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MH2
climber
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Apr 26, 2012 - 10:03pm PT
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Sacrifice a virgin to the sun gods in hopes of more dry days?
Yes. The recipe is hard to get right but sometimes it works.
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TheSoloClimber
Trad climber
Vancouver
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Apr 27, 2012 - 12:19am PT
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The picture of Showcase Spire reminds me of one late last summer, just after the glacier closed.....
A myself and a friend were on our way up to Chek to clip some bolts nice and early in the morning..... maybe around eight. We got to talking about Showcase Spire and how both of us had wanted to climb it for a while. As we turned onto the access road for Chek, he was just like, 'want to go climb Showcase?' and I was all, 'well I'm a little short on gear, but it's only 5.9' and he was there, 'but isn't there a bolted route?'
I didn't think I'd be climbing .11c at that point in the year, but he's a strong climber, and I'd flail up after him if only to get to the top. We continued driving, googling tyroleans on our phones on the way.
So we get to Whis, go to buy our lift tickets, and the Aussie at the window looked at us with our climbing packs and asked if we were going hiking.
For simplicities sake, we said yes, hiking, and she informed us that not all trails were open. I told her that it wasn't a problem; we were just headed to the top of Showcase T-bar, and the ensuing conversation went something like this:
Her: Umm, yeah, you can't go there.
Us: Oh, and why not?
Her: Because there's snow on the ground.
Us: It's all right, we're Canadian; we're used to it.
Off we went.
What would have been infinitely more useful in deterring us from continuing our mission, is telling us that since the Whistler Peak was now open, neither the Seventh Heaven lift, nor the bus that would take us down there, were running. Unfortunately for us, she failed to mention this little detail, and we had no idea until we had bought our tickets and were up as far as the lifts would take us.
Whatever. We're there, we're going, even if it means walking. We made the hike up Chainsaw Ridge in under an hour, with only the horizontal traverse across the glacier before us. We also noticed a large helicopter flying around in our vicinity, but payed little attention.
As we started our walk across the glacier, we noticed a fair amount of activity near the top of the t-bar. We assumed it was just WB employees cleaning up and tearing down what was left of the summer camps, and continued on.
Of course, of all the people we talked to on our way up about climbing the Spire, no one had any idea that they were shooting a movie up there. Because no one knew, they couldn't tell us, and now we didn't know until we were already there.
If it isn't obvious already, our expedition was set up for failure from the beginning, and now with fences up on all sides and security keeping a close watch to make sure we didn't do anything..... stupid..... we were kind of just forced to admit defeat.
We chatted with the movie guys for a bit (Perry B, were you in on that?) and found out that they were shooting the sequel for G.I. Joe, and that they wouldn't be done for up to two weeks. Back across the glacier we go, rather annoyed that nothing could have gone right for us that day.
As we started the hike back down the ridge towards the ski lift, my friend and I had the mutual idea that sliding down the couloir would be a much quicker and more fun option than walking all the way back down. In what may probably have been one of the stupidest, but also one of the most fun decisions I have ever made, I basically jumped down into the col ass first, in order to make a quick and cold descent. I was going fast enough that stopping quickly would have been an issue, although I was more concerned about dodging rocks than any sort of crevasse that may have been ahead.
However, that short trip down made the entire trip up worth it. We took the lifts back to the base, went back to Chek in order to get a couple pitches in, and by the time we were actually ready to climb, our hands had just about thawed.
The End
....... and that was a lot longer than I originally intended. Sorry.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 27, 2012 - 01:12am PT
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Nice story nath! No need to apologize for a good story.
The haters from squamishclimbing only lurk here, they dont bother to post.
Hello from beautiful penticton, the rain stopped just before we arrived. Should be nice and dry by the morning.
Bruce- i thought they did the caa meetings here specifically so you guys could go climb after! :)
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Apr 27, 2012 - 04:07am PT
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that is a funny story, you should have asked for your money back. I have a friend who used to do that, he didn't have a pass & usually hiked or clipped tickets but on the deepest of the deep days & storm days he would go first chair & buy a ticket. Ride the virgin laps till 1030 then go down & complain about the grooming, saying that he was getting stuck everywhere & that the blues were like blacks!!
