Quadra Island Rock Climbing
British Columbia’s Newest Go-To Crag
Anthonie PrihatiningJati on Rebirth of the Eagle 5.12a, Eagle Crag Main Wall
Quadra Island has, for a long time, been one of Canada’s mostvisited hiking, biking, kayaking and sailing destinations, and now you can add rock climbing to the list.
Throw a dart at a map of British Columbia and the dart will hit an area with climbable rock. As one of the most rugged and mountainous regions in America, B.C. has so much potential climbing that it makes the mind wobble. It’s not just the rock, however, that makes a climbing area. It takes effort, community and interest to develop dirty crags into a desirable climbing destination. That’s how things have gone over the past year on Quadra Island, which is tucked along the Inside Passage on B.C.’s West Coast.
The early history of rock climbing on Quadra is unclear. There are a few climbers who began to scratch the surface during the 1980s and 1990s. Ted James introduced his children Matthew and Nina to climbing at the Quadra Crags. Well-known locals Rob and Laurie Wood climbed on the granite cliffs on a number of the islands, including Cortes, over the years. Even Himalayan legend Doug Scott has climbed on island stone.
My early experiences climbing on and around Quadra in the late ’ 80s and early ’ 90s left me with a mixed impression; the quality of the rock was good, but I was dismayed by the lack of natural protection. Money for drills, bolts and time were in short supply then and the idea of starting a cragging area from scratch, after only recently putting in a few years of route excavation at nearby Crest Creek, seemed daunting.
Fast-forward 20 years and my kids are grown-up, the mountain bike affair had lost its appeal and my climbing bug was back. In March, 2014, I wanted to find some climbing closer to my home. The first place my wife Renée and I went and explored was Breton Island, a beautiful islet that is only a short boat trip out of Heriot Bay on the east side of Quadra. I’d climbed there first in 1988 with Rob and Laurie Wood and a group from Strathcona Park Lodge. It was one of the reasons I wanted to live on Quadra.
Breton Island has a collection of short granite sea cliffs and clusters of bouldering-height walls upland among the exotic looking, red-barked arbutus trees. The salt-water erosion creates distinctive water-solution features and much of the shoreline granite is coloured bronze, rusty-red and gold with striking angular blocks and clean cracks. Against the deep blue sky and tropical looking water it is an idyllic place to climb.
Looking inland on Quadra, Renée and I revisited Chinese Mountains, a popular day-hiking destination where a wellmaintained loop-trail wraps around a south-facing hillside to a pair of lookouts with nice views over the Salish Sea and surrounding snow-capped mountains on the mainland and Vancouver Island. I vaguely recalled a couple of crags we’d thrown top ropes on years ago and we wandered around the forest, enclosed by the loop trail, looking for climbable rock.
Wouldn’t you know it, on one of the cleanest walls (now East Wall) we found a line of bolts. So someone had been up here in the intervening years since our first visit. I spoke with Matt James who put me on to Anthonie (PJ) PrihatiningJati who confirmed it was his handiwork from 2009. We made a plan to go out together and have another look. He took me to another crag called Jumping Frog Wall that has a half-dozen bolted routes between 5.8 and 10c on interesting pillow-lavas. PJ and I did a thorough examination
of the potential for climbing that day and along the way we photographed and mapped the best potential outcrops. That was the start of an intensive period of development at the Quadra Crags.
In the last year, over 125 routes have been established, about two to three per week and that pace doesn’t seem to be slowing down. There are several groups of crags on Quadra Island, but the main climbing destination is at Chinese Mountains. There are around 20 separate crags all with distinct features. The way it’s all laid out, with excellent hiking trails to the crags, looks just like a climbing area is meant to be.
The rock at Chinese Mountains is a volcanic basalt or andesite. It is very solid and ranges from overhanging, smooth grey rock with angled features and holds, to off-vertical rock that weathers into a dark brown, almost black with numerous coarse, pea-size crystals. In all cases, the routes deliver superb-quality climbing with fun, interesting moves in a picturesque setting.
Like the neighbouring Vancouver Island’s basalt, the rock on Quadra has little natural protection and so almost all of the routes are bolt-protected. The routes have been equipped to make for a very user-friendly experience with few run-outs, clean belay ledges, rappel anchors, accessible anchors for top-rope setup and f lagged trails between the crags. We wanted to keep with Quadra’s image as an adventure-recreation destination, a place with high quality, low-stress recreation and natural surroundings.
Most of the crags are about 20 to 30 metres tall. For casual climbers, one of the best places to start is Hidden Corner, a 20- metre wall that is 10 minutes from the parking lot and tucked on the downhill side of the main trail. It is shaded by Douglas firs and has a base of soft moss. Look for Two Crows Walked into a Bar, a 5.8 jug-fest up a steep face of coarse, weathered rock. Next to it is ipa, a challenging 5.9 prow. Routes at Hidden Corner range from 5.5 to 5.10b and the anchors are accessible for top-roping.
Up the hill from the parking is Leaning Tree Edge, a very sporty crag that is a 5.10
climber’s dream come true. The rock is smooth and steep with in-cut holds. Each climb starts in earnest from the first moves and lulls you into a cruise through the middle, only to dish out a difficult finish. Grades range from 5.10a to 5.11b.
Heading west along the hiking trail is Evening Wall, an imposing face just above the trail. It is home to a number of great climbs. Horizon is a must-climb 5.10c up an exposed, rounded arête the full height of the crag. Twilight is a less-obvious line at 5.10a through a steep series of overlaps. The short, but eye-catching, Ironwood Corner has fooled more than a few 5.10d climbers with its diff icult-to-read angles.
Eagle Crag is about 30 minutes from the parking lot and is about 60 metres tall. It is home to Quadra’s longest routes and some of its most difficult. The crag is dominated by a central prow that juts out above a half-height ledge. A number of routes climb the left side of the prow. First up is Where Eagles Dare 5.10d, a two-pitch adventure up an intimidating corner-ramp system leading to a long, exposed arête to finish. To its right is Talon 5.11b, probably overall the finest climb on the island to date for esthetics and technical interest. Talon is climbed in two pitches with the first taking a wide, clean corner with sustained 5.10d moves and the second pitch on more weathered rock posing a perplexing crux and an airy, feel-good f inish.
There’s something for everyone at Eagle Crag with routes from 5.6 to 5.12. All are long single pitches or two-pitch routes. As with elsewhere it’s almost all sport climbing, but there are two good
The salt-water erosion creates distinctive water-solution features and much of the shoreline granite is coloured bronze, rusty-red and gold with striking angular blocks and clean cracks.
trad cracks as well. Lookout for Emergency Rainbow Generator is a steep three-inch crack that earns its plus in the 5.7+ grade. As development continues at Eagle Crag, the number of routes continues to grow. The right wall of the central prow is looking like 5.13+ terrain and there’s lots of potential for more routes.
What really makes climbing on Quadra Island special is that the island is a destination itself. The scenic ferry crossing onto the island spirits you away to warm sun-soaked beaches at Rebecca Spit. There’s forested hiking and mountain bike trails and lots of interesting people and fun events. You’ll know you’ve found a special place when you’re sitting on the harbourside deck at the 100- year-old Heriot Bay Inn sipping a cold beer, dining on local seafood and looking up from your table at the crags overlooking the bay.