Ascents as Clean by Nick Boldt

#2/2. Will led, I followed/cleaned. We broke this into two pitches as usual, but Will opted to skip TWO bolts on the first pitch to get to the belay ledge, opting for a run out but easy path to the right of the main face. Second pitch was fun but dirty, so the stick clip found some use on the 2nd to last bolt.

#1 of 3. Stiff warmup, but an OK climb.

#3/3. Final climb of the day. Didn't love this one.

#1. SO. COLD. Wind and rock both. OK route.

#1. TR'd with Will leading and me cleaning or climbing thru gear. I forget the order we did stuff

#2 TR'd with Will leading and me cleaning or climbing thru gear. I forget the order we did stuff

#3. TR'd with Will leading and me cleaning or climbing thru gear. I forget the order we did stuff

#5 TR'd with Will leading and me cleaning or climbing thru gear. I forget the order we did stuff

#4. Will led, taking a fall after the first move before placing gear. I think he placed 2 cams and a nut, ultimately. I also slipped off on the first move, but completed it after that. Fun route.

#1. Should have led this but was feeling a bit uncertain, so Will led it. 3 medium cams to the ledge, then lowered off the bail biner rather than going all the way up to the big tree / ledge above Penis Envy.

Will have to lead this next time.

#3. Great route, once you get past the somewhat sketchy second bolt. Glad I wasn't leading this, but with a stick clip for the first 2, I'd consider leading the rest.

#1. Decent warmup, glad I didn't have to lead it.

#3. Will led, scraped out the dirt/moss/lichen/grass. I then seconded and cleaned even more. With some good wind on this, it'll be a nice route -- arguably more fun than the regular 2nd pitch of Popcorn.

#3. An OK slab route with a somewhat sketchy start, then it opens up and get more fun -- then a tricky move, and then a cakewalk to the anchors. Could do it again.

#1 for me, #3 of the day for Will (he also did Everybody's Baby and Dripping Crack first).

A challenging climb for me, as I'm still not great at flared crack climbing.

#2. Will did a lap on TR, then a lap on Revenge, and then I did a lap on this. If bolted I'd enjoy this as a lead (maybe?) as the traverse is pretty exposed with small hands and some big swing potential. Cool on TR, though.

#4. Seconded. Not a fan of the start that Will figured out (and fell off a few times), so I dogged right into the tree and found a dirtier way to the first bolt. After that it's just a lot of careful slabbing and slab-avoidance (at the top). Could do with some scrubbin' love, and maybe that top slab would be viable. Had to battle a tree and a bushy ledge near the top too.

Note that the Climb NS guidebook says 6 bolts for 40m, which seems either really R-rated, or under-reported. Or more bolts were added later? I believe Will brought 10 with him, and needed them all + a pre-tied anchor.

#3. Seconded. Scary stuff at the bottom (because arete-slab), and then some nice gear placements in the dihedral. Can't recall if I needed a take on this one.

A fantastic day out with Shep from Yamnuska Mountain Adventures.

Shep led all the pitches, including setting up slings for me on the bolt ladder on the 8th pitch. Great climbing the whole way, especially in the two chert rock sections. The 6th and 8th pitches have chert pockets that were probably once snails or some other ancient creatures, back when Banff was under water. Every pitch has something different... face climbing, slabs, chimneys/dihedrals, and a rest pitch (5.8) before the hardest one.

#4. Closer to the day. Went up Knockdown Street, but instead of the bolt anchors went over to Dreamberry Wine to lower back down.

So I climbed it, and rapped down with the intent to pull the rope, but the sandpaper edge refused to budge. Will jogged up and saved the rope & threw it down to me.

#1. Warmup and an opportunity to teach Will how to do a top-belay. He brought his pre-tied quad for easy in/out. Cold day! Felt like a 5.9 getting off the ground. Attempted the pull through the hand crack at the right side near the top (the traverse/crus bypass) but couldn't find feet; so went the tried and true way to the left.

