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Keeper of Australia Mt
Trad climber
Whitehorse, Yukon , Canada
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Sep 11, 2008 - 04:04am PT
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I recall Dave Loeks mentioning he was a climber awhile back - he has been around these parts for a while - don't think he does much climbing anymore. He was involved in a Siberian eco-tourism gig briefly and some other things. Haven't come across him recently. There are a few legends licking their historical wounds around these parts. Wayne Merry hunkered down in the Gomorroh of Atlin, B.C. And Eric Allen and his climbing mob - Eric of Jtree derivation - done it all but now completely wired on bouldering - he puts together the annual Ibex Bouldering Fest in the Ibex Valley every August - been about 5 or 6 of them and he produced a large two page bouldering guidebook for the sweet location as well. He is the man with the beta - for lots of sweet climbling locales in wild places. He winters now in Costa Rica but returns every summer to tend his fish production operation at Little Fox Lake and his beekeeping - Fireweed Honey - and after getting into latter almost exits the planet early due to a highly negative reaction to bee stings.
Keep it going Anders and use your considerable talent and influence to ensure the Apron is dry in early Oct. - having done Deidre, Banana Peel and Sickle - I may have a go at Snake and I prefer kayaking in Howe Sound rather than body surfing on the Apron!
A number of years back I managed to convince one of my Aussie climbing connections - Simon Carter to slip into Squamish and take some pics to add some depth and variety to his climbing pic portfolio - he was down in the lower 48 at Indian Creek and other suitably decadent locales and I indicated he was missing one of the classics. So he actually turned up and recruited ex-pat Aussie Abby Watkins, ice climbing fiend Sean Issac and another lad whose name I forget - to do some itinerant "modelling" on Freeway and the Grand Wall. Apparently the trio chalked up a a couple of 30 ft whippers on the route so they obviously had some fun that day.
I told Simon that now he taken the leap of faith that he should not turn down the momentum but check out "The Cirque' and or the Vampire Spires. He did get into Canmore subsequently so he is coming along.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sep 11, 2008 - 11:41pm PT
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Returning to climbing on the Apron, after only a few digressions. There is a big steep open slab between Diedre and Unfinished Symphony. It has a lower slab (one pitch), then an arch (two pitches), then it gets steep and hard. Obviously LAST BIG CHALLENGE stuff. There was an aid route up the left side of the arch, which ended up in Unfinished, and Eric and Gordie’s route Bloodlust climbed the right side of the arch, eventually diagonalling up and right to parallel Diedre. Scott and Carl, and maybe others, got the idea of a route right up the middle of this slab. They worked like fiends on it through 1976, and into the following years. It was named Dream On, and Carl and friends did eventually finish it to Broadway, with a few bolts for aid. When sticky rubber appeared in 1984 the route was freed, at 5.12a. (Heaven knows what such slab routes should actually be graded.)
The first pitch was pretty hard but had some rests, the second ‘easy’ 5.10, the third was quite sustained hard 5.10. In those days of EBs, Carl, Scott et al stopped where possible (barely), drilled a quick shallow hole, popped in a pointy Leeper hook for support, before finishing a ‘real’ bolt. (And now it turns out that Steve and Hugh had done it on White Lightning!) Pitch 4, going over the arch, was finished in 1976, and a bit of pitch 5. Dick M. and I tried the thing in August – I had a big fall on the first pitch, and here he is on the second pitch.
(I’ll try to find other, later, photos.)
In 1977, Peter P. and I did A Question of Balance, on the upper Apron – a slab above Broadway, fairly featureless and smooth. For years we’d walked by the base, and I’d noticed some intriguing chickenheads (xenoliths, for nature and Minerals). Eric and Gordie had done a short route on the left side, there were some features visible, so we gave it a try. Here’s the first pitch:
I’m in the middle of a15 m runout to the belay. At that time, there was a lot more salal on Broadway (foreground), and lichen on the rock. While doing the runout, I could see what sort of looked like something about half way, then something else much further. I set out, got to the ‘break’, stopped long enough to take out the drill and have second thoughts, and went for it. People have twice placed chicken rap-bolts in the middle of the runout. I figure that as I went back and brushed off all the lichen a year or two later, and there are now “real” bolts, they don’t know how easy they have it. But for a few years, there were some quite impressive skid marks on the lichen, where people had come off just before the belay, and gone quite a distance. Until all the lichens around got brushed off by rope action, anyway. When I retro-cleaned the climb, it looked a bit like a question mark from a distance – the second pitch hooks right and back.
