Alpine Style - Ice / mixed climbing

Kahveology

jon walsh — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 04:47:10 +0000

KAHVEOLOGY - (The science of coffee)
160m, M8 WI5 First ascent by Jon Simms and Jon Walsh, Jan 23rd, 2015

Simms on the approach

Jonny “the Simmulator” Simms and I had a good Man Yoga practice at the Storm Creek Headwall, in Kootenay National Park. Despite much thinner that usual ice-conditions this year, the end result was Kahveology, a new 4-pitch mixed route, that’s essentially the direct start to final ice pillar of Check Your Head, another route I co-authored a couple years ago with Jason Kruk and Joshua Lavigne. Kahveology means the Science of coffee, and it’s a also a company in Portland that named one of their coffee blends Man Yoga, after the route on the Stanley Headwall that Simms and I authored, and Joshua Lavigne made an entertaining video of. We were so honoured they named the main blend served in their shop after us, we named our latest route after them, to complete the circle, as well as a thank you for sending some of their crucial beans our way! Being the serious coffee fiend that I am, I would definitely drink it all the time if it was closer to home.

Crucial coffee in necessary for Man Yoga

Anyways, while descending from Check Your Head by headlamp, straight down, rather than reversing a couple traverses we had made, I couldn’t help but notice the immaculate, featured, overhanging limestone that directly lead to a tongue of ice that slithered halfway down it, flowing from the pillar. What particularly caught my eye was the abundance of natural protection, somewhat rare for a steeper-than-vertical angle, and I immediately planned to come back someday to attempt it.

Through the crux of the first pitch

That finally came a week ago, as Michelle and I skied up there on a cold day. I did get on it, but unfortunately, couldn’t make it go bolt free, like I’d been dreaming about. The route starts with about ten meters of easy stuff to get to the back of a cave. Unsurprisingly, the back of the cave was chossy, and I had to place two bolts just to get into the steep climbing. Then two more bolts got placed as I blew my gear and tools out on body weight placements. With four bolts placed through the steepest and hardest pulls, I got to a nice crack which marked the beginning of what’s probably the best stretch of limestone I’ve ever dry tooled on. Eventually, I placed two more bolts, perhaps unnecessary ones (although I was pretty psyched to clip them on the redpoint burn a week later), before getting to a fixed-nut rappel anchor left from a couple years ago, which marked the end of the day. Many thanks to Michelle for enduring a long cold belay.

Higher on the first pitch but still 15 meters to go

Six days later, the stars aligned for us. It was much milder making for perfect conditions, the track was still good, and Simms and I made it to the base in 2 hours at a casual pace. With the route prepped, I was able to get the redpoint, and was even egged on to make it a “mega-pitch” and keep climbing all the way to a small ledge, just above the bottom of the ice. Definitely one of the best pitches I’ve done in the Rockies. After a few steep pulls out the cave, the angle eases to vertical to slightly overhanging for about 30-meters, with numerous bulges to negotiate. Perfect torquing cracks and incut holds, made for really fun sustained climbing, with enough stances to shake out from, although never a hands free position until the belay.

A raw unfiltered video of on the second pitch

And on on the fourth

The second pitch was also new and of similar quality, although it followed a fragile strip of ice that on average was an inch thick and a foot wide. By the time we were done it, the snow was falling so we had to hurry as a 2000’ couloir was above the route. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before huge sloughs started coming down at frequent intervals. We split the last 60-meters of ice into two pitches as there was a good belay spot on the right below a rock overhang and we only had a 50-meter rope. We had also brought the drill and installed bolted anchors the whole way right to the top, with hopes it will entice others to get out and try this incredibly high quality route.

starting pitch 2

Higher on pitch 2

Simms on pitch 3

me following it

pitch 4 as the storm intensifies

rappelling from the top. We had a lot of snow come down on us and around us over the course of four rappels

The Beta:
Approach: Park at the Stanley Headwall. Walk or ski for two to three hours depending on conditions. It is one of the closest to the road on the Storm creek headwall, and you can see the upper ice from the highway. I believe it’s probably climbable most years.
-2 ropes, 50-meters will suffice if you have them and want to carry less weight.
-12-14 quick draws, which should include a few long ones
-6 screws, mostly 10-13 cms
-stoppers from 4-11
-Pitons: optional….I placed one #3 Pecker and left it fixed on the second pitch
-I had a double rack of cams up to #3 camelot, and 1 #4. I didn’t need much in the really small sizes. I did place two #3’s on the fist pitch, but would probably have been ok with a single set in the hand crack sizes. Definitely double up in the .3, .4, and .5 camelot sizes, and maybe a bit more.

