Calabogie, Arrampicata

BLDV

VB-VB VB+V0-V0 V0+V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13

Mappa

1 2 3 5 4

1 Lake Cliff 2 Main Cliff (Summer - Rock) 3 Calabogie Boulders 4 Calabogie Hydro / High Falls 5 Skywalk

Indicazioni in Google Maps

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Stagionalità

Sommario

Multiple cliffs and breakdown areas around Manitou Mountain near Calabogie Lake.

Descrizione

Near the Calabogie Peaks ski resort, there are a multiple cliffs, The Main Cliff seeing the most traffic. The area is primarily granitic gneiss and decent rock. The Main Cliff has seen most development with a renaissance since 2010 after the NCC closed most of the climbing in the Gatineau Park.

The Main Cliff is a kilometre or longer continuous cliff generally ranging in height from 12m-25m. It runs perpendicular to the road, generally giving approach times in the 5-20 minute range along fairly easy hiking trails.

The Lake Cliff faces north east. It is home to a good number of moderate sport climbs with a few hard sport climbs and a variety of good trad lines.

The Skywalk Cliff faces south and gets good all-day sun. It is currently home to a number of moderate to hard sport climbs. The cliff is tall and sustained and most lines are excellent and exciting climbing.

Limitazioni per l'accesso

Fires are PROHIBITED. Under NO circumstances should you start a fire at Calabogie. Respect the new parking restrictions.

HEY CLIMBERS, YES THAT MEANS YOU! THE WAY YOU ACT AT THE CRAG CAN LEAD TO THE ACCESS BEING JEOPARDIZED! CLIFFS ARE BEING CLOSED AND THIS COULD HAPPEN HERE!

Don't play music, no one wants to hear it. Pick yours and others trash up and pack it out. Dig a hole to take a #2 in and burry it! Don't pee under boulders or overhangs because the rain can't wash it away. Fires are banned on Greater Madawaska Crown Land without permit or approved fire pit, of which there are none at any of these crags. Limit the size of your group. Brush your tick marks before you move on. Keep your dog on a leash and pick up after it. Don't smoke around people who don't want to be around it and pack out your butts. Park responsibly.

Here is a good article talking about access issues recently (Read it, it only takes a minute)

https://gripped.com/news/hey-climbers-your-behaviour-can-close-our-crags/

Main Cliff, Calabogie Boulders, and approach are on crown land in a "General Use Area", in particular in the " "Madawaska Highlands General Use Area".

Most of Lake Cliff is entirely on Calabogie Peeks land. They accept no liability for any use of the area, use at your own risk.

Skywalk is entirely on crown land.

The Hydro/High Falls section was closed in 2002 due to deaths from an unexpected opening of the Barrett Chute Dam overflow gates. The land is fenced off and owned by Ontario Hydro.

There are two very real threats to access at this crag that have come up in COVID times. We were a hairs breadth away from having all parking shut down in 2021. Fires and Parking are the only two things the people who have the power to shut down access have every talked about in the last 5 years.

Avvicinamento

From Ottawa, take highway 17 west, then turn left onto county highway 508 (Calabogie road). Follow the 508 past Calabogie and along the shore of Calabogie lake.

See sub areas for directions to each.

Storia

Grafico cronologico delle vie

The main cliff was first climbed in the late 70s through late 80s, then it dropped in popularity. A few routes near 2nd easy way down continued to be climbed, but the rest of the cliff was rarely visited.

Starting in 2010, when the NCC closed much of the Gatineau park to climbing, climbing at Calabogie started to revitalize, with the development of new routes at Main Cliff, including a fair bit of bolting of anchors and the setting up of a lot of sport routes. This development has continued, including the development of Lake Cliff and Skywalk more recently. All this work now makes Calabogie one of Ontarios's largest climbing areas.

The history of the crag may lead to a differentiation in grades, the old, trad, routes were graded "old school", while the newer routes seem to be being given more "modern" grades, possibly resulting in nearby routes with similar difficulty level easily varying by a couple grades.