BRC Squamish - Calculus Crack and Skywalker 7.14.12

BRC was heading up to Squamish so we decided to head up as well and help instruct one day. We claimed Saturday for ourselves, although we were on route near some of the teams. This time around we decided to forgo camping and get a hotel room at the Chieftan a couple blocks down from the Howe Sound Brewery– I didn’t know how to react to a shower after a day of climbing, it seemed weird. Aaron and I were looking to get on one of the routes on the Apron, so we passed on breakfast and got to the parking lot about 7AM. There were several BRC teams heading up the apron as well, a couple each on Banana Peel, Diedre, and Calculus Crack.

Aaron and I decided on Calculus Crack and started off before the BRC teams (a few of them decided breakfast was too tempting to pass up). I followed Aaron on the approach, a short hike through the trees, and geared up for the first pitch. The mosquitoes were a bit annoying and I was ready to start climbing to escape them. The first two pitches were through the trees. I got to sling and pull on more trees than I could have imagined.

Looking up at the start of the first pitch, slinging and pulling on trees

At the crux of the first pitch (5.7), I was trying to figure out my next moves. Aaron yelled I was suppose to go right – which is where I had just come from, so I made the big move back over. There I found a lot of moss covered slab. I yelled down to make sure he meant right and not left and he confirmed. I decided the moss was a bad sign and headed back left to the crack, and then went left into a corner. That didn’t look great either so I went back to the crack, plugged a piece in, and pulled the few moves up. After that there were a couple more ledges and then I picked a tree to sling to bring Aaron up. Aaron thought I was lower on the route so his unprompted navigation cues caused much confusion – luckily I eventually ignored them and just continued route finding on my own.

We walked through the trees just a little to the start of the second pitch, a 5.8. The crux of the pitch is at the end of the first section. Aaron didn’t like the cracks on the left so he stuck to the dirty corner as he calls it. This time at least it wasn’t super wet, so it was a little less awkward – although still plenty awkward. Once past the dirty corner, another little crack system brought me to the final slab with crack like features.

[Left] Start of pitch 2 (5.8). Aaron stuck to the dirty corner on the right instead of heading up the cracks on the left. [Right] Pitch 2, past the dirty corner is this easy section

Top of pitch 2, easy climbing up to a bolted anchor on the left

There is a bolted anchor there just a little to the left, at the start of the third pitch. Aaron was encouraging me to lead pitch 4, the crux 5.8 finger crack, and offered up pitch 3 (5.6) as a warm-up for me. I took it, not completely committing to leading pitch 4 though, and grabbed all the gear. Aaron told me I could either set up a gear belay in the low angled crack I’d be climbing for pitch 3, or do the traverse over and build it in the bottom of the finger crack.

[Left] Start of pitch 3 (5.6). [Right] Looking down pitch 3 as I near the ledge to traverse to the start of pitch 4. Used both cracks.

I started up the twin cracks on pitch 3, mostly sticking to the right crack to start with. It basically had steps filled in with dirt – it felt like I was cheating. I slung trees as I went and finally the rock cleared so I used both cracks to work my way up. There were no hard moves and I plugged a couple pieces in. As I neared the traverse to the finger crack (pretty obvious ledge to the bottom of the white finger crack) I decided I was going to build a gear anchor in the crack I was already in.

Pitch 4, the crux 5.8 finger crack on Calculus Crack, starts left of pitch 3. The finger crack is left on the rock, the white crack.

The ledge didn’t look super bomber to be belaying from. Unfortunately building an anchor in the awkward crack proved challenging too. I had some decent feet so I built an anchor but was not very happy with it, so I made a couple moves higher and built one there. That let me go back down to the nice feet with my cordelette reaching. I belayed Aaron up and we tried to rearrange at the awkward anchor. I ended up getting out of the crack on a hanging belay to transfer the gear.

I placed a nut in to prevent a factor 2 fall on the anchor, and started the traverse over to the bottom of the finger crack. The ledge was much better than I expected actually. I stuck a piece in the finger crack and started up. There were really no feet, just smearing, and the finger crack. I placed a lot of small gear, including about 7 or 8 nuts on the way up. Luckily I found some really nice pockets that I could fit all of my fingers in to place gear from. I got elvis leg once and thought about taking, but kept moving through it. I sewed up the bottom of the finger crack fairly well, so by time it started leveling off I was getting low on slings. I placed a couple more pieces with the scoop in sight – the destination of my next gear anchor. I mentioned I was running out of gear so Aaron encouraged me to run it out – luckily I’m quite experienced with that. I reached the scoop, found a few good gear placements – I think a #0.75, 1, and 4, and belayed Aaron up. I transferred what little gear I had left back to Aaron, and he started out on pitch 5, a 5.7.