In 1978, I went back with Tami, Peter C., and Richard S. (?), and we did a silly squeeze route a few metres left of QB, called Bran Flakes, which was and probably still is Peter’s favourite breakfast. Shared lead/bolting duties.
Edit: Self-bumped, to see if there's any interest.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Sep 12, 2008 - 12:14am PT
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keep it coming! you aren't done with the 70s yet, and you still have the 80s and 90s and at the rate you're going, the 00s too!
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scuffy b
climber
Elmertown
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Sep 12, 2008 - 11:37am PT
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Anders, keep it coming. There's plenty of interest. I got the impression at the beginning of the thread that you didn't want it to get too cluttered. I think a lot of readers are hanging back more than usual to make sure there is room for people like Tami and Ghost to pop in with additional stories.
This thread is great. Keep it growing. It doesn't have to grow fast.
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cleo
Social climber
Berkeley, CA
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Sep 12, 2008 - 02:18pm PT
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thanks for sharing!
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sep 12, 2008 - 04:40pm PT
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Thanks - I'll try to get more stuff posted in the next few days, but then there'll be a two week+ FaceLift hiatus. I doubt I'll ever get to the 1980s or 1990s, although I may have a few pictures and photos. I was fairly active throughout, though naturally the standards advanced faster than me, and I was less involved in the 'scene'.
I'm reviewing and revising the earlier posts as I go along, as I remember more details.
I'd be happy if others had stories and photos to add, whether of Squamish climbers and climbing in the 1970s, of trips to Squamish, or recollections of the Squamish gang in Camp 4. We often were there in spring and autumn, usually camped together, and often hanging out with the Seattle gang. Daryl and Eric, at least, should have left some impressions.
Some other things that happened in 1976, although I don't have pictures. Daryl and Eric (and others) had a good spring in Yosemite. Daryl did the second (?) ascent of Electric Ladyland, the North America Wall, and maybe other long routes. Eric did a number of fairly hard free routes. In May, they teamed up and did an early ascent of the Shield - something like the 6th or 7th. (Listmasters Ed and Clint?) As Daryl put it, the first ascent by humans. A harbinger.
In June, Eric finally freed Sentry Box (originally called Artifical Land), a one-pitch Jim Baldwin route. He'd been working on it for a year, and had been stymied by a thin section near the top. After his trip to the Valley, he was very fit and focused. So focused that when he first tried it, he zed-clipped the protection before the crux, and had a good fall, before then getting it. Then thought to be Squamish's, and possibly Canada's, first 5.11, but now graded 5.12a. Though you could also say it's 5.10+, with a boulder problem at the top.
We did somewhat focus on thin cracks during that time. Squamish seems to have proportionately more of them, plus they were easier to clean out. So we did lots of them - there aren't that many routes at Squamish with obligatory wide sections, unlike the Valley. More photos of some thin cracks later, perhaps.
During summer 1976, the Eric and Daryl did a route called Cerberus, on Tantalus Wall. From below, it looked liked there were all kinds of grooves, so they took something like 40 copperheads. They rented a swager to make them, or maybe went to Kits Marine. They did a pitch a day, but found that the "groove" pitches were in fact big flakes, involving the usual scary expanding stuff. Much later the route was freed.
Toward the end of the summer, Scott and Dick (?) did the second ascent of Up From the Skies, a fearsome proposition.
Edit: Self-bumped. Better than political and solipsistic drivel, anyway.
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scuffy b
climber
Elmertown
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Sep 12, 2008 - 04:55pm PT
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Mastadon and Lat Sampson must have made more than one memorable trip to Squamish, no?
Come on, Don, you're holding out on us.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sep 12, 2008 - 07:31pm PT
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Oh no! Oh no! I'm faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaling......
off the front page.
Plus I wanted to get the 100th post to the thread. Even if most of them are mine anyway. Maybe later I'll replace it with something more interesting.
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matisse
climber
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Sep 12, 2008 - 08:46pm PT
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Hey Ghost,
*I* know John Wittmayer. I met him in the Co-op, about 86 or so + we hung out a bit.
Sue
plus this bumps the squish thread back to the top.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Sep 12, 2008 - 10:00pm PT
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Mighty Lady Bug Hiker wrote in the OP:
Or maybe every 100 posts or so – if we get that far – I’ll start a new thread.
what'll be about?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Sep 12, 2008 - 11:32pm PT
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Hey Ghost, *I* know John Wittmayer. I met him in the Co-op, about 86 or so + we hung out a bit. Sue
Wonderful guy. I shared a house with him when he first moved to Canada. A natural-born climber, and his guitar playing wasn't too shabby either. He lived through a Himalayan epic on par with Doug Scott's crawl down the Ogre, but it pretty much trashed his knees and he didn't climb much after that. I haven't seen him or heard from/about him for many years, but if you're still in touch, please give him a big hug for me.
