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RDB
Trad climber
Iss WA
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Jan 11, 2009 - 02:49pm PT
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Great read in this thread, thanks.
Here is a pic from '79 on Clean crack and me thanking GOD someone left the stump :)
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 11, 2009 - 03:38pm PT
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Railroaded by the railroad?!? Say it ain't so*&%@$!! No mo Caboose!
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RDB
Trad climber
Iss WA
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Jan 11, 2009 - 04:31pm PT
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Great list Tami, "Some skookum routes were closed - Clean Crack, Caboose ( 5.10b classic corner ) Hand Jive ( 5.10 gorjuss crack ), Crescent Crack ( 5.10d crack to make you go woo woo but also to thrash the snot out of weenies ) and a few other, harder routes that were also quite classic."
On our trip we did those and Exasperator and maybe a couple others on the lower wall...been to long to remember clearly. Clean crack and Crescent stand out in my mind as being as good as any thing I had done in Yosemite. To bad they unaccessable now.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jan 11, 2009 - 05:01pm PT
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The Malemute serves up a virtual feast of crack climbing. Exasperator is often cited as one of the finest crack pitches at Squamish, but on the Malemute it wouldn't stand out at all. My fave has always been Quagmire, which has the advantage of still being open to climbing. Not as hard as Clean crack but harder than Crescent Crack (which is a beautiful climb, but only has a couple of hard moves) and definitely in a much fine location.
Here's a Clean Crack story: I was climbing with Kon Kraft one day in the late 70s or early 80s. We'd headed up The Peasants Route at the base of the Grand Wall, but Kon was Having A Bad Day. Couldn't climb sh#t, and was getting incredible pains in his toes. So bad that when he finally got to the top of the first pitch he was screaming in anger at his feet. So we bailed, and went to the bar. A couple of beers later, we headed home, but as we drove by the Malemute I got this weird desire to jump on Clean Crack. So I pulled into the parking lot, and we hiked around to the base.
I'd made it to the top a few times, but either on a top rope or with much hanging and pulling on gear. I think my plan, insofar as I was capable of forming a plan that day, had just been to aid it for something to do on a pleasant afternoon, but when we got there, I somehow decided I should do it right.
And I did. Led it clean. Despite having two pints in my relatively small frame.
Back to Quagmire Crack though. It's a single pitch, but you have to either climb one of the bottom-tier routes to get to the start (now illegal), or hike to the top of the Malemute and scramble down to the top of Quagmire and then rap and pull your ropes. It's a long pitch of fairly sustained 10c fingers and hands, on a nice open face a couple of hundred feet above the ocean. Gorgeous setting and a terrific climb.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 12, 2009 - 01:31am PT
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There's a bit about the Malamute, and Clean Crack, somewhere up thread. I cleaned out most of the upper crack in the winter of 1976-77, including cutting off the cedar that previously hung down and provided handy holds. Leaving the stump which Reilly liked so much - I spent four or five days digging away, and got most of it pretty decent, but the stump wasn't doable. Cedars tend to be well-rooted, and perhaps I should have left it, although the other cleaning would have at least compromised it with time. Trundling something onto it to lever it out wasn't on, given the proximity of the train tracks - when cutting things there, I had to time it so that it was right after a train, and did things to direct the debris so it wouldn't end up on or near the tracks. (They're 2 - 3 metres from the base of the climb.) The stump finally got removed in the late 1980s, but there may still be bits of root deep in the crack.
This explains why so many crack climbs at Squamish are finger cracks - anything wider is often hell to dig out.
Tami has mostly summarized the 'official' access situation at the Malamute. Lower part closed since 2001, upper part logged 2007. It's a pretty sad situation.
Sometimes the guys on the speeder would stop and talk with us while we were climbing, if they had time before a train. Once a guy claimed he'd been a good friend of Dougal Haston's, and knew enough to make it believable.
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MH2
climber
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Jan 12, 2009 - 02:25am PT
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Was the Dougal Haston acquaintance a local?
Up thread in post #159 Mighty Hiker has a pic of Robin B. standing on a flake which I believe to be part of Quagmire Crack, also:
Another view of the stump on Clean Crack circa 1981:
The photographer Richard W. photographed on Crescent Crack:
Simon I. under Big Eave, Penguins in Bondage to the right:
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mastadon
Trad climber
quaking has-been
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Jan 12, 2009 - 09:36am PT
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My guess on the Dougal Haston acquaintance would be the old climbing limey Rob Wood who lived in the Gulf Islands near Surge Narrows. He came out of his cave, occasionally, to work.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 12, 2009 - 01:46pm PT
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We met the railway guy in summer 1977 or 1978. He said he knew Dougal, and seemed to have been in Leysin at or soon after his death. He said that Dougal died as a result of neck injuries from a cornice fall, or some such, not an avalanche per se. Although there was still an avalanche, etc - splitting hairs.
