This is also a great area for a backpacking trip if you looking for a challenging trip with spectacular alpine scenery. Finally, the weather cleared and we decided that it was time to try for bugaboo spire s north east ridge. For a a real day, do the whole route after it meets up with the ne ridge of bugaboo spire, and then carry over and come down the kain route. There is a map in the photo gallery for krausmccarthy approach beta. The west ridge of pigeon spire is one of the classics of the bugaboos. Snowpatch spire, bugaboos, august 1997 the classic view of the east face of snowpatch spire. Jon walsh on the second pitch of the beckeymather route on the east face of snowpatch spire in the bugaboos, right off the belay. Its the rapel route at the end of the day for many climbs and also the entrance to the vowel glacier, pigeon spire and howser towers. The east face of snowpatch spire with the line of ascent. Crosby is a totally undercover brother and a glissading champion. The kain route on bugaboo spire has 5 good pitches of climbing, the rest is scrambling and boot kicking in 40 degree snow and ice on the way to bugaboo snowpatch col. Climb the kain route on bugaboo spire, bugaboo spire trailhead. East face, snowpatch spire, west face snowpatch spire, with the vowell glacier.
Views of and from the mountain in any direction are gutwrenchingly beautiful. The crack was striking, if incipient, and not even wide enough to accept a full fingertip. It was in the bugaboos that croft inspired future alpinists. One of north americas 50 classic climbs, this is one of the most popular routes in the bugs, and with good reason. Jun 08, 2016 we climbed the bugaboo spire, pigeon spire, snowpatch spire, eastpost spire, and crescent spire in bugaboo provincial park. Bugaboo spire is a peak in the bugaboos bugaboo swamp is in the okefenokee swamp located in the southern portion of georgia, united states. Our next foray on the north face of snowpatch spire had us climbing another new route. As ralph widrig, joe hieb and i trudged to camp at timberline with heavy packs, the solid granite of the bugaboo spires looked inviting, for the poor rock we had encountered in the rockies, excepting only on mount louis, had caused our interest to wane. This means that no matter how early you start, you will not be the first on. Rock climbing in snowpatch spire, the bugaboos mountain project.
Sunshine is on the north face, which can be approached by following the trail from the hut about a quarter way up toward the snowpatch bugaboo col to a large, loose ledge. Snowpatch spire 10,050 feet this dominant buttress holds over 50 routes from 5. Perhaps the most impressive peak in the bugaboos, bugaboo spire sits between the vowell and crescent glaciers, just under 2 km west of the accs conrad kain hut. We downclimbed scree ramps and some 34th class terrain down towards the nw gully. Jun 14, 2017 the bugaboos have glacial approaches real glaciers, not the puny stuff still lingering in the tetons or winds and lousy weather. Bugaboo glacier provincial park encompasses scores of beautiful spires, all providing classic alpine routes on sweeping faces and elegantly defined ridges of. Snowpatch spire is on the left, and bugaboo spire is on the right. In all, the bugaboos linkup totaled approximately 50 pitches. In the years that followed crofts bigday, other climbers have completed solo and teamed linkups. A bugaboo is a legendary scary creature, see bogeyman.
The kain route is the easiest and the original ascent route, first climb from the valley bottom in 1916. The purcell mountains are a mountain range in southeastern british columbia, canada. The impressive snowpatch spire is the most obvious spire when entering the bugaboos. Here he is crossing the moat between edge of the glacier and the face. Below us the wall quickly steepened, and we spotted a well setup rap station. Pigeon spire, south howser tower, bugaboo spire, and snowpatch spire all conjure up some of the great moments in the history of north american alpine climbing. Bugaboo swamp is in the okefenokee swamp located in the southern portion of georgia, united states. The bugaboos are a mountain range in the purcell mountains of eastern british columbia, canada. The granite spires of the group are a popular mountaineering destination. This is one of roper and stecks fifty classic climbs of north america a beautiful line in an incredible position. Pitch 3 continues up a left facing thin and technical seamstem over a roof. Snowpatch spire, the bugaboo snowpatch col and pigeon spire in the background. The route takes a circuitous path to the base of the snowpatch, then up easy ground left of the snow, and then 34 hard pitches all with some 5. Climb in one of the worlds great alpine rock climbing areas.
On the east face of snowpatch spire, stanhope noticed a 300foot crack bisecting the gray granite rock face. Bugaboo spire pigeon spire snowpatch spire eastpost. Bugaboo scrub fire, a fire that was named for the above swamp. There is a valley the camp looks over to the south and is surrounded by snowpatch spire, bugaboo spire and east post spire. Bugaboo spire and its very snowy ne ridge righthand skyline. Rapping off the tower at dusk, he was back at the campground by 8 p. All routes on the west face are approached via the bugaboosnowpatch col located on the north end of snowpatch spire. Taran ortlieb joined us as we fixed two ropes on the first four pitches. Aac publications snowpatch spire, north face, the dark prince.
The bugaboos are a british columbia provincial park in canadas purcell mountains. They deserve a place high on the priority list of anyone with an attraction to wilderness setting and a love of the classic alpine environment. The lead climber pulled off a rock about twice the size of his torso, which hit the belayer on his lower back. Its right in front of you when you reach the hut, the distinctive snowfield that gives the mountain its name front and center. It may have been the finest display of alpine skullduggery ive ever witnessed, what happened at the base of pigeon spire in the bugaboos that day. If a summer like 2009 happens again, then both climbing and rappelling the pigeonsnowpatch rappels might be a new way to approach the west face routes. Paul heading to the snowpatch bugaboo col in the background. It is just nonintuitive that you downclimb about 1015 ft, traverse over about 10 ft, then climb back up above the belay before placing any gear. Youll first set your eyes on this spire from the parking lot and will identify it by its huge patch of snow found half way up the side of the east face.