[Left] Looking down at the finger crack on pitch 4. After the initial section is flattens out a bit leading to the big scoop where I built the anchor. [Right] Aaron leading the start of pitch 5 (5.7).

Aaron made quick work of pitch 5. As he led out, Aaron N reached me in the scoop and set an anchor there as well, just up from me. Just as he was starting to belay Jesse up, I started off as well – basically being pulled up the route by Aaron using his auto-block.

Second part of pitch 5 that Aaron led

I quickly reached Aaron at his gear anchor just past the stump. When he led the finger crack that’s where he ended up building an anchor – I was more than ready to stop before that though. He pointed out pitch 6 to me which involved a quick traverse across very low angled slab to a crack with plenty of trees.

Pitch 6 heads across the slab and then up the crack with the trees to top out on the ledge

I found a favorable looking spot to gain the slab and head across. I slung a couple trees, placed a cam in the crack for the most difficult part of the pitch, slung one more tree on route, then made it to the top where I picked out a nice tree that would let me belay with a great view. Aaron ran up the slab after me and we topped out just after 11; a little over 3 hours from the car.

View from the top of Calculus Crack as I belay Aaron up

We decided to wait for the BRC teams behind us to top out before heading down, so we enjoyed the snacks we brought up as I actually sought out the sun to get some warmth. Aaron N was trying to combine our pitch 5 and 6 but couldn’t quite make it, so he anchored at the last tree I had slung on route and brought Jesse up. Since it was a walk from there to the top, he let Jesse lead it. Aaron talked Jesse through the steps of setting up the anchor and belaying Aaron N up. Soon we saw Cody appear, following the same combined pitch as Aaron N. Instead of anchoring though, he had Jared simul-climb the last little bit so he could reach the top. We packed up and started heading down. I was hungry and wanted to get back to our sandwiches in the car.

I followed Aaron across Broadway and we took the slab descent, cutting some time from our hike through the woods. The Diedre teams were already gone and Emily had started down from Banana Peel. Aaron N decided to head up Boomstick crack so we continued down ourselves.

[Left] Aaron heading down one of the ropes on the descent from the Apron through the trees. [Right] Skywalker (5.8) at Shannon Falls. First couple pitches as the route trends climbers right.

After a quick lunch, we decided to go try Skywalker. During my research for the weekend, I decided Diedre and Skywalker both looked like fun. We drove down to Shannon Falls which was packed, finding a spot in the parking lot across the street. We paid our $3, reapplied sunscreen, and started up the 10 – 15 minute approach on a very well maintained trail. We saw Sara’s car in the parking lot and people on route, so we were guessing they’d soon be heading down. Much to our surprise, they were still all at the start of the climb when we got up there. Apparently there was a team of 3 moving a bit slow, and the pair right in front of Sara also took a bit of time.

The two BRC teams waiting their turn to get on Skywalker – Colleen, Dave, Matt, and Sara

We settled in for a while before Sara was finally able to start leading the first pitch. Talk about an audience – she had 5 hecklers. The start of the first pitch (5.7) was the toughest part of that pitch. A bolt on the face offers protection as you move into the crack up high. Matt and Aaron had climbed Skywalker in April and remembered it being a lot less wet. Unfortunately the crack was pretty slimy, making the move even more difficult. Sara made her way up the face and gained the crack. A few pieces along that crack lead to a ledge with a giant stump and two bolts nearby that protected the start of the traverse across the slab. I thought the traverse was the worst part personally, although I think I stayed a little too high. Once the crack is gained, another series of moves brings you to the top of the first pitch.

Colleen belays Sara up the start of pitch 1 (5.7). The hardest move is the start in trying to gain the crack which Sara has just accomplished

Aaron about to start the traverse on pitch 1 before heading up to the tree, our temporary anchor before moving to the bolts

Thanks to all of the traffic on route, both Sara and Matt anchored their teams in at the tree since the bolted anchor was occupied. Wanting to avoid the traffic jams, Aaron and I hung out at the start for quite a while. In the end, I think we waited 3 hours before we finally got on route – having 2.5 teams in front of us when we arrived.