There is a sheltered spot below a small overhang about 20 meters down and lookers right of the route to gear up, and leave your skis and packs.

THe route as seen from the approach

Pitch 1: 45m M8 - From the highest point of snow below the ice, trend slight right up easy, scrappy, mixed snow ice and rock. A fist crack provides protection for a steep bodylength to the chossy back of the cave. Follow 4 bolts up and left requiring a few honest pulls, to get to a nice crack. Follow that up. It soon passes two more bolts and a fixed nut from the old rappel anchor. After those, trend right, then back left to a bulge below the ice which is used to gain a small ledge and a bolted anchor on the right. Be sure to put a runner on the first bolt, a medium length draw on the second bolt, and extend other cams etc. where necessary to reduce rope drag.

Pitch 2: 50m M6 R - This might be much easier on fatter years. An 80-degree ice goulotte, with occasional rock pro for 15-meters, leads to average 60-degree terrain. It was a very consistent 3 cm thick the entire way for us, and was unprotectable for 30 meters after the angle kicked back. A fall would be serious. Fortunately, the ice we had was of excellent quality making it a reasonable endeavour. The bolted anchor is about 5 meters right of the pillar.

Pitch 3: 30m WI5 - Steep ice, thin and hard to protect at the first, but it does improve. A bolted anchor is on the right below a rock roof.

Pitch 4: 25m WI4 - Straight forward ice climbing. The bolted anchor is about 3-4 meters above the top of the ice in some rock.

The Plum

jon walsh — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 00:57:03 +0000

The Plum WI6 M7, 120m, first ascent: Marc-Andre Leclerc and Jon Walsh Nov. 8, 2014
A new traditional mixed route with no bolts, at the Storm Creek Headwall, Kootenay National Park B.C.

Marc on the approach, with the route marked in red, the belays in green, and the snowslope approach in thick red.

On Saterday November 8th, Marc-Andre and I completed the first ascent of The Plum, a line that’s been in the back in the mind, and in my dreams for the past decade. It follows a slender flow of ice that drips down the nose of a steep butress, creating funky mushrooms, daggers and pillars, that are a real treat to climb on. I had attempted it approximately ten years ago with my ice mentor Rich Marshall. After climbing a pitch of steep ice out of the big cave which eventually became the first pitch of The Peach, another fine addition to Rockies trad mixed by Raphael Slawinski, Rich proceeded to lead what was the wildest pitch he had ever led - he later confessed, as well as one on the craziest leads I’d ever witnessed. Committed after climbing through a couple of M6 overhangs, he continued up for 25m of vertical ice that averaged about 2cm thick, with only 2 knifeblades below him, and no opportunity for further protection! With laser-like focus, he slowly tapped and tested his picks in the verglas (which he thought would be little thicker), shook out his pump, and forged on. Fortunately thin ice was his specialty and despite the x-rating and extreme intensity, he was in his element. I honestly don’t think many others could have pulled off such a lead, and following it, I often found myself hanging just from the first tooth of my picks. I led a short pitch above his anchor, but with darkness closing in and another wild and committing bit of climbing above, I had to build an anchor and lower off, ending our attempt.

Rich Marshall attemping the route circa 2004

That day entrenched itself in my memorey. I’ve been back to that part of the Storm Creek headwall a few times over the years since, always interested to see what that sector of the wasll was looking like, but never saw the buttress ice up enough to look inviting again. Cold snaps likely cause the early season ice to delaminate and then it just doesn't reform, hence, this is really a late fall to early winter route, and perhaps one that only occationaly comes in. One wseek ago, however, Michelle and I were hoping to climb something in the area, but unseasonally warm temperatures made being below any steep or thin ice too dangerous, so our day turned out to be nothing more than hiking and scoping. We ventured far enough up valley to see that more ice was dripping down the dream line than I had ever imagined, and upon returning to the valley, it dominated my thoughts for the following week. Luckily Marc-Andre Leclerc was heading to the Rockies for the first time and was keen to get out, and I figured it would be great first route for us to climb together, as well as perfect intro to the Rockies for him, as he is known to have a solid head for intense climbing, and power to spare. And I say luckily because the Banff Film festival was responsible for tying up most of my other partners who I would normally try to recruit for such an outing.

