Hueco in February?

I can't go... I'll be neck deep in BC interior powder, but this looks FUN:

I am heading to Nelson, BC for the Coldsmoke Festival and have been training on the humble north shore mountains for the ski mountaineering race held there. Wish me luck, hopefully I don't suck. After that I am doing a ski guide practicum with my good friend Evan Stevens at Vahalla Mountain Touring.

Dreaming of Granite...

Cannabis Wall (5.13- R) FFA - August 2008 - Rich Wheater photos

sigh.....

Where's the Snow?

Out for a day mission to the Duffy with Ross Berg on Saturday. The snowpack had been getting nuked by a weeks worth of inversion, but we were committed to finding something, anything, to ski...

It was my first time driving by Whistler since I have been on the coast and I really couldn't help but laugh. Where was all the snow? The hill was looking very bare and I wasn't sure what was in store for us further north. I hadn't heard of anyone really skiing anything in the alpine recently. We pulled in to the Cerise Creek lot to clear skies and decided if the snow sucked, we should try and at least get on top of something. I had to be back in Vancouver that evening, working, for the Lil' Wayne concert. The north aspect of Mt. Vantage looked appealing due to its proximity and the fact that maybe we could find some sheltered snow that hadn't been affected by the sun.

Ross trying to decide what mountain to ski off

Skiing through the biggest surface hoar crystals I have ever seen, some were 10cm big!

Ross and a single crystal

Snow-wise, surface hoar has an unusual, albeit, delightful taste and texture

Cumbre! Ross trying to decide if we should ski the big line off the top.

We ended up picking a conservative line, found good snow, and had a great run back to our car. I dropped Ross off in Whistler and made it back to the big city in time for a 45 minute nap before the concert. What we need now is some snow!

White Winter Hymnal

I found myself back in Canmore at the start of January for the ACMG ice training for the alpine guide program. Historically, I haven't done a ton of ice climbing, coastal winters are usually more conducive to skiing than climbing. This year I got VERY EXCITED to climb ice and haven't touched the sticks save for one furious morning of vertical with ski fiends Ross Berg and Andrew Wexler.

Rogan's Gully during the ice training

Olivier playing the 'client'...

Examiner Todd Craig showing us how it's done

The mandatory days on ice really got me motivated to get out and swing my tools on some hard Rockies classics. Luckily ice crushers Jesse Huey and Ian Welsted are perpetually stoked on this crazy sport and were game to indulge me. The silver smear of the Sea of Vapours suddenly appeared on the Trophy Wall high above Banff, calling out to be climbed. No one had ventured up there yet to climb it this season, it's always fun to try for the first ascent of the year.

Weaving around avalanche terrain on the approach to the Trophy Wall

Me starting up the first pitch

Ian following pitch one

You gain a couple thousand of vertical in the approach so when you step onto the ice it feels like you are on El Capitan - the exposure is intense. Here is Ian starting the second pitch.

The second pitch proved to be HARD, with Ian soul searching on the sharp end for two and a half hours (!) Here's Jesse not psyched on our freezing hanging belay...

The 'Sted doing battle on the most engaging ice I have ever followed... Rime ice, drytooling, and hooking on weird, pasted-on ice blobs...

On the crux pitch. After this pitch we could see that maybe 80 feet of hard mixed climbing would lead to cruiser WI5 to the top. Unfortunately, a late start, careful management of avalanche terrain, and the route's difficulties all contributed to slow progress. It was getting dark.

A bruised, but safe, team already psyched on round two!

I kept postponing my return to the coast, keen to give the route another go. It wasn't in the cards for me unfortunately, but I hope Ian and Jesse get up the thing! Before I left Jesse and I had some great days out together, and I am already itching to get back to the Rockies. I am glad not to have to drive anywhere for the time being, however...

M-ing at Bearspirit

Merry Christmas

Snow Study and M-ing with the 'Sted

I just spent eight days in the comfortable Kokanee Glacier Cabin out of Nelson, BC completing my CAA level 1 avalanche operations certification. Each day we'd tour out to talk terrain and dig pits, while evenings were devoted to classwork and lectures. It was great to be immersed in snow science for a week without distractions. The week's temperature hovered around -25°C which made for brisk early morning trips to the weather plot.

Our ship into the backcountry

The beautiful 'hut'

Full snow profiles

Dan on the axe

It was a very comfortable learning environment, indeed, with satellite wireless, gourmet fine-dining, and enough great people to never have to worry about cabin fever! Thanks to all my classmates for being so cool.

