Some of Eastern Canada’s Finest Climbing
Sitting at the end of the road overlooking Lake Boisseau, a fr iend told me how it was sometimes difficult to appreciate the Laurentians when he returned from a tr ip to the western part of the continent, where the walls are bigger.
After Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Red Rocks, Indian Creek and Riff le, he wonders how to keep his enthusiasm for our small local crags. It is a common condition for climbers in the easter n par t of the continent as John Harling III mentioned in his
guidebook published in the 1980s. This feeling has never af fected me as I always f ind the beaut y Quebec has to of fer and am happy to return after tr ips to the big walls. For my fr iends out there who f ind it hard to be motivated by easter n stone, let me share these photos and thoughts with you.
Above our heads, the slings were swinging gently in the breeze from the lake nearby. The temperature was per fect and the silence of morning in the countr yside is only disturbed by the croaking of frogs among the lilies. As we put our gear on, I stared up at my project, the might y Cherub 5.12a. In my opinion, it is the best in the area which has about 30 spor t routes that range from 5.8 to 5.14. The angle of the wall is vertical to overhanging and the average height is around 20 metres.
After a session on Cherub, we explored the Boisseau Lake wall. I would cal l this wall my favour ite in the area, it has some amazing 5.10 s. The lines here have engaging movement. The area is big on wilderness conser vation, so you wil l see lots of wildlife. The Boisseau Lake wall is located near the vil lage of La Conception about 150 kilometres from Montreal, where we also f ind the crag of Silver Mountain.
Silver Mountain has become the most popular climbing area in the Laurentians, dethroning Val-David (the birthplace of rock climbing in Quebec) which was, for a long time, the busiest area around the Montreal area.
Severa l thing s have contr ibuted to the success of Si lver Mountain. Fi r st, the var iet y of routes : there are hundreds of