Native Stones
Close-to-home Canadian Classics
If this summer is anything last the last one, climbers will have to skip the international trips and stay close to home. Luckily, across Canada are countless crags, peaks, boulder fields, caves and other rock formations. While regional travel restrictions are fluid, it’s best to play it safe, find a home base for the summer and to climb at places within a few hours drive.
Yukon
Yukon has Canada’s biggest mountains and most remote wilderness, but it also has amazing cragging and bouldering. To get there from B.C., take Highway 97 north until you hit the border. You can also fly to Whitehorse from anywhere in Canada. Pay attention to covid-19 rules; as of spring, you have to quarantine for 14 days, but you are allowed to recreate during this time.
The following is from the first edition of Ryan Agar’s guidebook to the area, Yukon Climbing Guide: “If you are developing a new crag, do some homework. Large parts of land fall under First Nations Land Claims agreements and may be subject to special regulations or considerations. Using land for recreational purposes is allowed under most Land Claims agreements, however, modifications to the land, such as bolting and cutting trails, is usually controlled.”
CRAGS AND MUST-CLIMB ROUTES
Acropolis: Whitehorse / Granite / Mostly sport and top-rope / Plus 5.7, Sting in the Tail 5.10c and Taiya 5.12a
Paint Mountain: Haines Junction / Granite /
Multi-pitch trad and bolted /
Chunder Gully 5.10 4p and Swiss Family Robinson 5.10
White Mountain: Jake’s Corner / Limestone / Multi-pitch bolted /
Iki Gai 5.10 5p and Lawless 5.10b
Golden Canyon:
Takhini Hotsprings / Granite / Cragging /
Yellow Brick Road 5.9 and Sky Traveller 5.11b
B.C.
B.C. is one of Canada’s most-visited places for rock and alpine climbing. There are world-famous crags in the south and far-off undeveloped walls in the far north. The rock ranges from solid granite to chossy limestone to perfect gneiss. The areas are divided into the East and West Kootenays, the Selkirks, Okanagan Valley, Kamloops, Sea to Sky, Marble Canyon, Vancouver Island and the north. While there are a lot of sport climbs of all grades, to truly appreciate what the province has to offer requires a trad rack and a sense of adventure. There are dozens of amazing crags to climb at, below are just a few. No matter where you are in B.C., you’re close to fun climbs.
CRAGS AND MUST-CLIMB ROUTES
Sutton Pass: Tofino / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch /
Sea Flea 5.9
The Chief: Squamish / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch / Squamish Butt Lite 5.9 10p, Grand Wall 5.11 A0 9p, Freeway 5.11c 11 pitches and Angels Crest 5.10b 13p
Cheakamus Canyon: Sea to Sky / Granite / Single-pitch /
Low Impact 5.10a, Creepy Crawlers 5.11a, Incredible Journey 5.12a, Division Bell 5.13d and Pulse 5.14a
Skaha: Okanagan Valley / Gneiss / Mostly single-pitch /
Plum Line 5.9, Assholes of August 5.9, Looking Glass 5.10a, Real Deal 5.11a, Acid Test 5.12a and 12-Step Derailer 5.13a
Lakit Lake: Cranbrook / Quartzite / Single-pitch /
G.I. Joe 5.10b, Bubble Wrap 5.11b and Imminent Mutiny 5.13a
Marble Canyon: Lillooet / Limestone / Single- and multi-pitch /
The Goat 5.9 19p, Where’s The Remote 5.10a 8p and Clandestine Nature 5.10d 6p
Alberta
Alberta is home to Banff and Jasper National Parks, world-famous mountains and huge glaciers. There are only a few highways to get you to them, but the access is easier than using the logging roads in B.C. There are crags in every major valley, from Exshaw to Lake Louise to Jasper, and along the foothills from Edmonton to towns south of Calgary. You can rock climb year-round, summer in the shady caves and winter on the south-facing cliffs during chinooks. There are climbs from 5.3 to 5.15, multi-pitch bolted routes up to 30 pitches and unlimited potential for new climbs. Below are a few of the crags worth visiting.
