Madame Butterfly 5.10a sport (two stars, we’re not biased!). FA Mike Curran and Hamish Mutch, July 24, 2010; 60 m rope required (pitches are just under 30 m each) Approach – from access trail for the left side climbs at Waterfall Wall, go across sloping ledge and follow trail which dips down across sloping grass [...]

Rik and I visited Waterworld for the first time a few weekends ago on Vince’s recommendation. He was right, this place is unlike any other climbing destination in the Kootenays. The rap-in approach is an adventure in itself, one minute you’re walking through the woods and then bam – you’re a hundred meters above Lake [...]

Onion Creek is reported to have a few of the best cracks in the Kootenays. Here’s what Keith Robbins says in his short guide to the Onion Creek area: Onion Creek is mostly a granite crack climbing area, although some bolts are starting to go in. There is a bit of climbing at most grades. [...]

Here is a list of the 30+ (!) new routes that have been developed at the Arrow Lakes area in the past year. Photo topos will be available later, but in the meantime this document contains all the written access info you’ll need to play in this “Skaha V.02″ area. Enjoy! The Arrow Lake Bluffs [...]

I’m a sucker for puns and rhyming. So you can imagine how delighted I was that my suggestion for the name “Cat Wall” stuck. Prepare for a plethora of kitty puns  ;) Feline Fine is currently the second route on the left of the main wall, just right of Cat Burglar (12b mixed). The route [...]

Luke Neufeld-Cummings was only 19 when he completed the West Kootenay’s hardest rock climb last October. The climb is located just East of Nelson at Kootenay Crag, near Troupe Beach, and is a called “A Delicate Push.” The 7-bolt sport route is graded 5.13b and Luke says it’s one of the hardest he’s ever done. [...]

I’m not the only one who’s said it. And even if you haven’t thought it, you probably know where I’m talking about: Arrow Lakes. The rock is clean (mostly), definitely featured and there is  lots and lots of it. In the last 4 months, 30+ new routes have gone up at 3 new crags: The [...]

With my financial situation unable to support me blowing hundreds of dollars on hardware, I’ve decided that even though I don’t have money or a job, I do have energy, time and shovel. So over these last few days, when it hasn’t been poring with rain I’ve ventured off to The Waterline ready for a [...]

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 [...]

So if you haven`t been out to Arrow Lakes yet, you now have another  reason to go.  On Saturday after JT had lost his strength and about a liter of blood on his latest Waterline Project we headed up to Arrow lakes to put to bed a project of mine.  It`s on a new road side wall named [...]