New start to Calculus Crack

[Lurch]

Nice dc! Enjoy it. Was it still in there good?

[thebigchin]

I'll be there on Thursday for my annual week in Squampton and thought that CC would be a great warm up to get back onto Squamish granite. I'm confused as to where the new start is. Do I climb the tree pull/easy rock pitch or does it start at the bottom of the tree pull pitch?

[Anders Ourom]

It poured rain all day today in Vancouver and Squamish, and is forecast to at least shower on Wednesday. It may take a day or two, or more, for the new start to Calculus to get reasonably dry - it drains a fair amount from above, and may not get a lot of sun.

I haven't done it, but apparently it's not hard to find.

[sherri]

You don't do the tree pull pitch at all. The new start is slightly uphill to the climbers left of the tree-pull start(stay on the Rock On trail until you see a clean, inviting dihedral on your right).

We did the new start a couple weeks ago to get to South Arete. The combo of the new start and the long cracks of South Arete made for a terrific trad outing.

Thumbs up!

[thebigchin]

Thanks for the quick replies. The longer range weather forecast is starting to look a bit grim. Maybe my week long trip will end up being only 3 days instead.

[thebigchin]

Climbed it on Thursday with no one around. I found it to be great value, consistent for the grade, clean as a whistle, and so much better than any of the other approaches. Thanks for putting that up!

A few friends climbed it on Sunday and waited in line for 2 hours at the first pitch of CC proper. Apparently, a few epics were taking place. I stood in the parking lot at dusk and watched 2 parties around the ledge belay before the finger crack. Hopefully they had headlamps.

[scrubber]

Glad you enjoyed it! I'm really happy that the rain has finally given it it's last dusting so folks can enjoy it this fall. Tell all your friends.

On another note, I may revisit whether or not the bolt anchor at the base of the first pitch of CC proper is really needed. It was installed initially to spawn interest in the newly cleaned route. If I can dig out a good gear anchor in that immediate vicinity we'll revisit the issue.

Kris

[Anders Ourom]

There are some fine cedar trees there, that provide a stout belay. I was always mystified why there were bolts there.

[Anders Ourom]

(Something that is only vaguely relevant here, but hardly a subject for a new thread.)

Another route on the north Apron with a direct start is St. Vitus Dance. A bit of 5.9, often wet. Minor variation. The McLane guide claims that it was done in 1986. However, Simon Tooley and I spent several days cleaning and then climbing this pitch in 1991, and saw no signs of a previous free ascent. (There were some rappel slings at its top.) We removed quite a lot of dirt and moss, which clearly had been there for many years. There was evidence of a previous aid ascent, but that was all. No sign of previous cleaning.

[dirtyfloat]

Climbed this Saturday April 9. Quality climbing . Thanks for all your hard work to clean this thing up!

The lower crack on the first pitch was quite damp, it being so early and all.

[staven]

Climbed this yesterday, stellar two pitches. A couple of awkward moves followed by fun and varied climbing in each pitch. Really good times. Funny story on the second pitch: my friend was leading and got his foot stuck in the crack - for a full 5 minutes. He had to untie his shoe and reef on it with a draw until it came unstuck. I thought he was joking when he told me because I couldn't see him. He said the rubber on his new 5.10 Newtons was too sticky. I've never heard of that happening before, anyone else had a similar experience?

[quinn]

Funny story on the second pitch: my friend was leading and got his foot stuck in the crack - for a full 5 minutes. He had to untie his shoe and reef on it with a draw until it came unstuck. I thought he was joking when he told me because I couldn't see him. He said the rubber on his new 5.10 Newtons was too sticky. I've never heard of that happening before, anyone else had a similar experience?

Yeah! This totally happened to me on the second pitch. I got my foot stuck because I don't know how to climb cracks. This wasn't the first time either. It happened to me on St.Vitus but I couldn't blame my sticky shoes because they were Mad Rocks...

Oh wait, you're talking about me aren't you staven? How embarrassing.

To be fair, I wasn't actually blaming my shoes. I only joked that they were too sticky. I love those shoes by the way. I'm glad I got the thing out. Would have made for some interesting rock booty...

[damien]

There is a good article is the Alpine Club of Canada Journal about a guy getting his knee stuck on the Kain route in the Bugs. It is a pretty good read.

[Czam]

Well, for the record, I was 1/3rd of the party that came up behind you, and thanks for the route! It's a great way to start Calculus or St. Vitus, much cleaner climbing. First pitch felt stiff at 5.9, but that was also before the bolt went in, so maybe it was just the sketch factor. Nice work guys, much appreciated!

[scrubber]

Glad to hear you enjoied it! I did it again yesterday for the first time this season. It's WAY cleaner after the winter. The two pitches can be linked with a 70m line, but the rope drag must me monitored carefully. It seems to be getting lots of traffic. There were three parties including us on it in the time we went up the apron, and by the time we got back from the Buttress there were two other parties on it. This year I will likely revisit the issue of wether or not the bolted station is necessary. It is at the best stance, but that hardly justifies it when there are deep cracks all around.

Does anyone know who cleaned up the slab and low angle crack above what most people consider Calculus crack? It makes for a much more direct finish up towards the trees. Many thanks for whoever's elbow grease and knuckle skin went into it.

On another note, for whoever's interested, Karen's Math and Memorial crack can be linked into one 60m pitch by putting a double length sling on the bolt before the traverse, then no more gear until you're into Memorial. We tried it for the first time yesterday and it worked really well.

Kris