Northeastern Ontario's Algoma region a haven for ice climbers
Jonathan Migneault | CBC News | Posted: January 4, 2025 11:00 AM | Last Updated: January 4
But a cancelled train service has made the sport less accessible for some
Every winter, Shaun Parent takes adventurous people ice climbing throughout northern Ontario's Algoma region, which includes Sault Ste. Marie.
Parent runs Superior Exploration, an adventure climbing company, and he has been ice climbing in the region since the mid-1980s.
"I get people from all over Canada and a lot from central Michigan," he said.
A lot of his clients are professionals, including doctors and engineers, looking for a winter activity out of the ordinary.
"Ice climbing is ascending frozen waterfalls," he said.
"Or they could just be drips coming down a cliff face and they freeze and they grow thick enough that we climb them."
When he first started ice climbing in the area, Parent said there were just a small number of recognized runs.
He released his first guide book for the Agawa Canyon area in 1986. That year, the guide had 40 different climbs that people could try.
His upcoming guide book, the fourth he has prepared, now has more than 160 different climbs in the area.
But Parent says it's actually more challenging to get to those climbs in the Agawa Canyon than it used to be.
"I'll go in by snowmobile, which is like an hour and a half," he said.
The Algoma Central passenger train, which used to pass through the area, ended that service in 2014.
Parent said 10 times as many climbers would make it to the area when the train was running.
The Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains is currently campaigning to bring the train service back.
Despite the challenges in getting to the best spots. Parent said he encourages young people to take up the sport, and insists it's a safe activity under the supervision of an experienced climber.
They always anchor a rope at the top of the climb.
Parent said he's probably had around 4,500 students over the course of his career and "no one's ever got bonked on the head by a chunk of ice."