Watch Wicked Spindrift in The Canadian Rockies

Watch Jon Walsh working upwards through spindrift on the first pitch of the Wild Thing on Mount Chephren in Alberta.

This was during the first free ascent of the route by Jon Simms and Walsh, climbing the 1,300-metre mixed climb in a 44-hour round trip at M7 WI5.

The Wild Thing was first climbed in 1987 by Peter Arbic, Barry Blanchard, and Ward Robinson, after four previous attempts by Blanchard.

The first ascent took three long days and was graded 5.10 A3 WI4, with a crux rock corner (now free) that consumed most of a day.

Walsh believed this was the fifth ascent of The Wild Thing and it’s since been climbing a number of times.