Remote B.C. Alpine Walls Visited, Climbed
A new 5.11 and the possible first repeat of a climb that appears on Fred Beckey's top 100 list
While many of B.C.’s alpine walls are well known, several off-piste mountains hold long rock climbs far from the crowds. Two such walls were visited this summer by local west coasters.
In 2022, Paul McSorley and Matt Pennington climbed a new route on the south face of Cayoosh Dome across North Joffre Creek from the classic Mouses Tooth. They named their 200-metre climb You Can’t Blame the Youth, and dubbed the wall Xwexwsélkn, the Coast Salish name for mountain goats. McSorley returned earlier this summer with Tony McLane and Ryan LaRocque to make the first ascent of Don’t Fear the Lion, a 205-metre 5.11b. All of the stations are equipped and you can find a topo at South Coast Alpine Climbing here.
And much farther north, Will Stanhope, Seba Pelletti and Kieran Brownie visited the Mount Klattasine area in the Coast Mountains. Several routes had been climbed in the area over the years by experienced climbers, such as Peter Croft.
In 1987, Jim Nelson, Carl Diedrich and Fred Beckey established Golden Klattasine on the south buttress of Tootsie Roll Tower. Nelson and Diedrich returned and repeated the route a few days later. The climb appears in Fred Beckey’s 100 Favorite North American Climbs, but it had yet to be repeated – to anyone’s knowledge – until this year. Read about the expedition on page 494 in The Coast Range of British Columbia.
Stanhope, Pelletti and Brownie climbed a few things in the Klattasine area, including an ascent of Golden Klattasine. The glacier had melted 50 metres below the original start, so they added a new pitch and found original fixed gear.
Pelletti talks about the climb here, saying, “The stone was truly amazing, providing sharp little edges where the fissures ran out, even better than we had imagined.”
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