Squamish Photos and Stories

YOSEMITE PINNACLE – LEFT SIDE

Unlike most cities, Vancouver is fortunate in having within easy reach a huge chunk of steep, firm rock - the Chief. Inevitably, rock climbing is growing at an accelerating pace, and will become increasingly more important in the life of the BCMC and its members.

Rock climbing at Squamish is different from most other climbing areas. Lack of holds and cracks limit the possible route lines and chimneys are common; face-climbing is rare. Surprisingly enough, only about twenty of the sixty or so routes in the area are predominantly artificial aid. The rest range from easy class 4 to downright desperate upper fifth class. Climbing on the Chief looks dangerous, but is every bit as safe as ordinary mountaineering. Objective hazards such as rock fall and weather are greatly reduced; subjective dangers such as overconfidence can be lessened through proper technique and an appreciation of one's limits. Falls are not unknown, but only one accident has led to hospitalization, and that happened on a boulder, twenty feet off the ground.

A recent "Summit" article to the contrary, most climbing around Squamish is done by local climbers. Indeed, Vancouver climbers have established almost all of the many fine medium-length routes, many of which have free climbing of a high order. One of the more difficult and spectacular of these is the Yosemite Pinnacle (left side) Route, first climbed in October by Mavis McCuaig, Hamish Mutch and myself. This is not a pinnacle in the usual sense of the word, but rather a huge, detached flake lying against the wall. There are a number of these on the Chief; this one is located just left of the popular South Gully.

We hadn't really expected the climb to be very difficult. However...a short rope toss led to the base of the left side of the flake. Hamish, just back from the endless miles of Yosemite cracks, led sixty feet of strenuous chimney and jam crack (class 5.7) to reach a good belay tree. I joined him, sweating, then led the only class six pitch on the climb; fifty feet of straightforward nailing. Mavis joined Hamish, who moved up to my rather dubious belay. The next pitch looked really bad. After ascertaining that it would go, we rappelled out (it was getting late), leaving our ropes behind.

Next day found us prussiking up the ropes to our respective stations. The next lead was classical: a ten inch wide jam-crack shimney affair, overhanging more than enough. Hamish somehow moaned and groaned and struggled his way up the first twenty feet of the squeeze-chimney (class 5.8) and then, gasping like a fish out of water, pulled himself onto the first chockstone. After forty feet, slightly easier (but not much), we heard his welcome "off belay". With a liberal expenditure of energy I managed to claw my way to Hamish's belay. He was standing on a chockstone deep in the chimney, anchored to a little tree that must have had a hard life, for it can never have seen the sun.

My lead went horizontally out to the edge of the chimney, then up over an awkward (5.7) chockstone onto the first decent ledge on the climb. The others soon joined me, glad to be out of the confines of the vertiginous chimney. It was in the bag now; we romped up the fifth and last lead, a 5.4 jam crack, to the top of the pinnacle.

There was enough comfortable room on top for all three of us - a bit of a surprise. We rested awhile, counting the inevitable tourists who stopped for a look, and waving to friends on the road. Then the descent; we untangled the ropes and made several long rappels down the chimney to the forests below. We coiled the ropes, sorted hardware, and walked slowly to the car, well pleased with our first ascent.