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This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
The Acrophobes!
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
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Must be viewed LARGE - PRESS "L"
The Blue Mountains are a popular destination for Rock Climbers, Mountain Bikers and Hikers as well as canyoning and other adventure sports. These sports are well catered for by guiding companies and equipment stores located mainly in Katoomba.
Popular climbing destinations include the Centennial Glen cliffs near Blackheath, Mount Victoria, Mount Piddington and Mount Boyce. Climbing is currently banned on The Three Sisters.
Mountain biking takes place mainly on the many fire trails that branch away from the main spine of the Great Western Highway, such as Narrow Neck, Anderson's Fire Trail and others.
Likewise many of the fire trails are popular with day hikers, though many dedicated walking trails exist away from the fire roads.
Canyoning in the Blue Mountains is a popular sport and caters for various skill levels. It does carry with it inherent dangers but for those with the appropriate skills or those looking to take a guided trip there are many great opportunities to experience a different view of the Blue Mountains.
There are numerous abseiling options available in the Blue Mountains including single and multipitch routes. There are some restrictions though with certain areas being closed for abseiling.
This is one of those hidden gems the mountains has to offer!
After last weeks mission on a wet Angel's Crest, awesome-Erika and myself decided to head back to the west-coast wonderland of Squamish and spend a day cragging some single pitch crack, before embarking on another climb up the chief. This mission: the new 5.9 variation of the classic Squamish Buttress route, aptly named Squamish Butt-Face. Instead of the buttress, one climbs this route by venturing out on to the face. Hence the name.
We ended up going up with three rope teams of two. A six person mission up the chief?! It can be done! Erika and myself, as well as Jeff and Adam sent the Buttface. Jolene, with Don's belay, sent the Squamish Buttress, the routes rendezvous up top. There was much glee! :)
Erika and I were on the ball this time around. I rope-gunned it and led all thirteen pitches, and I think this was the best I have ever felt on a big climb. It was a spectacular climb.
I'll let the images speak for themselves for now, more later. This smile will take a while to wear off.
Gosh I love Rock Climbing!!!!!!
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
Old Man of Hoy Scotland, I'll be putting a few more photos up later from the climbs we did two years ago, (inspired by my re-visit to Old Man of Stoer last week!)
Facts -
Old Man of Hoy GB's tallest sea stack at 137mts (450ft)
Old Man of Stoer about a third of Hoy's height.
Sheffield's Arts tower - 78mts (255ft)
Emley Moor TV Tower - 135m (445ft.) tall
It was a cold windy (with a few sunny intervals) June day in 2004 that me Liz & Rich set off from Sheffield at 05.00am, catching the 18.00ish ferry at Thurso to Stromness on Orkney some 450 miles later! We were treated to a superbe sun lit view of the Old Man as the ferry slowly chugged past..... more pictures & story later...off to work now...
Overnight on Orkney YHA (Kirkwall) then ferry to Hoy (Lyness) via ferry terminal at Houton. Lovely drive along the coast then across Hoy to Rackwick where the hostel is... Dumped spare gear and set off on foot for the Old Man...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Old Man of Hoy is a 449-foot (137m) sea stack on the island of Hoy, part of the Orkney archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. Formed from Old Red Sandstone, it is one of the tallest stacks in Britain. The Old Man is popular with climbers, and was first climbed in 1966. Created by the erosion of a cliff through hydraulic action some time after 1750, the stack is no more than a few hundred years old, and may soon collapse into the sea.
I climbed on the wall on the right last weekend! I had a multipitch climbing course (climbing several rope lengths). Can you imagine the view we had, looking out over that castle on the other side of the river...can't wait to go again!
I wrote a blogpost on climbing: lovalizious.blogspot.nl/2013/07/climbing-falling.html
Pitch 3.
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
Sometimes you go out climbing for a challenge, because you want to learn and push yourself. Other times it's all about the joy of climbing with good company with amazing scenery. Star Chek, a multi-pitch climb just north of Squamish is one of those routes almost everyone will enjoy. The climb ascends 4 pitches up from Cheakamus River along a low angle arete with a crux move of 5.9 and average grade of 5.7. The pitches can get a little run-out between bolts, but the rock is solid and the belays are all on comfortable ledges. The views of the river canyon and Tantalus mountains are phenomenal, and the approach is mostly downhill.
Star Chek is also a really good route for photography. I've seen many pictures depicting the route to be much more badass than this photo. But this is the reality, the route is pure pleasure and joy, easy and fun climbing.
Here's Jordan, pausing for a moment near the top of the second pitch to give me a thumbs up. As you can see he's only standing on one foot and leaning into the wall for support. Yup, it's a pretty chill route and I can't wait to climb it again, and again.
