View up route from bottom belay stance. |
View from pitch 1 top anchor below to base. |
View up route from bottom belay stance. |
View from pitch 1 top anchor below to base. |
Heart Mountain on the approach from the creek. The route follows the right side ridge from the creek directly to the summit. |
Had a cold and blustery day Friday September 17 on a long and interesting sport route, Heart Line. This long route is found on little Heart Mountain. One route description calls this route, “a sport mountaineering adventure.“ The route description says 1100 metres for the route length in 17 pitches. Fun, glad we did the full 17 pitches; it is possible to only do the lower 6 pitches, or only the upper 11 pitches. Excellent photos and route beta here: http://squamishclimbingmagazine.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/The-Heart-Line-route-description.pdf
View to pitch 1 from creek. |
Looking down pitch 2. |
View down pitch 3. Photo by Laurie |
OSWB leading pitch 4. Photo by Laurie |
Generally the lower 6 pitches are moderate with sections of easy climbing, but there are several really fun sections. In between pitch 6 and 7 is a long hike on a pleasant ridge.
Pleasant hike in between pitches 6 and 7. |
The upper pitches are the money, pitch 13 is the crux, super solid 5.9. Pitch 14 is 15 metres of A1. The final pitches we had strong cold winds that make the route extra spicy. Fun route and worthwhile to do all 17 pitches.
Looking down pitch 8. Photo by Laurie. |
View up pitch 12 and 13. Pitch 13 is full value 5.9. |
Kevin at the anchor at the start of pitch 13. Photo by Laurie. |
View north from anchor at base of pitch 13. The wall is steep. |
OSWB (Kevin) at the top of pitch 13. Photo by Laurie. |
Laurie "aid" climbing the bolt ladder of pitch 14. |
OSWB at station below pitch 16. Photo by Laurie. |
OSWB pulling through the upper crux of pitch 17. Photo by Laurie. |
OSWB leading up Corner Man. Photo by Laurie |
Quick and fun after work trip to Canyon Creek for a couple of sport routes. Laurie and I each led up “Larry’s Crack”, 5.9 and 16m, then crossed the road to “Corner Man”, 5.10b and 18m. Corner Man felt easier than the crux pitch on Valley View (5.9). Corner Man was super fun, totally recommend it. Short and sunny trip.
“Larry’s Crack”, 5.9 OSWB near top. Photo by Laurie |
“Larry’s Crack”, 5.9 Laurie near top. |
Flood protection wall in Canyon Creek. |
Laurie looking up “Corner Man”, 5.10b, 18m. |
Laurie about to rap off the top. |
View up first few pitches on approach. |
Climbed Valley View on Friday, September 3. Boy, this route is really sandbagged. I lead the two crux pitches of the original line (pitch 2 and 4) and I could give P2 maybe a solid 5.9+, but P4; no way it is 5.9. I struggled up the pitch and somehow managed not to fall; it felt more like 10b or more to me. Based on discussions with some local hard climbers, the consensus seems to be pitch 4 is more like 5.10b or 10c. Cool route will some really high quality sections.
View down crux (5.9 not) |
Near the end of the raps. |
Approaching the north lower summit (right) Main higher summit visible to left. |
Nearing summit, view to Columbia Lake. |
Final steps to summit. Some pleasant exposure on good rock. |