Ten Big Canadian Sends in 2016 Before Canada Day
Happy 2016 Canada Day! Here are 10 big sends that have gone down in Canada this year.
Marc-Andre Leclerc Solos Emperor Face The West Coast crusher finishes one of the most impressive winter seasons by a Canadian by making the first solo of the Emperor Face of Mount Robson via Infinite Patience. He is spending his summer on Baffin Island, we can’t wait to hear what he gets up to.
Ben Harnden Sends Cobra Crack Squamish-based Ben Harnden made the third Canadian ascent of Cobra Crack, the world’s famous 5.14 gear route. The first ascent was by Sonnie Trotter and the second Canadian to climb it was Will Stanhope. A number of strong international climbers have ticked the test-piece.
Jamie Finlayson Ticks The Reckoning V14 One day before Canada Day, Jamie Finalyson sent the low-start to The Reckoning, which is one of Canada’s only V14s. The North Walls Boulder problem has less than five ascents.
New Waddington Route Japanese climbers Noboru Kikuchi of Japan and Yamada Toshiyuki and Takeshi Tani of Alberta climbed a new route on Asperity in the Waddington Range. Their new route is called Happy Trio and goes at V 5.10a WI3 950 m.
Will Gadd Mega Route Rockies-based Will Gadd opened a number of hard routes at The Temple mixed crag near Mount Chephren on the Icefields Parkway. One of those routes is Instagrade, which Gadd said is his hardest ever, meaning it’s possibly North America’s hardest cave-style mixed routes.
New White Bluff Route Peter Hoang and Matthew Sapiecha established and sent Keep Summer Safe, a new airy 5.12 at Whites Bluff in Ontario. It climbs along the edge of a roof above Georgian Bay.
Hard Newfoundland Mixed Route Will Mayo established the seven-pitch The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe WI7+ M12 on a big wall on Canada’s east coast. Mayo, who has sent some of the world’s hardest mixed climbs, said it was the high-water mark of his career.
Becca Frangos Sends Endless Summer Canmore-based Becca Frangos sent her second 5.13d with a June ascent of Endless Summer at Acephale. Frangos had worked on the route on and off for a number of years.
Stu Smith Opens New Smoke Bluff 5.13+R Stu Smith sent a multi-year project at the Smoke Bluffs in Squamish. He sent the run-out Every Minute 5.13+R after unlocking a thin sequence through a horizontal seam.
Evan Hau Sends New Rockies’ 5.14 Calgary’s Evan Hau sent the steepest line at his Apocalypse Cave and called it Belly of the Beast 5.14a. It adds to the growing number of hard routes at the new crag.
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