Mount Yamnuska

Gear: Bring a single rack from BD 0-3, single set of nuts, and 16 draws with a good selection of alpine draws.

Approach: Hike up to the base of Yamnuska, scrambling up the Direttissima cone until you are at the base of the wall. A little ways to the right of Direttissima there is a huge pillar that leads you to the base of the suicide wall. Climb this to it’s top (5.6). This is the same start for Astroyam and Quantum leap. You will arrive on the top of a giant pedestal with a bolted belay.

Pitch 1 - 5.11b 40m (5 bolts + gear). From the belay climb up the prickled face rock and clip 2 bolts. At the 2nd bolt climb a chossy yellow crack and continue up past an old piton and eventually another bolt, ultimately making your way towards the obvious corner. Continue up the left arching corner making a few gear placements and eventually another bolt (crux). Pull the hard lay backing moves and pull into a prickled scoop. Place some more gear and then continue on a diagonally trending traverse out left to reach a bolted anchor.

Pitch 2 - 5.11b 40m (7 bolts + gear). From the belay, climb up and clip a high bolt out right. Downclimb and traverse right across a series of ledges. Continue up the steep corner (hard to get into) making a few thin gear placements eventually arriving at another bolt. Climb up on good holds and clip another bolt trending rightwards. Eventually you will arrive where you can place some gear at the base of the corner. (Extending majority of the pieces on the lower half of the climb is crucial to reduce rope drag on the upper corner). Climb up the corner past 3 bolts, eventually making one last hard sequence at the top of the corner where you can clip 1 last bolt and then traverse the big ledge rightwards to arrive at a bolted anchor.

Pitch 3 - 10c/R 20m (3 bolts). Climb above the belay on good holds and clip a bolt. Continue to traverse up and slightly left on good edges. You will eventually link into the rightwards trending traverse of astroyam. Clip 2 more bolts making a right trending diagonal traverse to a bolted belay. (This belay shares the same belay as astroyam)

Pitch 4 - 5.12c 40m (9 bolts) Make hard moves right above the belay, and follow the line of bolts through the intimidating looking roofs making multiple crux sequences with just enough holds to keep you going. After the crux climbing continue up towards the anchor, trending right first and then diagonally left. There is a bolted belay. The last part of the pitch is quite runout but climbs on excellent rock.

Pitch 5 - 5.11 45m (9 bolts + gear). Climb directly above the belay for about 15 feet and clip the first bolt. Continue straight up the corner clipping 2 more bolts until at the 3rd bolt you can traverse slightly out right and onto easier ground. Climb the easier ground until you can clip another bolt and then begin a rightwards trending traverse past one more bolt into a corner. Climb up the corner (placing a 0.75 in a crack) until you reach the top of the corner. Clip a bolt and traverse left onto easier ground. Continue straight up clipping 2 more bolts until you arrive at the base of a steep bulge. Pull the bulge, climbing a shallow corner and trending left, and you will end up on a big ledge where you can clip the last bolt, then make a leftwards trending traverse to a bolted anchor.

Pitch 6 - 5.11c/R 45m (5 bolts + micro gear). From the belay follow a rightwards trending traverse across some choss until you can clip a high first bolt. Continue straight up clipping 2 more bolts until you are right beside a massive roof. Reach around to the right and clip a bolt above the edge of the roof. Stay low (don’t climb high into the top of the corner and then traverse) and make a rightwards traverse directly across the lip of the roof using a crucial side pull/undercling crack and eventually go slightly up and clip another bolt. From here, continue up the obvious seam/corner making a small gear nest in a horizontal seam and then launch yourself the rest of the way to a bolted anchor. The upper half of this pitch is very runout and the resulting fall would be very big.