Gripped – August 2019

stated grade. You have to remember that

in 1976 , 5. 9 was as hard as a climb could

get, so 5. 8 was nearly that hard. Many old

5. 8 and 5. 9 climbs in the area have been

bumped up to 5. 10 +.

The corner after the slab was wet

and crumbly. The two biggest holds

were microwave-sized but shifted when

touched. Narrow jams and smears were

required to avoid sending them down.

Alyssa came up after, finding the slab as

tricky as I did. The next pitch follows

15 metres of broken 5. 4 ground with no

protection. I hurled off a dozen fist-sized

blocks. After a short bit of trees, you come

to the last corner.

I started up the final crack, a 5. 7 with

a small bulge. The initial few feet protect

well and take you out right to a stance on

loose f lakes. With good cams, you make

tedious moves on broken edges to regain

the crack. I fiddled in a small nut in the

back of a seeping crack and continued

another 20 feet without protection to a

fun stem corner. While the pitch was

overly difficulty, there wasn’t a rest to be

found and most of the holds wanted to

come off. It’s a heady stretch of climb-

ing that takes you to a tree. Alyssa took

a small fall on second when a large foot

broke. We added a fifth pitch up into the

forest and walked off.

I’ve always appreciated the bold climbing

that went down in Canada in the 1970 s and

1980 s, before the era of active protection

and lightweight gear. Going out and expe-

riencing the routes firsthand is something

I feel every climber should do from time

to time. If Central Groove was developed

today, there would be 30 more bolts added

and many hours spent cleaning the loose

blocks. But, as it stands, Central Groove is

an old-school trad climb that deser ves more

attention.—BP

CENTRAL

GROOVE

5.8+ 130 m

Pitch 1

Up the corner,

traverse left and

up to funky stem

corner to ledge

(5.8 25 m).

Move the belay

to the left.

Pitch 2

Left up the

chimney to broken

ledges and base

of slab with pitons.

Move right on the

slab past bolt into

corner. At the

bolt, move down

to good feet and

into corner.

Don’t get sucked

up high. Up the

corner to anchor

(5.8+ 25 m).

Pitch 3

Up the

loose blocks to

trees and anchor

(5.4 25 m).

Pitch 4
Up the thin crack
and into the corner.
The upper corner
looks easy but
packs a punch
(5.8 30 m).

Pitch 5

Continue

up and left to

the trees above

(5.3 30 m).

Descent

Rappel from the

top of pitch four

or hike off from

the top.

Above:

Looking down

at Alyssa

Acchione

on the fun

first-pitch 5.7

corner

Right: Heading

up the final

5.7 pitch

long runout up easy ground to a wet corner.

Nearly 70 per cent of the rock in the corner

is loose, but that’s what most old school

Rockies routes are like. You test every

hold, use the most solid, keep three points

of contact (never on the same holds) and

press upward while not pulling out. The

corner didn’t take gear, but an old piton

protected the crumbly ledge moves.

After moving the anchor left to a home-

made 43 -year-old bolt and bent piton, you

climb a loose chimney to ledges. Then

you make an unlikely traverse across slick

slabs to a chossy corner. The slab climbing

is protected by a piton and bolt, so not

very runout, but the climbing is difficult

for 5. 8. I pulled off a number of holds,

which made it feel more difficult than the

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the route