Simms and Walsh Banff New Routing Again
Jonny Simms and Jon Walsh have teamed up again for another new route in Protection Valley behind Castle Mountain in Banff National Park.
Their newest route is the 110-metre Paradise City M6 WI4, which is next to the rarely formed Paradis Perdu.
The dynamic duo have climbed a number of new and difficult climbs over the years, including the first ascents of Man Yoga M8 on the Stanley Headwall (watch the video below) and Kahveology M8 WI5 in Storm Creek.
The first pitch of Paradise City is just shy of 70 metres and has sustained M6. “The rock quality was exceptional and the pitch featured hand cracks, fist cracks, chimneys, torquing in pockets, ice slabs, wobbly pillars, verglas, a classic,” said Walsh. The second pitch heads up thin ice to a crack and up to a pillar.
Protection Valley has been one of the most-visited areas in the Rockies this fall. The approach can take three hours, but with so many new and unrepeated climbs, locals have been heading their every weekend.
This year a number of new climbs have been established, including Mix Fix M7 150m by Walsh and Jeff Mercier, Grab the Cupcakes M6 WI4 130m, Safe Space by Raph Slawinski, Alik Berg and Steven Kovalenko at M7R WI4 and te 210-metre Dirtbag Dreams WI4+ by Landon Thompson, Walsh and Paul Taylor.
Other Protection Valley Routes:
Smothered Hope WI5 120m
Guinevere WI5R M4+ 160m
Paradis Perdu WI5 170m
The Wicked Witch of the West M6R/X WI6R 190m
Mon Ami WI4+ 150m
Arian P’tit Grimlin 5.3 WI6 250m
Superlight 5.10 WI5+ 150m
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