Upon getting to the base of the route, Marc immediately arranged rock rack on his harness, so instead of the usual rock paper scissors for first lead, I offered it to him as he seamed so keen. Two options presented themselves and he chose the left one, a shallow right facing corner with a bit of ice dripping down it and small icicles decorating the wall around it dangling like christmas tree ornaments. The climbing was steep and thin, and long technical moves were common. The protection was tricky too, and Marc moved slowly but confidently, and made steady upward progress, never knowing where the next hold or piece of protection would appear. A cruxy pull over the roof on 1-2 cm thick ice followed by a fun iced up handcrack and a good ledge to belay at. It was definitely the best first lead in the Rockies I’ve ever witnessed! Three out of the 4 pitons he placed were left fixed.

Marc near the beginning of the first pitch

Marc setting up to pull the roof on the first pitch

Here Marc is trying to get his tools established in ice that mostly falls apart when weighted

The next pitch was pure fun, and I was psyched to get this one as this type of climbing is always special to me - steep, thin ice climbing with most of the gear in the rock! I was surprised to pass the old anchor from ten years ago that I had built, as I thought we might have been further right, but it gave me a good boost of inspiration to have joined out original line, and I felt determined to finish the business. From a stance at the top of strange fin like pillar of rock, an anemic ice pillar guarded the crux and the weakness through the overhanging wall. I climbed delicately to its front, and pounded a knifeblade into a seam to its left, preparing mentally for some very engaging climbing above. But then I noticed an suspicious, yet inviting foot-hold to my left, right on the crest of the arete. I stepped over to it, and saw a I could turn the corner, and traverse into some ice runnels of better, less fragile and more protectable terrain that led to the same place. Once in the runnels, my pace picked up and I made it to a perfect belay ledge with good cracks for an anchor, just as I ran out of rope. As Marc neared the station, he asked if all climbing in the Rockies was this good, and I had to apologize for spoiling him on his first route, as this was about as good as it gets!

Me, on some very fun ice climbing near the start of the second pitch. Photo by Marc-Andre Leclerc

Marc nearing the top of pitch 2. This bit reminded of some of the climbing I did in Scotland last February.

He easily dispatched the last pitch of grade 4 ice, and we were soon on our way to down, stoked, and talking about more possibilities in the upcoming weeks. Although the difficulties of this route weren’t too hard on top rope for the seconder, leading the first two pitches and following them were completely different things, and the intensity and seriousness far exceeded the technical levels of the climbing.

Marc leading pitch 3 as it begins to snow lightly.

For me personally, it was awesome to have shared Marc’s first experience in the Rockies in this way, and to have finished an old project - one I dreampt about for so many years. It was also an amazing feeling to have walked up to a line such as this, and to have completed it first try without placing any bolts. We did carry a bolt kit in the pack, but fortunately that was where it stayed. I think it’s pretty obvious from what’s written here, that this line comes highly recommended to those who like the style of proper traditional mixed, in a wild setting :)

Approach notes: It took us 3 hours to hike from the Stanley Headwall parking lot in ankle-deep snow, that became knee-deep closer to the route. The climb is about halfway along the Storm Creek headwall and just right of The Peach, which is the route up big hanging icicles in the photo. We used an exposed snow ramp that came in from the right to get to the start of the first pitch, and reversed it after two long rappels from the top of the climb. Do not consider going here in times of high avalanche hazard!