I don't remember the fellow having an English accent, which I think was a reason it stuck in my mind - the story would have seemed more likely from a Brit. It just didn't seem likely that an 'ordinary' Canadian would have been involved, but he seemed to know things.
There was really only one ex-Brit regularly climbing at Squamish then - Robin B. Joe T. emigrated as a young man, and didn't take up climbing until in Canada. Kevin Mc. sporadically appeared, but he and a couple of other ex-Brits didn't really become active at Squamish until 1983 or so. Quite different from what happened in Calgary, and the influence that ex-Brits had there.
Edit: Note "REGULARLY climbing". Various ex-Brits came and went, but a look at the guidebooks is indicative of who was doing what.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jan 12, 2009 - 01:56pm PT
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There was really only one ex-Brit regularly climbing at Squamish then - Robin B
There actually were plenty of Brits climbing then. Maybe outside your circle? Long-gone-John Howard, Clive Davies, couple of others I don't rembember. Keith Nannery, too. Strong climbers.
And even stronger partiers. I remember one night when the Al and Ad Burgess were in town and we all got on it. Wound up in some bar with a great band, and Clive got too involved with drinking and talking to respond to his wife's demands for a dance partner, so I hadda step up and offer the lady my hand. Found out later it really pissed him off, but what can you do?
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Slabby D
Trad climber
B'ham WA
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Jan 12, 2009 - 02:59pm PT
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I was patiently waiting for 1977 to roll around. Certainly I thought you would take a moment or even a full post to comment on your first ascent of the North Ridge of The Sphinx. Maybe even some photos of hairy men in flannel and welted leather boots with a few dirty slings hanging off their Willams sit harnesses. But here we are 1978 and…nothing?!
I mean if someone was talking about the history of Yosemite Valley the inclusion of some events that occurred in Tuolumne would not be considered horribly out of line.
From the Chief, Mount Garibaldi towers over the north side of Squamish. In spring it’s a beautiful white pyramid but by late summer it transforms into a putrid grey mass of crumbling volcanic “rock”. Hidden on it’s backside is a vast wilderness of gentle glaciers punctuated by granite peaks where the rock quality is every bit the equal of The Chief. Fifteen miles from the nearest trail sits the Sphinx in splendid isolation. It’s north ridge, only 500’ long, is good. But maybe more important is when you stand on the summit you can’t help but think that this just might be The Center of The Universe.
So please, a story?
Sphinx at left, Garibaldi in background right
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Jan 12, 2009 - 03:20pm PT
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Malemute RIP. Killer rock . . . .
Did my first five-eleven lead there, I was so proud.
Climbed Penguins in Bondage facing the wrong way.
What was the name of that 11a twin crack route?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jan 12, 2009 - 03:25pm PT
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So please, a story?
Okay, here goes.
The problem with Sphinx, or maybe it's the Sphinx's salvation rather than a problem, is that although it's only a few miles away from lots of places, it's damn hard to get to.
We've all skied past it, around it, and under it, in the winter, and getting to the summit is no problem, but not via the N. Ridge. In the summer, when the temptation hits to climb the ridge, the thought of getting to it with the lake not frozen kills that urge pretty fast.
But one summer, I think in the late 70s but possibly in the very early 80s, one of the Squamish crew (or possibly his gf) got a temporary job up in the park and had access to the park service boat.
With the approach cut from two days to half a day, a small group of us hiked up to Garibaldi Lake, hopped in the boat, and half an hour later were on the beach below all the peaks at the east end of the lake. I'm pretty sure John Howe was there, and I think John Wittmayer, I know Corina and I were there, and I think there was a fifth, but I can't remember who it was.
What I do remember is that the next day two of our party climbed the North Ridge, and the day after that Corina and I climbed it. I believe these were the second and third ascents, but maybe they were the first and second -- not sure about that. What I know for sure is that it went from being a fun climb to me wishing I'd stayed on the prairies with mummy and daddy in a real hurry.
