I have been climbing "full-time" for two weeks now. In practise this has structured as about 4 days on and 3 days off per week, probably the right frequency for me. A small milestone was passed on Friday when I redpointed my first Squamish 5.12b: the gently-overhanging Flingus Cling at Pet Wall. I have done several established routes at that grade (it is equivalent to sport 7b) in Europe and given the grade to several of my new routes in the UAE and Oman, so this isn't a breakthrough achievement, but it is reassuring to confirm the same level here. I got the route on my first redpoint attempt, having worked it briefly on Wednesday, making my pedantically recorded beta redundant. This suggests I should really be projecting something harder. Some say Flingus is rather soft for the grade, for example my new friend Stewart who dismissed my ascent with "yeah, it's only 12a" ... before falling off. Ha!
The weather has been incredibly stable recently. This is not especially normal for Squamish, so I thought I should really exploit it by doing something in the alpine. Bob tried to lure me into an attempt on the famous NE Ridge of Mt Slesse, whose "pocket glacier" has recently "slid", making the approach safer. Some research suggested that this might involve 25km of walking on the descent and/or a decent chance of getting badly lost in the forest; not my idea of fun. So I countered by suggesting Life on Earth on Mt Habrich, a route closer to home (Habrich is visible from our deck, indeed from our kitchen sink). It's a good-looking route, especially seen from the neighbouring Sky Pilot, a proper alpine peak with a permanent glacier that is a few km away. There are five 50m pitches of real climbing, all given 5.10b or 5.10c. Not exactly full-blown mountaineering but not quite roadside cragging either.
For me the most off-putting aspect of this route has been a lengthy approach walk on gated forest roads from a point distressing close to sea level (Habrich's summit is around 1700m). However the gate was opened fairly recently, allowing a drive to a decent altitude if equipped with a 4WD with decent clearance. And such a vehicle I now possess ...
Consequently we set off at 6am on Saturday morning. Bob had been shut down before at an obstacle a few km before the ultimate end of the road. We had a brief pause there to drink some coffee and scope the best trajectory for the Forerunner past an axle-eating boulder - then passed on with no drama.
The end of the driveable road has a substantial blockade that says firmly "no further" though it is rumoured that determined ATV guys can get through. We shouldered packs and continued on foot.
I fiddled with my camera's delay setting briefly to obtain a team photo, with this mildly camp result:
The weather has been incredibly stable recently. This is not especially normal for Squamish, so I thought I should really exploit it by doing something in the alpine. Bob tried to lure me into an attempt on the famous NE Ridge of Mt Slesse, whose "pocket glacier" has recently "slid", making the approach safer. Some research suggested that this might involve 25km of walking on the descent and/or a decent chance of getting badly lost in the forest; not my idea of fun. So I countered by suggesting Life on Earth on Mt Habrich, a route closer to home (Habrich is visible from our deck, indeed from our kitchen sink). It's a good-looking route, especially seen from the neighbouring Sky Pilot, a proper alpine peak with a permanent glacier that is a few km away. There are five 50m pitches of real climbing, all given 5.10b or 5.10c. Not exactly full-blown mountaineering but not quite roadside cragging either.
Habrich from Sky Pilot. Life on Earth is the line between light and shadow © Bob Jasperson, 2012
For me the most off-putting aspect of this route has been a lengthy approach walk on gated forest roads from a point distressing close to sea level (Habrich's summit is around 1700m). However the gate was opened fairly recently, allowing a drive to a decent altitude if equipped with a 4WD with decent clearance. And such a vehicle I now possess ...
Consequently we set off at 6am on Saturday morning. Bob had been shut down before at an obstacle a few km before the ultimate end of the road. We had a brief pause there to drink some coffee and scope the best trajectory for the Forerunner past an axle-eating boulder - then passed on with no drama.
The end of the driveable road has a substantial blockade that says firmly "no further" though it is rumoured that determined ATV guys can get through. We shouldered packs and continued on foot.
From here the hike is roughly horizontal for 5-6km. There is a left fork just before crossing Shannon Creek (the source of water for Shannon Falls) beyond which the trail has become overgrown; tunnel-like in places. Eventually the trail opens up slightly, and Habrich becomes visible up to the left. A camp spot right on the trail marks the next stage: a heinously steep and poorly-marked forest trail, with a 300-400m height gain, up to the cliff.
This section severely eroded my enthusiasm but seemed utterly casual for Bob, a man who Grinds the Grouse most days before breakfast (*). Anyone reading this blog post for beta will want to know that there's a right fork from the poorly-marked trail onto an almost invisible trail that leads to the base of LoE. Unfortunately it's too subtle to describe where: good luck!
Then there was the actual climbing. Life on Earth starts with a short grovel up to a belay stance on top of an apparently wholly-detached flake. If I did the route again, I'd belay from the ground and string pitches 1 and 2 together to avoid it. Pitches 2 and 3 are both about 5.10b (the topo we had was vague on the grades) and disappointingly contrived. The route keeps wandering on and off the actual arete of the buttress as there are good cracks nearby. Gear is a mix of eccentrically-spaced bolts and natural protection. I had added a 4" cam to our rack just before leaving home, which proved prescient; it was used on three pitches. I had a brief "moment" high on pitch 3 when I couldn't comprehend where to go and the next bolt appeared unclippable. So I hung briefly on a lower bolt. This felt ironic in light of the previous day's performance (ie I am supposed to be a studly 5.12 man not 5.10 failure!) but was soon forgotten when Bob announced he had dropped his belay device! Or more correctly he claims it "detached itself". This made me slightly anxious as improvising alternatives would have time consequences both for our ascent and descent (normally multiple rappels down the line). We did though reach the top without further trouble. Pitches 5 and 6 were better quality with a more logical line and some cool exposed positions.
Bob finishing pitch 5 © Bob Jasperson, 2012
From the ledges above the route we dumped gear and scrambled to Habrich's nice bare granite summit, getting there around 5pm. The views are stunning in all directions.
Tantalus to the west
Howe Sound to the south-west
Sky Pilot to the south
Garibaldi to the north-east
"Squampton" to the north
I fiddled with my camera's delay setting briefly to obtain a team photo, with this mildly camp result:
The team uniform is a coincidence!
After an abandoned consideration of descending Habrich's easier North West ridge, we opted for the full rappel down LoE, sharing my belay device by passing it between us. This mostly worked OK but was slow and stressful. The ropes never got hung up though it looked likely at times. Bob commented that a slabby arete like LoE isn't a good rappel route and I concur. Perhaps one day someone will bolt a better set of rappels elsewhere on the face?
The sun was setting as we landed at the cliff base ...
... and the descent back down the steep trail was gloomy and unpleasant. We (OK, I especially) slid often on loose hemlock needles. At least the frequent F-bombs must have scared off any nearby bears.
From here was "just" the reversal of the approach hike: interminable! We got to the vehicle at 10pm. Tough day!
I am unsure whether to recommend Life on Earth. Positives are the cool summit and positions on some of the pitches. Negatives are the contrived line low down on the route and the high ratio of hike time to climb time, but I may be more sensitive to those issues than most people? Anyway, I am glad to have had a taste of Squamish alpine and will do some more next summer.
Now back to the redpoints ...
* this may be a slight exaggeration
