Grand Wall Lite climb, Squamish, Canada
This past weekend was Canada weekend and Mike and I
decided to arrange our Holiday time such that we could spend some time
together and get out and climb.
For one of the days we were going to be out in Squamish we wanted
to do the Grand Wall. I had never been up the Chief, except for ‘Rock
On’ back when I couldn’t use my arms to climb and I was excited for this
opportunity. I was not
really sure what to expect, but I was certain it was going to be hard. I
had heard about the ‘Split Pillar’ crack and the bolt ladders.
I am not a crack climber and had never had to aide climb before.
Still, this particular climb had been on my to-do list. Just two weeks
before, Mike took my cousin up ‘Mercy Me,’ which is an easy variation
that you can take you up to the ‘Split Pillar.’
My cousin, Galen, is not a climber. He’s a runner.
But that didn’t stop him from taking on this challenge.
I was inspired by his willingness to tackle something like this and to trust Mike on everything. He went up almost 3 pitches, but had a hard time at the transition from ‘Mercy Me’ to the first bolt ladder under the pillar. Now that I was taking a similar route, I had the opportunity to find out first hand what that section of climbing was all about. Galen didn’t make it to the top and Mike and he rappelled down.
When Mike and I went up, we planned to do ‘Mercy Me’ into the ‘Split Pillar’ similar to what he and Galen did 2 weeks before. However, at the base of the wall, we opted for a slightly different approach. Mike did a ‘Flake’ climb that turned out to be dirty and a bit wet. The climbing didn’t look very fun and turned out to be a 10 something crack. I did it and although it was a bit difficult, it got me mentally prepared for the upper sections to come.
‘Mercy Me’ was really fun. When we started, we agreed to climb as quickly as possible to avoid getting caught on the wall in the blazing sun. So, when I went to climb, I climbed as quickly as I could. I really felt like we were making good time, but somehow the whole thing ended up taking us 7 hours! For the first bit, the belay ledges were decent and I could take off my shoes. But, as the climbing progressed, the shoes stayed on and my feet got swollen and sore from being in them and on them for so long. I didn’t have a pair of comfortable, crack climbing appropriate shoes so I wore a pair of Mike’s Miura’s, which were only 1 size larger than my normal climbing shoe size. The toe box was still snug but there was room in the heel. I kept them tied as loose as I could and was at least thankful I wasn’t doing the climb in my own shoes.
Up to the ‘Split Pillar,’ I had my first experience
with a bolt ladder. Mike didn’t have enough slings so I had to learn how
to rig each one as I went. Learning to stand in a sling properly and
reaching high to get to the next bolt, let alone next sling if there was
one there, was really challenging at first. After a few attempts, it got
easier and by the end of the 2nd bolt ladder, I had mastered
the technique. It was quite strenuous to get through these sections, but
the first one was short so I wasn’t completely zapped by the end of it.
I had been looking forward to the ‘Split Pillar’ pitch and maybe it was
my anticipation that kept the adrenalin running for me.
Onto the ‘Split Pillar.’ Mike cruised the pitch with ease, even jamming most of the jammable parts up. Once I got on belay, I was keenly aware of feedback I had heard from others about the pitch…things like ‘you can always layback the entire thing.’ Well, I started laybacking, thankful for the warm up from earlier, but then the pitch got hard and my arms were getting tired. Taking out pieces was difficult and I didn’t know how much longer I could move myself up in this way. I wanted to jam, but I could only get my left foot to kind of jam. I was moving too slow and the top was still too far…I had to take. L My left forearm ballooned up and I was aware that it was a good thing to not push it. I still had half the ‘Grand’ climb to go! I de-pumped, all the while aware that I didn’t want to hang out too long. This first rest was the longest, but I wouldn’t let myself rest that long, again.
Once I was ready to get climbing again, I tried the jamming approach. My hands were not taped so it hurt and I only made a few moves before taking up, again. L I was resigned to layback the rest of the pitch. I took some deep breaths and made my way up, again. Mike snagged a few photos of me in various positions on the climb. I was thankful there was a real hold near the top. There was even a bit of a chimney that I ended up knee barring to move my body up. That part was actually pretty cool, in my opinion.
After that, there was the sword pitch, the crux pitch, Mike told me. I thought I was doomed. If the ‘Split Pillar’ is 5.9, and this is 10 something, then I’m screwed! Mike went up without hesitation and after, I began my ascent of this pitch. After some feet of climbing, this pitch turns into a bit of a face climb. There was a tricky section moving out onto the face and a thin section moving out of the face and up to the chains. It was also super exposed so Mike kept telling me to look down. I was more nervous at the thought that I might get scared if I looked down than of actually looking down. When I looked down, I saw some people at the top of ‘Mercy Me’ with their packs on a belay ledge below. You could see the change in slope of the wall. We had already made our way into steeper terrain. To my right were other parties doing various pitches, but no one appeared to be coming up behind us on the Grand or taking any pitches to the top, that I could see. Definitely no one followed us up the Grand Wall.
