Skywalker, 5p, 5.8

[Stephen Hooper]

Have to agree with many of the comments regarding the second pitch. if you're a newbie trad climber just getting to know corner/crack work, you're gonna get spanked. still, it protects well and you gotta learn sometime. might as well be there!

So I would fit into the newbie trad climber slot perfectly and was wondering for beta on how to do it smoothly. I plan on doing it again and would love a few pointers.

[gnarnaphobe]

Finally got on the Route! What a Gem. My girl friend who had already sent the route simul-seconded for me and I flashed the route in a single go! And apparently we picked the right day to go there, because there were no line ups or anything! Also sent p1 of local boys, and urine too deep. What a great zone well worthy of all the new traffic, thanks a million jeremy for all your hard work!

-Luke

[Optimally-Primed]

I removed the loose block at the beginning of pitch 3 today. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Optimally-Primed]

Great to hear of all the satisfied customers, bearbreeder. Yesterday, when going up to remove the loose block, I figured it would be empty. After all, Diedre was a waterfall. I figured Skywalker would be wet too. But alas, a party at every pitch. And indeed, Skywalker was wet in some of the cracks. But the climbers were out in force anyways.

Route developers take note: popularity seems to have a lot to do with both quality and lower grades. Which more? Lower grades, for sure.

[Lurch]

List of local multi pitch climbs with bolted belays, below 5.9.

Charlotte's web
Emil and the detectives
Star Chek
Phantom Menace
Diedre
Skywalker

there are a couple scruffy two pitch climbs at Rehab Projects too.

Bolted belays, easy. Watch out for the masses

Mike

[timelessbeing]

I climbed Skywalker with two friends today. Wow! What a beautiful climb and the view is nicer than from the Chief apron. We did Diedre in the morning and Skywalker in the afternoon, and I was surprised to find this new area was busier than the apron on a sunny weekend. (to the couple with the converted ambulance I saw in the parking lot: nice!) There was a bit of a line up to get on. Too bad I didn't know about the extra anchors ... it would have moved things along quicker.

I can confirm that good corner climbing technique will save you some toe torture on the Flume. Try jamming your right foot with toes pointing down and resting your knee on the right corner face. Utilize features on the left face with your other foot. Once I had the rhythm down, it felt good. I saw a flake along the left side of the corner that looked fun too. Might try that next time. Jeremy literally dropped in while my friend was leading and got some actions shots of him. Hopefully they get posted here.

The "sting" can seem daunting at first because the holds are sparse. Good footwork will get you started and then a few squeeze/pinch holds will get you out. Good puzzle, it was fun.

I really don't think bolts are necessary on Pitch 4. The crack takes gear very well.

Pitch 5 is more of a scramble than a climb, and I thought to myself "why are there so many bolts?" I don't think the the slab needs any.

It was a hot, sweaty day so we decided to check out the pools at the top, and I wasn't disappointed. I took a nice refreshing dip and admired how the water carved chutes into the rock that launch it into the air. I scrambled up to the fixed line and took in the spectacular view at the edge of the falls, watching them disappear below me. Well worth the 5 minute walk.

I "designed" this climb with the new multipitch climber in mind.

What is the new multipitch climber? What is the "old" multipitch climber?

Thanks for all your hard work.

[drsoe]

Super fun route. Excellent multi-pitch option for a moderate trad leader to warm up on and get a feel for Squamish. I was on it on Saturday, August 6 and it was clogged with climbers (but we met some fun people!*). Having the second set of anchors at the top of the 2nd pitch really helped with the flow. Good decision! (Although a gear anchor would have worked there, too).

The start of the first pitch was quite wet despite the sunny weather and I found the move quite hard without putting my right foot into the wet crack (so I did! ):


I am a newish trad leader and have been climbing many of the classic moderate routes at the Smoke Bluffs this summer (Mosquito, Octopus's Garden, Quarryman, Sally Five Fingers, Laughing Crack, Pixie Corner, Penny Lane, Corner Crack, Cat Crack, Corn Flakes, Flying Circus, Wisecrack, Magical Child) and found the 2nd pitch of Skywalker quite comparable to other 5.8 routes. It's definitely not 5.9 and harder than 5.7 because it's a bit steep and sustained. But it takes gear so well, it is really a great pitch for a newish leader. It was my favorite pitch on the route by far.



That's me happy at the top of pitch 2:


Looking down from the third pitch:


Here is a picture of the Skywalker traverse (which I thought was not harder than 5.4).

Looking back:


And the view from the top of the last pitch:


Pretty nice day, don't you think? Thanks for a great route!

* Met two guys at the base of the route, and being in high and silly spirits and thinking of the route's name, I said to one of them: "You must be Luke!" He didn't seem to get my joke or think it was very funny. He just looked at me kinda puzzled and confused as if he was trying to remember whether he had met me before. His friend quickly chimed in: "And I am Darth Vader!" At least someone got my joke! Well, it turned out, unbeknownst to me, "Luke's" name really WAS Luke!
We ran into Luke and Darrell again the next day when climbing Snake, but missed each other on the decent and will have to postpone sharing a cold one until next time! Until then - may the force be with you!

- Sabrina from Seattle

[Optimally-Primed]

An update on the grades survey I put up.

The most debated grade is for pitch 2 (The Flume). Out of 12 votes, 1 says 5.7, 7 say 5.8, and 4 say 5.9. So 5.8 still seems right.

Consensus for the Skywalker Traverse (pitch 4) is 5.4 (over 75% voted that way).

Heard a rumour that a party this weekend climbed Skywalker with lightsabres. Hilarious!

[Greg]

We did Skywalker this afternoon, had a great time on it. Thanks for the hard work scrubbing and bolting on this line, the stations are all perfect. The cracks are cleaning up nicely too, no surprise there since there were three other parties on the route today (Monday). Thanks for adding another nice moderate to Squamish, a lot of people appreciate the effort. The second pitch was a blast!

Greg & Melissa

[avit]

I finally climbed this on Saturday with Dave "squamish climber" while showing my friends around...

That second pitch is worth it: easy but sustained. Yeah, that's what I'd call it, "Sustained-Easy", if that makes any sense. 5.8 seems right. I'd even say 5.7, but there are no real rests at that grade so the consensus is about right. It's really not any harder, if anyone thinks so.

Jeremy, I admire the effort and attention to detail you put into this route. (Even the stumps have handholds!) It's nice to have such an approachable yet rewarding climb available for everyone to enjoy.

The short walk to the top of the falls is a real highlight too. Don't miss it.

[Optimally-Primed]

Pretty amazing to see the reaction to this climb. I didn't see it coming. But couldn't be happier about how y'all have received the climb.

The reaction has been so good that I'm finding it hard to pick up the scrub brush again. From here, it could only be downhill...

Quit while I'm ahead?

[Optimally-Primed]

I wondered about the possibility of this when I first encountered the Shannon Falls Pools.

Stu Smith had the vision and the skills... he walked a highline over Shannon Falls on Aug 26, 2011.

[supafly]

^^ rather very cool

[gnarnaphobe]

WOW! very cool and super well put together

[supafly]

went to climb the walker on saturday morning (first day of sun in forever) and was fairly dissapointed to find a river flowing down pitches 1 and 2.

jeremy: any idea how many days of dry weather it takes for it to be climbable?