Historic Bugaboos One-Day Howser Towers Link-Up

Will Stanhope and Leo Houlding have linked the three west faces of the Howser Towers in the Bugaboos in a day.

Their 2,000-metre, 5.12+, 58 rope-length, 23.5-hour link-up is the first to include the three big walls.

They climbed Chocolate Fudge Brownie V 5.12 on Central Howser Tower, then Spicy Red Beans/All Along the Watchtower VI 5.12 on the North Howser Tower and then The Beckey/Chouinard IV 5.10 on the South Howser Tower.

Managed to complete a long term project with @leo_houlding : the three west faces of the Howser Towers in the Bugaboos, free in a day. I've had this in the back of my head since climbing the Central Howser in 2009 with @jason_kruk and @mattsegal. It's a dream come true and we really had to dig deep for this one. Thanks so much Leo for believing in the project and for all the inspiration over the years. 2000 metres of climbing up to 5.12+, 58 rope lengths in 23.5 hours. Started with Chocolate Fudge Brownie on the Central at first light, then did Spicy Red Beans/ All Along the Watchtower on the North, and finished with the Beckey-Chouinard on the South Tower. Thanks so much @wilstone8 @adriansamarra @waldo_etherington and Leo for the great vibes and a trip I will never forget. @arcteryx @fiveten_official @metoliusclimbing @maximropes @coldhouse_

A post shared by Will Stanhope (@willstanhope) on Sep 1, 2017 at 7:40am PDT

Big Bugaboo link-ups are not a new thing. Over 20 years ago, Peter Croft linked South Howser Tower, Bugaboo Spire, Crescent Spire and Snowpatch Spire in 14 hours.

In 2005, Jeff Relph and Jon Walsh made a variation to the classic four-spire link by climbing Northeast Ridge of Bugaboo, The Krause/McCarthy on Snowpacth, The Cooper/Kor on Pidgeon and The Beckey/Chouoinard on South Howser.

In 2007, Matt Madadaloni completed two record link ups, the first in Squamish where he climbed University Wall 5.12, The Roman Chimneys 5.11, Northern Lights 5.12 and Freeway 5.11, all free, leading every pitch in 16.5 hours.

@willstanhope it was honour to share your rope for that ride my friend! Haven't charged like that with anybody for a long while. Just the right side of the wild line! Amazing what we can do if we aim high & try hard. Here we are watching a sublime sunrise from the 3rd Howser Tower summit of the day. Like an unwise man once said "if it was easy, then it wouldn't hard would it?" #aimhigh #digdeep #letloose #sorehands #bugaboos #climbing

A post shared by Leo Houlding (@leo_houlding) on Aug 31, 2017 at 11:34am PDT

The second was a week later, when he visited the Bugaboos and soloed five routes on five peaks in a day, including McTech Arete on Crescent, Northeast Ridge of Bugaboo, West Ridge of Pigeon, The Beckey/Chouinard on the South Howser and The Krauss/McCarthy on Snowpatch Spire.

In 2015, Will Stanhope made the first free ascent of Tom Egan Memorial Route 5.14 on Snowpatch Spire. In 2016, he and Houlding made the first free ascent of the 600-metre Retinal Circus 5.12 on The Minerat on South Howser.

Watch the 2009 ascent of Chocolate Fudge Brownie 5.12, featuring Jason Kruk, Stanhope and Matt Segal.