I thought of myself as a 5.10 climber back then (having led a few 5.10 slabs and cracks at Squamish), and word was that the N Ridge of Sphinx was only 5.8. In fact it probably is 5.8, but the wide cracks on the top pitch were all iced up, and I was climbing in mountain boots, with a pack, with a rack of a few hexes and stoppers that were far too small to be of any use...
Had to dig pretty deep on that one. Probably my first glimpse into what climbing is really about.
And yeah, you're right about the view from the top.
D
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Slabby D
Trad climber
B'ham WA
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Jan 12, 2009 - 04:08pm PT
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Thank you. I feel better now.
For those interested the "2 day" approach is long and involves a lot of elevation gain but is mostly gentle, involves zero brush and is stupifyingly beautiful. A megaclassic of the Pacific Northwest, though of course not everyone (including my partner) wants to carry rockgear 30 miles for a 3 pitch rock climb.
Peter Croft did the route car-to-car in less than 24 hours which is an accomplishment that can simply not be appreciated until you've been all the waaaaaayyyy back in there. Maybe another story worthy of this epic thread?
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MH2
climber
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Jan 12, 2009 - 04:10pm PT
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but the wide cracks on the top pitch were all iced up
You shoulda read Joe Brown - The Hard Years and Don Whillans: Portrait of a Mountaineer. Seems they were always running into those iced-up cracks. Of course, reading about them doesn't necessarily lead to avoiding them.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Jan 12, 2009 - 04:27pm PT
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MH,
Yeah, but Joe and Don knew there wasn't any hope of pro so they didn't sweat it; ignorance is bliss. I had the thrill of my life meeting Joe in Wales in '78. That woulda made him 48 which sounds good to me right now. Of course to me he looked like Father Time. It was middle of November which is, of course, prime rock climbing season for the Anglesey sea cliffs; nice and toasty. He had just led a 10c chossfest known also for its poor pro; standard procedure for Joe. I think he was maybe 5'-6".
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mastadon
Trad climber
quaking has-been
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Jan 12, 2009 - 04:59pm PT
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I met Whillans in Tahoe City at the legendary Tahoe City trailer park (Camp 4 North) in the early 80's when was visiting Pete Minks. He was an amazing person and had me in stitches with his stories and demeanor. I wish I could have gotten to know him better but he died a few years later.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 12, 2009 - 05:01pm PT
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Well, by popular demand, yet another digression. “Aren’t we ever going to get there?”
There are many (summer) pictures of the Garibaldi Lake/Black Tusk area on the ladybug thread, at http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=655919 They include photos showing the Sphinx, which is perhaps 10 km away. There are also distant shots of the Tantalus Range, which is just northeast of Squamish, and perhaps the most alpine climbing area near Vancouver. Here is the Sphinx, from the top of the Black Tusk. The peaks in the background are the Mamquam massif, which can be seen from Squamish.
The Sphinx itself is fairly solid granitic rock, but the peaks to the right are mostly volcanic rubble.
My good friend Len S. (the football player) has already appeared several times, including a 1972 photo near the start of the thread, from the top of Ben Lomond, a nice bump in the Sky Pilot area. (East of Britannia Beach.) I won’t repost the photo or references, but here’s another one of him, from autumn 1972, with suitably prehistoric equipment. We went with some people from the outdoors club at UBC to climb at Keremeos and near Oliver, in the Okanagan – before Skaha had been discovered.
The Varsity Outdoors Club was and is typical of university clubs, in that there is a wide variety of experience and enthusiasm, many activities, and it goes through cycles. But many Vancouver area climbers were at some time or other members – if nothing else, a way to meet chicks. Some of them quite well-known climbers and mountaineers, not just in a local context. One of the things the club did for years was an annual ski camp in April, at the west and later the east end of Garibaldi Lake. You could sign up for when you had breaks in your exam schedule, and they organized food and supplies that were flown in. To begin Sphinx Camp was in tents, but in 1968 they built the Burton Hut at the east end, to provide a base. It’s a fairly long day to get there on foot in summer, but in spring you can ski across the lake, 5 – 6 km.
Here’s the Burton Hut, some years later, with the Sphinx in the background.
From about 1967 to 1982, a dozen or so public huts were built in the mountains within weekend range of Vancouver, mostly by the B.C. Mountaineering Club and the Varsity Outdoor Club. Simple, sturdy shelters designed by Werner Himmelsbach, an architect/climber. They were quite basic – sleeping platform plus tables and benches. No heating, often no stove. But they kept the rain and wind off.
