6 New Routes in one weekend? Oh my Gawd!
It never ceases to amaze me that I live in a place where I can drive from my home and be at the base of crag in few minutes, only to step off a paved road, walk 20 meters to a rock face and embark on a ground up first accent of a naturally clean trad line. Incredibly I wasn’t the only person doing that very thing this weekend as Vince, Mel, Rik, Sonja, and JT all had a go putting our efforts into the development of the Wapiti Wall at Arrow Lakes.
From right to left the routes are as follows
The Yet To Be Named Best 5.9 In The Universe 5.9 sport
S. Logtenberg, M. Welsh, A. Kristiansen
Climb the best 5.9 in the universe (or at least in Castlegar) on a fun well featured face with holds just were you need them, and a memorable roof at mid height.
Itchy Crack 5.9 crack. 5.9 trad
M. Welsh (and friends)
Climb the thin crack on the right side of the main face, transitioning right into a wider crack at mid height.
The next two routes are parallel face cracks found on a upper wall. To reach them start from the right end of the wall and scramble up left to reach a broad ledge at their base.
Cluster Fudge 5.11b trad
V. Hempsall
Small cams and smaller nuts will see you through the delicate crux. The thank-god horizontal crack offers temporary relief before the upper wider crack above. (Vince managed a very impressive onsight first accent of this crack!)
Double Fudge 5.10d trad
A Kristiansen
Climb the finger crack, that is all. (Aaron managed a not so impressive ground up, hangdogging, profanity spewing accent of this crack. He returned the next day for the red point. Vince would have managed the onsight had his hand hold not blown. Thankfully his gear didn’t, which is good considering the subsequent ground fall was bad enough.)
Crimp Cramp 5.12b sport
R. Logtenberg, V. Hempsall
The beautifully clean vertical face, directly bellow Cluster Fudge and Double Fudge. This route is both crimpy and may cause you to be achy.
Lost and Found 5.10a trad
JT. Croston
Stem up the steep corner with gear were you need it, save a zero Mettolius for the upper face.
(So named because JT lost his car keys while cleaning the route. While he explored the ledges above Aaron tackled the 3 foot high pile of freshly cleaned rocks, dirt, and tree branches at the routes base. Incredibly after sifting through the fist 2 and half feet, Aaron found the keys)
Here are some photos that Rik took from the weekend:
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Shawn and I spent a day up at arrow lakes and enjoyed climbing some of these new routes. Thanks to everyone that put in the time to make these routes possible.
Hey Luke, did you climb Crimp Cramp? What do you think about the 12b grade? Also did you try the route to the right?
I’d be interested to hear everyone’s opinions regarding the grades of these 6 routes. I always find it difficult to grade – especially because climbs change after vigorous scrubbing and multiple ascents.
Incidentally, for those who are wondering, “Itchy Crack” is so named because Mel and I were covered in dirt, ants and wood ticks by the time we had finished cleaning this route.
Also, just noticed that the description reads “From right to left the routes are as follows.” The routes are actually described from left to right. And do you have a km mark for the wall on Broadwater Road Aaron?
Hey Aaron,
re. The Yet To Be Named Best 5.9 In The Universe
I think that we should shave the name down to:
“The Best 5.9 In The Universe”
Nuff said.
Overselling it? Maybe. But people will have to climb it to dispute the claim and after they pull through the super-fun and well bolted roof I bet they”ll say “wow, that’s a fantastic climb, maybe the best 5.9 in the world…”
Close enough.
Climbed in the area on the weekend, and enjoyed the new crag! thanks for the efforts.
I got on double fudge, and 10d seemed like a reasonable grade, but possibly more like 10c if it sees some more traffic and gets a bit cleaner
I got on Double Fudge this past weekend. It definitely needs some cleaning, especially up top. 10d for dirty seems right, 10c for clean might be right too. Would have to give it another go to say for sure.
Took Martin for his first day of sport climbing on the Zebra and Wapiti walls. He tore the place up. Thanks for all of the new routing efforts… easy and hard.