, the trio will hike, ski and climb their way to the top over three days, picking up air-dropped supplies along the way. At the summit, they will install a cairnbox — the seventeenth distributed so far among the mountains listed in the challenge. Each box contains a Passport to the Peaks stamp that future participants will use to emboss an official "passport" that will authenticate each climb. Tuck, Watson and Darcel are also making a video documentary of the experience that they will submit to the Banff Film Festival in November.

For more information on the climb or Passport to the Peaks program, visit www.passporttothepeaks.ca