Beskin Solos Three Big Ice Routes in a Day
Stas Beskin climbed around 1,000 metres of technical terrain, this is the first time that these three routes have been soloed in a day
Stas Beskin is no stranger to soloing tall and difficult ice routes, as he’s been doing so for years, but he seems to have pushed the bar even higher with his most recent one-day accomplishment.
Beskin has soloed three tall Quebec lines in Parc National des Hautes-Gorges De La Rivière Malbaie: La Pomme d’Or WI5+ 365m, La Ruée Vers L’or WI5+ M7 350m, and La Loutre WI5/6 M5 350m. Beskin used rope-soloing and free-soloing techniques. This is surely one of the most impressive solo link-ups of three Canadian ice/mixed routes in a long time.
In 1997, Guy Lacelle made history when he soloed Terminator WI6+ 150m, Sea of Vapors WI7 165m and The Replicant WI6+ 145m in Banff National Park in only five hours – read more about it here. And in 2016, Marc-André Leclerc soloed three routes on the Stanley Headwall: French Reality M5 WI6+ 150m, Nightmare on Wolfstreet M7+ WI6+ 150m and Nemesis WI6 150m – read more about it here.
In 2022, alpine guide Ian Welsted wrote an in-depth article about Beskin, where he said, “With a slow and thoughtful approach, Beskin moves like a leopard up the climbs, locking off often in highly asymmetrical positions to layback his next tool placement. The square, face-on A-frame taught to beginners is a long way from his shape on these highly technical pitches. He flicks his tools with the lightest of touches, barely sinking the tip. And in the most extreme cases he foregoes the security of sinking his tools at all, and scratches instead.” Read it here.
Beskin on Skinny Pillars
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