Canadians on Piolet d’Or 2018 Significant Ascents List

The following is a representative list of significant and innovative climbs from 2018 complied by the Piolet d’Or. The climbs were done in alpine style and without using drilled equipment.

“This is not a list of nominated ascents for the Piolets d’Or and should not be confused with such. Grades are those quoted by the first ascensionists and remain unconfirmed. The number of bivouacs noted is for the ascent only. Some web links may not convey a completely true picture of events, but are currently the best available.”

Three Canadians made the list, including the late Marc-Andre Lecerc for his new route on the north face of Mendenhall Tower with Ryan Johnson in mid-March. They both died on the descent and remain in the glacier at the base of the range. Leclerc made the list a second time for his first ascent on Mount Slesse’s Navigator Wall and first winter ascent of the face via their 700-metre M7+R (Scottish VIII/IX) route.

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Yesterday @tom__livingstone and I managed the first winter ascent of Navigator Wall on Slesse with some variations from the summer rock route. Been thinking about this one for a while so it was great to get it done! Hopefully a warm up for things to come granted we get another weather window! #arcteryx #dmmclimbing #maximropes #mtwaddingtons

A post shared by Marc-Andre Leclerc (@mdre92) on Jan 4, 2018 at 8:45pm PST

Canmore-based Alik Berg made the list for his solo first ascent of The Milkwater, a 1,250-metre V WI4 M4 up the east-northeast face of Mount Temple. And east coaster Max Fisher made the list for his first ascent of Brisa Suave, a 350-metre M6 C1, up the east face of Punta Pantagruel (2,410m) in Northern Patagonia.

Other routes listed that are located in Canada The Indirect American, a 1,000-metre WI4+ M7 up the north face of Mount MacDonald, and Life Compass, a 980-metre V 5.10a M4+ on Mount Blane by Rose Pearson and Brette Harrington.

A number of other climbers who died in the mountains in the past year also made the list, including Hansjorg Auer, David Lama and Jess Roskelley.

This preliminary list of significant first ascents during 2018 was compiled by Lindsay Griffin (Senior Editor, American Alpine Journal), with help from Dougald MacDonald (Editor in Chief, American Alpine Journal) and Rodolphe Popier (Himalayan Database). For the full list see here.

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Rose Pearson and I put up a new route on Mount Blane yesterday. Life Compass IV 5.10a M4+ 80 degree, TD+, 980m of climbing After having seen the mountain for my first time while driving the Spray Lakes road a few days ago I noted this stunning line linking the large features on the right side of the west face. Rose and I had climbed The Slawinski/Takeda on Mount Athabasca two days previous and were stoked for another alpine line before the season ended. The climbing included lots of steep snow and precarious rock and mixed. We summited at around 8:30pm then spent the next few hours navigating the knife edge ridge with hefty cornices. The nightly winds were strong so it took us quite a while to get off the ridge eventually making three long 70 meter rappels into a nearby gully where we then progressed into hours of front pointing and down climbing on spring snow. We have named it Life Compass for a number of reasons. Primarily because my life has taken such a sudden 180 degree turn since the loss of Marc in March and alpine climbing has been my guide. I dedicate this climb to my climbing mentor, partner and love Marc-Andre who would probably solo it the following day 😉 if he was here. Mount Blane is very large and complex, so Life Compass requires navigation and time efficiency. I will post a more detailed description soon. —————————————————————@arcteryx @lasportivana @julboeyewearna #mountblane #kananaskiscountry #rockiesalpine

A post shared by Brette Harrington (@bretteharrington) on Apr 26, 2018 at 11:25pm PDT