The

University Wall 50 Years On

It was around midnight, late in April 1966, when the last of the four young climbers finished the final pitch of the Roman Chimneys. His partners were already stretched out in their sleeping bags. A few happy words were exchanged before fatigue and sleep took over. Three students from the University of B.C. and one from Simon Fraser University had just completed one of the most serious rock climbs in the country: the University Wall at Squamish.

It would be several years before the climb was widely reported and the significance of their ascent began to sink in. Five decades later, three of the first ascent team and several prominent local climbers ref lect on the route and how styles and standards have changed over that time. The U-Wall looked like a far more elegant route than Fred Beckey’s Northwest Passage. It was an obvious thing which had to be done, and we had to do it. To be purists we started at the very bottom. We were doing what we thought was happening down in the Yosemite Valley. It was tough climbing for us and it was very slow. I never thought that we couldn’t do it, but it was still a surprise when we pulled it off. It was a total jazz that we could do it. We were on a tight schedule, hoping to finish the climb between the end of final exams and the start of summer work. The weather was great for the final two-day push, warm and dry, which made all the difference. Back in February, when we started, the ledges were covered in snow, and there was ice on the rock. For me it was something of a graduating climb, as I began a permanent job a few days later. Afterwards, climbing at Squamish never felt quite the same again. Later, I moved to the Kootenays and lost my contacts with the Chief and with the rapid rise of sport climbing and the soaring standards. Years later, I was surprised to hear that aid climbs like Limbo had gone free and was stunned to read about the freeing of the U-Wall. I would have bet a ton of money against that ever happening.

In the Kootenays my interest returned to exploratory mountaineering, mostly in the Selkirks and Purcells. More recently, I enjoy establishing new sport routes, with the mandatory Bosch assist. I now place more bolts in a single 30- metre climb than we placed on the entire U-Wall.

The shorter name “U-Wall” is fun. It’s catchy and less formal. Fun and a little fear are what it’s all about–like sweet and sour. This was Tim’s route. He, Dan and Mike Wisnicki checked out the line in the fall of 1965 and fixed the bottom, never-repeated, mossy pitches. Mike lost interest over the winter, and Hamish and I joined Tim early the next spring. I’m not sure we really knew what we were doing. We used full-shank mountaineering boots, or hiking shoes. Most of our ropes were 120- foot, 3/8- inch marine nylon “super-stretch” stuff, “borrowed” from the Varsity Outdoor Club at ubc. We had no harnesses, just swami belts, or we tied directly into the rope. Hamish had a primitive belay seat made by Mavis McCuaig, a strong female climber of the day. The rest of us just stood in slings at the many hanging belays. This was before nuts had come to North America, so it was all pitons, and about 10 bolts (mostly at anchors). I had the dubious pleasure of leading possibly the hardest aid pitch (today sometimes called the Shadow). It was the scariest aid pitch I ever led.

After U-Wall (and Pipeline, the same year), I realized I could not keep up with the rising free-climbing standards, and I returned to my roots: mountaineering and exploration in the Coast Mountains. But I always maintained a vicarious interest in Squamish climbing. Back then, I could not imagine that, only 17 years later, someone would free the entire route. And to have the whole thing free-soloed: that just boggles my mind. I climbed U-Wall in the summer of 1976. The hammock bivi at the tree at the top of the fourth pitch was my first night on a wall, memorable for the exposure and the light bulb someone tied to the tree. It was 1985, when I returned to the U-Wall to attempt to repeat the route free. It took a few attempts to put the first few pitches together and I finally got to Dance Platform and the escape across Bellygood. I set my sights on doing the entire U-Wall/ Roman Chimneys route the next year and again, it took a few tries to find the right combination of climbing skills and a willing partner to succeed. Falling off the first crux pitches wasn’t an option and meant rapping off for a restart. No one was willing to play that game, so I convinced my friend Phillip to belay me in my attempt to lead every pitch. We managed the second free ascent of the U-Wall/ Roman Chimneys combination with me taking a fall on the 5.10c crack above the tree. Croft, Foweraker and Fraser changed the paradigm in Squamish climbing when they freed that magnificent corner in 1982, establishing one of the hardest long free routes in North America. Whether you climb U-Wall free or on aid, it is to my