Heart Line Rock Climb (17 pitches, 5.9, 1100m)

Heartline

17 Pitches (sport)

5.9 A0

1061 m

Hunting for the start

The Heart Line is a full day "sportaineering" route from Heart Creek to the summit of Heart Mountain. We were able to climb it in ~7 hours with a single rope and a rack of 12 alpine draws (although one went missing along the way). We linked a few pitches for efficiency, but ended up with a fair amount of rope drag thanks to the rambling nature of the route that follows the obvious ridge all the way to the top. As with any rockies alpine route, there was some route-finding and loose rock but the climbing was varied and interesting without being too difficult. The rock sections are broken up by a few 3rd and 4th class scrambles and there was even an aid ladder pitch to add some variety.

Megawatts - 5.8 Sport Multipitch in Castlegar, BC

Megawatts
5.8 sport route
8 pitches
280m
Megawatts Topo

Megawatts is a 280m sport climb located on Brilliant Buttress in Castlegar, BC. It was a fun, leisurely morning with awesome views of the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers.

Great views from the top of Megawatts

Skaha Climbing

Penticton is a long drive from Calgary but when its too wet or cold in the Rockies, Skaha Bluffs is usually the place to be. Every spring, climbers descend on the bluffs, only to return in the fall once the heat of the summer is past. Its a shoulder-season paradise! Kyle and I spent 6 glorious days in the Okanagan climbing, biking and catching up with some old friends. Thanks to his amazing wife, Dave Mai escaped from parenting all week to show us around and shoot some photos. Check out his amazing work at DM Productions. We also hooked up with Caillum Smith of Preserved Light Photography

Lake-side campsite at Banbury Green

Climbing in Cape Town, South Africa

Rappelling down after some Table Mountain cragging

Cape Town is an amazing place. Steep mountains that rise straight up from white sand beaches are easily accessible from the City Bowl by a quick Uber ride! During our month in South Africa, we explored some of the local climbing areas that featured old-school trad multi-pitches on Table Mountain and steep sandstone sport crags at Silvermine. With limited time, we opted for day trips out of the city but only scratched the surface of what the region has to offer. Other areas that would deserve their own dedicated trips include visits to Montagu and Cederburg (home to Rocklands) but also require a rental car and camping gear if you really want to do it right!

Direttissima - 5.8+, 9 pitches (Yamnuska)

Grade 5.8+, 9 pitches, 325m

Bolted or piton belays

Trad (with occasional bolts)

Direttissima means "The Shortest Link" in Italian according to Wikipedia, and is an old climbing term describing the direct line to the summit. Direttissima on Yamnuska is just that. The direct line to the top of the mountain. It's been a few years since I have climbed on Yam, and just the thought of it gives me the butterflies. It's big, it's chossy, it's sand-bagged and it is always a full value day. I had always considered Direttissima to be a bit out of my league, but with Connor willing to get on the sharp end, I was happy to tuck in behind him and cruise up the route with Kyle at my side.

We left Calgary at 5:30 on Sunday to meet Connor at the parking lot for 6:30. We did not want to be below any parties on the route due to rockfall hazard. Nobody else was around as we packed up our gear and hit the approach trail. Hiking to the base of Yamnuska is a mission on it's own. After an hour of steep uphill, we reached the bottom of our route, right in the centre of the wall. We had to walk past it then scramble up the steep triangle of rock to the base of Direttissima.

Checking in at the climbers log

Ticks and Trying Hard in Stone Hill, Montana

It can be hard to make plans for May Long Weekend and we struggle with it every year. There are just so many options available; skiing, scrambling, mountaineering, climbing, mountain biking. The possibilities are endless. We came very close to joining the masses on the Columbia Icefield to finish off the ski season with some peak bagging, but with warm weather in the forecast we shifted our focus to the south and loaded up the trailer, bound for Stone Hill, Montana.

Kyle and I discovered Stone Hill not long after we started climbing. This little quartzite gem, only 4 hours from Calgary, was our early season destination for a couple of years but we hadn't been back in a while. It is a series of crags that line the road beside Lake Koocanusa on the Montana side of the border, not far from Eureka and the Roosville border crossing. The best part, besides the awesome camping, is the fact that there is literally no approach to the climbs. Some are so close to the parking that you can belay out of the back of your truck!

The main attraction - the Room With a View - a 5.8 sandbag

Red Rocks Spring Break

It was a long winter this year so getting away for a sunny spring vacation was just what Kyle and I needed. We planned to climb in Red Rock Canyon, just outside of Las Vegas, on either end of our rafting trip on the Grand Canyon with my family. We started the trip off with 4 days of climbing with Angela and Connor, who were in the middle of a climbing road trip through the western USA. We were also extremely stoked to meet up with David and Tyler! They had decided to drive out from San Fran to surprise us and climb for the weekend! 

