Red Beard is New M5 WI5 Alpine Ice Line on Boom Mountain

The Canadian Rockies continue to be the scene of hard new early-season ice and mixed routes. Check out the last week’s ice update here.

This week saw a big new climb added to Boom Mountain above Boom Lake. On Halloween, Kevin Rohn, John Price and Dylan Cunningham made the first ascent of the third gully on the peak’s east face and called it Red Beard, a 420-metre M5 WI5.

Cunningham wrote about the route on the Rockies Ice forum and said, “Last year Kevin climbed the furthest left gully at M4 WI3 with Carl Dowse then the second gully from the left with Dylan at M6 WI5 325m and called it I Can’t Believe A Chicken Fried This Rice. This year all of the gullies are significantly icier and ICBACFTR would probably go at M5 WI4 with a direct start now being possible on thin ice.”

They climbed the face after about 10 to 15 cm of recent snow and strong westerly winds. This autumn has seen above-normal amounts of snowfall in the region.

“As a result the snow was wallowy between technical pitches and we belayed the whole way in case some larger avalanches came down,” said Cunningham. “It slowed things considerably and made for about a 12-hour day from base to top. Ultimately nothing but spindrift was experienced, mostly on the upper chimney pitch where the belay had a protected vantage from which to watch the leader get rinsed.

Boom Mountain is composed of mostly solid quartzite, and not limestone like much of the surrounding peaks. “All the mixed climbing and rock pro is in awesome quartzite,” said Cunningham.

The pitches go as: WI3+ 60m, WI3 35m, WI4 65m, WI3 60m, WI4 50m, WI2 30m, WI5 60m and M5 65m.

Random History

Rohn recently became an ACMG Alpine Guide and is son to Rob Rohn, who was one of Ontario’s leading climbers in the 1970s.

With Mike Tschipper, Rob sent Space Case, Ontario’s first 5.11, in 1979. Rob is now the head of CMH Heli-Skiing.

Back in 1977, Tschipper, 16, was leading the last 5.10 pitch of a route on Mazinaw Rock at Bon Echo in the late afternoon. His belayer was a 19-year-old Rob Rohn.

Tschipper was using fixed pins as he had none himself. After the first crux, he traversed above a large tree, which acted as a running belay. He then placed a #4 hex before the crux move.

The crux move was followed by a 5.10 overhang and he placed a #4 and #5 stopper deep inside a parallel crack until they seemed tight. He also clipped into an old 1/2-inch ring angle pin because it was higher and at least seemed to give some protection.

He fell from the overhang, expecting to be caught by the pin beside him. It pulled out and so did the two nuts and the hex. He fell over 25 metres (80 feet!) and was stopped by Rob when the rope looped over the tree.

He pendulumed into a ramp, breaking his wrist as he tried to stop himself.

Tschipper went on to free a number of big routes in the Bugaboos, including Seventh Rifle on North Howser with Ward Robinson in 1986 and the East Face of Bugaboo Spire.

Tschipper later wrote for the Canadian Alpine Journal: “In August 1982, was rock climbing in Squamish again and I took a hit of LSD. The next day, I began to hear voices. Several months later, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now, 17 years later, I live in a special-care home in Newmarket, Ontario. I take daily medication. I have a blood test every two weeks.”