The Climbs We Lost in the Snowpatch Spire Rockfall
A huge section of the east face of the Bugaoo peak collapsed this week leaving a massive debris field and tall rock scar
A big rockfall occurred on Snowpatch Spire earlier this week leaving a huge debris field on the glacier below and a scar where several popular rock routes once stood. In recent seasons, chockstones in some of the routes fell out, which some now think were early warning signs of a possible rockfall.
Several rock climbs were affected by the rockfall, with a few completely collapsing, including the Tom Egan Memorial Route – one of Canada’s hardest rock routes. The lowest pitches of the classic Sunshine Crack also collapsed. While the loss of these routes is devastating, there will surely be a race to establish new routes as long as the wall is open to climbing.
Friends of Bugaboo Park shared images from Marc Piche and Chris Atkinson’s guidebook about the Bugaboos, noting that at least 11 lines were part of the rockfall with more possibly being affected. Below are the routes that we lost all or part of.
The Lost Climbs
422 – Chercher La Femme 5.12+ A0, 12 pitches
423 – Sunshine Wall 5.10
424 – Tekenika 5.12+, 10 pitches
425 – Men With Options 5.12, 11 pitches
426 – Sweet Silvia 5.12, 11 pitches
427 – Tom Egan Memorial Route 5.14, 14 pitches
428 – Power of Lard 5.12, 8 pitches
429 – Hobo’s Heaven 5.13, 9 pitches
430 – East Columbia Indirect 5.12-, 9 pitches
431 – Bugaboo Corner 5.10, 5 pitches
432 – Banshee 5.10, 8 pitches
433 – Stick it Where the Sun Don’t Shine 5.10+, 9 pitches
434 – Sunshine Crack 5.11-, 9 pitches
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