Pitch 1: 40m M7. Traverse easily left from the belay, then make steep moves to gain a shallow right facing corner that leads to a roof. We left two peckers and a knifeblade fixed in the corner. Move left through the roof to gain a good crack that trends back right to a belay ledge with many good anchor options. The gear on this pitch is a little bit un-obvious but seemed adequate. Having the three fixed pieces should help…

Pitch 2: 60m WI6. Work through ice blobs and mushrooms, past an old anchor (we used this for rappelling), to stance below an overhang. Delicate moves up and left past some delicate ice, then around the arete on good holds, gain ice filled grooves that lead to an excellent ledge with a good cracks for an anchor a few meters left of the main ice flow. Most of the protection was in the rock, although I did place 6 ice screws as well. This pitch was 90% ice, and 10% rock moves, although we felt like just an ice-grade was more appropriate. The WI6 grade is a definitely more for the technical difficulties then the pump, and harder than your average pitch of “fat” WI6…

Pitch 3. 20m WI4. Vertical for a bit, then easier. This pitch could vary in difficulty depending on the thickness of the ice. A fixed rock anchor of two stoppers is just beyond the end of the ice.

Rack beta: We had a double set of cams from tips to #2 camelot, one #3, and one #4 camelot. Doubles from tips to .75 camelot was nice, but singles from #1 to #4 would suffice. A few pitons, nuts, and a half-dozen screws in the 10-13 cm range would be enough in the same conditions. 14 quick draws wasn’t quite enough for the long second pitch and I was wishing I had a couple more…

Gripped Cover

jon walsh — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 21:45:00 +0000

This fine image taken by Paul Bride has just appeared on the cover Gripped Magazine. I'm stoked and honored to be featured on the cover!!! It's the first pitch of the classic Nightmare on Wolf Street, on the Stanley Headwall.

Rockies Ice

jon walsh — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 03:41:18 +0000

This post is going to be a quick and dirty. No preaching, no spraying, no shameless advertising! I've been so busy with work, training, and life lately that blogging time has been sparse to say the least. So until the next one, I'm mainly just going to post a few pics of me for a change, thanks to Paul and Magda. I don't usually post very many photos of myself but here's a few from some of the amazing Rockies classics I've been on lately. i wish I had some skiing photos from some of the neck deep days at the Rogers Pass I've had, but it's too hard to stop and take them when you're having that much fun. The ski posts will come soon as the days get longer and more interesting adventures begin to unfold.… For now, here's some climbing b-roll, Canadian Rockies style...
Me, on the fourth pitch of Cryophobia, M8 225 meters. Easily one of the best mixed routes in range! Photo: Magda Kosior

me on the second pitch of the French Reality. Yet another multi-pitch mega classic! Photo:Paul Bride

Me on the second pitch of Nightmare on Wolf Street. Another one of my vavorites. The Stanley Headwall is in great shape shape this year! Photo: Paul Bride

The first mixed pitch of Nightmare on Wolf Street with Magda Kosior on belay duty. Photo: Paul Bride

Skate skiing is one of my favorite forms of training, and who better to do it with than my 27 month old daughter Zoe. Here she's immitating me without the skis during a break. "Faster Daddy faster" is what i mostly hear when towing her!

And here's a photo of where I'm going in a week, for a week! One of my favorite zones. Hopefully conditions will be as good as the last two times.

Check Your Head

jon walsh — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:52:12 +0000

A photo of me taken by Joshua Lavigne on nearing the top of the second pitch. (Yes, we goofed around with camera gear, did some filming and photo work. The beauty of climbing as a team of three!)

Check Your Head M6+R, WI 5+ 180m; FA:Jason Kruk, Joshua Lavigne, Jon Walsh November 25th, 2012

This mixed adventure is well worth the long approach. Skis are recommended. You can see the upper half of the route from highway 93, and it lies at the right end of of the first main wall at the Storm Creek Headwall. The rock is excellent and belays are mostly bolted, and at good stances. For the most part, the drytooling is very positive in good cracks, and protects well with natural gear.   The best place to park is at the Stanley Headwall parking, approximately .8 km south of the Storm Creek Headwall fire break approach slope, which has a "no stopping avalanche zone" sign on the highway right below it. The route itself lies in a big avalanche path, so stable snow conditions are needed to climb it.

Ski up the fire break, take the road to the left at the top of it to the creek. Follow the creek up the drainage to headwall. Ascend the fan to the base of the route, 2.5 - 3 hours.

Approach pitch: solo 30 meters of very thin WI2 (no pro), to an ice belay in a cave.

Pitch 1: M6, 32 meters - Start up a couple short ice flows and gain a left facing corner with good gear. A couple delicate slab moves gain a short right facing corner. Follow it for a couple body lengths to a left facing corner that leads to a snow ledge and a two bolt belay.

