Mosquito Area

[corn_dog]

Nice work Jeremy, it was me who was talking to you on Tues.

Dan

[Optimally-Primed]

The Mosquito area is just about done. In total, I've added or retroed 9 routes, all in the 5.7 to 5.10 range, and all crack climbs. The climbs just need a good rain, a solid dry spell, a dust-off, and a send. I'll get to this next time the weather allows. Expect them to be "open for business" by March. I left red tape at the beginning of each climb to signal that they are projects. Here's a preview of some of what's to come.

An overview of the entire area, from the new climb Sex (1) to S-M's Delight (8). Route 4 splits at half way so there are really 8.5 climbs packed in beside one another.


When walking along the trail, many folks pointed at this splitter and said something nice. It's called Gift Crack and looks to be an improbable 5.10 finger crack. Breaking out right at half height is Mr. Black, which will likely be the easiest new route at the base.


And over to the right again is the steep "Debauchery Pillar" with the retroed and straightened Rock & Roll along with the new Sex and Drugs

[slopr]

Great work, thanks. The finger crack looks fun.

[Dru]

To the right of route 1 on the topo above, but before you get to Hummingbird, just off the trail there is a short corner (maybe 8m) that is all overgrown. 6 or 7 years ago a German guy who was in the VOC scrubbed that little corner and climbed it at around 10c/d. in the "rotpunkt" tradition he left a piece of red webbing at the bottom to show it had been climbed redpoint. Of course around here a red tag means a project so no one climbed it and it grew over... anyway if your scrubbing mission extends right of where you are now and you unearth that route, that's its history as I remember it. Fern W. might be able to remember the guy's name who put it up.

[Optimally-Primed]

Thanks for the story, Dru. Pretty funny about the juxtaposition of cultures, and the swooping in of the Big Green Machine.

Between route 1 (Sex) and Battered Balls are a few short crack boulder problems and then the grown-over corner. With my work, there's not a whole lot of real estate separating the Mosquito Area from Battered Balls Wall. One day, I wonder if there will be just one wall... Some decent stuff in that area.

But alas my priorities are taking me elsewhere at this time. If anyone wants to step in, it's all yours.

Side note... just did a tally of my cleaning in the past 12 months. Turns out to be 32 pitches. That's like an El Cap worth of climbing. My goodness. I really am addicted.

[bradley3297]

damn you unearthed alot of rock. nice work.

[Optimally-Primed]

With the beautiful weather, I managed to climb 6 of the 9 new or recleaned lines. The remaining 3 are slow to dry and so may not be ready until April. With this in mind, I've decided to release a preliminary topo. The 3 remaining climbs are marked as projects. I changed a few names around since my last post. The names on the topo are correct.

Download the topo and enjoy

Here are a few photos

The over-the-top cheesy name Seam of Destiny had us all laughing. This is my favourite of the new climbs. The moves all flow together. The gear is usually small but bomber and the crux has a very do-able but non-obvious solution. See if you can figure it out.



Jay on the upper crux of Sex on the FA. Big moves on big holds. Reminiscent of Neat and Cool (but with better gear). A surprisingly fun route.



My Generation and Rubber Soul. Can't see them from the ground but they're worth a visit.

[Optimally-Primed]

I walked by Mosquito on Saturday and noticed plenty of folks. To boot, I noticed chalk all over some of the new climbs. I'd love to folks' reactions to the new climbs.

What did you remember?

Would you recommend them to a friend (or not)? Why so?

Were the anchors where you'd want them and equipped how you wanted them?

Did you figure out the not-so-obvious crux of Seam of Destiny?

Jeremy

[bradley3297]

i climbed no see um on saturday. didnt get on any of the others yet. was one of those nice and stiff 5.9s. i enjoyed the line though i would not recommend it for beginner leaders since most of the gear placed in awkward positions and the upper portion has fiddly gear with dangerous fall potential if your not careful. i thought it was a exciting line for the grade though. the upper section caught me completely off guard.

[Lurch]

I've been meaning to get down to mosquito since it got nice again but just hadn't managed to yet.

Climbed No See Em today and i have to say it was awesome! definitely not for folks who are still wet behind the ears but, very good, and good protection throughout, just make sure u save some bigger stuff 4 the top.. (i ran it out a wee bit )

It was still a little dirty but nothing some traffic won't clean up.. Too bad about the anchors getting chopped tho, i thought they should have been right beside the start of Phlemish. That way people on the connection can used the upper anchors and free up the Mosquito anchors. We used the Mosquito anchors and shared with other parties. I woulda built a gear anchor but i didn't anticipate no bolts, I guess I could have used the tree...

Seam of Destiny was awesome too.. Just top roped that one, i will definetly lead it next time tho. just a quick crux. Mr Black looks like a good romp.

Wanted to get on sex but ran out of time.. my buddy toproped drugs, and loved it. still a little dirty but climbable 4 sure...

Awesome work Jeremy please continue your efforts. They are much applauded!

Mike

[Optimally-Primed]

Hey Mike,

Great to hear that you had fun at Mosquito area. That's rad! I love hearing that.

No-see-um. Glad to hear that you think the pro is good enough. I actually cleaned the route twice if you'll believe it... it's so hard to get a route spotless. Ultimately, all new routes need some traffic. I did my best.

The anchor atop No-see-um was chopped. I'm aware of that. I've alerted the Smoke Bluffs Committee of this and leave the matter in their hands. They may be concerned about exactly what happened today, with crowding at the Mosquito anchor. I highly recommend that people *do not* belay off the tree. The tree has a weakened root system and is probably not adequate as an anchor. For the time being at least, folks will have to share the Mosquito anchor.

Seam of Destiny. I'm quite fond of that one. I found it to be a rewarding lead.

Drugs. Well, officially it's still a project. It's been wet every time I've gone to climb it so I've waited and left red tape at the bottom. But it's no big deal. I just didn't want folks to get on a wet, dirty climb and have a muddy time. I still need to give it a final clean-up once it's dry. Was Drugs dry today? If so, I'll try to get over there soon and open it up.

Thanks for the positive feedback, Mike. I'm really glad you enjoyed the area.

Jeremy

[Lurch]

Hi Jeremy,

Drugs was dry other than the crack was a little moist. It will definetly be dry enough to clean up this week if the weather goes as predicted. Go send it!

BB i would say 2 extra 2-2.5" peices up top would make a man comfortable.. and couple 2.5-3" for the anchor if you wanna build it gear.. otherwise just bring some long slings for mosquito although the drag is crappy...

Mike

[Lurch]

Just talked to my buddy and he said the top 3-4 holds on drugs were still slimy... nothing a little torch and a brush probably couldn't take care of tho

[smallman]

You should not need anything larger than a #3 Camalot for No-see um. There is a perfect purple curve hex placement in the top flare chimney. Use the mosquito anchors to get down now that someone has that they are the Smoke Bluffs bolt police. #$%$%# Squamish local territorial pissings.

[bradley3297]

all i used in the upper portion of no see-um is a yellow c3 a medium nut and a #1 camalot. was sufficient didnt need any big gear.