Tim Emmett Opens New 5.13c Near Squamish

An unusually sunny November in southwestern B.C. gave Emmett the opportunity to make another hard first ascent on Anvil Island

Aaron Pardy November 30, 2023

Squamish and Vancouver just had one of the nicest Novembers in recent memory. Cool temps, long periods of little to no rain, and sunny, bluebird skies meant that lots of climbers were out on the rock. Tim Emmett was out on the rock at one of his favourite crags, Anvil Island, a small dot of land in the Howe Sound between Vancouver and Squamish.

Anvil Island is truly a special climbing area. The crag overlooks the ocean and it’s not accessible by land – you need a boat, Skidoo, or SUP to get there. You won’t find it any guidebook. While at the crag, it doesn’t feel like you’re in Vancouver or Squamish. It doesn’t even feel like you’re in B.C. or Canada.

On November 29, one of those nice weather days, Emmett made the first ascent of his latest sport project on Anvil, naming it Amazatron and grading it 5.13c. The route is an extension of a line he previously established called Boombox 5.13a. From the ground, Boombox works its way up eight bolts to a no-hands rest and lower-off. It’s another eight bolts from there to the top of Amazatron, with the very last move before the chains being the crux.

Over the past few years, Emmett has established a number of hard sport routes on Anvil, most notably Sedna 5.13c, Empire of the Sea 5.13+/14-, Dr. Hypoxia 5.13+, Apnea 5.13d/14a, and Archimedes Principle 5.14b. To learn more about his first ascent of Amazatron, we reached out to Emmett. You can read our short interview below.

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When did you first bolt Amazatron? Jimmy Martinello [another Anvil Island developer] abseiled close to this line when I was bolting Empire of the Sea a few years ago and realized it was going be hard. This autumn I rappelled the line and added 16 bolts and two lower-offs. One at the top and one at the halfway ledge at the top of Boombox.

Can you describe the climbing on the route? It’s bouldery with rests, then a 17-move sustained sequence at the top on small, well-spaced holds. The start of Boombox is a cool boulder problem going through a bulge on campus style crimps with some smaller holds to a shake, then an athletic boulder problem at the end where you grab a sloping rail. You have to get your heel up next to your hand before doing a big move up to a distant crimp. The rock looks like the head of an elephant! After the no-hands rest there are a couple of boulders to another good rest, then you attack the top wall with a series of tiny two-finger crimps. The last move is the hardest – I ended up jumping for the top and just stuck it!

Is there anything else left at Anvil for you? Yes! I’ve got my hands full! I’ve got two projects at the lower cave which are going be the hardest routes there and I’ve also got another line I bolted on the top crag which has some loose rock that need cleaning that I think it could be a beauty! Let’s see – the bottom of it is often wet so might have to wait until the spring.

A big shout out to Trevor McDonald for a massive effort equipping routes at the lower crag with fixed draws and also Jimmy Martinello, Matt Maddaloni, and Paul McSorley too for their contributions.

Tim Emmett

Originally from the U.K., Emmett now lives in Squamish. You’d be hard pressed to find a climber with as diverse a set of climbing accomplishments as Emmett’s. Sport, trad, mixed, ice, big wall, alpine, mountaineering, deep-water soloing – he’s done it all.

Emmett is considered one of the pioneers of deep-water soloing, opening many lines in Spain and other locations around the world two decades ago. Along with his climbing partners, he was the first in the world to send waterfall ice climbs at grades WI 10, WI 11, WI 12, and WI 13 – all at Helmcken Falls in British Columbia. He was also part of a group to first ascend the east face of the Kedar Dome in the Himalayas.

He’s made many hard ascents in trad and sport. In 2010, he made the first ascent of Muy Caliente E9 6c in Pembroke, Wales. He’s also repeated the gritstone test piece Meshuga E9 6c and the intimidating The Path 5.14a R at Lake Louise. One of his hardest sport climbs to date was a repeat of Sonnie Trotter’s Superman 5.14c.