We spent the first few days warming up (and getting sunburnt) on sport climbs in the Calico Basin and Calico Hills. Right away, we could tell it was going to be a good trip. All the gym climbing this winter looked like it had paid off and we were both pushing ourselves to get on some harder routes than ever before!

Day 2 crew - Vancouver reunion brought to you by Patagonia hats

River Run on Tunnel Mountain (5.10c sport, 9 pitches)

5.10c sport

9 pitches

Tunnel Mountain, Banff

Kyle having fun on River Run

Kyle and I enjoyed a lovely day on River Run in Banff. We camped at Tunnel Mountain campground so our drive to the parking area was about 3 minutes. A short 10 minute approach along the bike trails had us at the base of the route. 

Escape from Winter - Joshua Tree California

It was -27 degrees when as we drove down Highway 2 heading for the USA border at Sweetgrass Montana. This terrible temperature confirmed that we were making the right choice, bailing out of winter for two weeks of rock climbing in the desert. The highway was empty, it was Christmas Day and nobody was on the road. There was a line up at the border crossing however. We waited for almost an hour without moving before turning around and heading west to the next closest crossing, Del Bonita. The internet and phones were down at Sweetgrass and there was no estimate on how long we could have been waiting. Our detour added another 45 minutes, then we crossed into Montana. Soon, the pavement turned to gravel and we were driving down range roads with deep snow drifts. Needless to say, it was not a very efficient detour. Even when we finally reconnected with the I15, the main interstate that we would follow all the way to California, it was slippery and snowy. We drove through the blizzard for hours and into the darkness.

Butte Montana at 7 pm on Christmas Day - not a soul in sight, or an open restaurant!

Fall Climbing and Hiking on the Coast

A few weeks ago, Kyle and I spent a week on the coast, hanging out with my family and our friends. We got to do a few days of climbing in Squamish, went for a hike up to Brew Lake with my family and went to a wedding. It was a great trip!

Kyle on Joe's Crack (5.9) at Pixie Corner

The Ultimate Everything - Upper Echelon Finish (16 pitches, 5.9)

The Ultimate Everything is a 10 pitch trad route on Echelon Wall that starts above the apron and makes its way to the top of the second summit of the Chief. Most pitches are in the 5.8 to 5.9 range with the final pitch being 5.10. Kyle was feeling really solid after a good season of climbing and a great warm up day at the crag, but wasn't very excited about leading the crux at the end of 17 pitches of climbing. To avoid that last 5.10 pitch, we opted to finish the route on the final two pitches of Upper Echelon, which go at 5.8.

Dotted red shows Ultimate Everything. We climbed St. Vitus Dance to the right of south gully then followed memorial crack up the apron

East Ridge of Edith Cavell

This is my 5th summer living in Alberta. In that time, I have climbed a lot of classic rockies routes but what Kyle and I have not been able to do is summit one of the 11,000 ft peaks in the rockies. It is not for lack of trying. In the spring of 2014, we made an attempt on Mt. Joffre on skis. Wind loading on the upper slopes made us reconsider and we turned back at the base of the final face. In 2015, we made it to the ridge of Mt. Victoria after post-holing for hours up the glacier, but turned around due to treacherous snow-covered rock, sketchy sun-warmed faces and fatigue. Last year, we made it half way up Mt. Temple but were once again thwarted by recent snowfall that had us tunneling through waist-deep drifts. This year, we decided to try Mt. Edith Cavell (Grade III 5.3) in Jasper National Park.

The upper half of the East Ridge of Edith Cavell on the left side of the photo

Takakkaw Falls (Weekend Double Header - Part II)

So excited about Takakkaw Falls!

Following our amazing day on Achilles Spire, Kyle and I made our way to Field, BC where we found space in the overflow camping at the Monarch Campground. Too exhausted to do anything useful, we milled around and contemplated just sleeping on the ground, until we were basically adopted by a group of older ACC'ers that were camped nearby. They force-fed us beer and smartfood popcorn (with very little resistance on our part) while we tried to figure out what time they were getting up to climb Takakkaw Falls in the morning so we could beat them to it. They even let us share a campsite so we didn't have to sleep on the incredibly uneven tent spot we had chosen in our fatigue. Eventually they caved and told us when they planned on climbing, so we got up and out of the campground an hour before them. A nice sleep in until 5:30 had us at the approach to Takakkaw Falls for 6:40 am. Shockingly, we were the only ones there (not).

Achilles Spire (Weekend Double Header - Part I)

Achilles Spire is a 300m, 13 pitch 5.8 sport route on Mt. Andromache (beside Mt. Hector) off the Icefields Parkway. Tiff and Connor invited us along for a big day out and we all stayed at the Mosquito Creek Hostel (3 km from the trailhead) on Friday night for an alpine start on Saturday. Kyle and I arrived at the hostel early enough to scrounge some free wine, cheese and mustard left over from previous guests. Score! We enjoyed the addition to dinner and also took advantage of the hostel's wood sauna, interrupted by brief plunges in the frigid Mosquito Creek. Feeling very relaxed post-sauna, we were in bed early.

