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Lake Louise Triple Crown: these three 5.11s in a day

These are three of the most classic multi-pitch routes around Lake Louise

Photo by: (of) Goblin Arete and Love at First Sight

There are a lot of daily challenges in the world of rock climbing, but a good old Triple Crown seems to always get climbers motivated.

The famous Squamish Triple Crown was first linked in 2007 by Paul Cordy and Matt Maddaloni. On Aug. 11, they climbed University Wall 5.12a, eight pitches, and then continued up the Roman Chimneys 5.11a, four pitches. They dropped their gear and ran to the first summit of The Chief, then down to the base. They rode biked to the Zodiac Wall and climbed The Northern Lights 5.12a, 12 pitches, to that summit before heading down. And they rad to the Dihedrals and climbed Freeway 5.11c, 12 pitches, and ran down the trail for a final time. Total guidebook pitches: 37 and their total time was 16.5 hours.

Then there’s the Yosemite Triple Crown: The Nose on El Cap, the Northwest Face of Half Dome, and the South Face of Watkins. In July 2012, Alex Honnold became the first climber to solo the Triple Crown in 19 hours at the age of 26.

The newest addition to the list of Triple Crowns was recently done by Cory Rogans and Rory O’Donnell. They two Bow Valley climbers, who just climbed the classic 700-metre 5.11+R East Face of Babel near Moraine Lake in a 24-hour car-to-car push, linked three of the best four-pitch 5.11s around Lake Louise.

The Lake Louise Triple Crown starts by linking the four-pitch Goblin Arete 5.11c and the four-pitch 5.11b, before hustling over to Saddleback and climbing the four-pitch Screams from the Balcony 5.11-. They linked the three routes in a day.

 

 

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Lead photo: (of) Goblin Arete and Love at First Sight