Retrofitting
Retrofitting aging hardware in the Rockies has become a passion of mine. It’s my way of giving back and keeping people safe. Some of the projects I’ve undertaken recently have been:
- Generosity, a 13-pitch 5.9 on the East End of Mount Rundle (EEOR). It was originally equipped with self-drive bolts.
- Jimmy and the Cruisers, a 6-pitch 5.11a on Yamnuska, established by Steve DeMaio on self-drive bolts.
- Yellow Edge, a 6-pitch 5.11+ on Yamnuska, and one of the original “Kallen 34”.
- The Cheesemond Express, a 13-pitch 5.9 adventure route on Ha Ling.
- Swiss Cheese, a D9 at the Playground. It’s many Rockies climber’s first D9. We used a core drill to remove existing bolts and retrofit the route with glue-in bolts.
Dry & Mixed Cragging
Several years ago, I set my sights on climbing Musashi, the world’s first M12, at the Cineplex Cave. I decided to train for it closer to home and established Kabukimono at Alcatraz for that purpose. It turned out to be stiffer than I expected, and after I got the FA, I was told by Jeff Mercier that it climbed at D13.
I later sent Musashi, Piltdown Man (M12), and Supernatural (M12+). I now have my sights set on the remaining M12 and up routes in the Rockies, of which there are only a handful.
I’ve gotten the bug for ‘Crag-in-a-day’ linkups. I’ve climbed all 28 routes at The Playground in a day, and this year all 9 routes up to D13 at Alcatraz in a day.
Ice & Mixed
I’ve done free ascents of many of the classics in the Rockies, including:
- Rasputin Roof, Field, BC, M9- WI5, FA with Raph Slawinski
- Cryophobia, Waiparus, AB, M8 WI5+
- The Real Big Drip, Ghost River, AB, M7+++ WI6
- Nightmare on Wolf Street, Stanley Headwall, BC M7+ WI6
- Tupperware Tea Party, Mt Wilson, AB, M8++ WI5
- Les Miserables & Whoa Whoa Capitaine, Mt Wilson, WI6+
- Riptide (with saga pitch), Mt. Patterson, AB, WI6
- Anticipation, Canmore, AB, 13-pitch M6+, FA, established ground up
Alpine Climbing
The 2024 season got me excited about summer alpine climbing. I had done plenty of single-day objectives in the past, such as Deltaform via the Flying Buttress and the Greenwood Jones on Mount Temple, but this was the first time I set my sights on multi-day alpine routes. Nick Baggaley climbed the Northeast Buttress of Howse in a 28-hour push from Chephren Lake to our car. While I was exhausted, I was proud of our style, and I was hooked.
Nic Houser and I made an attempt at Leftover Rib on Cephren shortly thereafter, but we were stymied by route-finding and a short weather window. We returned a couple of weeks later and forged our own path up a middle buttress, climbing a great deal of new terrain up to 5.10 before accidentally joining the Gran route for its crux. We called our route ‘Snafflehound Spire,’ after a rodent that stole and chewed through Nic’s helmet (which we were able to recover). I see myself spending much more time in committed alpine terrain in the coming winter and summer seasons.
I have also now climbed 30 of the fabled ‘Kallen 34’ on Mount Yamnuska, and plan to finish the list in 2025.