Five Things to Know About Bow Valley Sport Climbing
A series of climbing 101’s about the history, people, routes and gear that shaped the sport
There are thousands of sport climbs in Alberta’s Bow Valley, from single-pitch intro routes to multi-pitch 5.14s and everything in between.
They are found on the walls of canyons, above lakes and on alpine cliffs bands. Some crags take over two hours to reach and others take only a few minutes.
For nearly 50 years, rock climbers have been bolting the limestone and quartzite around Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise and as a result, hundreds of climbers travel there every year year. Below are five things to know about Rockies sport climbing.
Sideline
Sideline at the loose Crag X, east of Canmore, was the first route in the Bow Valley to be prepared top-down. Scottish ex-pat Bugs McKeith rappelled into the line in 1973, cleaned the loose rock, fixed some pitons and then climbed it with Chris Perry.
It became a popular 5.9 route, although few climbers do it these days due to the rock quality and old pitons. McKeith died in 1978 after falling through a cornice on Mount Assiniboine.
Todd Guyn
There was a lot strong climbers who came out of the early sport climbing days in the Bow Valley, including Andy Genereux, Jon Jones, John Martin, Joe Buzowski, Marc Dube, JD LeBlanc and many more.
It was Todd Guyn, however, who took on the challenge of sending abandoned projects deemed too hard. He began adding a number of 5.13s to the list of growing routes in the area, many which are still test-piece lines.
In Grotto Canyon, he sent Cause and Affect 5.13a, Burn Hollywood Burn 5.13b and The Resurrection 5.13c early in his climbing career. In 1988, Guyn finished third in Canada’s first national championships.
Acephale
The discovery of Acephale in the late 1990s, by Todd Guyn and friends, changed sport climbing in the Bow Valley forever. Guyn, LeBlanc, Keith Haberl and Richard Jagger deemed it the “crag of the future” and opened many hard lines, such as Nemo 5.12d, Dark Half 5.13a and Sweet Thing 5.13b.
The most impressive route during the early Acephale days was Army Ants 5.13c, by 16-year-old Lev Pinter, who went on to become one of Canada’s strongest climbers.
Many hard routes were added over the years, to both the Upper and Lower walls, by climbers like Shep Steiner, Derek Galloway, Scott Milton, Evan Hau and Josh Muller. Heading into 2020, there are over 30 routes from 5.13 to 5.15 and the popularity of the crag seems to grow every year.
Sport Climbing Booms
Over the next few decades, sport climbing booms and routes are added to countless locations, including Grassi Lakes (mostly 5.10 and 5.11), Cougar Creek (mostly 5.10), Carrot Creek (mostly 5.11 to 5.12), Heart Creek (mostly 5.10 to 5.11), Tunnel Mountain (mostly 5.10), Black Feather (mostly 5.11), Bataan (mostly 5.12 and 5.13), Echo Canyon (mostly 5.11 to 5.13), Goat Mountain (mostly 5.9), Sunshine Slabs (mostly 5.9 to 5.10), Moose Mountain (mostly 5.10 to 5.12) and many more.
Back of the Lake at Lake Louise had been a trad climber’s crag until many of the old crack lines were bolted so more climbers could enjoy them. Routes like Wicked Gravity 5.11a, Mr. Rogers Smokes a Fat One 5.11b, Dew Line 5.11c and Liquid Sky 5.11c became Canadian classics.
Climbers from around the world began to visit, like in 2007 when Daniel Woods repeated Bunda de Fora 5.14d at Acephale. Sonnie Trotter bolted three alpine “sport” routes up big walls, which gets internationals attention and lures climbers like Sasha DiGiulian and Edu Marin to the area.
Greg Tos becomes one of the area’s leading hard-route developers and helps put Echo Canyon on the map with his countless 5.12 and 5.13 classics. He becomes a leading force for trail maintenance and upkeep of older climbs.
Over the past 15 years, crags are established on nearly every mountain close to the Trans Canada Highway with the closest being Sunshine Slabs, a crag only 20 metres from the parking lot.
Hard Grades
In 1997, Scott Milton sent Existence Mundane, likely the first 5.14b in Canada and the first 5.14 in the Bow Valley. Like many routes in the Bow Valley during the early days, the line had been modified with glued-on edges.
Sonnie Trotter came along shortly after Milton’s ascent and removed the final glued-on hold and then repeated it. A small edge appeared beneath the removed hold and Trotter left the grade unchanged.
Routes in the 5.14 range were added to Planet X, Acephale and Echo Canyon. It was in 2016, however, that sport climbing in the Bow Valley forever changed.
Top climber Alex Megos visited for the summer and spent time projecting hard routes. He established and repeated a number of 5.14s before turning his attention to an old project at Ravens Crag in Banff.
After a few weeks, he managed to send Fight Club, Canada’s first 5.15 at 5.15b. Two years later, Adam Ondra visited and established Disbelief 5.15b and Sacrifice 5.15a.
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