Photo: Peter Hoang

Looking up at Mount Louis. The Shining is the only route up the entire face of the Diamond, which is a separated piece from the mountain. At the pinnacle of the Diamond, you rappel down into the notch and climb up the other side, which brings you to the peak of Mount Louis.

I headed out to try the climb, the Shining Uncut, bone tired after Castle. I had a new partner, a local Canmore crusher named Dexter. He was capable and trustworthy, but I had never climbed with him. I was so tired, afraid, and unsettled that I couldn’t even bring myself to lead climb. Given the quick success on the previous climb, I expected to climb instantly well on this one, even though the styles were completely different. But I didn’t trust my feet and making my way up the sheer face felt really difficult.

To top it all off, I injured my shoulder that day when I chicken-winged my rotator cuff into an awkward position that tweaked my AC joint. By evening, I couldn’t lift my left arm. The next day, I linked up with Fabienne Moser, a physical therapist for the Canadian Ski Team who works at Altitude Physiotherapy, and she began treating the injury right away.

I slowly began to regain my shoulder strength over the week. The injury wasn’t fully recovered, but the weather window was small and my fatigue had passed. Fabienne recommended I wait three more days before climbing again, and though I felt anxious and impatient, I followed her orders.