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ABOVE: Matt after the chicken wing dyno on the first pitch of University Wall. Paul Cordy photo.
BELOW: Matt on the never ending crack. 7th pitch of Northern Lights, "The Calling" pitch. 5.12a when linked into the next roof pitch as Matt did on both attempts. Paul Cordy photo.
SQUAMISH August 11th, 2007
Paul Cordy and I had our last attempt at the Triple Crown and we were successful. I lead every pitch while Paul followed. We started with "Seasoned in the Sun" 5.10 as a warm up, "University Wall" 5.12a to the "Roman Chimney's" 5.11a then we dropped our gear and ran up to the first summit. After running down the backside trail we grabbed bikes (self propelled of course) and peddled to the base of the Zodiac Wall and climbed "The Northern Lights" 5.12a we tagged the third summit and ran down the backside for a second time. Finally we finished on "Freeway" 5.11c and ran down the trail for a third time. I freed every pitch with no falls and Paul freed about 90 percent. Total time 16.5 hours. By adding "Seasoned in the Sun", "The Roman Chimneys, 4 pitches" and the first summit we added two hours to Sig Issac's time. I'm happy it is over and it is time to visit the Bugaboo range with Paul Bride, Nathan Kukathus, Paul Cordy and myself to see what our new found fitness can accomplish. See you in ten days.
A week before Paul and I had tried the link up without the added pitches and matched Sig Issac's time of 14.5 hours, but I fell twice and Paul three times.
I believe the next step is the Quadruple Crown - by adding "Angels Crest" after climbing the Triple Crown so that the final Second Summit is obtained and all four summits including Tantalus Wall are climbed.
The Ultimate Link Up on the Cheif would be climbing the "Fortress of Solitude" into Angels Crest including the Triple Crown and tagging all four summits with sustained hard climbing to every summit.
BUGABOO RANGE August 15th, 2007
Paul Cordy, Paul Bride, Nathan Kukathas and I just returned from a successful trip to the Bugaboo Range. I was able to climb "in a day" the biggest link up done yet in the Bugs. 5 routes on 5 mountains.
Wednesday, August 15. 4:30 am: Leave Applebee Campground. 5:00 am: Onsight free solo McTech Arete by headlamp and top out on Crescent Spire. 6:00 am: Sun hits me halfway up North East Buttress of Bugaboo Spire. 8:00 am: Put crampons on after descending the Kain Route on Bugaboo Spire. 8:30 am: Finished crossing glacier and begin climbing the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire. 12:20 pm: I reach my friends halfway up the Becky / Chouinard on the South Howser Tower. 5:00 pm: I begin The Krauss / McCarthy on Snow Patch Spire, onsight free solo. 8:00 pm: Arrive back in Applebee campground after descending the Bugaboo / Snowpatch col.
The climbing was super fun and super classic. I got really tired by the time I was halfway up the Becky Chouinard. The rappel off the back and over the Bergschrund was time consuming because of the light rope system I was using and I got soaked to the bone over the bergshrund. Climbers hooked me up with more chalk at the base of Snowpatch which made a huge difference since my chalk bag was also soaked. Upon reaching the final summit, I made one quick glance over the top towards Applebee camp and rapped off feeling extremely tired but packed with endorphines and gleaming with a smile from ear to ear. It had been a wild ride.
