Rockies Protection Valley Sees Boom

Protection Valley in the Canadian Rockies has been a place where climbers go randomly and without consistency. But in the fall of 2017, with little snow, the threehour approach was less of an effort. The results has been a boom in new routes and repeats of old “classics.” Kris Irwin and Jay Mills, two local Rockies guides, teamed up to climb their new Grab the Cupcakes M6 WI4+ behind the western end of Castle Mountain at Castle Junction. Jon Walsh and Jonny Simms climbed the new 110metre Paradise City M6 WI4, which is next to the rarely formed Paradis Perdu. Mix Fix M7 is a 150- metre hard climb by Walsh and Jeff Mercier. Then there’s the new Safe Space by Raphael Slawinski, Alik Berg and Steven Kovalenko at M7R WI4. One of the first new climbs of the season was the 210- metre Dirtbag Dreams WI4+ by Landon Thompson, Walsh and Paul Taylor.