bugaboos link-up

BUGABOOS ENCHAINMENT – JULY 19^TH 2013

I had an idea while running solo laps on the apron in Squamish, perhaps the same place Peter Croft had a similar thought 25 years ago.

"Is an enchainment of the 4 most sought after bugaboos peaks possible in a day?"

I had one distinct advantage over Peter Croft... I knew it was possible, it had been done at least three times before, so the question was; was I capable? I hadn’t a clue. 

I sat in a coffee shop in Canmore, checked the weather, looked at a calendar, and came to the realisation that it was now or never for a bugs trip this season.  After a quick food shop, I cranked down the 93 on my motorbike, eventually turning onto the twisty logging road giving us climbers’ quick access to the Bugaboos.  I dodged logging trucks, and got blinded by the dust storms in their wake.  With the help of several bungee cords, 50 liters of gear was quickly strapped onto the outside of my stuffed 35 liter pack, and I hiked up to Applebee.

The days passed by, some good weather, and one a full tent day in a raging storm. I climbed several classics on the west face of snowpatch.  A six hour link-up camp to camp of; Surf’s Up (5.9, 9 pitches), and the Kraus-McCarthy (5.9 8 pitches) boosted my confidence.  My food dwindled down, it was time to push. The forecast wasn’t splitter for the following day; 40 percent chance of thundershowers, but I was running out of time.

The day:

4:30am – Wake-up, hit the sleep button from 3:30 on

5:00 am – Start hiking.

6:00am – Solo on the splitter first pitches of the ne ridge of bugaboo (5.8, 12 pitches), with frozen fingers, and alpenglow illuminating the peaks.

7:30am – Breathing hard on the summit, and thinking, “Shit, the South Howser is far away”.

8:00am – Getting yelled at by guides while down-climbing the Kian route, and nodding with headphones blasting.

8:30am – Bugaboo-Snowpatch col.

10:10am – Base of the Becky-Chouinard (5.10+, 21 pitches, 500m 4^th class), after a long approach and descent into east creek.

10:45am – Heel-hooking around the arête, and pulling through the 5.10 third pitch, feeling good.

11:40am – Eating Bits and Bits, and Twix bars on Big Sandy Ledge, at the top of pitch 9, and wondering how the hell I’m going to be able to get past the slow moving group of 6 Swiss climbers.

11:50am – Soloing through their ropes, with their permission.

12:20am – Hauling my poor pack through icy squeeze chimneys.

12:40am – Back-loupe belaying across the 5.10+ traversing pitch 14.

1:00pm – Summit of the South Howser, very sweaty, with angry looking storm clouds building.

1:20pm – My inexplicably short 60 meter rope never quite making it to the rappel anchors.

1:40pm – Lost the rappels.

2:00pm – Bergshrund!

3:00pm – Legs pumping on the summit of Piegon after scrambling the west ridge (5.4, 500 meters)

3:40pm – Eating an insanely large block of cheese while descending the glacier towards the west face of Snowpatch Spire.

4:00pm – Shoes on at the base of the Kraus-McCarthy (5.9, 8 pitches)

5:00pm – Feeling worked on the final pitch, a 5.8 off-width.

5:10pm – Stoked! Forth summit.

5:40pm – Safely back on the glacier as the rain comes down, and winds howl. The party I passed in the morning still descending the Kain route.

6:40pm – A rainbow sits in front of black storm clouds as I hike into camp.

The stats:

4 summits

41 pitches of technical rock

1000 meters of 4^th class

2230 vertical of elevation gain and descent

13 hours 40 minutes.

 

how to strap 50 L of stuff on to a 35 L pack - alpine 101

 

 

splitter Surf's up crack