Early Season Access – Spring Climbing in the Bow Valley
As the weather slowly warms, eyes turn to the mountains and fair weather climbing.
However, here in the Canadian Rockies temps remain fairly low and snow is still in the forecast for the coming weeks. Spring has finally hit but the alternating sun and snow make available climbing options limited.
For those bold enough to seek out a mountain adventure a few choice spots beckon with the promise of dry rock.
On warmer days White Buddha gets a lot of afternoon sun and has the characteristic of staying quite comfortable almost all year round. Located off the Powderface trail in Kananaskis Provincial Park, it takes about 45 minutes of driving from Calgary and another 45 minutes on the trail to arrive. After slogging up the steep south-facing slope, climbers would find themselves overlooked by a 15 or so meter cliff band with pocketed roofs curving up from the base.
Uniquely roofed to remain largely dry even after some snowfall this location offers a variety of challenging boulder problems in the V2 to V10 range. While the descriptions in the relevant guidebook help some, it often seems as though many of the routes require guesswork as to their trajectory and proper completion. Regardless of ability Buddha remains an awesome casual afternoon session in the very early or very late season of bouldering.
If you yearn for more exposure and altitude the obvious choice of course is Yamnuska. The prominent face just off of Highway 1A is steep and exposed enough that snow does not linger for long on its primary face.
Although somewhat hit and miss for dryness Yamnuska becomes an option as early as March or April for the more traditionally inclined climber. Routes of around ten pitches are the common fare on this iconic face. The ultra classic Diretissima cuts a line towards the summit finishing very near the peak of the mountain. One of the first lines climbed on Yamnuska, Diretissima goes at 5.8+ with several variation pitches around 5.9.
Finally there is the accessible and easygoing Wasootch Creek, a slabby crag not even five minutes from the trailhead. If you are feeling the climbing itch but are not interested in investing part of your day to possible post-holing through the snow then this crag running the length of one side of the Wasootch drainage this area offers easy to moderate sport cragging that gets just enough sun to be an option early in the spring.
Despite proper warm temps not arriving until sometime in June, there are plenty of options for the bold to ascend while the snow still flies. – Writtn by Gryphon Black-Wallis, who is a climber based out of Calgary.
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