The Grand Wall, the Grand Wall. Where to begin. This climb took months and months of training. There were notes all over the apartment with "Stretch for the Grand Wall", "10 Push-ups for the Grand Wall". At Cliffhanger, we did laps. Climbing up then down climbing and doing several routes in a row as endurance training. With all those pitches to scale, endurance would count ten fold. Squamish was our playground. We practiced leading every chance we got. In any case, you get the point, lots and lots of prep work.
On the morning we chose, we rose early. We had packed the night before, all we had to do was grab our packs and head downhill. Being car-less and friend-less in Vancouver means using Greyhound for all excursions to Squamish. I looked out the window at the gray sky as the bus passed through Stanley Park and over the span of the Lions Gate Bridge. I prayed to the weather gods to keep the rain off us that day. Vancouver's notorious weather doesn't take a break, even in the summer. One year in June we had sun all week, and it poured every weekend. How unfortunate, right? Oh well. That's Vancouver. When it's sunny it's the best place in the world. When it rains it can be absolutely dreary.
We arrived at the doorstep of the Chief. The cliff looked shear. Walking through the plush forest at the base, I took time to gather my thoughts. I'd read the guidebook. I knew in written form what I was up against. Flipping through the pages of the guidebook on the couch is very different than being in that forest, headed into a story someone else had written. The reality had started to hit home, now that I was finally winding up and around moss covered boulders. I noticed a twisting feeling in my stomach. “It's not going away,” I thought. Oh well. I had to press on regardless. We had trained so long for the Grand. We were as ready as we were going to get.
There are a couple variations on the start. Apron Strings (10b) or Merci Me (9). We chose Merci Me because it is the easier of the two. There are enough harder pitches above. I did the Merci Me pitches without much incident. Traversing to the base of Split Pillar (10b) was a little dicey but we got through it.
Amz on the Split
At the base of the Split, a party came up behind us. They wanted to pass through. I didn't mind, gave me extra minutes to get my head right before getting on with the lead. I racked up, did some breathing exercises, then followed the line up. The beta is to climb it like a crack. This gives you a good view of where your gear placements go and keeps you from pumping out on the layback. I followed the advice. Perry’s above would be enough laybacking, and hard laybacking at that. I made it to the top of the pillar with minimal struggle and looked down. I didn't place much gear on my way up. Oops. Oh well. I made it and that's all that matters in the end.
Howe Sound
I sat looking out over Howe Sound. "What a crazy parking spot," I thought. "I'm in the middle of a huge granite face on this little sliver of rock, cantilevering off the wall. It could go anytime." I inhaled deeply expecting to take in fresh moist air, but instead I gagged as the smell of urine went up my nose. I guess some climbers reach the top, and their system is so hosed that they can't help it. I suppose it is better than the scent of vomit. My climbing partner came up behind me and sniffed. The wrinkling of his nose confirmed my earlier observation. The unfortunate reality was that he had to pee too. Thankfully, we had an empty nalgene with us. It was a drag to carry that nalgene up but it was better than contributing to the stench. We rested there for a short while to let the party above make their way up. It wasn't preferable to wait but I was secretly grateful for the respite.
The Sword was next (11a).
"Ya psyched?" I asked.
"Kinda," he replied.
"Well get to it then. Don’t worry, I’ve got the next one.” I winked. He gave me a wry smile knowing the pitch after this one would require an easy bit of aid climbing.
I paid out slack, as I watched him make his way up the rock. The Sword is reported to have two cruxes, both rated 11a. I watched carefully as he passed through the first one. Sent. I whooped from the belay once he got through the second one, then yelled. “Nice job on the crux!” I was greeted by a triumphant grin when I reached the top.
The Sword was next (11a).
"Ya psyched?" I asked.
"Kinda," he replied.
"Well get to it then. Don’t worry, I’ve got the next one.” I winked. He gave me a wry smile knowing the pitch after this one would require an easy bit of aid climbing.
I paid out slack, as I watched him make his way up the rock. The Sword is reported to have two cruxes, both rated 11a. I watched carefully as he passed through the first one. Sent. I whooped from the belay once he got through the second one, then yelled. “Nice job on the crux!” I was greeted by a triumphant grin when I reached the top.
Perry's and Squamish
The next pitch was full of bolts to be aided up. We reached the top of that pitch only to sit under Perry’s Layback. Thankfully, this section is bolted as well since climbing while placing gear would have pumped us out and possibly stopped us entirely. After the pump of Perry’s was left behind, we had a series of 10a moves to get to bottom of the Sail Flake. Coming up underneath, I saw where the pitch got its name. The route looked like it is an undercling for 50 feet, then went up about 10 feet then traversed back 50 feet to just above my head. From there it followed a crack line to the top.
I brought my climbing partner to me so he could eye up his next pitch. I was curious about how he planned to protect it, without causing undo drag. Not knowing the answer to this, I put him on belay and trusted he'd make a good judgement call on the pro. I watched anxiously as he scaled the wall underneath. He placed a piece at what would be the mast, if it were actually a real sail, then started to head right. He cupped his hand, palms up, under the rock in an undercling and shuffled along. No other gear was placed along the bottom. He went up the 10 foot section. Still no gear. He stayed low, keeping his body below the top of the sail. He slid his hands left toward the “mast” and crack that would lead us to the Bellygood Ledge.
"Safe!” I heard from somewhere above.
“Off belay!” I yelled back.
Once all the slack was taken in, I started working my way along the pitch. I followed in his hand and foot placements around the flake and back toward the crack. Joining him on the ledge, we took in the scenery. From the face of the Chief, the view was spectacular. The Howe Sound was laid out before us with a steep mountain range behind it. What an incredible vantage point! The view would be similar from the top of the Chief but those above would not have the satisfaction we felt in that moment. All the hours and hours of skill building and fitness training had given us the ability to reach this point. I looked to my left and saw the Bellygood Ledge extend into the trees. Steeling ourselves, we shuffled along the face, attached to the chains toward horizontal respite. The chains are there to keep climbers from tumbling off the face. Thankfully, it worked.
"Safe!” I heard from somewhere above.
“Off belay!” I yelled back.
Once all the slack was taken in, I started working my way along the pitch. I followed in his hand and foot placements around the flake and back toward the crack. Joining him on the ledge, we took in the scenery. From the face of the Chief, the view was spectacular. The Howe Sound was laid out before us with a steep mountain range behind it. What an incredible vantage point! The view would be similar from the top of the Chief but those above would not have the satisfaction we felt in that moment. All the hours and hours of skill building and fitness training had given us the ability to reach this point. I looked to my left and saw the Bellygood Ledge extend into the trees. Steeling ourselves, we shuffled along the face, attached to the chains toward horizontal respite. The chains are there to keep climbers from tumbling off the face. Thankfully, it worked.
We finally made it into the forest. What a memorable day.
Scooting along the Bellygood Ledge
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