The Maul and Early Ice

A number of classic climbs such as Rocket Man and Terminator are forming and Haffner Creek is filling in

Gripped Magazine November 9, 2013

The Rockies ice season is off to a slow start, although a number of routes have formed and been climbed. Riptide, WI7, on Mount Patterson was attempted; Trans-Canada Ice way, WI4, on Rundle was attempted; Amadeus, WI4, M5, has been climbed; rarely climbed routes on the Icefields Parkway are forming; VSOP in Ribbon Creek, M4, WI5+, was climbed.

British climber Nick Bullock and Scottish climber Greg Boswell have made Canmore home for the month of November. They climbed The Maul, M7, 300 m, on the Wedge in Kananaskis Country last week. “There was one blob of ice, if we had a screw it would have been the best pro on the pitch, I would say, yes, the route in ‘in.'” said Bullock jokingly about the conditions of the drytool route. First climbed in 2005, by Will Gadd and Raphael Slawinski, it is a striking line, obvious from the road. It has less than a handful of ascents, but Bullock said, “If that was in Europe, it would have heaps of people on it every weekend.”

From Bullocks Blog: Greg Boswell and I climbed the Maul yesterday, fifteen hours car-to-car, after one day of preparation on the walk-in through the thick pine and deep snow. One chopped rope, a flounder from the summit in the dark with deep and slightly risky slopes and a whole load of wild climbing later we have decided Coyotes are fluffy and friendly to look at, but possibly not to be trusted.