The Tantalus Traverse is a rite of passage for Squamish mountaineers. It is attempted in a wide variety of styles and route variants but the common component is summiting the twin peaks, Tantalus and Dionne, via the long ridge of which they are the highest points, either moving north to south or vice-versa. The logic of the traverse is very clear from the Tantalus lookout on the 99.
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| The ridge from the lookout: Tantalus and Dionne twin summits in centre |
In the summer of 2021 Leo was working at Squamish’s excellent climbing store, Climb On. He and his co-worker, MK, made a plan to attempt the traverse together and to my surprise asked if I would like to join. I was very interested but hesitant as their intention was to do the hardcore “river-to-river” version of the route rather than use a helicopter to gain and exit the alpine, and I doubted that I had the required fitness. Even tackled over three days, as they intended, the first day involves 2300m of ascent from the valley floor with full packs. The only comparable single-day ascent I have done since moving to BC was Mt Rexford from the valley in 2017 but on that occasion we offloaded most of our gear at a campsite halfway up and completed the climb with minimal weight. Furthermore, Leo and MK wanted to tag the summits of Pelion, Alpha and Serratus as well as the core summits of Tantalus and Dionne which is all that the heli-assisted groups usually climb.
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| Our approximate route in Google Earth, from the north-east |
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| Our approximate route in Google Earth, from the east |
In the event, my fitness turned out to be adequate for the traverse. This may have been helped by Leo and MK procuring super-light gear as only climbing shop employees can, including the amazing Edelrid 6mm Rap Line and toy-like Mago 8 belay plates. My friend Luc also lent me his Arcteryx Alpha FL pack which proved so great that I bought one for myself after the trip. I also have a theory that I have unintentionally made myself more aerobically-fit over the last few years through hundreds of days carrying new routing gear uphill at Chek. Heavy pack carried for medium duration = legit endurance training for bigger days?
However we didn’t achieve all of our objectives. This was almost entirely due to route finding issues, even though we had researched the line quite thoroughly and had a GPS track to follow. On day one we couldn’t find the scrambling route up Pelion (a well-hidden gully, we later discovered) and opted to skip the summit. On day two, we made too leisurely a start and got caught behind several heli-bumped groups on the climb to the Tantalus ridge. Finishing that day in the dark we then got lost trying to find the right descent beyond Dionne and bivouacked well short of our intended stop at the Haberl Hut. On day three, we were unsure how to ascend the west side of Serratus, and ended up skipping that peak and then Alpha as well. None of which bothered me at the time or in retrospect: it was a fantastic adventure and I am extremely grateful to Leo and MK for inviting me along.
Unsurprisingly the highlight was summiting Tantalus and then Dionne, and making the complex exposed rappels between them. Intermittent cloud cover made this section especially atmospheric, as we would have zero visibility one moment and long vistas another. Leo “led” the rappels throughout and I was very impressed to watch how calmly and confidently he navigated the terrain. I also slightly impressed myself by leading a short but steep crack pitch, perhaps 5.8, in approach shoes with a handful of ultralight cams on the (doubled) 6mm rope, to bypass the wide moat on Dionne. Later we would discover that other climbers at that point in the season were making a very loose scramble on the south-west face but I think our line was safer.
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| Trail head, day 1 |
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| Beginning the hike up Sigurd Creek, day 1 |
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| High on Pelion, day 1 |
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| day 1 bivouac south of Pelion |
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| Sub-alpine meadows, start of day 2 |
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| Getting psyched to start the technical climbing, morning of day 2 |
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Horrific choss on the Tantalus north side bypass.
(Better to climb 4th class rock direct to the ridge instead) |
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| MK holding the ridge together, day 2 |
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| MK and ... |
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| Leo, Tantalus summit, day 2 |
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| Leo with Dionne behind |
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| Leo, rigging the rappel past the Witch's Tit |
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| Me leading a crack on Dionne to avoid the moat |
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| Leo, summit of Dionne at sunset, day 2 |
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| Running out of light under Dionne, day 2 |
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| Day 2 bivouac |
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| Sunrise on day 3. Garibaldi summit visible right of centre. |
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| MK looking down over Lake Lovely Water, day 3 |
A "river-to-river" traverse necessarily involves a west-to-east crossing of the Squamish River to finish.Helpfully Leo and MK had pre-placed a small inflatable boat which made this straightforward, if muddy. Many people make unauthorised/ illegal use of the wire cables installed by BC Hydro for their (locked-up) cable trolley. I was glad we didn't have to do this. However we did have a final "bonus crux" carrying the boat and our packs 2km down a dirt road to our pickup.
In the past that dirt road, which lies on Squamish Nation reservation land, has been open to vehicles but recently it has been blocked off and it not even clear whether the nation want people there at all. Someone at the right level of government should be talking with BC Hydro and Squamish Nation to try to figure out a better/ sustainable solution, but this seems highly unlikely any time soon (as I have written elsewhere, District of Squamish are shamefully absent from important access negotiations like this). Meanwhile the continued absence of uncomplicated pedestrian access to the Tantalus is great news for the two helicopter companies operating out of Squamish airport. They offer a good service at a manageable price, which I have benefited from on several occasions since climbing Alpha in 2016, so I am not complaining, but this outstanding mountain range deserves better.