Pitch 2: M6+ R, 35 meters - Take the groove straight up from the left edge of the ledge. Move leftwards past two pitons (only fixed pro on route). The second is a very good lost arrow. Once it's clipped, traverse left on small edges and continue trending up and left until another crack can be reached.   Follow it straight up and eventually becomes a shallow right facing corner, that ends at a snow ledge, a two bolt belay, and the lower angle halfway "ledge". The second half of the traverse is a little bit run-out, but not the hardest part of the pitch.

Pitch 3: M5 25 meters - Head up from the belay, and then take a hard left where it's easiest. A two bolt anchor is found just before the ice.

Pitch 4: WI 5+ 40 meters - The left side of the ice was thicker and offered the most protectable line. Small rock gear was useful to protect the initial moves onto the thin curtain at the bottom. We belayed at a protected stance from ice screws on the right hand side, before the final steep pillar.

Pitch 5: WI 4+ 25 meters - Straight forward high quality ice climbing to an ice anchor at the top.

Rappel notes: It's a 57-meter rappel from the top of the ice to the highest bolted anchor.   Then a 45-50-meter rappel straight down to a 2-nut station at a hanging stance (drill battery died).   Then a 20 meter free hanging rappel to the ground.

Rack: 2 60-meter ropes; 1 set of nuts, 1 set of micro cams, 2 sets of cams from .3 camelot to #3 camelot. 8-10 ice screws. Pitons optional (we placed 2 and left them fixed).

Two different angles of the climb, showing the belays and rappel stations

Uniform Queen

jon walsh — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:19:41 +0000

I climbed one of the best pitches of trad mixed I think I've ever done this past weekend. The route was the Uniform Queen on the Stanley Headwall (very close to Man Yoga), and it doesn't get much better than its third pitch, which involves climbing a dead vertical hand crack and a thin smear of ice - at the same time!. The hand cracks for your right hand and foot, and the thin smear of ice is for your left tool and foot. Hand jams in the right crack seemed to be the only way at times, which is a little out of character for the Rockies. After about thirty meters of this, a small icy overhang needs to be passed before reaching easier grounded and the belay. It doesn't seem to come in that often so if you haven't done it, you should go now! The grade is M7…

Thanks Gery, for the great day and the photos.

For more photos and Gery's website: http://vertical-unlimited.smugmug.com/Ice-and-Mixed-climbing/Uniform-Queen-Stanley-Headwall/20528062_nJXLQ5#1625870348_z9H3wDS

"Uniform Queen" is marked. The third pitch starts at the top of the arrow. The fat ice in the middle is the "Suffer Machine".

Me following the second pitch.

Halfway up the third pitch.

Man Yoga

jon walsh — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 02:54:55 +0000

Dec.5 Update: To see Joshua Lavigne's nicely shot and edited 10 minute Man Yoga video, click here

Simms on pitch 1 - photo: Joshua Lavigne

Jon Simms and I just finsihed a new route on Stanley Headwall named "Man Yoga", that spanned three seasons. I put a total of nine days in on it and Simms put in seven. This past weekend, we spun two laps on it, friday 11/11/11, and sunday for some photos. We managed the redpoint both days and can finally call the 250 meter line done! We were supposed to go up there the weekend before but while I was at the Banff film festival, Simms bailed on me via text message. Jason Kruk was at the festival and chomping at the bit for a good climbing adventure, so we teamed up, and finished the line to the top of the cliff, but came up short of the redpoint. We did get some pretty good photos of it on Jason's camera, and they can be seen here, along with Jason's account of the day.

Definition:
Man Yoga (n): may involve scratching around, getting pumped mentally and physically above natural protection on sometimes questionable rock, while searching for passage up steep virgin terrain, often a mix of rock, ice. Man yoga involves commitment, digging deep, and on-sighting in back-country situations. It could also involve scrubbing dirt off boulders or cliffs in full conditions, and / or ducking Roman Candle shots fired by your belayer, arms locked off with poor feet, beyond protection, while engaged in the crux sequence. Etc., etc.. The term was coined by Jonny Simms several years ago while we were putting up the route Drama Queen - also on the Stanley Headwall, and has since been stuck in our vocabulary, and frequently used when making climbing plans or generally talking about climbing. It has also been applied to steep skiing situations such as billy-goating down steep, scary snow faces, or just long full value runs in no fall zones, that require skill, tenacity, and a calm confident head to shred. i.e.: "Let's go do some Man Yoga…" Man Yoga is not limited to men - women can do it too, although it's far less common to see a women engaging in advanced man yoga, although fortunately, their numbers are indeed growing.