It was sad to finally leave. I swung by my friend Ian "the 'Sted's" place in Nelson to find him knee-deep in debris from a home reno project. 'Never buy an old house just because it has character,' he told me. Ian was still keen to go climbing, though, so we drove to Golden to search for pillars. We ended up hopping on the Asylum, a modern mixed route I had always wanted to try ever since I saw it in the Beyond Gravity movie. In the light we could see that the crux dagger hadn't come in very close to the rock. I was unsure if we had the cajones to send through this section. Only one way to find out, though!

The 'Sted at the base of the Asylum.

A sender of wintery faces the likes of the Eiger Norwand and the Denali Diamond, the 'Sted was rock-solid on the thin, scrappy mixed pitches.

Thin pillar action.

Funky, thin ice.

The 'Sted attempting the crux pitch. We failed here due to Ian's tiring forearms and my paralyzing fear the fierce dagger we were gunning for would come detached with me still clinging to it.

The 'Sted warming up cold hands before the crux pitch

Happy holidays!

Kicking and Scratching

Just spent a couple weeks in the Canadian Rockies and Montana kicking and scratching my way up frozen waterfalls..

Nemesis on the Stanley Headwall

Jen leading out of the cave on Nemesis

Bozeman hardman Nate Dogg on the slog up to the awesome Responsible Family Man in Hyalite Canyon

Yosemite

I spent the first two weeks of my trip to Yosemite this fall working on a project I would ultimately fail on, a new free route on the right side of El Cap. After receiving a hot tip from our buddy Alik, Will Stanhope and I worked on freeing the Waterfall Route (an old A4), eventually committing to a wall-style attempt from the ground. We would turn around on our second day, unable to surmount unstable death blocks and friable rock. Here's some photos from our try:




Here's a photo that Tom Evans took from El Cap Meadow:


After our defeat it was time to relax and have fun... as best as you can in Yosemite. This means laid back bouldering and a lap up Astroman with Will and Jen.

Bugaboos

This August I spent several weeks in the Canadian Rockies and the Bugaboos. The summer has been full of work and some weeks it was hard to stay motivated and get out and climb for myself. Evening sessions were common. Will Stanhope and I became interested in a project that would be both a lot of fun, and easy to try after a day of guiding. We wanted to break the speed record on the Grand Wall, set over a decade ago by Guy Edwards and Sig Isaac. On our second try - and my second time up the route this year - we broke the 1:44 record with a time of 1:13.33.

Drinking celebratory pilsners we had stashed after the climb.

Surprised by my fitness, I was off to see what I could do in the Bugaboos.

Most of my efforts of the trip was directed at this beautiful piece of stone, the mighty East Face of Snowpatch.

It's amazing how close to camp this awesome face is - no alpine start is needed! Day one saw my talented soon-to-be mountain guide partner Jen Olson and I on The Power of Lard, a German route on the Tom Egan Wall, the right side of the East Face. The last pitch is one of the most amazing splitters I have ever seen. The Germans originally rated this pitch 5.13c and named it the Endless Struggle. With no expectations, just a willingness to try really hard, I onsighted the pitch. I can't claim the 5.13 grade though. Despite being 9a crushers, the Germans must have been very inexperienced crack climbers.

Jen following one of the many quality pitches.

Jen then went back to Canmore to pick up Ines Papert, while I hung out in basecamp.

Talking shop with Jon Walsh and Cory Richards in Applebee.

There was a huge crew in Applebee so finding awesome partners was never a problem.

Will Stanhope even showed up for a quick hit with Chris Brazeau. Always prepared for the bad weather tent sessions with a copy of Chatelaine.

The Bugs is designed for hot-lapping it seems, so I couldn't help but huck a lap on the Snowpatch Route and the NE Face of Pigeon. The latter resulting in a traverse of Pigeon and a super fun day out in the mountains.

Jen and Ines showed up that afternoon and we made plans to try Divine Intervention, a new route on Bugaboo Spire's east face.

Ines leading the first block.

I ran into Crosby Johnson and together we hatched a plan to free a route on the left edge of Snowpatch's east face. The route started on the original Beckey route but then aimed left to beautiful virgin pillars. Crosby was a good friend, but we had never actually tied in together. It was an honor to rope up with him for such an adventure.

Crosby following a quality 5.11 corner on the route.

It was a pretty amazing trip, the Bugs are a very special place. It is good to be back in Squamish now though. The temps are good and I am very psyched on my latest project: freeing the old aid line Cannabis Wall with Will Stanhope.