Climbing adventures in BC - day 9 of 10, don't always believe the guidebook
Today was our last day in British Columbia, we wanted to make the best of it. However, most of the rock around Squamish was still wet, the Chief was actually dripping. There were still many areas around Squamish we haven't checked out, but to find an area with great views, that dries fast, AND with a short approach... well, Upper Malamute fits the bill perfectly. Besides, there was still High Mountain Woody, the supposed classic must-do 5-star 5.8+ that we didn't get a chance to climb last time. So Upper Malamute it was.
We found the short cut this time, but I was still huffing and puffing by the time we got to the cliffs. Two buff guys (from Vancouver?) were toproping on two short 5.9 friction slabs (Curly and Larry) when we arrived, then one of the guys started leading Curly (or was it Larry?) after the toprope practice, all the while commenting how he didn't like slabs. Believe it or not dude, I totally understand where you were coming from. Megan, on the other hand, didn't understand at all, and roped up to onsight lead both 5.9s with ease. I think the guys felt a bit emasculated and left pretty quickly. Good, with no one to watch my pitiful performance following both 5.9s, I felt much at ease to whine and complain loudly to no one in particular.
Actually, after toproping for a while, I was discovering some technique to climbing friction slabs. So except one instance when I lost my balance and felt backwards (grabbing the rope with my excellent reflexes), I was feeling pretty good on the slabs.
After a short lunch break, we moved over to High Mountain Woody. This was the longest climb in Upper Malamute, you need a full 60m rope to climb it. It supposedly starts with a cruxy 5.9ish finger crack, then eases out a bit to 5.8 fist crack. The guidebook really raved about it. 5.8 was about the hardest I've ever led on trad, even though the grades at Squamish was a little softer than the east coast, I was still feeling a bit intimidated. I racked up, tied my double ropes together with an overhand knot, and rappelled down first to check out the route. It was looking ok, the crack didn't look too hard, and the rock was dry... I felt better, so I kept rappelling down. But about 20 feet from the ground, the fist crack turned into a slanting finger crack. It looked hard, but more importantly, it was seeping water. Hmmmm. After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided that I was going to climb this route, but I will bypass the wet and hard finger crack start on toprope.
I radioed my intentions up to Megan, and asked her to re-tie the double ropes with a double-fisherman's knot. After a bit of confusion, she understood what I had in mind, and did what I asked. Once she rappelled down, I tied into one end of the double rope, and she put me on belay. Of course I realized that with two 8.9mm double ropes tied together, the rope would stretch so much that if I did fall in the first 20 feet or so I would still fall back to the ground. So really, I shouldn't fall. But if I did, hopefully the rope stretch would prevent an injury.
I pulled the cruxy start, finding the moves a bit hard and awkward, I was glad that I didn't try to lead it. About 20 feet up and slightly to the right of the route, there was a very small stance, and that was where I stopped and built an anchor. I belayed Megan up to my stance, then we untied this, re-tied that, pulled this... and eventually got the double ropes down from the top anchor and tied into Megan and me properly. Ok, finally time to start leading... I started on the rest of the route, and quickly found the moves were as easy as I thought. The crack was bigger than fist at some parts, almost off-width-ish, requiring some really groveling to get up. It would take me forever to figure out a move, pull it with much awkwardness, find a stance, take a rest while placing some gear, then the cycle starts again. It took me a looooong time to lead this route. Even though there were stances for me to rest and place gear, I was not enjoying this route at all. Finally it eased off a bit near the top, but I still didn't find the route enjoyable. I got to the anchor, set up the belay, then brought Megan up. She had a much easier time than I did with the moves, but she too did not find the climb enjoyable. We thought this route was the most over-hyped route we climbed. The 4-star Stephanie's Tear layback was a much better climb.
Megan getting a no hands (almost no feet) rest on High Mountain Woody (5.8+)... I swear the route was much harder than it looks!
Checking my watch, wow, it was already 4 o'clock. I did take forever leading that. After all that groveling, I didn't feel like climbing anything else, and since we haven't yet made it to the top of the Chief, we decided to hike to the top.
We started late in the afternoon, but with the grueling pace Megan was setting (even after I handed her the backpack to carry), we made it to the top in an hour or so, passing many hikers along the way. Megan actually talked about climbing at Raven's Castle, which was right below the First Peak.
Megan, "There are bolted slabs. We just need to take our harnesses and some quickdraws, it will be a light pack."
Me, "Yes, quickdraws. And A ROPE!"
Megan, "Oh yeah, we will need that too..."
So I shot down the idea of climbing at Raven's Castle, because of the supposed "45-minute approach" (right... if you were running up the mountain with your packs on!) and the heavy gear we have to haul with us. In hindsight, Raven's Castle was definitely worth hiking in with all that gear, we should have climbed there instead of Upper Malamute. The view on the First Peak to Howe Sound and the town of Squamish below us was just incredible. Too late to change our minds now, Megan and I pretended to be tourists, taking many photos at the summit, eating snacks, and corrupting a chipmunk with Nutella.