The story of the route Man Yoga:
Man Yoga became the name we used to refer to our latest project, and obviously it stuck. In January 2009, Chris Brazeau asked me if I wanted to join him on a Stanley Headwall adventure to try and gain the obvious steep ice, whose access was blocked by a massive roof, about two hundred meters right of the Suffer Machine. Naturally I was psyched, and despite the snow covered rock, we nearly finished the second pitch on our first try, via a natural line that skirted the monstrous roof on its left. The self drive bolt, two thirds of the way up the second pitch marks our high point, and was the only bolt placed that day, after two long leads. Amazingly (or not), there were no traces of any other parties visiting this crack system up this beautifully immaculate limestone wall, despite the fact the every person who has ever walked back to Nemesis or Suffer Machine has gawked at the ice above the stunning overhang. Although we planned on returning soon, shoulder injuries from skiing prevented it from happening anytime too quickly.

Between October and December 2010, Jonny Simms was back on the scene after a couple years on the coast, and was in need of a proper man yoga session. Brazeau's recovering shoulder wasn't up to it, so Simms and I returned five times over two months to the Headwall project. We finished the second pitch, bolted the belays and added a total of 16 protection bolts to the second and fourth pitches. It was way more bolts than we hoped to add (the original dream was for a completely natural line), but the result is a safe and fun route, and it's probably at least as long and demanding as anything else on the Stanley Headwall in terms of overall effort. We hope the bolts and excellent natural protection will encourage others to repeat it, and we highly recommend it. We're definitely psyched with how it turned out, and building the route was so much fun. The rock quality is astounding, the route follows a devious natural line, the climbing is sustained and always interesting, there's lots of variety, and the two pitches of ice at the top are superb. It might be better in early winter when the thin ice is fresh and well bonded, and the rock is less snow covered, but it should be good right through until spring. However, more snow will give it more of alpine feel - perfect training for more serious routes in the range. Actually, it's steep enough that battling the snow isn't too bad as not that much seems to stick to it. This November (as well as last season's ice), was far thinner than that of the winter of 2009 / 2010, so I would expect some of the bolts on the fourth pitch may be covered in ice on fatter seasons. This will undoubtably make the crux slightly easier...

The beta:

M8, approximately 250 meters of climbing in 5 pitches + an approach pitch. FA: Jon Simms and Jon Walsh. Special appearances, inspiration, and help from Chris Brazeau, Troy Jungen, Tony Richardson, and Jason Kruk

The route is located about 200 meters right of Suffer Machine. It's a devious line that skirts the left side of the huge arch and then trends back right to reach the ice flow above it. There is more rock than ice, on this route, and the rock is of excellent quality throughout. The route is probably best in early season, but is climbable all season from November to April. In times of good stability, it's much quicker to leave the trail in the valley, just as it starts ascending the south side, by crossing the creek, cutting through the trees, and ascending the fan directly to the base.

P0 - (the approach) pitch 0 cause we've never actually roped for it, although it is about 5.4. Climb up two short chimneys with snow ledges between, until below the great roof (about 25 meters). Make a couple of moves up and left around a corner, then traverse across about 30 - 40 meters of 40-degree snow, or third class in early season. A bolted anchor can be found near the left side of this big ledge, on then left side of small cave that probably fills in with as the snowpack deepens. Heads up on the big ledge, it holds a lot of snow and could avalanche. 5.4 70+ meters
(rappel 40 meters from bolts to ground)

P1 - Juggy dry-tooling, and hand-jamming on immaculate rock with bomber gear. Climb easy terrain above the anchor with sparse protection at first, then trend right towards a shallow right facing corner at the left edge of the huge arching roof. Climb this with excellent protection in finger sized cracks. Sometimes the slab on the right gets iced up and sometimes its dry. Pull a small overhang into a slot, and work your way up the crack that widens from hands to offwidth. Pull through the roof and follow a 50-degree ramp for about 8 meters to the 2 bolt anchor. M7 45meters