A couple more groups came up to the start. We explained the time delay and then chatted for a while. The one couple had recognized Sprinkles from one of our Vantage trips, so they asked us about other good places to climb in Washington. They were all really nice, but finally it was time to start. Aaron had lead pitches 1, 3, and 5 last time so I decided to take those so he could lead pitches 2 and 4 – the flume, a 5.8 finger crack that was the crux of the climb, and skywalker, the 5.5 traverse. Having watched the four go before me, I had a slight idea of my strategy for making it into the crack. I sort of followed Matt’s moves, although avoided the slime more. Once past the unnerving slab traverse, I slung the tree and brought Aaron up as Dave was belaying Matt from the bolts. Aaron soon joined me, and we moved to the bolted anchor once Dave had started up.

Dave belaying Matt up pitch 2 (5.8), the Flume, the crux finger crack on Skywalker

Aaron made his way up the flume – an awkward finger crack in a corner that pushes you out left. The start was a bit tricky, and then very sustained until the first slight ease. As a follower I was really tired and happy to be on top rope - kudos to all the leaders! I sort of chimneyed my way up in parts, smashing the right side of my body into the rock to help get purchase as I moved my hands up the crack and smeared my feet. There was a stuck curved nut from a couple groups in front of us that we all tried to get out with no luck. I gave it a go but finally resigned and continued up the last little bit to the anchor. There were two bolted anchors at the top of the second pitch. Dave soon started off as I got the gear back from Aaron.

The third pitch (5.7) had a spicy exit move, although that’s about all Aaron told me. He did say the crack basically peters out without any real protection. He had placed a nut when he lead it, although figured it wouldn’t do much. The third pitch starts up a nice ramp with good gear placement along the way. As it curves around left, you can side the wide exit. Keeping in mind it wouldn’t be very protectable, I placed a few pieces as high as I could. Finally I found myself in the midst of the exit – a very wide crack with no great holds around. Both Colleen and Dave were at the anchor so I asked what they did. Dave told me to muscle through, and Colleen said Sara had gone out right. There was a nice slab ledge on the right so I hung out on that for a bit as I tried to figure out my next moves. I started and came back down a few times, before I finally committed myself to the wide crack. I got both my legs in and jammed up with those – stupid off width. I hooked into the anchor, and then tried to get out of the way as Dave started across the traverse, soon followed by Colleen. I belayed Aaron up, handed him the gear, and he started off on the traverse.

Aaron leading pitch 4 (5.5), the Skywalker traverse

Sara’s rope had gotten stuck on this pitch so Aaron was trying to avoid the same thing and extended most of his slings. Around the corner he tried to watch the rope as he assumed that was the culprit pinch point. I followed on the traverse and soon found Aaron just around the corner. The fifth and final pitch was a 5.0 up slab with bolts, so I took some slings and just a few pieces from Aaron. I headed up the first crack to the ledge and clipped the first bolt. After that it was quick work heading up the slab and clipping the bolts. All of the pitches have bolted anchors so I clipped in and brought Aaron up. We packed up, put our shoes on, and started down the trail. It was well after 6 but since we weren’t actually part of BRC that day, we didn’t have to make the meet up. We dropped our gear at the trail and headed up the trail less than 5 minutes to see the pools of Shannon Falls. The water was rushing pretty well so we got a nice cooling mist and were treated to a rainbow. After I had taken my few pictures, we started back down the trail.

Upper pools of Shannon Falls

There were several ropes strung along the way for hand ladders down. We finally reached the base of the climb and knew it was 10 minutes back from there. I was happy to get to the car and sit. We had done 11 pitches that day – 3 5.8’s, 4 5.7’s, a 5.6, 5.5, 5.4, and 5.0 – I was worked. We drove back to the hotel, parked, and walked to the brewery – it seemed so far away. We found an open table on the patio and enjoyed a delicious dinner before heading back for showers (crazy idea!) and sleep in a real bed. Staying true to my history, Sunday while at breakfast at White Spot it started raining. Although we were planning on sticking to Smoke Bluffs and doing single pitch stuff to help recover from Saturday, we decided the rain wasn’t worth it and headed back to Seattle. Another great day of climbing in Squamish, a bit more time on the Apron and still an abundance of new climbs awaiting me.