Sorry for the drift-Winters over & spring is springing
Climbing
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Saugy
Mountain climber
BC
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Apr 27, 2012 - 10:55pm PT
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Ghost captioned his photo with...
Raining in Seattle right now, but I can dream..
...because the route is Rainy Day, Dream Away...no?
Do I win something for that?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 27, 2012 - 11:54pm PT
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I wondered if anyone would notice.
So yes, you win a donut and the espresso drink of your choice at Top Pot Donuts, next time you're in Seattle! Yay!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 28, 2012 - 12:40am PT
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Donuts with pot ? Woooooooo.........
Do not joke about this, woman. Doughnuts are serious business, and Top Pot is a serious doughnut and espresso shop.
Here's the place, just around the corner from my office.
I'm not the only one who thinks this is the doughnut capital of the world.
The true test
And their coffee don't suck, either. So if you're passing through Jet City, give me a call, and we'll go for a coffee and doughnuts.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
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Apr 28, 2012 - 12:42am PT
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Serious Bidness, right there.
One of the best threads there ever was. Even better than the cat & duct tape threads.
'Gracias.
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Relic
Social climber
Vancouver, BC
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Apr 28, 2012 - 12:53am PT
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that is a funny story, you should have asked for your money back. I have a friend who used to do that, he didn't have a pass & usually hiked or clipped tickets but on the deepest of the deep days & storm days he would go first chair & buy a ticket. Ride the virgin laps till 1030 then go down & complain about the grooming, saying that he was getting stuck everywhere & that the blues were like blacks!!
Looooool. I wonder how many times that worked. Brings me back to the days of strategic scamming of mountain lift tickets. I got a whole year's pass for free during one of those epic snow seasons like 14 yrs ago. After I quit working for them in the summer, they handed me next year's pass at the fall staff party by mistake. Tried it on opening day and it worked. Kept working all year long. 100 days of free pow pow, thanks Whistler Blackcomb!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 28, 2012 - 01:25am PT
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Into the wide...
And if you don't like wide, just move a few meters to your left, and things get really, really thin...
Nico almost pulled it off. He actually made the moves look casual, but he couldn't quite link them all. I think he came back and got the second ascent three years later.
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Relic
Social climber
Vancouver, BC
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Apr 28, 2012 - 01:54am PT
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This is the easy part
Climbing some 5.14 rock that's shaped like a vag is for pussies. Real men Boogie Till They Puke.
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MH2
climber
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Apr 28, 2012 - 03:26pm PT
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And if you don't like wide, just move a few meters to your left, and things get really, really thin...
Or move a ways right to ah hah handy-sized crack.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 28, 2012 - 03:28pm PT
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What is that? Something new? I'm trying to remember what's right of Boogie til you puke, but am drawing a blank.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 28, 2012 - 05:30pm PT
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You mean left? Bop til you Drop and that aint it.
No. Right. Andy says the hand crack in his photo is to the right of b-t-y-p.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Apr 28, 2012 - 05:51pm PT
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Is it Rainbow Child?
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MH2
climber
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Apr 28, 2012 - 09:59pm PT
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I don't know, either, but chances are it is part of what the guide calls Punk Rock:
"This little crag is east of the Cirque of the Uncrackables, and is a continuation of that same line of crag.
 just 3 minutes past the last route on the Cirque. The trail to Above and Beyond passes below this crag."
We saw it on our way back from Split Decision.
409 Too Much Pressure 10b
Peder Ourom John Howe Blake Robinson 1981
The obvious handjam crack. Excellent value.
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Relic
Social climber
Vancouver, BC
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Apr 28, 2012 - 10:41pm PT
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You'll see that crack after you walk by the Cirque. It's quite short and right on the trail. Very mossy.
For the life of me, I can't find the damn way to Sunblesed anymore. I am notoriously horrible for remembering trails to climbs and have taken many people on "Relic approaches", but the trail to the Solarium completely eludes me. I end up on death slabs or something after I exit the gulley.
Please consult me or hold my hand there.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 29, 2012 - 01:57am PT
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Random selection from a day at Squamish:
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Apr 29, 2012 - 03:34am PT
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Cool photos Ghost. Thanks! Looks like a fun day! I have never climbed @ Solarium, stoked to get up there now.That one probably dries pretty quick as well i would think??
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