JW on pitch 2; photo: Joshua Lavigne

P2 - The delicate face pitch. Pay close attention to your rope drag - it's crucial to use lots of extendable draws. Move out left from the belay and then back right towards a bolt, then up a seam past a fixed pecker. Continue up a left facing corner until below a roof (about 15 meters). Place a red camelot with a double length runner in the obvious splitter, and traverse right below the roof with good protection. After about 10 meters of traversing, a series of five bolts and some delicate face climbing up parallel seams leads to the next 2 bolt anchor. Gear to 2.5". M7 35 meters
(rappel 60 meters direct to the big snow ledge, then traverse 10 meters back to the anchor at the top of pitch 0)

P3 - Follow the cracks / groove straight up from the anchor, until it's possible to step right onto a good ledge and a 2 bolt anchor. (gear to 4 inches) M5 25 meters

P4 - The crux pitch - careful of the rope drag - use your extendable draws wisely! Climb up and right past a knifeblade to a bolt. Traverse right along the ledge past another piton. Continue up and right past 2 bolts until you can step around the corner and cross an icy slab. Keep following the bolts up and right as they traverse below the big roof the ice drips from. A right facing corner offers steep powerful moves with great pick torquing through the roof, and a pumpy move back left to a stance at the lip. This will be a bit easier on fatter ice years. Continue up mixed ground for another 8 meters, past a bolt and a knifeblade, looking for a small ledge on the left with a two bolt anchor. This pitch is all fixed (11 bolts, 4 pitons,) although small rock gear might be useful for some people, as will ice screws on fatter years. M8 32 meters

JW pulling the overhang on pitch 4; photo: Joshua Lavigne

P5 - Proper ice climbing at last, and a fine finish - It starts with some thin, lower angled ice up a right facing corner, with good rock gear for protection, followed by a short but steep pillar to a stance in a small cave. Straightforward WI 5 from here leads to the cave the ice flows from, and bolted anchor. A single rack up to #1 camelot and ice screws needed. WI 5 50 meters

Simms climbing ice with good rock protection on Pitch 5; photo:Joshua Lavigne

Two rappel options exist. Obviously rappelling the route is one, although the fourth pitch needs to be back-clipped to make it to the third anchor. pull the ropes here, then another short rappel down the third pitch. 60 meter ropes land you on the big snow ledge of pitch 0, but 10 meters of walking is required to get to the bolted station. Alternatively, from the top of the 4th pitch, make a 60 meter rappel straight down to a bolted station at a small stance, just above the lip of the big arch. This station is about 3-4 meters left of the plumb line of the rappel. This might be a bit of an intense rappel line if you're doing it for the first time in the dark. Then make another wild rappel over the big arch, 55 meters to the snow ledge of pitch 0, 10 to 15 meters of walking to the bolted station. One more 40 meter rappel to the ground.

Ropes: Two 60m ropes. Using doubles would be advantageous for reducing the rope drag, which there is a lot of on the second and fourth pitches, unless the leader does an excellent job placing extendable slings in the right places. We used a single and a tag, but knowing the pitches helped, and we used at least 10 extendable slings. The advantage is of course the ability to haul, and both climbers climb with less stuff on their backs and harnesses. If you're hauling the pack, Hauling on the first pitch is best done, by pulling the haul line all the way up, and then throwing it back down in a more direct path to the belay. It still may get caught and is best tied off as short as possible, so the seconder can help jerk it around some overhangs.

Rack:
Cams: the following sizes are in BD Camelots, which is what we used
Singles: #0 C3 (green); #2 C4 (gold); #3 (blue) #4 C4(grey)
Doubles: #1 C3 (reds); #.3 C4 (blue); #.4 C4 (grey); #.5 C4(purple); #.75 C4(green); #1 C4(red)
1 half set of nuts
Pitons are optional but the route is set up for climbing without hammers, and there are several fixed in key places.
Draws: 16 draws -- 10 extendable and 6 quick draws, one or two extra double length runners

Screws: 7 - 10 including stubbies. I guess the number depends on your comfort level leading steep ice after a relatively full day of climbing. The ice gradually gets fatter the higher you get.