And if you know him, and I know him, then maybe we know each other. Sue who?
David Harris
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matisse
climber
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Sep 13, 2008 - 01:48am PT
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The wonderful world of climbing=not very big. check your email.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sep 14, 2008 - 01:44am PT
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Ghost, matisse - I last saw John Wittmayer and his son in Vancouver, around ten years ago. At the aquatic centre. His son was then about 10 - 12, and they had lived on one of the Gulf Islands for a while. PM me for more - Don S. probably has contact information.
Hopefully more photos and stories on Sunday evening - a busy few days, trash talking and other important stuff.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Sep 14, 2008 - 12:14pm PT
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Great thread, Anders.
Thanks.
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Ezra
Trad climber
WA, NC
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Sep 14, 2008 - 05:01pm PT
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bump for the real deal.
What's this climbing stuff on a political forum? :)
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Tahoe climber
Trad climber
a dark-green forester out west
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Sep 14, 2008 - 09:01pm PT
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for climbing
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sep 15, 2008 - 02:27am PT
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The Curious Incident of the Bear, and the Dog, on the Apron
It was autumn 1974. One day I went climbing, with some friends from UBC's outdoors club. A few of us decided to do Sickle, a moderate route in the middle of the Apron, with a short 5.9 bit in the middle. It has the same first pitch as Diedre, then goes up and right, instead of left. One of the group, Chris, had a dog, a German Shepherd named Friend. They went everywhere together - an exception to my earlier generalization. Chris was an active mountaineer, backcountry skier, and something of a rock climber. Friend lived up to his name, and was a very civilized dog. He could teach many modern "crag dogs" (and their owners) a thing or three about doggy etiquette.
At that time, Friend was only a year or two old, and so quite energetic. He followed us right up to the base of the climb - I don't remember if he got a boost at the little rock step. Probably not. We did the first two pitches, while Friend waited - generally he eventually went back to the van, and curled up there.
Then we saw Friend coming up the first pitch of the actual climb. It's mostly easy low angle cracks, but there's a few metres of real slab climbing near the start - maybe 5.6. He had a bit of trouble there, but got past it with four paw drive, and ended up at the belay, although we were another pitch higher.
Then we heard some noise, and saw a black bear at the base of the climb, wandering around and snuffling and doing bear stuff. It eventually got up to the horizontal crack which is the start of Banana Peel, and ambled toward Slab Alley - several hundred metres sideways. There wasn't a lot we could do, so we continued, and when we got to the van an hour or two later, Friend was waiting, and Mr. Bear nowhere to be seen.
Black bears are frequently seen in the Squamish area, but in autumn are mostly either near the rivers (salmon), or high up (blueberries). Or eating human garbage. I don't know of any other sighting of a bear on the Apron. Grizzly bears are all through the mountains north of Squamish, and are known to wander around on glaciers, and even over quite high passes. Wolverines, too.
Friend is perhaps the only dog to ever be memorialized in the Canadian Alpine Journal - volume 68, 1985, page 36. He probably did more mountaineering than many SuperTopians.
On another subject, I was in Squamish today, and climbed South Arete - far upthread I posted a photo of Eric, when we climbed it in 1973. It was the first time since then that I've done it. The first pitch has been cleaned, and is now a nice hand/fist crack, maybe 5.8 or 5.9. (It was a sort of steep bushy gully/crack.) Sadly, whoever did it messed up the second pitch a bit, by adding several bolts to the upper slab.
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scuffy b
climber
Elmertown
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Sep 15, 2008 - 11:33am PT
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How did Friend get down from the belay?
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sep 15, 2008 - 10:09pm PT
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Chris advises that: "As I recall Friend continued up further almost to the end of the second pitch until I rapped down to where he was. He then rappelled down with me. He seemed quite comfortable leaning against my legs as I rapped down. I took him back to the van and closed the window tighter so he could not get out and join the fun again. The bear was still hanging about on the approach ledge but quickly disappeared when Friend saw him and headed towards him. I was worried for the bear since it went down a very steep slab and crashed into some trees below, then disappeared over a rise. Friend wisely decided to stay with me."
Chris is going to look for photos. I suspect what he calls the "second pitch" was actually the first pitch, which sometimes used to be broken into two. The meandering pitch. You belay at its end, then traverse left into the base of corner of Diedre.