#2. OMG so much fun, this one, despite the wind. Will stayed in the dihedral and did some delicate lean-and-clip moves for the first bit, then it opened up and he moved more into the main line; I was able to follow his beta but went right into some juggy flakes earlier, making for an easier clipping stance (or unclipping stance, as I was cleaning.

We split it into two pitches, as there's an anchor set up on the ledge after 5 or 6 bolts, and then carried on from the ledge, traversing right and into the beautiful clean white granite.

NOTE: this route can have nesting birds on it, so avoid during nesting season (May?).

#1. Nathan led, I followed. Super good feet and decent hands, despite being an all-slab affair. Definitely a challenging route for a warmup, but very enjoyable on TR. We did not climb it as a mixed -- just a sport route. Bring alpine draws to minimize drag.

5 out of 5, would climb again.

#2. Nathan led, I followed. Fun route, ending in the chimney I encountered the last time I did Flakin' (when Kevin went off course). Definitely a more interesting climb than Flakin'.

Guidebook has this as 5.10b, for one small section that's definitely some effort. Rest climbs much friendlier.

5 out of 5, would climb again.

#2. First time doing this as a 2 pitch route. Kevin led and set gear anchor with a couple cams and a bolt. Josh came up next and did the unclip/reclip dance. I cleaned. Bit of a moment while Kevin was doing the second pitch as we realized a bunch of the rope was tied up in the anchor and had to redo that and re-anchor Josh with girth hitched sling.

Kevin then went off course towards the top and traversed right, to end up in a crack below the rap rings. Nice variation!

#5. Kevin's lead, Josh's second/clean. Then I ran up it on TR. Great climb, should give this a whirl as a trad lead some time.

#1 of the day: Peter put up this route, I cleaned, then we rapped down. Reminder that I need to practice top-belay more. Fun.

#4 on the day.

If you pina coladas, and sketchy slab routes from hell... this started out scary (I suck at slabs), got worse (more like 5.10-?) and then became a mix of easy 5.7ish stuff and interesting 5.10ish moves. Nice and long overall, with great exposure, with a beautiful anchor station to top-belay and rap from.

100% worth the struggle, but wow, it was work to get through the first bit. This is rated a 5.9+ in the Rock Climbing Nova Scotia guidebook... and clearly the + is accurate when describing the crux(es) at the start.

We used a 70M rope to get back to the Whisky ledge, and then climbed down the gully.

Unclear if a 60M rope would have been enough.

Sean led, clean on rappel a bit of a boondoggle, so I TR'd the first three clips just to clean it.

Sean led, I seconded. Bit more work than I would have expected for a 5.8, but still fun

warm up, sean on lead

Sean found a better beta for the top section, so I repeated on TR to check it out.

This was my introduction to classic Nova Scotia trad climbing. Great rock for the first couple pitches. We did this instead of Popcorn due to traffic on the wall, which later got in our way on the upper pitches of Into The Blue too, so ended up zigzagging a little across the two routes to top out into bushes and moss. Thanks to Peter McVey for taking me up this huge route!

Thanks to the hospitality of the local climbing community, I had the pleasure of seconding this wonderful route (second pitch only). Great as a second/TR. Not a lot of places for protection, but the few that are there are awesome. Great end to the day.

Sean led, I cleaned.

Sean led, I cleaned.

6 bolts to anchors

Much more fun than Vuvuzela, but arguably fewer bragging rights as I found this to be an easier 5.9.

Good warmup for newer climbers. Nothing fancy about it.

I enjoyed the Right Popsicle Twin more, but that could be because I led that one rather than seconding. They're both pretty fun routes for the grade.

Rakkup has this as a 5.8, but it definitely had some tougher sections. Bit challenging for a warmup.

We then walked north past Metcalfe North thru the rock pile area (Land Before Time / SCTV Zone) to "Golf Town - Front Bunker" and hit two routes there:

5.5 "Trash Panda" ** - lots of nice sharp holds. Super fun.

5.8 "The Crusher" ** - also awesome.

Sean led, Shaz TR'd, I sported/cleaned.

Sean led, I sported/cleaned.