Celebrating 150 Years of Canadian Climbing and Road Trips

On this 150th anniversary of Canada, we take a look back at a century-and-a-half of cutting edge climbs from coast to coast. As we head into the second half of 2017, there are countless youth teams training, more climbers than ever spending their days away from school or work at the crag and tens of thousands of routes from B.C. to Newfoundland. It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t long ago Canada only had a handful of climbers pushing the sport. Take for instance the 1961 first ascent by Jim Baldwin and Ed Cooper of the Grand Wall in Squamish. Or the lesser known bold first solo of Mount Louis in Banff via the Kain Route by a young Ontario climber named Roger Neve in 1929. Both routes are now popular climbs for Canadians on a road trip through the mountains.

There is something so great about road tripping in Canada in the summer. Maybe it’s because the days are long and you enjoy the sun on your skin. Maybe it’s waking up in your tent next to a still-burning camp fire before you climb with friends. Maybe it’s the pain from unravelling the previous day’s tape off your fingers, only to re-apply more. Maybe it’s showing up at the pub with dirt in your hair, chalk everywhere and blood on your hands after sending your project. Maybe it’s the long night drives to get to the crag early. Maybe it’s trying to slap the mosquito that f lew into your ear as you fell asleep; no it’s not that. Maybe it’s the rush of swinging leads with your partner when you’re both in the zone. Maybe it’s jumping into a warm lake on your way home from the crag. Maybe it’s the rest days, rain days, recovery days spent at the café. Maybe it’s those moments of peace after hours of climbing when you’re absolutely wrecked but have never felt better.

We are lucky to live in such a great country where we have the freedom to road trip and visit world-class crags and to push ourselves on steep climbs. Of course, there are rules to road tripping, like don’t sleep in your car in areas where it isn’t allowed, respect your road trip partner’s space, try to keep the vehicle sort of clean and share the costs of travel.

With 20 years of road tripping behind me, I find there are always things to discover. From a new bakery near Val David to a fun route at Mount Nemo to the new brewery in Squamish. To be cliché and quote Jack Kerouac, “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”

Do yourself a favour and go on a road trip this summer. Even if it’s only for a weekend, what better year to do it than Canada’s 150th birthday?