Climbing the Chief.
via Diedre, Boomstick, and Squamish Buttress. (5.10c).
-----
Three amazing days in Squamish (Canada's Climbing Paradise) with My good friends Kristy and Dan. Three days of free camping, sweat, dirt, cheap pasta, mosquitos, chalk, granite, endless sunshine, sport climbing, bouldering, and an epic multipitch adventure up the Chief!
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
We made it!!!
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
The totem in the hanging forest, just before the Acrophobes.
Read about it here: climblife.blogspot.com/2007/06/totem-pole-on-angels-crest...
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
The Acrophobes!
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
I lead Star Chek 5.9 this past week. It was my first multi-pitch lead, fun easy climbing with manageable run-outs. We hung around enjoying the stellar scenery and seclusion for a bit before climbing the last pitch. A very enjoyable afternoon was had climbing in the sun.
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
Thomas Schmidt at Indian Creek, Utah
(c) Andrew Kornylak www.akornphoto.com All Rights Reserved. Please contact for license and usage information.
Mikl asked me what I thought the grade on this pitch is. I would call it old school Piddington 13. It's pretty weird. It think I turned around 360 at least once. You climb up through the obvious chimney above past a few more carrots.
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
Lee and I recently climbed the route Calculus Crack on The Apron. It had rained ALOT two days previously so it was no surprise that we managed to find wetness on every pitch. I took a surprising fall at the first crux of the route thanks to damp shoes and hands. The amount of rope stretch and blood running down my hand after it ripped out of the crack when my feel peeled made for a exciting start to the second pitch. Luckily I had the joy of sharing the belay for the third pitch with a very amusing, french gentleman Fred. He whistled tunes and told me of his women, his baby's as he put it. His current 'baby' was the woman on the rope below him, a climbing acquaintance who did not like wide cracks or traversing. Ironically when I bid Fred farewell I was beginning a long wide pitch with a sketchy damp shoed traverse crux to a hanging gear belay, Fun! The next three pitches started with a steep and tricky finger crack to a very uncomfortable belay, followed two pitches of pleasant cruising runouts. Despite the damp and insecure footwork the climbing and company was enjoyable as always. Our descent went as quick and smooth as the ascent so we headed over to Smoke Bluffs park to crag for the rest of the day. Here is Lee at the top of our climb with his new helmet. The last one was cracked and had surely seen enough UV to need replacing. Safety first.
Top Out pics!
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
This past Monday, I had the pleasure of climbing a classic line up the Stawamus Chief, in Squamish, British Columbia. “Angel’s Crest” has been on my agenda for as long as I can remember, but has eluded me for years. When a message came through from a good friend last week asking if I wanted to do it, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
After an early morning wake up call to hit the road I was tearing north for departure bay to catch a 6:20am ferry. After a seemingly endless boat ride, I met Dan, we ripped up the sea to sky highway, and arrived in Squamish at just before 9, and after a quick stop at the grocer to grab some food for the adventure, we were hiking up what we thought was the trail to the route. It turns out we were a rather long way off. A few cuts and a lot of bushwhacking later, we arrived at our destination. A short low 5th scramble (first pitch) took us to the base of the route proper. We encountered a party just in the process of tying in, wished them luck, and prepared our journey.
After a bit of discussion, I took the rack and led the first pitch. It was not much more than a tree climb and a 5.5 dihedral up to a massive ledge and a natural belay (Natural tree belays are common on this route). I brought Dan up and started feeling pretty good about at being on the route at last!
Dan took the rack and headed into the 3rd pitch, the famed Angel’s Crack. A glorious left trending 5.10a finger crack with a tricky crux. He took a small whipper when his feet blew out on some bad footholds, but other than that it went well. I followed and cleaned the pitch smoothly. By now we had our groove on…
The next pitch was the lower crux, a 5.10b/c face climb with good protection and two bolts. It is notorious for occasionally being a wee bit wet. I led it smoothly, taking caution to avoid the wet spots until I ultimately topped out on a small ledge, set a gear belay on a couple C3’s and a small nut, weighted the system, hung out (enjoying the view) and brought up Dan. What followed was an easy low 5th pitch, followed by another 5.10, and all around flowy climbing.
Somewhere in here we made it to a stellar tree’d ledge, snacked upon some food, and gauged that while we were not moving as fast as we had hoped, we were still well on track to finish without a dreaded bail-out into the North Gully.
