Never Ending Story is Newest Hard Quebec Mixed Route
Years after first trying this remote line, it goes down at WI6R M7 by Stas Beskin and Caro Ouellet
Climbers in Quebec have been enjoying another fantastic winter thanks to the cold temps and ample amounts of ice. Stas Beskin has completed yet another hard route this season, this time in a remote corner of the province.
Beskin and Caro Ouellet teamed up for the first ascent of Never Ending Story, a 175-metre M7 WI6R at Cote Nord, found at the Sainte Marguerite River in the territory of Mont-Valin, Le Fjord-du-Saguenay, a tributary to the Saguenay River. During their mini expedition to the area, they also climbed several other routes, such as Speedy Gonzales, a 180-metre WI6. About the climb, Beskin said, “I don’t understand how is it possible such a line doesn’t see more attention. It’s definitely on pair with Nightmare on wolf Street and Real Big Drip in the Rockies. It’s just out of this world.”
Beskin first tried Never Ending Story in 2018 with Daniel Martian during a trip where they established another huge mixed route on the same wall called Route des Baleines, a 180-metre M9 WI7. “A line of a lifetime,” Beskin said in 2018. “We’ve never climbed anything like this before. It’s 180 metres of challenging and in-your-face climbing from bottom to the top. It has verglas, daggers, blobs, mushrooms, jellyfish, overhangs, a chimney and an offwidth, just name a few features.”
Beskin is one of the North America’s best technical ice and mixed climbers who specializes in climbing tall skinny pillars. Read an in-depth article on Beskin by Ian Welsted here.
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