The alarm went off at 4 am. I apologize to our hostel-mates but we didn't want to get scooped on the route by the hypothetical people driving up from Canmore who had got up at 3. Luckily our concern was all for naught, and we didn't see another party until mid afternoon when we were most of the way back down the route. We were on the trail at 5:30 and got to watch the sun come up illuminating the mountains of the Wapta Traverse and the turquoise Hector Lake. The approach climbs steeply up past a waterfall before turning towards Mt. Andromache, crossing rocky ledges. When Achilles Spire came into view, we got really excited, but we still had 45 mins of approach to go. All told, it was a 1.5 hour grunt up 710 m of elevation (over 2.7 km if Kyle's watch is trustworthy).

Following cairns on the sunrise approach to Achilles Spire. Lake Hector to the left

Wheat Kings on Cascade Mountain (5.7 sport, 7 pitches)

What does one do when you finish a 24 hr shift? If you lucked out and got to sleep for 6 hours, you get in the car and drive to Banff to go climbing for the day! I met Joseph at the carpool just before 10 am and we zipped out to Wheat Kings, a 5.7 sport multi-pitch on Cascade Mountain. Phil had climbed it about a month ago and his write up made it sound like a wonderful way to spend a post-call day. Not too challenging and all around enjoyable with great views. See his post here: Mountain Wagon Blog - Wheat Kings.

A Day on the Fluffy Goat Butt Face

Last year, Tyler Kirkland and Mark Carlson put up a new route on the Goat Wall, Fluffy Goat Butt Face. Numerous friends were recruited to help build trail, ferry ropes and gear and bolt the 21 pitch, 605 m sport route. Kyle spent a day on the wall helping clean the route and was excited to hear that Mark and Tyler had recently climbed the complete route. When Tyler invited us on a day on the Goat to test out the route descriptions and beta we couldn't say no, despite the new official grade of 5.11.

Morning light on all the goats. Goat buttress is far right, 1/2 in shade, 1/2 in sun. We climbed the sunny face on the right side

Climbing Karst in Yangshuo China

Magical views of karst towers and rice paddies

China is a crazy place. It has crazy cities, landscapes and juxtapositions of modern and ancient. It is big, busy and a sensory overload. I landed in Shanghai with Brett and Alison after having done basically no planning for this trip. We spent our first two, very jet lagged days wandering the streets of Shanghai and eating dumplings for most meals. Still exhausted, we caught a quick flight to Guilin after meeting Jon and Heather in the airport on our second night. From there, we took a van to Yangshuo, arriving in the early morning. Fortunately our driver had waited for us despite the 2 hr delay. We checked into our disappointing accommodation but promptly went to bed. That was tomorrow's issue.

Two Weeks of Leisure in Penticton

Hours after writing the final exam of my University career, I jumped on a plane and flew to Kamloops to meet Kyle who had been cruising around the interior of BC for the two weeks prior. He met me at the airport and we made a B-line for Penticton where we would spend the next two weeks camped out in the front lawn of our generous hosts, the Stathers. Woody's family has an apple orchard on the Naramata Bench above Penticton and it was the perfect base camp for adventures!

The amazing view of the orchard from the Stather's porch

Back of the Lake

Climbing at the Back of the Lake crags at Lake Louise is an interesting experience. 

First of all, the approach is brutal, its a 20 minute flat trail along the edge of Lake Louise, which is breathtakingly beautiful and it only becomes more picturesque as you climb higher.  

Really rough approach in the morning

Climbing the Chief: Calculus Crack to Squamish Butt Face (Butt Lite)

The alarm buzzed and I pretended not to hear it. "Lets get a move on" Kyle urged. We were trying to beat the Saturday rush to the bottom of Calculus Crack (5.8, 7 pitches) and I was really glad we had pulled the plug on the little campground party that had been happening outside our trailer the night before at 10:30, evicting the boulder pad sitting beer drinkers into the night to find another campsite to occupy while swapping stories, meeting climbing partners and planning adventures for the days ahead. The Chief Campground is a temporary home for climbers from all over the world who have descended on Squamish with one thing on their minds, climbing the amazing granite and world-class cracks. Some are only there briefly, others manage to avoid the park wardens and stay well beyond the maximum 14 day limit, which occasionally means having to pack up and leave for a day or two before returning for a new 14 day stretch. Everyone dreams of showers and seems to talk about them incessantly, but nobody seems to have time (or money) to spare on this highly praised commodity. The days blur, scraped up hands turn to callous and the tick list never seems to get any shorter despite climbing something new every day.

My interpretation of our route up the Chief - do not use for beta! Calculus Crack - Broomstick Crack - Squamish Buttress - Butt Lite