ACC Gazette Section Stories: Saint Boniface
A Year-Round Commitment
Story and photos by Dre DeBattista, for the 2025 Gazette
St. Boniface doesn’t have many tall structures except for two towers. And rather than the site of a Middle Earth war of fantastic proportions, one of them is the site of volunteer contributions of fantastic proportions.
It’s the prairies, so the two towers can easily be spotted from a mile away. One of them is a retired water tower which doesn’t concern us. The other, although it may look a bit like a communications tower, is the heart of the local ACC section.
If you get closer to this tower, in any season, you will probably notice people scaling it. If you ask one of those climbers about it, they’ll tell you about their club with a smile across their face. That’s right, the ACC St. Boniface Section operates this 60-foot-tall climbing tower in the heart of the prairies.
It was André Mahé’s and Denis Gravel’s vision to bring ice climbing to the prairies. They started construction of the tower in 1993 and first glazed it with ice in 1996. Section volunteers have been operating it ever since.
The making ice part didn’t work perfectly right away. In the early days water would seep into the tower, and it was incredibly difficult to cover every surface of the exterior.
But the process has been improved. The panels on the tower were sealed with miter joints and caulking, and stainless-steel bolts were used to plug the T-nut holes. Section Chair Charles Roy has innovated a manifold with nozzles to evenly disperse water from top to bottom, and he fixes retired climbing ropes to wick the water towards problem areas. This has reduced water consumption and improved ice formation and retention.
Making the tower work for climbing is a year-round commitment and the job of many, many volunteers. In the spring, a team does routine maintenance on the tower and a major reset of it’s 25 routes. With sharp corners that run the entire height of the tower, it’s possible to set routes that mimic rock climbing on arêtes and dihedrals.
During the rock climbing season, every weeknight and on weekends, a team from the section supervises climbers as they work out the thin slabs and mid-wall dynos.
Then come fall, more volunteers remove all the holds and prepare the tower for winter, but it doesn’t hibernate alone. No. Volunteers rig the tower so that it can be flooded on the coldest days of December and climbed with ice axes and crampons all winter. Every year it freezes with new and interesting features and fun routes ranging from WI 4 to WI 5. Supervision of the ice climbing is another massive winter-long job for volunteers.
So, how does the club maintain consistent volunteers? With incentives and community. Section Volunteer Coordinator Trisha Burch says the key to success has been consistent communication. Showing interest and appreciation in the work and skills of others, she invites them to the tower. It’s a fun environment for her to offer them volunteer opportunities with added value.
“When people come to orientations,” said Burch, “we try to vary the information, so the returning people get something out of it too.”
Some section members have been contributing regularly for years. Others are travellers looking for affordable climbing and community during their stay in Winnipeg. Others volunteer intermittently when they have time. Burch works to align all the schedules, coordinates appreciation events, and puts in a lot of hours at the tower herself.
Last year it took the work of 66 volunteers over 1,796 combined hours to keep the tower open. This special landmark in St. Boniface continues to give so many the chance to climb year-round because of their efforts.
Regional ACC Sections are the Alpine Club of Canada’s strength. Membership in an ACC Section enables members to participate in numerous summer and winter mountaineering, rock climbing, and skiing activities, coordinated by experienced amateur leaders in their local area. The majority of activities offered by sections are either free or are offered on a break-even basis to their members. Through ACC 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.
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We are always seeking great articles and stories from members and regional sections. Drop us an email and pitch your ACC story – we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to our editorial team at gazette@alpineclubofcanada.ca
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