Squamish TR : Part II
A.M.
Part II
The next day found us exploring above the Campground Wall, into the
Bulletheads area of the Chief. The access is quite unique, as we needed to
ascend many fixed lines up third and fourth class terrain to arrive at the
base of a beautiful black granite slab. We decided to climb a 2-pitch route
called "Slot Machine (5.6,5.8)". As the name suggests, the route features
much finger and fist jamming, and was a spectacular start to our trip.
Shaken from last nights experience, I decided to lead the first pitch at
5.6, to properly familiarize myself with Squamish rock.
Seeing that the route was split into two different cracks, I decided to use
double ropes to make life easy for myself. After a very difficult and
bouldery start, I walked the route easily, but enjoyably, to the anchors.
Wolfang followed, and we swapped leads. He finished up the 5.8 section
rather easily, and after I had cleaned for him I felt that the route was
rated incorrectly. A quick check in the guidebook proved us right. The
corrections page in the back showed that the first and second pitch of Slot
Machine were backwards; so I had actually led the 5.8 pitch. The route
itself was spectacular, with excellent protection, sustained jamming, and
gorgeous black granite which sizzled in the hot sun.
Looking for another climb, we decided to try a Peter Croft route called "A
Cream of White Mice (5.9)". The route was split into three pitches of 5.9,
5.6, 5.9. The original start called for climbing up a dark, wet gully,
something I did not like the idea of. The alternative start in the guidebook
sounded much better. A bolted arete led back into a corner, up an easy face,
and a long traverse to finish up a dark corner.
Wolfang and I scrambled up the second gully, and I made a belay around a
forked tree. He led the bolted arete, and then made a very awkward traverse
back into the corner crack. This route seemed a prime candidate for a
retro-clean job, so that one could take the directissima up the crack, which
at the moment is hideously overgrown. I followed up the arete and almost
took a fall trying to make the ridiculously awkward traverse into the corner
crack. When I finally slotted my fingers into the painful jam I felt
immediately more secure than I had trying to navigate the face climb.
Swapping leads, I scrambled up the easy 5.6 pitch, and decided to finish the
route in one long pitch. Now, the beta called for a "long traverse" to
finish up a dark corner. But looking to my right I couldn't see any traverse
ledge which might help me. I decided that the guidebook was wrong again, as
I saw bolts further up where the slab met the headwall. The 5.6 moves
quickly turned more challenging, and the protection disappeared. Looking up,
I could see an anchor 10 metres away, but my last protection was already at
least 5 metres below me. After some balancy moves, I decided it was not
worth it, and I downclimbed to my protection. Extending the slings, I made a
very frightening traverse on micro-crimps and friction holds until I gained
a left-facing crack. I began happily jamming up the crack, assuming this was
the "dark corner" that the guide referred to. The crack was taking small
TCUs at the start, but soon the protection was getting too thin for my
talent, and I was once again feeling strung out above my pro. Admitting
defeat for a second time, I downclimbed and downcleaned (a rather tricky
task at the time), until I reached the bottom of the crack again. I felt
lost.
With my new protection above me in the crack, I began moving right again,
away from my pro, making yet another strenuous and awkward traverse towards
what appeared to be an arete. Reaching the corner, I looked back and felt
sorry for my second who would be making an equally scary traverse. Without
time to dwell on this, I looked for some sign of a route. Seeing a fist
crack which led upwards, I began jamming up it, and surmounted a ledge with
a tree. Slinging the tree, I was protected once more. Feeling a little
better, I looked up and realized with irritation that I had followed yet
another false line as the arete above looked sparse and unprotected. Peering
around the arete and above, I finally saw the "dark corner", a 5.9
fingercrack leading to the anchors. Downclimbing the fistcrack, I tried to
enter the fingercrack, but the rope drag from the tree was interfering with
my progress. Once again I jammed up the fistcrack, unclipped my protection,
and then climbed back down and around the arete.
Now fully runout and without much appreciation for Crofts route (at the
time), I entered the fingercrack and began laybacking up the corner. The
crack looked like it would have taken a few nuts, but I ran the 10 metres
quickly, and without pro, finally reaching the anchor. Wolfang followed, and
admitted that the traverse had been frightening. He described my runouts as
"bold", and suggested that the "directissima" would have been much easier.
We may never know.