Ascents in Yamnuska

Great climb ! Lots of exposure, a bit of hard route finding but good enough with some info from the web. Had snow/ice in the last pitch but still doable free and snow patch on top, keep your boots !

Stellar boulder, powerful start to a very dynamic mid section. Over the lip and you got some easier face climbing to do.

Celebrating our first wedding anniversary with Bec's first climb on Yam. Took the 5.8 'hands' finish from BBQ ledge which was good steep fun. However I think Andy has bear mitts for hands as I didn't made a single hand jam, fists the whole time haha.

Celebrating our first wedding anniversary with Bec's first climb on Yamnuska. Our initial plan of climbing Easy Street was aborted due to multiple parties so jumped on this thing. Unfortunately it was pretty trash however the finish off BBQ ledge was nice. Still a great day out with my beautiful and amazing wife

Great day out on Yam and pretty nice to top out directly on the summit. Nolan linked the first 2 pitches then we swung leads from there. Really nice techy movement down low on solid gray slabs. Up higher the rock was a bit more broken however still reasonably solid by Yam standards with pitch 8 probably being the standout of the route.

Did the Lightning bolt crack version.

lead 4/6 pitches

Enjoyed this one. Had 2 sits on the crux pitch otherwise sent the rest. Started swinging leads with Nolan however his head got the better of him after pitch 6 so I led the last 3 pitches which were quite good. All the 11a and 11b pitches are interesting though the friable rock didn't let me relax too much as I was constantly worried the hold I was hanging on to would break off. All in all a good day out.

8 pitches. I think the last pitch deserves 5.7 rating. This pitch has polished rock in key places, limited places for protection and incredible exposure!

Don't think I hit a single belay ledge in the right spot. Pretty sure I was off route for some of it, but who knows. Good climb none the less

First route experiencing the mighty Yumnuska Choss. I must say it doesn't compare to the Australian Quartzite mumma used to make.

Quite the old school adventure. We bailed at pitch 3 (graded 11b R in the guidebook). The first two pitches were quite good and offered thoughtful climbing in the 5.10 range (first pitch is also rated R). The crux at the start of the third pitch is directly above the belay and I couldn't calm my thoughts and get the image of falling onto my belayers head out of my mind so down we went. Though the route saw a retrofit in 1990, the protection is still fairly old school and all 3 belays to that point needed backing up. One to come back for I suppose!

A more intense day than expected! I have the 2006 version of the Yam book which cites this little bit of Yam history (it was the first mixed climb bolted & cleaned on rappel) as having a short distinct crux of 11c. It turns out that several key holds have broken off this climb and the 2nd crux pitch (fully bolted) is now likely sustained 11+ with a 12a slab crux. The rock is fairly crumbly there and I broke off 2 more 'ok' holds attempted to free it. I suspect it will continue to get harder for a while yet. Even 'French Freeing' this there are mandatory 5.11+ moves required. The second crux pitch (45m, 11b mixed) is more sustained than expected and just when you get tired, it gets steep climbing this overhanging pillar of yellow rock. I was stoked to climb the 11a trad sections clean but simply didn't have the endurance to hang on through the steep upper part of the pitch. The rest of the pitches are solid, protect well, are significantly easier and thoroughly enjoyable. All in all it was a great day out on this little piece of Yam history before the mountain closes down for the season for track maintenance. We also found several loose nuts on the climb (which we tightened by hand) and the crux bolt you aid on has no nut at all. I would recommend bringing a spare nut, hanger and spanner if you intend to climb this route incase it is still in that condition.

A fantastic old school trad route up one of the steeper sections of Yam. A key block was ripped off on the crux corner in 2004 and this route now gets a grade of 10c in the guidebook which I felt was fair. Both the crux pitch and upper 10a pitch are super fun, burly corner cracks which I absolutely loved leading. Highly recommend if you cracks and don't mind a bit of wide business

Used first two pitches of Broken Wing as a direct start ("Broken Pony"). Good climbing on mostly clean, compact rock. Found the 10b exit pitch a little contrived - it did offer a few tricky moves at the grade, though, that were well-protected.

First 3pitches