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Help designing a climbing itinerary in WA, BC and Banff

Original Post
Scott D · · San Diego · Joined Mar 2016 · Points: 0

Wondering if I can benefit from a what could be a fun thought experiment for y'all. 

If you had a few months to spend climbing in Washington, BC and Banff to climb what would your itinerary look like?

Places we are going: Olympic NP, Ranier NP, Leavenworth, Index, Darington, North Cascades NP, greater Bellingham, Okanagan, The Bugaboos, BC, and Vancouver Island. 

I'd love to hear what you would consider as the "must do" climbs. 

Scott D · · San Diego · Joined Mar 2016 · Points: 0

Background:

I'm a 5.10 trad leader with lots of glacier travel and alpine experience. I grew up in WA, but left 20 years ago. I don't have that much technical ice experience, but I've climbed a dozen or so technical alpines routes with long sections of AI 3 and some WI 4 frozen waterfalls. 

My girlfriend doesn't identify as a climber, but she's climbed a bunch of multipitch rock with me (up to 5.9) and a couple 6,000m peaks in the Andes. We've trekked thousands of miles together. She can handle arduous approaches and long days, but I don't want to lead her into all out sufferfests. Some light bushwakcking and creek crossings are okay, but nothing hardcore. She can climb 5.8 well, but things get hard for her at 5.9 and beyond.  She only has little experience with steep snow and ice. 

She's also cool about hanging back at Basecamp when I want to do a "big one", I would just need arrange a different partners. 

Dan Bookless · · Bend, OR · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 2,156

You should 100% go to The Bugs! I think it'll tick all your boxes (and your gfs)

Andy Shoemaker · · Bremerton WA · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 70

Hi Scott- I've been based in the Seattle area for the last decade + and have climbed at all the areas you're thinking about.  Send me a DM if you want to chat about your trip planning.

Sam Beeduhl · · Bend, OR · Joined Sep 2012 · Points: 443

I'm assuming summer season here and GF friendly routes per your info... 

Olympic NP - Olympus as a backpack

Ranier NP - Kautz or Emmons 

Leavenworth - Outer Space

Index - just crag with the lady, not much she will be comfortable doing but some TR laps could be educational 

Darington - Dreamer 

North Cascades NP - TFT, Goode NE Butt, W MacMillan Spire, Fischer Chimneys on Shuksan are all good options

greater Bellingham - just go to Squamish and climb something on the Apron to Butt Light

Okanagan - SE Butt of Cathedral 

The Bugaboos - Pigeon W Ridge, Surfs Up

BC - Yak Chek

Vancouver Island - summit Colonel Foster (Actually no idea on this one, but it's on my radar and looks cool)

Banff - Kain Route on Mt Louis, but actually you should just come in winter and climb ice.

Chris C · · Seattle, WA · Joined Mar 2016 · Points: 407

I had a few spare minutes today, so I put together a few thoughts.  I tried to take into account that if your gf doesnt fully identify as a climber, you may want some lower commitment stuff.  I also included a few less steep mountaineering climbs that are still really cool experiences, which kinda fall into the category of technical treks. 

Ranier NP:
A lot of people come in wanting to go for Liberty Ridge or Ptarmigan Ridge, but those are pretty pretty seasonal, and when they are out, they are very very out.  
-The Kautz is a cool mildly techy route that gives you a nice tour around the peak.
-The Disappointment Cleaver is a very nice scenic mountaineering route if you just want to have an epic walk up.

North Cascades NP/Bellingham:
I think this area is what makes WA really really special, a lot of what you climb will kinda depend on what you feel comfortable with.  I'd just poke into the N Cascades section on the site and look for the classics.  Note that some of the snowier/icier objectives can be pretty condition dependent.  I'd also recommend downloading GPS traces and using Gaia, it's pretty easy to spend a lot of time getting lost.  (Check here and here, there is plenty more out there too.)
-Forbidden Peak W Ridge is really legit and worth going for. If you do one thing in the area, this could definitely be it. For anything in the Boston Basin, note that it's quite a bit easier to get a camping permit during a weekday. You can also do a few other things while you are out there.
-TFT got mentioned above, that's a super cool route, but it can be a bit of a route finding challenge and requires a lot of simulclimbing. I wouldnt really recommend this if your gf doesn't completely identify as a climber. There isnt really an easy way to get off of it if things go south.
-Eldorado's E ridge is a cool chill mountaineering route, the approach is a little long. The N Ridge is a nice low commitment alpine rock climb that I think is worth doing, and it also gets you on the E Ridge's classic knife edge finish. I think it's one of the few alpine ridge routes that you can bail off of and walk down at literally any point.
-Mt Baker's Coleman Demming is a mountaineering classic, mostly a big walk. The N Ridge is fairly consistently in and has a little bit of ice climbing in there, along with steep but chill terrain, it's also a classic.
-Shuksan's Fisher Chimneys is a classic that is worth shooting for. I think if you combine that with the SE Ridge finish, you're bound to have fun.
-Ptarmigan Traverse, if you want a sort of mountaineering/trekking experience.

Okanagan:
Even though WA Pass is not technically in the Okanagan area as far as I am aware, I will package it in because it is so close to Mazama.  I think this area is really fun overall because you can do some pretty fun sport climbing in Mazama, and then you can bounce over to WA Pass and climb some pretty cool alpine rock routes with easy approaches.  Mazama is generally a pretty chill place to be for a period of time.
-Mazama has a bunch of longer sport bolted multi-pitch routes. Prime Rib and Flyboys are the well known classics, but there are a lot more. Definitely worth checking out!
-WA Pass is great for alpine rock climbing, check out the Supertopo guidebook. It's pretty much as close to turn-by-turn directions as you can get.  The approaches are very quick by Cascades standards, and there are climbs of all difficulty levels. 

The Bugaboos:
This place is epic, seriously.  If you plan to spend 7-10 days in Applebee you'll have a blast.  The approach is super easy, so you can carry a lot up there.  The classics are classic!  I would definitely shoot to be out there when the B-S col is still in, I went a couple years ago when it was out, and that was a big pain.  I'd honestly plan your entire time in the PNW specifically around the B-S col conditions, because it seems to be getting more finicky every year.  This guidebook is really good, I'd recommend getting it. I'd definitely start slow and work your way up in the area.  I know a lot of people want to jump right into Bugaboo Spire NE Ridge, which is a pretty real endeavor, the 5.8 pitches are maybe the easiest part of the day.  Pigeon Spire W Ridge is a worthy classic and is a great way to kick off.

BC:
Just hang out in Squamish and climb stuff, it's super fun. It's a very livable location too.  

Honestly, I'd skip:
-Olympic NP (it's far, long approaches, not my favorite)
-Leavenworth (Nice for locals or if you are staying around for a long time. I'd 1000% prefer to be in Squamish. Hot take, I know, let's not turn this into a debate thread. Just my opinions here)
-Index (same as above)
-Darrington  (same as above)

No opinion because I havent climbed there:
-Vancouver Island

I've blogged a bit about my climbing in the PNW (and outside) here.  Not trying to get clicks, but it may be helpful for you to get a "feel" for the climbing around here. 

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Pacific Northwest
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