This New 5.13a Near Squamish is a Future Classic
Trevor McDonald has made the first ascent of his wild sport route on Anvil Island
Photo by: Jimmy Martinello
Anvil Island has been seeing a lot of action over the past month. In late May, Tim Emmett sent his hard project, Archimedes Principle 5.14b. In early June, Sonnie Trotter made the third ascent of Emmett’s other mega line at the crag, Apnea 5.13d/14a.
June 14 was a particularly sendy day, with three big ascents going down at the crag. Local legend Ben Harnden made the first repeat of Archimedes Principle. Emelie Pellerin made the first female ascent of Apnea. And perhaps most exciting for the majority of the climbing community who don’t climb 5.14, Trevor McDonald established one of the Sea-to-Sky region’s most epic-looking 5.13a sport routes, which he’s named Dr. Funkenstein.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Emmett via Instagram after picking up the second ascent McDonald’s new route. “It’s like a 30m Spanish endurance route, similar to multiple 5.12’s stacked on top of each other with good rests in between. The finish is sensational and on perfect rock. An uber classic and for sure a Top-100 in Squamish.”
Alongside Jimmy Martinello and Emmett, McDonald is one of three primary developers of the stunning sport crag on Anvil Island. Found in the middle of the Howe Sound between Vancouver and Squamish, and only accessible by water, Anvil is a special place. You’d be hard-pressed to find a crag in Canada with better views and ambiance. Being quite new and still under development, there isn’t a ton of information on the crag – you currently won’t find it in any guidebook.
To learn more about his experience with his soon-to-be-famous Dr. Funkenstein, as well as the Anvil crag more generally, I reached out to McDonald. You can read our interview below.
How many routes have been established on Anvil? The lower wall has 15 routes as well as some great link-ups. The grade range is 5.11+ to 5.14b. All the routes are perma-drawed. There are two aspects to the cliff – one is a vertical wall over the ocean, the other is a cave. The vertical wall tends to be technical, similar to Pet Wall. The steeper wall to the climber’s right is accessed on shore, and tends to have powerful moves between large holds. All the climbs have sections where crack climbing technique can be helpful.
When did you bolt Dr. Funkenstein and when did you start trying it? I bolted most of Dr. Funkenstein in the fall with Jim. The route was bolted ground-up. We had a basic look around in October but we started working the bottom half in April. Once we knew that the bottom was something we could do, we had a look at the top, which seemed really hard at the time between the two of us. We figured out the top sequence, and then went to work on it in it’s entirety.
What was the projecting process like on Dr. Funkenstein? The climb was a true collaboration with both Jim and I unlocking sequences. We’ve both climbed heaps of 5.12 and lots of adventure climbing, but we’ve never put the time into projecting something that was a little bit harder. I definitely don’t have the explosive power I had when I was younger. However, by just sticking with it, and repeating the moves and making better health choices, it started to come together. When I knew the bottom would go, I started going to Anvil twice a week. I do heavy construction for work, so I was pretty fatigued by the whole process to be honest. However, I did try to eat well and not drink alcohol, or at least only drink very rarely, and just sticking with the route and throwing attrition at it. I also truly believe that having great friends that are stoked for you, cheering you on, and supporting you has a huge effect. Some people like a more solitary vibe – I do not.
Anvil Footage
Send footage of McDonald’s first ascent of Dr. Funkenstein 5.13a can be viewed in the two Instagram posts below. To see the early days of Anvil development (including the scary storm that McDonald mentions above) as well as Emmett’s FA of Apnea 5.13d/5.14a, check out the third video.
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