skibum1087

Thanks for the info and advice. I have finished the route before and would love to again, but we'll be arriving later in the afternoon and most likely only will have time to climb partway (Which is also a nice excuse for being out of shape). Two ropes it is. Spencer

I am wondering if it is possible to rap from the top of the split back to the base with a 70 instead of taking two ropes? In the squamish select I think it says the pitch is 40 meters, and some of the other raps are long also, but I feel like I have heard others say it can be done. Has anybody tried this out and have any info? Thanks a lot Spencer

I know this has been covered before, but I could not find anything in a search. I am wondering about the details on the rappels from the top of dragontail down to the flats above asgard. Trying to avoid bringing crampons or axes on backbone. Thanks for any info Spencer

Dr Huang at the udub hand center is really good. He has experience dealing with climbers, and seemed to really understand what climbing does to the body and respect my concerns about my ability to climb in the future. I saw him for an A4 pulley rupture. The whole clinic was great as well, very friendly and efficient.

Is that the elusive Allen Henshaw Pre-Memorial? If so, did you approach from the lower parking as for main wall? I have not yet been able to steer myself to it yet...

If you have 70 meter ropes, olive oil (5.7) has good ledges for all of the belays and was quite fun. Also, we did the great red book as a party of three, and although the first belay does not have a great stance, it still accommodated everyone reasonably well due to its fat bolts and chains.

There are some really good mixed lines from 5.8-5.10 on main wall east.Lord of the dance and fiddler on the roof are really fun. Fiddler takes great gear the whole way, and is 5.9. There are about 4 short multipitches in all there.

thanks for the input. We will most likely forgo the hauling. Would I be correct in assuming that once you get to the memorial that there is water availible somewhere between there and the start the the route in that basin area?

We are planning on doing the NE buttress on Slesse soon, over the course of 2 days with a bivi on the giant bivi ledge. We figure our packs will end up heavier then we would like, especially on the first day with water. I was wondering about the feasibility of hauling the leaders pack on some of the harder pitches, like the 5.9+ roof pitch on the direct route. Is the pitch less than 35 meters so the pack could be hauled with the remainder of a 70 meter rope? Any info would be appreciated. Spencer

We attempted to do this route this weekend, a couple of notes. We approached via Burgundy Col which I would not recommend without snow. After crossing the SS creek/Varden Creek divide the descent to the toe of the buttress was on a particularly nasty talus field, huge mini fridge size blocks that were ready to roll with just a touch. It took us three hours from the col. The climb itself is in an awesome spot, feels super remote. We bailed after a few pitches due to the sparse gear. We might have been off route after the first pitch though. The first pitch was really good climbing, but had long up to 30+ foot run outs which was a little much for my head. Second pitch I am guessing went right, but I couldn't find any of the fixed pins and the climbing got steeper and continued to lack gear so I backed off (to the first ascensionist, after a small fir with a yellow piece of cord around it, do you head right into the shallow open book just to the left of the roof on your topo), went left and up until we bailed off of some trees. It is a cool looking hunk of rock for sure, but also a lot more involved then we expected.

Pete- We skied the north face of north twin a week ago. We had coverage right from the top all the way into the woods below the face. The snow seemed to be going fast though on the lower half traversy part of the face, and in the bowl below, get it soon!

bbuckingham- How much snow was on the road/trail up to colchuck? Can skis be used the entire time in the woods, or would we probaly be carrying them a lot this coming weekend?

awesome, thanks for the info

We are staying at the rampart creek hostel after our first day of climbing, so it sounds like balfour might make a lot of sense, do you just continue past the hostel until parking for the balfour area?

Thanks for all of the advise. I have been scouring the internet for more on haffner creek and the Balfour wall but have only found pictures. Where are they located in relation to Banff? We will be arriving in the middle of the night and would not be able to procure a guidebook before the first day of climbing, so we are trying to figuire it out ahead of time. Thanks