So, the crux of the whole climb was fine for me. I
made it to the chains and remembered that there was a bolt ladder
following. This ladder seemed endless to me but after the first few, I
got the hang of it and found a rhythm and made it up. Unfortunately,
pulling myself up to clip in at each stance was exhausting. By the time
I topped this pitch, I was toast. My feet had numbed, my neck had
cramped (it was a bad morning in terms of my back and neck) and my arms
were now powerless. But,
not noticing any of this, Mike eagerly points me to the bolted, leaning,
crack called ‘Perry’s Lieback.’ I look at him and think: “I need a
rest.” There’s no way we’ll be quick if I lead this thing. I am tempted
for only a brief moment before succumbing to my realization that Mike
should just lead all of the pitches. At this point, I am concerned I may
not make it to the top, but I don’t want to tell him this. My feet are
beyond pain and standing there trying to think seemed impossible. I did
a shake of the head and we proceeded with the transition to Mike taking
the lead on the pitch.
‘Perry’s Lieback’ was hard. My arms were pumped, my
feet didn’t want to
smear and yet, I was forcing myself to move on them
as though they were immune to these feelings. I made a good distance up
the lieback before nearly sliding off. The day was humid and my hands
were sweating. I was hot from the humidity, even though the sun was not
yet upon us. Unclipping the draws and trying to chalk seemed nearly
impossible. I made it up to the most awkward part before having to take.
I made a few more moves but needed to take again. Then, I gunned it up
to the belay. At this point, I was sure I was done. I only wondered what
lay ahead and really considered whether I should say anything about
retreating. I figured we’d come this far, and I really wanted to finish
this thing that I was not going to give up. We went on to the next
pitch.
This pitch wasn’t too bad. There was some excitement as Mike found himself at a dyno move that he somehow managed to static (making it a 5.13 move, he claims). I wish I had videoed this because I was standing at the belay watching him stretch and stretch and attempt to jump (from a thin ledge) and then look for anything to put his feet on, then magically pull off the move. Incredible. Mike didn’t even have me try the move, to save time. I climbed the rope past this, but from my first glance, it looked hard... and I’m shorter than him!
The next pitch, we climbed a tree (where I tried to avoid getting sap on my hands) and had one last powerful section to get through. Since Mike was leading every pitch, it gave me a chance to rest Once again, Mike walked this section and I psyched myself to head up. The pitch was really attractive to me because unlike all of the liebacking I’d been doing on the climb, this climb was a pure undercling lieback. The first bit was challenging but then little divots and crystals started appearing and the smearing got better. I pulled around the gi-normous flake and was relieved to actually be able to hang off something. I crawled over this and finished the pitch.
At the top, we finally had the chance to snack and drink lots of water. The sun had come out and it was getting hot. I was relieved to put on my hiking shoes, though my feet were so sore that they weren’t as much relief as I had hoped. Then, to end the adventure, we had to traverse ‘Belly Good Ledge.’ This had some great exposure, but it was the thin ledges that had my attention. I made those traverses without much issue. When it came to the last adventurous section, crossing an expanse using a tree root, well, that was different.
When I came to this section, I realized right away what I needed to do…what I didn’t comprehend was that my hand holds were going to be natural, as in trees and tree roots. I was not trusting of this and had a hard time committing to yarding off of these. There was a bit of a ledge that I scooted out onto to try to get myself as far right as possible. My left hand was on the tree root, and my right foot was to get across the expanse and onto this standing rock feature. When I finally got my right foot out there, it didn’t hit the best part and I was beginning to freak out. It was hard enough to get my foot out there that I wasn’t sure I could perch it further out and up. I brought it in with some difficulty and tried again. This time, I got the top and best part of the feature and was able to weight it and walk myself over to better ground. I was very relieved that part was over!
The hike down was what I expected, having been up and down that trail a few times, now. However, with my toes in pain and my tired legs and arms, I was cautious and a bit on the slow side on the descent. It was hot! When we got back down to the campground, Mike and I quickly changed out of our sweaty clothes even though we wouldn’t see a shower until we got back to Vancouver. The change cooled me down some and even as I write this, I am still recovering from sore toes, feet, and calves. Still, upon reflection, this climb is up there as one of the most challenging and adventurous things I’ve done. Now that I know what to expect, and with a little more crack practice, maybe I’ll do it again and this time, take the lead on a few pitches. J
Oh, and this reflection wouldn’t be complete without the following thoughts. After climbing the Grand Wall, I had time to consider the type of climbing I’d just done. Mike threw out some stat that the Grand Wall had been climbed 6 or 7 times in a day. My jaw dropped. Amazing. I can understand doing laps on single pitch routes you have wired, but The Grand Wall is not a single pitch climb. There’s the issue of water, food, carrying a pack for your water, food and hiking shoes so you can do the approach and the descent in them. Then there’s the belay station rigging and the pitch lead swapping or not, and the transition between pitches. I’ve heard it being done in 3 hours…2 very experienced or reasonably experienced climbers…I can imagine that. I don’t claim to have the skills for this type of climbing so in some respect I was slow because of it. Mike on the other hand, continues to amaze me. Where any ordinary climber would have most certainly fallen to pieces, he maintains and makes it through. I don’t know how he does it. He hasn’t done the Grand Wall in 4 years, maybe, and this time, he jammed up the ‘Split Pillar’ pitch. But, when I watched him go up, he just climbs. I not only left the climb with a whole new appreciation for people who do this type of climbing, but I left with a new respect for the kind of athlete Mike is and the kind of athlete I’ve yet to develop in myself!
Photos can be found at: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563983821jLSeXy.
I borrowed some photos from the following site to really showcase a few of the pitches.