Enjoy!

Rivers of Babylon - A new Route on Mt Wilson

jon walsh — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:11:03 +0000

Rivers of Babylon VI M6+ WI5+R 500 m

On Nov. 26 and 27, Paul McSorley and I climbed a new 9 pitch route on Mt. Wilson in the bowl between Mixed Monster and Ice Nine. "Rivers of Babylon" is the central line of three ice flows. The climbing is sustained, technical and fun the entire way. It was also quite delicate and often run-out. We climbed mostly rock that traversed left and right on natural weaknesses through the overhanging buttress, for four pitches to gain the thin flow, which provided excellent thin ice and mixed climbing for another five pitches. Good screws were rare to non existent, however tool placements came easily. No bolts were placed and the rock is generally excellent by rockies standards. We fixed three ropes on the first four pitches on day one, descended to Rampart Creek hostel for the night, and the next day ascended our ropes and climbed the rest of the route. A one day ascent would be impressive, but doable by a very strong party. This route is probably best earlier in the season and will be extremely dangerous when the avalanche hazard increases.

Drama Queen

jon walsh — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:27:22 +0000

Drama Queen 170m M7 WI6
FA: Chris Brazeau, Jon Simms, Jon Walsh Jan 5, 2006

Late in March 2004, Jon Simms and I went "freestyling" up this part of the headwall after failing on another route. We had soon climbed to bellow the upper daggers in four pitches of entertaining climbing. We decided to go back the following season with the drill and push the route to the top of the wall. After a day of equipping in early december, we invited Chris Brazeau to join us for the final send. The name of the route comes from the conversations and jokes that were making us laugh one day working on the route. Everybody has a drama queen in their life...

Drama Queen is located on the Stanley Headwall about halfway between French Toast and Extreme Comfort. There is a traverse bolt marking the start and the first belay. The climbing follows thinly iced ramps and corner systems to wild mushroom formations that grow below the twin daggers that the route finishes upon. The climbing itself has a bit of an "alpine" feel and is a bit scrappy at times (wide cracks, squeeze chimneys, etc.). Each pitch gets progressively harder until the final ice crux at the very top! A rack consisting of Camelots - one each from .3 to #3, a few stoppers, and 6 or 7 screws including stubbies does the trick. The cruxes are generally well protected but there are some run-out sections in between. The route finding is very straight forward and the first three belays are fixed. The top belay is in ice.

The Shadow

jon walsh — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:44:15 +0000

The Shadow - WI6+R, M6, 220 meters, Mt. Patterson, Canadian Rockies

Blaeberry Express

jon walsh — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:50:01 +0000

Blaeberry Express - Hepberg Creek, Blaeberry Valley B.C. GR975035 220 m M6 WI 6 - F.A. Rich Marshall, Jon Walsh - Dec 1, 2005

Les Miserables

jon walsh — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:07:54 +0000

Guy Lacelle climbing Les Miserables, in Banff National Park.

Master of Puppets

jon walsh — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:32:57 +0000

Sometimes I find myself on the other side of the lens. Here it's climbing one of the most spectacular a pillars I've ever climbed, that has only formed during the winter of 04/05. Master of Puppets is a four pitch route that parralels the Upper Weeping pillar on the Icefileds Parkway, Alberta. (photo: Paul McSorley)

Dawn of the Dead

jon walsh — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:09:39 +0000

Chris Brazeau is climbing Dawn of the Dead at the Stanley Headwall. The Headwall is one of the premier attractions to mixed climbers world wide.

The Sorcerer

jon walsh — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:05:05 +0000

Caroline Ware (leading) and Jenn Olson on the fourth pitch of the Sorcerer, a Rockies classic. I soloed the climb beside them in order to shoot photos.

Sea of Vapors

jon walsh — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:01:47 +0000

Visiting Swiss ice climber Caroline Ware is toping out on the fourth pitch of "Sea of Vapors", a world famous ice climb near Banff, Alberta.

Curtain Call

admin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:35:21 +0000

Rich Marshall sillouetted against a cloud on the classic Curtain Call, a frozen waterfall on the Icefields Parkway, in Jasper National Park, Alberta.