My memory of the events is clearly incomplete. I vaguely recall that Chris insisted on using a body rappel, as he believed it more rope-friendly than the carabiner brake. But I don't remember him rappelling to rescue Friend, or rejoining us.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sep 16, 2008 - 01:09am PT
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Now where were we? Yes, that’s it – bogged down in 1976, with only occasional hints that any climbing has occurred at Squamish since then. The Little Smoke Bluffs were still cooling, and those of us who did climb at Squamish were happy as savages. Well, hopefully we’ll now move on a little, though I’m afraid we won’t get through all this before I leave for the FaceLift or to hunt for ladybugs or something. (As a reminder, all stories and photos copyright © Me, that is MH, 2008, unless someone else took a photo, in which case copyright that person.)
As mentioned, around 1974/75 people started to clean and free climbs around Squamish. Most but not all were existing routes, which by definition had been cleaned somewhat, in nothing else by piton action. Often thinner cracks – the wider ones were not susceptible to 1970s technology, and had to wait for tools of moss destruction to be invented. And most were shorter routes – typically one pitch, or longer routes with a few sections to be cleaned. Our tools included only the Chouinard Crag Hammer (the one with a pick, for light nailing), wire brushes, swede saws, and nut tools. A few did get into things like ice axes and crowbars, but mostly not until a bit later.
Some routes could be cleaned on rappel, especially the short ones. The longer ones usually involved more effort, and often featured a very bored and uncomfortable belayer holding the rope while Eric aided up and down something, gleefully fixing (other people’s) pins as he went. (Several of my pins that he placed are still there.) The cleaning was of course as much to be able to place nuts and protect the routes, as it was to have something to put one’s hand in.
Eric did several routes during 1975, mentioned upthread, and here are some photos of some early ascents. I don’t have shot of all, of course.
Exasperator – first pitch (1976).
This was an unusual phenomena – a naturally clean crack. I’m not sure when it was first freed, but I saw Eric solo it in 1975, trailing a rope for the rappel. A few weeks later he freed the second pitch, which was somewhat harder. This photo is from the second free ascent of the second pitch, April 1976.
This is the third (second?) free ascent of Caboose, on the same day. (Dave N.)
Dave fell soon after, and was held by a pin. My pin, though for once I’d fixed it myself, years earlier when nailing it.
Clean Crack is right beside Caboose, on the Malemute. For some reason, we got interested in it, although it’s quite technical. At that time, you climbed to the pocket about 6 m off the ground, then just made a few more moves to a downhanging cedar, so it was pretty short. We had lots of fun bouldering out the start, and sometimes the railway guys on their speeders would stop and chat. So this is from 1975, a visiting climber from the U.S. at the pocket – you can see the shadow from the tree above.
I spent five or six days during winter 1976-77 cleaning all the rest of the crack, which was a lot of work. By the end it was climbable as a hard free climb, though others have done some more cleaning.
I’ve never been quite able to lead it.
Also at the Malemute was Hand Jive. We somehow talked Carl into going there one very wet day, and digging it out. It had never been an aid climb, and was then full of salal, and a big effort. Carl hitchhiked back to Vancouver late that afternoon, and came into MEC, which was then a little place on west 4th. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so dirty in my life. Soon after, he and Eric freed it, and here’s a shot of an early ascent.
Winter/spring 1977 were quite dry, so the season got started early. One day we were up at the base of the Grand Wall, and while walking along I noticed an interesting looking crack. Better yet, one accessible from above from the scramble approach to U Wall. So I returned a day or two later, dug it out, then a few days later came back with Simon T. and Dave L., finished cleaning, and freed it. It is called Seasoned in the Sun, and for such a pleasantly named route has featured some astonishingly long falls, as mentioned above. Anyway, here is the first ascent, and as I’m leading, you can’t blame me for the “quality” of the photo.
Some ascents over the year or two after:
The eventual removal of the obstinate stump, with an inspired trundle, was quite clever.
There were other naturally clean lines at the base of the Grand, especially the Flake Route (the proper start to the Grand), and Apron Strings. The latter has always been a bit of an effort, especially when it was still graded 5.9 – now 5.10b. Particularly for those unable to find the obscure no hands rest just below the crux. It is a fun climb, though a bit precarious. Here’s the second pitch:
It leads to the top of the Flake, and one can then continue up Mercy Me, a lovely exposed 5.8 dike climb for two more pitches, into the middle of the wall.
This is now the usual approach to the base of the Split Pillar – you turn right halfway up the second pitch, and do some fun stuff with flakes. A few convenience bolts have been added, but it’s still a good airy adventure.
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