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The Adventure Zone

Past stories Surf's up! The Calgary Stampede Moraine for Life Adventure Relay Monarch Redux Rockies Bird Festival Arctic Winter Games Bolivia's Acotango Mount Kilimanjaro The Drambuie Pursuit Canadian Aboriginal Festival Mountain Mania Adventure racing Manitoulin Island Star Party Celebration of Light Algonquin Park Ottawa Race Weekend Maple syrup festival Cain's Quest Have Snowshoes, Will Travel Quebec Ice Hotel In the Eye of the Storm Arctic Aurora Borealis Canada's 'Deep South' Agawa Canyon Ablaze Mahone Bay Boat Festival Vancouver Island's rocky trail Wild Women Expeditions Eco-Endurance Summiting Canada Gourmet getaway Yukon Arctic Ultra Canadian Wind Riders Winnipeg's urban pathways Canoeist/artist Bill Mason Take a hike Whitewater kayaking The 2005 Sea Cavalcade Moonstruck - Adventure racers Delta Marsh Birding Festival Climb for conservation The Eagle has Landed Gold Rush Trail Whistler Film Festival Fit to ski Whyte Museum of the Rockies Cheakamus Challenge "Super Dave" Norona Ontario's French River region Cabot Trail Relay Race Point Pelee Festival of Birds Canmore Ice Climbing Festival Winterlude Yeti Mountain Snowshoe Series Golden Horseshoe Orienteering Club Banff Mountain Book Festival Haliburton Highlands Sand Sculpture Championships BC Mobility Society Bathtub Race Championship Bike Month Running off the road Birds of a Feather Grand Plans in Grand Cache Le Festival du Voyageur Raid Ukatak Around the World Alone November culinary adventure Mountains in Miniature In the Belly of the Dragon Raid the North Extreme!! Making a splash! Volunteer for nature Cycling for sustainability Working for Wildlife Whale of a time Canadian Death Race Mont Tremblant Skiing Nanook of the North Eco-challenge Climate Change Caravan Royal Regatta Unleash the hounds World Cup mountain bike race Yukon River Quest On top of the world Canada's World-Class Heritage Gliding across the silver screen Marathon Madness National Ski and Snowboard Week Christmas Bird Count Banff Festival Adventure racing Coast-to-coast trek Whitewater rodeos In praise of parks Watching Canada's wildlife Canada's Highest Peak Alaska Adventure Racer

It started out as a handful of gear-demo days and grew into a popular local festival. Five years later, however, the Canmore Ice Climbing Festival (CCIF) is one of the country's premier winter events and is attracting national and international talent to Canada's coolest small town.

Thanks to organizers Scott Semple and Phil Villeneuve of Infekshus Media, the four-day CCIF, from March 3 to 6, is bigger and better than ever. The action-packed competition, which takes place on artificial ice and at the Vsion Bouldering Gym, revolves around three key events, dubbed the "Trilogy." Men's and women's open and intermediate climbers will compete in dry-tooling, speed and the new ice-difficulty categories for cash and gear prizes.

As with any extreme sport, skill building is important. Ice-climbing competitions, the majority of which take place on artificial surfaces, allow climbers to develop new techniques that can be translated into difficult climbs in the mountains, explains Semple. To set the stage, he and Villeneuve, along with a crew of scaffolding experts from Edmonton, have been hard at work creating the 50-foot-tall "twin towers" that serve as the CCIF's ice wall and overhang for the speed and difficulty events. "What other sport builds its stadium every time it has a competition?" Semple asks.

Some 15 international competitors are attending to compete or hold free skills clinics. The impressive list of participants includes world-renowned climbers Stephane Husson, Harald Berger, Ines Papert and Kirsten Buchmann, all top five finishers in the 2002 and 2003 Ice World Cups. Renowned climber Will Gadd will also be on hand to sign his new instructional book Ice & Mixed Climbing: Modern Technique, and Sean Isaac will be there with copies of the latest edition of Mixed Climbs in the Canadian Rockies. Slide shows by Harald Berger and Jack Tackle, gear demonstrations, food, drinks and an "After Party" with Calgary DJ Cary Chang guarantee a good time for all.

For more information, visit www.canmoreiceclimbingfestival.com