Mount Yamnuska

Back for more excitement after our previous adventure on Mt. Yamnuska’s sunny south face, Cory Rogans and I found ourselves radiating with excitement and intimidation at the base of the wall again looking up at what could potentially be another amazing route up the suicide wall. Returning a total of 9 different times (With the 10th visit being the final red point and proper continuous free ascent of the route) with a handful of different partners, the route finally saw its full completion in August of 2026. Due to the overhanging nature of the wall, sometimes friable rock and lack of natural protection, the route was slow to push and often had me scratching my head as to where it would even go through the middle while trying to keep free climbing in mind. After taking a nasty fall on lead with the drill while establishing pitch six I had to take a small break from the route to heal. It resulted in a very sore and slow to heal ankle that haulted progress for a while, but eventually my psyche came back and I found myself in good enough health to head back up and finish it.

Each visit had us climb, haul the drill, bolts and other gear to the high point and then quest through new ground before eventually running out of time and getting scared enough to bail and come back another time. The route is a mix of bolts and gear and we aimed to try and keep the bolting feel tasteful which I feel we accomplished. Danny Poceta accompanied me a number of times during the establishment of the upper part of the route. I was very grateful for his company, stoke and general light heartedness up on the wall. Every pitch was put up on lead, drilling bolts using a combination of hooks, beaks and free stances, and utilizing natural gear where we felt like there was a possibility of the gear holding a fall.

Special thanks to Cory Rogans, Patrick Maguire, Merrick Montemurro and Lachlan Wheeler for accompanying me up the wall on other occasions, offering positive encouragement and hanging out for hours on end at the routes high points each time while I established new ground.

*All belays are equipped with 2 bolts

A 60m rope will climb the route just fine. However if you decide to bail past P2, without a 70m rope you will have to do some rather steep backclipping to get back down to the base. If you decide to rappel the route (which we did multiple times) this is the suggested rappel beta. P10->P9. P9->P8 (which can both be done with a single rope 70m rappel. The rest require 2 ropes to rappel). P8->P7. P7->P5. From P5 an almost full 70m rappel straight down brings you to another 2 bolt anchor that was drilled for descent (if using a 65m tagline you can extend it with 2x120cm slings and 4 x 60cm slings to extend the tagline to the anchor). From here one more rappel gets you to the base of the face. There is also a single bolt in excellent grey limestone with a mallion on it by a tree to rappel the final approach terrain as opposed to down climbing it just down and skiers right of the first belay station at the base of the wall.

Rack: 16 draws (at least 4-5 extendable draws) and a single set of cams from #0.2 - #3

P1: 5.10d, 40m. From the base of the cliff at the first belay step right and climb an easy 5.7 crack to the top of a pedestal. Once at the base of a steep bulge clip a bolt out left and make short but tricky moves up past 2 more bolts. Continue up and clip another bolt, and pull another easier bulge and climb diagonally up and right passing one more bolt and some good cams right before the belay ledge. 2 bolts for the belay.

P2: 5.12c 30m. Mostly bolts, plus 0.3/0.4 cams. You have arrived at the gallows. This is where the fun really starts. Go left and climb a pile of large jenga blocks, taking care to be delicate until the first bolt has been clipped. Layback the thin finger tips corner passing a few more bolts. At the 3rd bolt aim to make your way up and right over a ledgy bulge. Continue into the upper corner placing a 0.3 and 0.4 in the corner before clipping some more bolts higher up. Follow the bolt line to the roof and traverse underneath it breaking through the overlap. Some good hands free rests can be found after the roof to rest. Launch into the last bit of the pitch that holds difficult until the very last move. 2 bolt anchor.

(*If you are hauling a bag, it is easier to haul at the top of P2. Position the bag at the base of the route before you start climbing above the very first belay station and haul straight to the top of P2. P1 rambles more and is more susceptible to getting the bag stuck. A standard 65m tagline will reach)

P3: 5.12a 25m. All bolts, no gear. A few tricky moves right off the belay immediately give way to some better holds to clip the first bolt. Follow 5 more bolts up the face with some cryptic and techy climbing and then traverse left underneath the roof. Once past the roof a few more bolts lead up onto a small ledge with a 2 bolt belay.

P4: 5.11d/12a?, 25m. All bolts, no gear. Follow a few bolts up from the belay and then trend right and head straight up over a small roof. A final steep and technical sequence gives way to easier climbing and a spacious belay ledge.

P5: 5.10c, 30m. Bolts and gear. From the belay step slightly up and left and then traverse hard left across the face past some bolts until it meets into an easier corner system. Follow this corner to the top of the obvious pedestal, clipping one final bolt just before the belay.

P6: 5.11c/d?, 35m. All bolted. Tricky moves head directly up from the belay for a few bolts before going over a small block/roof and continuing up the corner above. Once the climbing dead ends make a long traverse to the left before heading straight up again. One more hard leftwards traverse brings you to the belay on a few small foot ledges. Very high quality climbing on Velcro like grey limestone. An excellent pitch of rock climbing.

P7: 5.11a, 30m. A few bolts, plus gear. Traverse up and left from the belay, aiming for an obvious crack system. Climb this corner to its logical end and then step right and up to a bolt. From here the climbing goes horizontally right across the face clipping 2 more bolts before arriving at the belay with a comfortable ledge. Caution is needed in a few spots on this pitch while traversing.

P8: 5.11b, 45m. Bolts and gear. Step up above the belay aiming for a high first bolt out left. Weaving your way slightly left and then right continue up clipping a few more bolts. At the roof step left across the face and then continue up the obvious grove passing a few more bolts. Continue up the lower angle dihedral in front of you placing gear as you go before eventually stepping out right to a semi hanging belay.

P9: 5.11b, 30m. Bolts and gear. Step left from the belay back into the corner system and continue up a hand crack. Eventually reaching a bolt and a cruxy bulge. Pull the bulge and then continue traversing rightwards under the roof placing some gear and clipping another bolt. At the end of the roof, head straight up on good stone and clip 2 more bolts before moving left and up slightly easier ground to the anchor on a ledge.

P10: 5.9, 30m From the anchor head straight up some easy but engaging climbing. After a small bulge it eases off. Continue straight up until the final little steep section. You can either go right or left, both converge at the top. The belay is directly at the lip of the wall before the scree. Majority of this pitch is considerably loose and offers some of Yam’s finer rubble. 2 bolt belay.

First Ascent Pitch Credits:

P1, P3, P5, P6, P8 and P10 - Rory O’Donnell

P2 and P4 - Rory O’Donnell and Cory Rogans

P7 and P9 - Danny Poceta