View from the First Peak of the Chief
We made it back in time to drive to town before the grocery store closed, cooked our last dinner in BC at the pinic area (where Megan met two other Australians who were out here on a long climbing trip), got most of our gear organized, then we crashed in the tent.
Corrupting wildlife, one chipmunk at a time
We found the short cut this time, but I was still huffing and puffing by the time we got to the cliffs. Two buff guys (from Vancouver?) were toproping on two short 5.9 friction slabs (Curly and Larry) when we arrived, then one of the guys started leading Curly (or was it Larry?) after the toprope practice, all the while commenting how he didn't like slabs. Believe it or not dude, I totally understand where you were coming from. Megan, on the other hand, didn't understand at all, and roped up to onsight lead both 5.9s with ease. I think the guys felt a bit emasculated and left pretty quickly. Good, with no one to watch my pitiful performance following both 5.9s, I felt much at ease to whine and complain loudly to no one in particular.
Actually, after toproping for a while, I was discovering some technique to climbing friction slabs. So except one instance when I lost my balance and felt backwards (grabbing the rope with my excellent reflexes), I was feeling pretty good on the slabs.
After a short lunch break, we moved over to High Mountain Woody. This was the longest climb in Upper Malamute, you need a full 60m rope to climb it. It supposedly starts with a cruxy 5.9ish finger crack, then eases out a bit to 5.8 fist crack. The guidebook really raved about it. 5.8 was about the hardest I've ever led on trad, even though the grades at Squamish was a little softer than the east coast, I was still feeling a bit intimidated. I racked up, tied my double ropes together with an overhand knot, and rappelled down first to check out the route. It was looking ok, the crack didn't look too hard, and the rock was dry... I felt better, so I kept rappelling down. But about 20 feet from the ground, the fist crack turned into a slanting finger crack. It looked hard, but more importantly, it was seeping water. Hmmmm. After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided that I was going to climb this route, but I will bypass the wet and hard finger crack start on toprope.
I radioed my intentions up to Megan, and asked her to re-tie the double ropes with a double-fisherman's knot. After a bit of confusion, she understood what I had in mind, and did what I asked. Once she rappelled down, I tied into one end of the double rope, and she put me on belay. Of course I realized that with two 8.9mm double ropes tied together, the rope would stretch so much that if I did fall in the first 20 feet or so I would still fall back to the ground. So really, I shouldn't fall. But if I did, hopefully the rope stretch would prevent an injury.
I pulled the cruxy start, finding the moves a bit hard and awkward, I was glad that I didn't try to lead it. About 20 feet up and slightly to the right of the route, there was a very small stance, and that was where I stopped and built an anchor. I belayed Megan up to my stance, then we untied this, re-tied that, pulled this... and eventually got the double ropes down from the top anchor and tied into Megan and me properly. Ok, finally time to start leading... I started on the rest of the route, and quickly found the moves were as easy as I thought. The crack was bigger than fist at some parts, almost off-width-ish, requiring some really groveling to get up. It would take me forever to figure out a move, pull it with much awkwardness, find a stance, take a rest while placing some gear, then the cycle starts again. It took me a looooong time to lead this route. Even though there were stances for me to rest and place gear, I was not enjoying this route at all. Finally it eased off a bit near the top, but I still didn't find the route enjoyable. I got to the anchor, set up the belay, then brought Megan up. She had a much easier time than I did with the moves, but she too did not find the climb enjoyable. We thought this route was the most over-hyped route we climbed. The 4-star Stephanie's Tear layback was a much better climb.
Checking my watch, wow, it was already 4 o'clock. I did take forever leading that. After all that groveling, I didn't feel like climbing anything else, and since we haven't yet made it to the top of the Chief, we decided to hike to the top.
We started late in the afternoon, but with the grueling pace Megan was setting (even after I handed her the backpack to carry), we made it to the top in an hour or so, passing many hikers along the way. Megan actually talked about climbing at Raven's Castle, which was right below the First Peak.
Megan, "There are bolted slabs. We just need to take our harnesses and some quickdraws, it will be a light pack."
Me, "Yes, quickdraws. And A ROPE!"
Megan, "Oh yeah, we will need that too..."
So I shot down the idea of climbing at Raven's Castle, because of the supposed "45-minute approach" (right... if you were running up the mountain with your packs on!) and the heavy gear we have to haul with us. In hindsight, Raven's Castle was definitely worth hiking in with all that gear, we should have climbed there instead of Upper Malamute. The view on the First Peak to Howe Sound and the town of Squamish below us was just incredible. Too late to change our minds now, Megan and I pretended to be tourists, taking many photos at the summit, eating snacks, and corrupting a chipmunk with Nutella.
We made it back in time to drive to town before the grocery store closed, cooked our last dinner in BC at the pinic area (where Megan met two other Australians who were out here on a long climbing trip), got most of our gear organized, then we crashed in the tent.
posted by Boer @ 7/09/2005
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