Ascents in Nova Scotia

#2. Seconded. Scary traverse, as like last time. But past the scary bottom bits, it's a lovely climb above. Gaston'd the crack to get thru that section, where a layback might have also worked (Will's beta was very different). He plugged a couple cams, but guidebook says you only need one. Definitely needed a rest/take before figuring out the crack sequence.

#2. Since we had rapped down from the Whiskey rings to the Whiskey ledge, we figured why not do the upper part of the route on TR. LOADS OF ROPE DRAG. SO NOT RECOMMENDED. But a fun route nonetheless. I did not succeed in jamming the crack, so I went to the right and bypassed it with some flakes. Bianca struggled for a bit but DID find a way to jam the crack.

Will have to try it again on lead from the ground, not the ledge -- looks like only one cam is needed to protect the top bit and then above the crack it's back to bolts.

#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.

#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.

#2 of the day. Frozen toes couldn't hold me back from trying this - since Jamie was so kind to rope solo it and leave the rope up, it gave me a chance to TR and clean it. Good route, will have to take a closer look at it when I'm not freezing my toes and hands off.

#1. Starts out easy then gets intimidating on that crack above. Will lead and left in gear so I could lead & clean it. Might have needed a rest or 2 somewhere along the trad section.

The route isn't obvious until you're on the wall: just find the bolt, stand right below it and start climbing. There is a ledge most of the way up with a 10 ft. section that is more scramble than climb above it. Only going to the ledge provides some easy top rope anchors.

Fun moves!

Replaced missing bolt

#3. Fun route, decently protectable as a mock lead on TR, once you're two bolts in and have to start plugging cams. Tried a few things before I could protect the first horizontal crack -- an early cam placement attempt popped out and smacked me in the face when I yanked on it.

Didn't love that cam, but left it in until I got one tier higher, placed a better cam, then removed the lower one. Moral here is: get ready to be runout, but the climbing is easy. Could lead this next time around.

#2. A struggle but enjoyable.

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

Fun moves almost the whole route. The bolt is missing its hanger. After the ledge there's a 10 ft. section that is more scramble than climb. Only going to the ledge provides some easy top rope opportunities.

Top rope soloed the route early in the morning. I set up my anchor on the ledge as the short bit after is just a scramble. I was able to get in good enough anchors, but it took a lot of work and a bit of excavating. Enjoyed the climb, though. Don't anchor on the tree - it will likely pull out. There are shallow places to put cams. A Tricam works well left of the tree, facing the cliff. In the alcove on the right there is a nice vertical crack to place an SLCD. The route is relatively clean, but the missing bolt should be replaced.

Replaced missing bolt.

Rope solo, rested at the slopey crimp.

Used the crack too the climbers left of the actually gully. Could not find any top rope bolts so I used the anchors from Gully Wall and finished there.

First lead on gear. Fun well protected line.

1

Fixed rope to rings and rappelled down. Placed and bounce tested protection on the way down:

• #11 wallnut
• #0.75 friend
• #1 Camalot
• #3 C4
• #1.0 red tricam in the flaring crack at the top

Seemed sufficient, but the top was a little tricky. A hex might have fit nicely in some of the upward flares.

Clean top rope solo back up. Old style Petzl Basic extended to chest height, Ascencion on belay loop. Adequate, but not quite happy with the separation between the two. Might experiment with a different chest harness.

At the top: practiced transition from ascending to descending. Should do again on something steeper.

#handcrack

2

Another clean ascent. Top rope solo.

#5. Karla once again moved the anchor over and we did a lap on this on TR. Not surprisingly, it was a walk in the park. THEN we decided we were done for the day and proceeded to climb it again... with packs on.

First time leading it, but I rehearsed the gear on TRS a while back. Easy.

Lead again with all different gear. The bottom protects very well, the top is trickier to protect but ~5.2.

#1. An easy climb, easily protected.

Decently difficult for the grade of 5.6, sharp holds from low traffic but it's a cool line for sure.

#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.