One of the huts, the Plummer Hut, is in the Waddington Range. Several were damaged by the elements – the hut at Brew Mountain (southwest of Whistler) had to be moved twice due to damage from snow creep. The Batzer Hut, in the mountains east of Chilliwack, was obliterated by an avalanche in early 1971. The Pringle’s Ridge Hut was also wiped out by snow creep. The Wedgemount Hut was shifted some metres by high winds that same winter, which was quite fierce. In fact, some people went to the Mountain Lake Hut, east of Britannia, in March that year – and couldn’t find it. The apex is 7 – 8 m off the ground, plus it had a pole sticking up from there. Still no go. Eventually they found it through probing – and had a hell of a time digging down into it.
Did I mention that thing about copyright and such? See first post.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 12, 2009 - 06:26pm PT
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Here is another, perhaps better shot of the Sphinx, taken in mid-1972 from the top of Castle Towers, a higher mountain to the north.
The triple peak in the right background is the Sky Pilot massif, including Habrich. And the murky stuff in the far background is smog over Vancouver.
Len was a student at UBC, and in spring 1973 we came up with this idea of going to Sphinx Camp. Rudimentary backcountry ski gear – Silvretta cable bindings, Head Standard skis, clip-on sealskins, frame packs. But lots of energy, as a substitute for experience and wisdom. I was in grade 11 then, and it was Easter week, so had the time off. We went for six days, knowing that spring weather can be great or lousy. Hitch-hiked up from Vancouver one afternoon, and slept on the road. I remember eating freeze-dried vanilla ice cream, “as used by Apollo astronauts” – pretty gross. No wonder they stopped going to the Moon. Slogged in the next day, with not only camping and skiing gear and food (we hadn’t made ‘reservations’), but also climbing gear.
After a day of pea-soup weather, it cleared, and we set off. We wanted to climb the left ridge of this, which looked quite promising.
I don’t have any pictures from the actual climb, but do have some vivid memories. Here we are arriving near the base:
(One of the WORST PHOTOS EVER POSTED on SuperTopo - even once improved with modern technology.)
Our gear was one bright yellow 11mm x 150 foot MSR rope, SMC hexes, miscellaneous wedges (MOACs, etc), slings and carabiners, swami belts, pitons, and hammers. Probably just ordinary mountain boots - I think we had double leather lace up ski boots, and carried our climbing boots. A bit earlier that spring my mother went to Seattle, and I persuaded her to go to REI and buy me a Chouinard alpine hammer. It was their spring sale, so she got to wait in line for a while – as she was a sociable person and liked shopping, probably not quite as bad an experience as she later claimed.
The climb was covered in knee deep wet snow, except where it was too steep. I led the first pitch, up a sort of face, then left around an outside corner into a sort of crack/gully. Then we climbed back to the ridge, and followed it up. About five pitches altogether, though fairly short ones – we didn’t have much gear. A lot of digging was involved, some pretty marginal climbing and anchors, and bits of French free. Len led most of it, including the last pitch – there’s a step just below the summit which is fairly hard. I belayed in a sort of notch while he wrestled with it in the setting sun. We then had to descend the gentle ridge – most of the peaks in the area have at least one easy route – and slog back through deep wet snow to the base of the ridge, where we’d left our skiis. And then ski down in the dark, at first through slush, then breakable crust, then ice. We got down very late, and were very tired – luckily they’d saved some dinner for us.
The next day was more bad weather, then the following day we skied/walked out. I think my father came and picked us up. Anyway, I had a part-time job then as a car hop at White Spot, a local burger chain. (No roller skates, though.) I was working that night from 6 PM – 2 AM, and fell asleep part way through. They sent me home – they were used to my going skiing or climbing before or after work.
I believe the north ridge of the Sphinx was first repeated in 1978, by John H and friends.
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Slabby D
Trad climber
B'ham WA
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Jan 12, 2009 - 06:39pm PT
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Nice. Based on the summit register, the North Ridge of The Sphinx seems to be climbed on average about once a year, and a majority of those ascents are by Garibaldi Park Rangers who have access to canoes or boats on Garibaldi Lake (significantly shortening the approach)
Phyllis’ Engine is another small but excellent summit located in the vicinity of The Sphinx.
The geometry is more reminiscent of something you would climb in the desert than your typical northwest spire. Again, it's a long ways to go for a three-pitch rock climb.
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Slabby D
Trad climber
B'ham WA
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Jan 12, 2009 - 07:16pm PT
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Thanks Tami. You make it sound so casual!
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