Alberta

Niagra on the Bow 5.9+, 245m

Niagra on the Bow 5.9+ 245m

FA: Brandon Pullan, Urs Kallen Sept. 09

Approach: As for Cory’s Groove on Mt. Cory.

The route climbs the face right of the large black slab, up a series of corner. All anchors are rigged with ring bolts.

P1: (55m, 5.8) Start as for Cory’s Groove, after the first bolt traverse up to a blocky yellow corner past 2 bolts.

P2: (45m,5.9+) Aim for the large corner, stem up this awesome pitch passing a few bolts to a ledge.

Rim Job 5.10- 400m+

Rim Wall
On the north face of the Rim Wall rises a chimney crack system about 100m or so right of Candle in the Wind (the obvious arête). Start 15m to the right in a short corner.
Rim Job 5.10- 400m+
Brandon Pullan, Matt Brooks Aug/09

Climb a pitch to a ledge, traverse left into corner. Up the corner, deviating out left in some spots, where the obvious corner peters out climb a steep slab (fixed pin) into the upper awkward chimney to an interesting finish. No bolts.

Mothers Day Buttress

The left side of this buttress forms an attractive prow which is very prominent from the highway and is the line of the classic, moderate route Mothers Day. Currently, there are only four routes on the buttress despite it having some of the best rock on the entire band of cliffs. One particular area of interest is the steep, gray rock in the lower part of the buttress to the right of Mothers Day and each side of Ant Tease Day. A few bolts and some effort may produce some good one or two pitch sport routes in this area.

Echo Canyon: The Coliseum

2009 era notes:The Coliseum is significant new sport climbing area on Grotto Mountain that has beenunder development since spring 2005.  It is located in the large canyon west of Bataan, aone hour hike from the Alpine Club of Canada. Currently there are a dozen or so routes that range in length from 12m to 45m. Yes, 45m. The grade spread is from 11a to 13d. The crag consists of three different sectors that vary greatly in character.  The Saddle-up sector is long, steep endurance climbing that feels more adventurous than the average sport crag.

Spectacular Megafauna (Mt Edith)

Another multi-pitch sport route recently revealed by Dave Thomson. The climbing is "technical" so don't expect to find the grades soft. Wait for warm weather (next year?) Dave was one bolt short somewhere on the last (?) pitch, so be prepared to run it out a little more there or carry a telescopic stick to clip the next bolt until someone installs the bolt (the hole is drilled).

Silver City (Castle Mt)

Another good find by Dave Thomson (especially if you like getting away from the crowds and have a high tolerence for wood ticks). Sport and gear routes spanning a range of grades on Lake Louise (Gog) quartzite.

Updated topo - 2014 by Mark Carlson. A higher quality version is in the TABVAR Facebook page's files section.

Update for 2018 is on the Sloper Climbing App, available on the App Store and Google Play. (Free app, but the Silver City area likely requires a subscription)

Update for 2019 is here, see below.

Guides Rock, Turf Wars

A new multi-pitch bolted route that shares some climbing with SOD (Sea of Dreams) and Three Roofs. The crux is right off the ground, but well protected. Stick clip the second bolt to protect an awkward move. (If you don't want to carry a stick up to the crag, you can A0 on the first bolt to reach the second bolt to set up the clip). The start of this pitch may also be used to access SOD (and is much nicer climbing) by moving left at the 4th bolt . The last pitch is 40m, but you can rap on one 60m rope by using the SOD rap stations. Some of the best limestone you'll find in the Rockies.

The Big Chill 180 m, 5.11+ A0 or 5.12a

The climb is Located to the right of the Maker and was originally attempted by the late Simon Parboosingh
and Anthony Neilson. After several years of neglect it was pushed to the top of the wall, which took two
days due to very cold temperatures on the first attempt. The first pitch thwarted several attempts
by Andy and goes with a hang on the crux due to a lack of stamina and raw fingers. This pitch
was redpointed in 2002 by R. Slawinski. The grade was confirmed at 12a and took a couple of

Pages