I’m hooked on alpine exploration. When Raph Slawinski asked me to join him to check out a possible line on Devil’s Head in the Ghost River Wilderness, he warned me that it might not go. We might be ‘taking our gear for a walk.’ And it would be a reasonably long walk, at around 18 kilometres and 1,600 meters round trip.
No matter. I’m down. Let’s see what we find.
Getting into the Ghost is an adventure in and of itself. I picked Raph up at 6 am from his Waiprus Village abode, and we bounced north down the riverbed to marker 39, the end of the line for driving in the Ghost in the summer. A few shallow river crossings lay between us and the start of our ridge walk. In the morning, they were bracing. We popped our shoes back on and started up the slope.
A few hours later, we were staring up at the wall from along the ridgeline. I love the mystery of new terrain. It’s even better when you first see the line from afar, and it keeps seeming to change in character as you get closer. Is that a wet streak? That looks like a massive roof. How long is this thing, six steep pitches? We wouldn’t know for sure until we were in it, but my imagination went wild in the interim.
Ten bolts and a drill. It’s a bit of a ‘get out of jail free card’ for the aspirant alpine climber. How committed can you be, really, if you’re able to place a bolt the moment you get scared, or blast in a rappel line without leaving behind hundreds of dollars of your rack. Stylistically, it’s nice to leave the drill at home when taking the first crack at a line. Today, though, we were investing a lot just to get to the wall, and we wanted to keep options open. Thankfully, the drill stayed in my pack.
I led an easy block of low-fifth scrambling to get us to the base of the corner system we had been eyeing for hours. The first real pitch loomed above us. Steep, but in the alpine, any sort of corner or chimney seems much more inviting than a blank face.
Pitch two was punchy right off the belay. An overhanging step of choss needed to be surmounted to reach easier ground above. I placed a number one angle in a horizontal break for some psychological protection. It wouldn’t keep me from decking, but it would keep me from tumbling past our belay. Reaching high through the roof, jugs kept appearing. A high step, a hard pull, and I was established above it.
Easier climbing led to our first big question mark. Confronted by a large roof, a Rockies climber goes sideways. To my left was a solid-looking but steep face, to my right a more fractured but lower-angle wall. I headed right, teetering up towers of choss to a bulge guarding my passage. I stood atop a pedestal of jenga blocks, hunting for handholds. I found one, and as I lifted my weight up on it, it snapped clean off. I slipped back down, hanging on by one hand, and almost lost the game of jenga as the pedestal swayed beneath my feet. Knocking it over might crush Raph or sever my rope. I regained my composure and placed a small knife blade to calm my nerves.
The line between cleaning and chipping can get blurry on alpine limestone. I judiciously chose which loose rock to clean, and uncovered a well-placed foothold where once there was choss. I balanced over onto it, placed a more trustworthy finger-sized cam, and picked my way through the rest of the sequence.
Following the pitch, Raph did the right thing and sent my jenga tower crashing down into the valley below. In my head, the movement had felt like 10+. On top rope, with a heavy pack, Raph called it 5.9. Vision questing on loose rock has a way of making pitches feel harder than they really are. I find the follower’s evaluation of difficulty is generally more accurate.
It was time to hand over the rack to Raph. Our biggest unknown loomed above, a roof of quite compact-looking rock that had appeared soaking wet from a distance. It turned out to be dry, but from the belay, it looked just as steep and featureless as it had from the ridge below.
Raph romped up to just below the roof. A hammer swung back and forth, and two knife blades sung their way into the rock. Enough to turn a devastating fall into merely a bad one. Enough for Raph to commit to the sequence. Juggy sidepulls and smaller rails led up the seemingly blank right face until Raph was able to sink into a kneebar in a constriction at the exit. A couple of cams and some lower-angle terrain led to our next belay.
It turned out to be the best sequence on the route. A marvel of Raph’s climbing to me is the way he’s able to blend the styles of movement commonly found in the alpine with those of hard sport climbing. It’s rare for someone to fluidly call upon both tactics and make them feel less divergent than they sometimes appear.
Having solved this puzzle, we knew we were only a pitch away from the rim. More steep corners and loose rock guarded our exit, but they fell quickly to Raph’s dance up the rock. A day that had started as a big question mark had turned into a lovely, if a bit spicy, romp. We were on the summit by 3:00.
We roasted in the sun on the descent, and when we reached our river crossing again, the cold water was blissful. In the end, I was 15 hours door-to-door to climb three pitches. Worth it? To repeat a route, perhaps not. But as an exploratory adventure with the best of company? Absolutely.
Northeast Corner
Devils Head
5.10-, 195m
Raphael Slawinski, Greg Barrett
August 24, 2025
A tongue of rock protrudes from the NE aspect of the iconic Devil’s Head, leading to a natural weakness extending the remaining height of the face. While it is a short line with a long approach, it features enjoyable steep climbing of an alpine character, with no fixed protection. It is well sheltered from the sun and would make for a good objective on a hot day.
Approach
Start as for the Devil’s Head scrambling route. As you approach the base of the peak, you will reach a tongue of rock protruding out towards you. Wrap around to its north side and scramble easily up the lower-angle portion of the tongue.
2.5-3 hours
P1, Low Fifth, 80m
Partway up the tongue, the climbing steepens. From this point, scramble or climb approximately 80 m of low fifth-class terrain to reach the base of the obvious corner system. Belay here.
P2, 5.9, 40m
Burly right off the deck. Steep juggy climbing leads to an easier corner above. The corner is capped by a large roof. Below this roof, either traverse right and climb questionable rock (FA line), or traverse left and head up more solid rock. In either case, regain the corner above and continue to a good belay ledge.
P3, 5.10-, 25m
Steep moves gain a corner, where the climbing eases until below another large roof. Knifeblades protect steep moves up the right wall. This sequence looks improbable from below, but it is the best climbing on the route. Above the roof, easier climbing leads to a huge ledge to belay.
P4, 5.8, 50m
Head up and right from the belay towards a short, steep, hand crack. At its top, trend left towards another steep weakness. Follow this to its top. Continue up another easy step and belay. The summit is a short walk away.
Descent
Descend the scrambling route. It is a bit involved, and there are a few short optional rappels.
Rack
Minimal Rack - Small to medium nuts, a few small KBs, .2-3, double .4-2, 60m rope
Heavy Rack - A full set of nuts, LAs, angles, a #4, and a #5 were carried and placed by the FA party. But, they’re heavy, and not strictly necessary.
