Nightrain is New Bugaboos Seven-Pitch 5.11 in East Creek

Jonny Simms and Crosby Johnson have climbed a new seven-pitch 5.11 in the Bugaboos that has splitter cracks and fun climbing.

Simms said the route name comes as a double meaning. “Reason one is the double all-nighter I pulled to make this trip happen. Reason two comes from one of my favourite childhood bands called Guns N’ Roses.

“The song Nightrain comes from the all time album ‘Appetite for Destruction.’ Nightrain is a tribute to an infamous brand of cheap Californian fortified wine. Night Train Express was extremely popular with the band because of its low price and high alcohol content. Yes the song is spelled Nightrain.”

Simms’s had visited East Creek earlier this year, an area located far from the crowds at the Kain Hut and Applebee campground, which has access to many big granite climbs.

On his first trip, Simms and a client, Marley Hodgson, climbed The Beckey/Chouinard followed by a new route called Friday the 13th, a five-pitch 5.10- on Feather with No Name.

Simms, a local to Golden is no stranger to new-routing with a number of big first ascents to his name. He and Johnson wasted no time on Simm’s second trip to East Creek this year.

As Simms said, “The weather was holding. We planned to do a few pitches, come down and start early the next day. Given my state of insomnia. As an alpinist knows, ‘When the weather holds, we climb!’ So we climbed.”

All pitches were done as rope stretchers and onsight, except for pitch-two which required some cleaning.

Simms encourages others to donate some money to the Friends of Bugaboo Park because as he said, “Those shit barrels don’t come with wings. We need you!”

If you’re looking for a climbing guide, check out Simms on his website here. See more info on the new routes below and be sure to follow Friends of Bugaboo Park.