CRAGS AND MUST-CLIMB ROUTES
Grassi Lakes: Canmore / Limestone
Acephale: Dead Man’s Flats / Limestone
Tunnel Mountain: Banff / Limestone / Single- and multi-pitch / Dancing Sasquatch 5.6 3p, Ballista 5.10c A0 8p and River Run 5.10d 9p
Back of the Lake: Lake Louise / Quartzite / Single-pitch /
Turtle Island 5.10a, Wicked Gravity 5.11a, Dew Line 5.11c and Colloidal Impact 5.12a
Lost Boys: Jasper / Quartzite / Single-pitch /
Yummy Goodness 5.10a, Hi Ho Silver 5.11b and Wasted Youth 5.11c
Little Russia: Nordegg / Limestone / Single-pitch /
Green Mojito 5.9, Diesel 5.10c and Merricka 5.11c
Saskatchewan and Manitoba
There isn’t a lot of rock climbing in the middle of Canada, but there is some. Northern Saskatchewan has big cliffs in the boreal forest over remote lakes. There are reports of single-pitch climbs being done, but no information at this time. Winnipeg has a big climbing community that takes advantage of the small outcrops north and east of the city and in northwestern Ontario. Climbers began exploring the area in the 1970s and began systematically developing the vast climbing potential. By 1986, the first guidebook appeared with dozens of routes. Below are the places where you can find climbing in southeastern Manitoba.
CRAGS AND MUST-CLIMB ROUTES
Lily Pond: Whiteshell Provincial Park / Granite / Single-pitch /
The Nose 5.7 and Staircase Direct 5.9
One Stone: Whiteshell Provincial Park / Granite / Single-pitch / Leaning Tree Groove 5.9 and Beaver Fever 5.8
Lac du Bonnet: Winnipeg River / Granite / Bouldering / Gabriel’s Climb V3, Lonely V5 and O Lobo V7
Ontario
Many of Canada’s top climbers are from Ontario. They spent their youth cutting their teeth on hard limestone lines or pushing trad climbing along the shore of Lake Superior. It’s a big province with the two farthest crags from one and other being over 2,000 kilometres apart. The climbing varies everywhere you go, from multi-pitch basalt cracks and sandstone crags in the northwest to granite domes north of Huron, to lakeside Canadian Shield in Muskoka to the Niagara Escarpment, to more granite around Ottawa. The history of Ontario rock climbing goes back over 70 years, but some of the hardest and most esthetic routes are yet to be climbed. There are 30-metre 5.8 splitter cracks in Orient Bay and overhanging tufa-esque 5.14 lines at Lions Head. No matter where you are in Ontario, you’re close to rock.
CRAGS AND MUST-CLIMB ROUTES
Gooseneck: Kenora / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch /
Frog in the Crack 5.9 4p and Great Corner 5.9 2p
Pass Lake: Thunder Bay / Sandstone / Single-pitch /
Cave Crawler 5.8, Everything Goes Green 5.10a, Flying Circus 5.10c and The Way She Goes 5.11d
Makynen: Sudbury / Granite / Bouldering /
Turkey Dump V1, Blue Ladder V3 and Power and Rage V9
The Swamp: Collingwood / Llimestone / Single-pitch /
Thunder Bunny 5.10a and Big Boss 5.11d
Mount Nemo: Toronto / Limestone / Single-pitch /
Cat’s Tail 5.9 and High Society 5.10d
Calabogie: Ottawa / Gneiss / Single-pitch /
Boulder Dash 5.9, Nocturnal Tendencies 5.10b and Melange 5.11a
Kingston Mills: Kingston / Granite / Single-pitch /
Tippy Toe 5.6 and Mighty Gibber 5.10c
Quebec and the Maritimes
Quebec and the Maritimes have some of the best rock climbing in Canada. Climbers have been establishing routes there for nearly 100 years, and there are still unseen cliffs and big walls yet to be climbed. Many of Canada’s top crack climbers and boulderers come from Quebec. From the legendary cliffs at Val-david to the multi-pitch adventure routes at Lac Pinacle to the 10-pitch trad climbs in Grands Jardin to the crags along the east coast, like Cochrane Lanes, Red Rock Mountain, Eagle’s Nest, Cape Clear and Flatrock. There are 5.14 cracks, ocean-side big walls and fun introductory climbs. No matter where you are in eastern Canada, you’re not far from amazing climbs.
CRAGS AND MUST-CLIMB ROUTES
Val-david: Val-david / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch / Arabesque 5.4 3p, Bastard 5.9, The Crown 5.10a and Le Toit de Ben 5.13a
Weir: Montcalm / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch /
La Centrale 5.9, Black and White 5.10+ 3p and Biorythme 5.12c/d
Grands-jardin: St-urbain / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch / Granuleuse 5.6 4p, Wet Dreams 5.9 2p and Tâche Blanche 5.10c 3p
Cochrane Lane: Welsford / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch / Astroboy Direct 5.9, Bone Machine 5.11b and Black Knight 5.12a
Dover Island: Nova Scotia / Granite / Single-pitch and bouldering / Fight Club 5.10d, The Mustard 5.11a and Moby Dick V4
Flatrock: Newfoundland / Granite / Single- and multi-pitch /
Yellow Fever 5.9, Maggie 5.11a and Premium 5.11d—gripped