New Three-Pitch M10 on Mont Gol in Quebec
The wild new mixed route follows a natural line that starts with a big roof
Earlier this week, Jean Francois Girard and Carl Darveau made the first ascent of Trans- Balkan Express, a 110-metre M10 mixed route. The new winter line climbs a steep crack system on Mont-Gol, across from Mont de l’Ours in Parc National des Grands-Jardins north of Baie-Saint-Paul in Quebec.
“This mountain has huge potential, but was left aside because of the bad granite on the lower part,” said Francois Girard.
“We discovered this huge cave with a hanging icicle and a upper headwall with a offwidth.”
Carveau headed up with a drill and made his way through the four-metre roof. It took them a number of goes, due to bad rock and difficult M10 climbing on natural features, but they eventually climbed the steep mixed to an upper seam of ice.
The first pitch is M10 30 metres on bolts, the second is a 30-metre M4 on gear and the last (a chimney/off-width that required a six-inch cam) is a 50-metre M7. “It’s the most beautiful pitch of this nature I have ever climbed,” said Francois Girard.
Parc National des Grands-Jardins offers some amazing granite climbing during the summer on domes similar to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. There are also a number of winter ice and mixed routes.