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Cable size for Squamish River Crossing?


JasonG

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Just pay the guy to come get you, by the time you make the crossing, then belay each other down the trestle on the other side, walk the road, pay the native guy, and hitch hike back to town...you know....starts to make sense eh...

 

Leclerc was running up that thing all summer, I am sure he has it down pat if you still want to go that way.

 

Trolly

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I took a chopper from Brackendale this past summer. I was at the Haberl hut in 5 minutes plus scoped the climbing conditions from above. Oh, and I should metion the beer and steaks we brought. Now that's mountaineering! Split between 3 people, it wasn't really that expensive.

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Maybe things have changed, but we used to just bring a big-ass bolt cutter and cut the locks off the cable car and ride across in style (always remembering to bring your own lock so you can lock it on the far side so some scumbag thieving climber doesn't take it back across, leaving you stranded).

 

The locks were big and hard to cut thru, so one year one of us who worked at a lab brought a big cooler full of liquid nitrogen to freeze it off. Turns out tempered steel does not become brittle at extremely low temps. But it was awesome pouring 4L of that shit off the top of the tower.

 

Karma got us tho - one year we came back to our car and someone had stolen the racks. Others used to have their batteries stolen.

 

Sounds like paying the guy for as boat ride is the ticket.

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You need an oversized steel biner, the standard one I use for rope soloing didn't fit. Most large aluminum lockers seem to fit and will get you there and back a couple times before having to retire it. This is all if you choose to tyrolean of course. I typically brought extra kit to make the crossing cruisy, then would leave it at the river while climbing. If I were doing the traverse via hiking up Sigurd I would make a quick stop beforehand and just walk the cable there and back with no pack and leave my scene pre rigged for when I come out with all my shit. Great zone back there enjoy :)

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I've Tyroleaned the lower cable twice, and while I know people who've walked the upper cable, I never got up the confidence to try - seems a bit close to gymnastics to me. I used a couple of SMC alu ovals (?) ( or maybe Clog D's?) the first time, gates opposite, and they were trashed after. I used my belay carabiner, a DMM pear twist-lock, the 2nd time, and while it got grooved a bit. I filed off the burrs and continued to use it for maybe a decade afterwards.

Here's a few tips:

1. Use your prussik loop doubled back to maybe one third length for your main hanging strand. You want the cable in front of your face, where you can apply arm power to it, not at a stretch above, where you have no leverage / power.

2. Dangle your pack off your second prussik, clipped directly to the bottom of YOUR hang loop, which is attached or tied to your harness tie-in point. that way, the weight of the pack applies straight thru to the cable and doesn't 'upset' you. wearing it will turn the crossing into a death battle!

3. the down-slope leg is easy, but it does take a bit of work and time getting up to the far end. patience - you'll get there, and the resting is easy when you get a bit puffed... cool view, being out there over the middle of the river...

4. with a group, there is not reason at all that several people can't be on the wire at one time - it ain't gonna break! send the fastest / strongest first, to shorten the total time elapsed.

 

a boat is better, but if you can't organize that, the wire works fine!

Edited by Don_Serl
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