New Ice and Rare Routes Climbed in Northern Ontario

A number of new routes have been climbed around Nipigon on Lake Superior.

The new routing began in January with the first ascent of Alloy Boy WI4+ 30m in Kama Bay by Eric Landmann and Burt Lindquist.

The next few routes were climbed by Paul Berger and Rod Brown. At the start of the year, they climbed Don’t Blink, a 40-metre WI4+ on Jackfish River.

They then turned their attention to Red Rock Cuesta and climbed the new Magical Thinking WI3+ 50m, Trump This WI3 20m, Fragile Illusions WI2+ 20m, Vampire’s Kiss WI3+ 35m and Ghost and Zombies WI2+ 10m. For photos and more info, visit here.

At the end of February, Patrick Martel and Kyle Brooks climbed Nanibijou WI5+ on Mount McRae. The route does not form every year, but is a Thunder Bay classic.

After their climb, Martel wrote on the local Alpine Club of Canada forum, “Had a fun day with Kyle Brooks. We had planned to climb Child’s Play, but there were three Americans on it already so we made our way to Nanibijou.

“It’s formed, but has a really thin first pitch (BD #3 and #.75 useful). After that, it’s a nice ribbon of ice all the way up. The second pitch goes into a chimney on the right, which is not visible from the road. Finishes up nice ice umbrellas.”

Child’s Play WI5+ 90m and Chucky’s Revenge M5 WI5+ 90m are also formed on Mount McRae.

New flows and hidden falls are found every year in Northern Ontario. Countless basalt cliffs tucked away in the boreal forest will surely offer many more new route opportunities for years to come.