Grad Wall Rock Climbing

The Grad Wall is a newly developed outdoor rock-climbing site located at the base of Sentinel Mountain near Castlegar BC. It is home to nearly a dozen of 1-2 pitch bolted moderate routes on compact & interestingly featured rock. The Wall is roughly 50m high, faces Southwest and is at an elevation of 575m, it is visible from various locations in the Castlegar area. It is the lowest of all the rock walls visible on the Southwest face of Sentinel Mountain. The access trail and wall are located on crown land and can be reached by walking about 15 minutes on a good climber’s trail. It gets afternoon sun and dries quickly after rain.

History: This land is the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, the Syilx, and the Sinixt peoples. The development of the Grad Wall has been a real community effort. It was initially developed as part of a new routing clinic attended by 8 participants and spearheaded by local climber/guide David Lussier in September of 2019. The 1 day clinic was a fundraiser for the Association of West Kootenay Rock Climbers (TAWKROC) and offered to local climbers as part of the annual Kootenay Climbing Festival. All clinic fees were donated to TAWKROC for the “Save Waterline” campaign. Coincidently, The Climbers Access Society of British Columbia (CASBC) donated 50 stainless steel bolts & hangers as well as 5 Fixe anchors through their “Adopt a Crag” program for the initial development of the Grad Wall. Similarly, TAWKROC donated $140 worth of hardware towards the project. Since the initial development day on the New Routing Clinic, a few key participants and a couple of local route developers have taken it upon themselves to develop the wall to its full potential. The end result is amazing to say the least. There are now nearly a dozen new quality pitches in the 5.7 to 5.10 range ready to be enjoyed by the climbing community.