Eldred Valley Route Looks Like The Opal in Squamish

Eldred Valley is home to a number of big granite walls and has been the go-to spot for many seeking unclimbed and remote lines for the past few decades. Two leading climbers in the area of late are Drew Leiterman and Travis Foster.

In 2018, the two developed a three-pitch route called Momma’s Buns, named after Foster’s mom’s dinner buns baked in Powell River. The multi-pitch route is fully bolted and features steep face climbing on sharp crimps.

The second pitch of the route looks very similar to the rock on The Opal, a classic Squamish route that goes at 5.12d/13a in the South Gully behind the Apron. The crux pitch of The Opal was freed in 1998 by Andrew Boyd and the first continuous free ascent was in 2004 by Marc Bourdon and Jeremy Blumel. Check out the outstanding rock on Momma’s Buns below and scroll down to see The Opal. While not identical, it’s easy to see the resemblance.

 

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With Endless sea’s of granite, no people, an amazing camping area and heaps of new route possibilities the Eldred Valley outside Powell River BC won’t disappoint! This zone is off the hook!! Thanks to Travis Foster and @drewmagoo66 for the climbing and the vision! A mega classic crag in the making!! So excited to get back there for many more sessions on the seas of granite! Pic-1 getting into the business on Pitch 3 of “Momma’s Buns” 11+ Pic-2 Trav of pitch 2 of Momma’s Buns Pic-3 & 4 Trav on pitch 2 of a new route that is in the works and Max working out the beta on pitch 2 ? it’s sick and has wild techy face……. you’ll have to go to find out the rest!!!! Pic 5-6 Having fun out there! #elderidvalley #exploring #climbingisawesome #grippedmagazine ? 1-4 by @drewmagoo66

A post shared by Max Fisher (@fish_nbr21) on Jul 5, 2019 at 7:27am PDT

 

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Just got back from the Eldred Valley with Trav and Max. Max got to sample some of the goods we have bin working on the last couple years like this classy 3 pitch sport route we put up last year “Momma’s Buns 5.11+”. If you like sustained vertical featured granite with perfect crimp jugs the whole way this is the route for you! #ysf @mec @alpineclubcan @climbarq

A post shared by Drew Leiterman (@drewmagoo66) on Jul 2, 2019 at 8:10pm PDT

The Opal

A photo of Andrew Boyd and Sig Isaac on The Opal by Rich Wheather. Follow Wheather on Instagram here.

If you’re not a 5.12d/13a climber but want to experience steep crimp climbing on black-streaked granite at a stiff grade, then maybe you should be planning a trip to Eldred Valley.

The Eldred River watershed stretches for over 20 kilometres and has walls up to 900 metres tall. The first routes were established in the early 1990s. You can find a lot of beta on the area here.