A tricky couple 5.9/10 bits brought us up to the forest ledge and a 3rd/4th class scramble up to the most exciting part of the climb. The final four pitches lay in front of us in all their incredible glory, starting with the aptly named Acrophobes, a series of hyper exposed spires with a drop to the bottom of the chief on one side, and a just as exciting drop to the north gully on the other. Dan was up to lead, and so took on this bit, which was a bit run out, but astonishingly fun 5.7 climbing. It was a sheer joy to travel through here, it really gives on the “on the edge of the abyss” feeling!
Time was now growing short, and we did not wish to climb in the dark. We scampered down a short rappel, and up a very loose and mega exposed 5.8 bit which led to a tiny ledge and another tree belay. What followed was a spectacular, exposed 5.7 with a long slabby runout to finish and at a belay off of a tiny tree on the smallest of ledges, hundreds of meteres off the ground. This was the spot where I would belay Dan from as he took the rack and led the spectacular upper crux crack (5.10b). Hanging out here was absolutely spectacular! The world dropped beneath my feet! Time was beginning to be of the essence, so Dan wasted no time in heading up. Just as he was taking off, a member of the party of two British blokes behind us appeared over the edge. They had been climbing fast and had now caught up to us. We enjoyed climber banter and commented on the sheer spectacular awesomeness of the position we found ourselves in at that moment. Absolutely amazing! I had two pitches left, it was time to smile, relax, and take it all in. I have waited for this for YEARS! And here I was.
Dan yelled from above that he was safe, I took him off belay. He took up the rope.
“That’s me!”
“On Belay!”
“Climbing!”
“Climb on!”
…and with that, I was off. The last crux, and second to last pitch was amazing. It consists of a spectacular handcrack / layback which takes you through a couple small roofs and a spectacular face up to a huge block and the belay for the final pitch. After a quick changeover, I put Dan on belay and he made his way up. Well, before he made his way up, he crawled along a 5m long, 1m wide, and about 40cm high ledge/tunnel deal. To the left was the cliff, to the right was the abyss, straight ahead at the end of this bit, was the chimney that we ascend to the finish. After some sleuthing, Dan found his first piece, and made his way up. Five minutes later I heard a joyous scream. No problem understanding that one. Dan had just completed Angel’s Crest! My turn, I bid adieu to my British comrade, who by this point had caught up again, and I made my way along the crawl, enjoying every second of it, and ensuring I peeked over the edge. The chimney was spectacular. I was chimnying the top of the Chief! Wow!
It took me about five minutes, and it was my turn to rejoice. And rejoice I did. Dan and I exchanged hi-fives, let out some hollers, and took in the view. City lights had turned on way down below in Squamish. We had topped out just as dusk encroached. A perfect finish to a perfect climb. What a day.
We waited for our new friends to top out, as they lacked headlamps and would require a little assistance in descending. They arrived a few minutes later and we all had a good laugh and a celebration. Photo’s we taked, roped we coiled, racks were organized, two heads donned two headlamps, while two remained shillouettes… and just like that, we were walking down the long trail back, our smiles reaching further beyond our cheeks then we ever thought possible.
…to be continued. ☺
After last weeks mission on a wet Angel's Crest, awesome-Erika and myself decided to head back to the west-coast wonderland of Squamish and spend a day cragging some single pitch crack, before embarking on another climb up the chief. This mission: the new 5.9 variation of the classic Squamish Buttress route, aptly named Squamish Butt-Face. Instead of the buttress, one climbs this route by venturing out on to the face. Hence the name.
We ended up going up with three rope teams of two. A six person mission up the chief?! It can be done! Erika and myself, as well as Jeff and Adam sent the Buttface. Jolene, with Don's belay, sent the Squamish Buttress, the routes rendezvous up top. There was much glee! :)
Erika and I were on the ball this time around. I rope-gunned it and led all thirteen pitches, and I think this was the best I have ever felt on a big climb. It was a spectacular climb.
I'll let the images speak for themselves for now, more later. This smile will take a while to wear off.
Gosh I love Rock Climbing!!!!!!
Last year has been a “meh” year for rock climbing and along the same lines went rock climbing photography.
Last weekend during the Fyli Climbing Festival I got a rare chance to get out and shoot some climbers, albeit I had no chance to climb. To be honest in my current physical state I don't feel really motivated to do so anyway. Interestingly I got a chance to shoot people on what might be simultaneously the most impressive and less visited hard crag in Athens. The massive wall of Central Arma in Parnitha. A wall that had been a photo project for me since the time we were making the Athens Climbing Guidebook.
The route photographed here is Broken Flowers, one of K.Rousos masterpiece lines graded around 8b and repeated only once by prodigy kid C.Vrohidis. On the photos, one of the most prolific Athenian climbers, Thanasis Kefalas is working on the route.