Since it was just a short stroll from applebee camp, i was easily convinced. Joe buszowski and bernhard ehmann made the first winter ascent in 1985. Once you climb up higher you can see there are actually several lakes very close to camp. If, like most people, you enter the bugs via the trail to conrad kain hut, you wont have to ask.
The bugaboos are home to dozens of worldclass alpine granite lines, one of the mostclimbed is the north east ridge of bugaboo spire. The previous summer dave had disappeared from the gunks to purportedly visit a fabled range of real mountains that the vulgarians had never heard of. Snowpatch spire seen from p2 of the ne ridge of bugaboo spire. With many peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation, the bugaboos offer awe inspiring mountain and glacier terrain. Id been to the nearby rockypoint ridge and got a headon panorama view of these spires, but never been to the core area. Snowpatch spire giclee print bugaboos, british columbia. With its first ascent in 1940, snowpatch spire mountain peak was the last of the bugaboo spires to be climbed. Aug 01, 2001 spires of the bugaboos forget the yosemite circus. Snowpatch, and pigeon in the background, crescent glacier in the foreground. Description the impressive snowpatch spire is the most obvious spire when entering the bugaboos. Passing the schrund is dicey in late summer a climber was swept into it and killed in. The largest wall on snowpatch is the east face with routes ranging from 12 to 15 pitches and almost all of them being big wall in nature. Bugaboo spire climbing guide british columbia climbing.
North america, canada, bugaboos, snowpatch spire, johnston. Consider things such as access and accommodation at the base of bugaboo spire, as well as the logistics of climbing to the summit. Cross it directly to bugaboosnowpatch col 9,000 feet 2740m to start the kain route, or for the ne ridge, hike to the head of the glacier and climb class 3 to the saddle, then left and up to the prominent ledge that forms a chevron across the ridge. Exactly four weeks earlier, it was easy to step across the gap and be standing on the ledge his left hand is at. Wed been digging deep to commit to an adventure over to the megaclassic beckeychouinard on the backside of the bugs after waiting out rainstorms. Applebee camp is located in an amazing picturesque alpine setting with bugaboo spire and snowpatch spire towering above. Located near snowpatch spire, the hut replaced the original fibreglass igloos placed by bc parks. It was first climbed in 1940 and was the last of the bugaboo spires to be climbed. Falling rock pulled off by lead climber british columbia, bugaboos provincial park, snowpatch spire on august 15, a climber was climbing the last pitch of sunshine crack iv 5.
From there we climbed over bugaboo snowpatch col to set up our bivy by pigeon spire to position us for climbing the. Wed climbed the fifty classic northeast ridge on bugaboo spire. Three days in the bugaboos cranbrook daily townsman. A group of six heading to the west ridge of pigeon spire.
It features a peak in the bugaboos mountain range of british columbia. By this point in the trip, we all felt confident and we scrambled along together unroped, enjoying the movement and the vistas and the company. The kain route, or south ridge, of bugaboo spire is a quality alpine route with a long scrambling section, followed by several pitches of 4th and mid5th class climbing in a beautiful and exposed position. The drinking water source is a small glacial lake above camp and is actually piped down and fetched from a spigot. This print is a reproduction of my original painting, which was created in 2015 using watercolor, acrylic ink, pen, and gel pen on paper. It wasnt looking too good for this years conrad kain bugaboos teens climbing camp. After gaining the bugaboo snowpatch col, 3rd class scrambling starts up the ridge following trails and cairns. The mountain range is located in the core of the purcell mountains, on the border between british columbia and alberta. Eastpost spire is the most popular scramble objective and offers a good introduction. A familiar trip up the bugaboo snowpatch col and a casual stroll across the upper vowell glacier took us to the base of the west ridge. A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. I was psyched to rope up with him for one last mission. On the morning of july 25, a team of ten east kootenay youths, three acmg guides, a bc parks ranger, a mountain author and i set out from the conrad kain hut into a light drizzle, hoping for a break in the weather. It is great climbing but it does have more of a cragging feel then the main spires in the bugaboos.
My time in the bugs was running slim when my friend crosby johnston showed up, training for an acmg exam. Yamnuskas bugaboos climbing guides have extensive knowledge of this area and its climbing routes. The current guidebook, bugaboo rock, left one name out. In peter croft style, cory hall has linked four of the. Snowpatch spire as seen from the applebee dome campground.
With problems with routefinding and unexpected ice. As long as you pay decent attention to the topo, you can stay on route. Canadian rockies alpine guides the bugaboos, world famous. Please submit any useful information about climbing bugaboo spire that may be useful to other climbers. In addition to bugaboo spire, pigeon spire and snowpatch spire, there are many enjoyable adventure mountain climbing routes on other nearby granite spires.
Divine intervention, snowpatch spire we did the first 5 pitches of divine intervention, which was excellent. Bugaboos guided alpine rock climbing in the bugaboos. The bugaboos or the bugs bugaboo provincial park is regarded as canadas best destination for alpine rock climbing. Bugaboo spire, and the rest of the bugaboo group, are legendary for steep, clean, solid granite, high above easy glacier approaches. The famous bugaboos is one of the mustvisit places in north america. Rock climbing in the bugaboos sylvan rocks climbing. The beckeychouinard south howser spire, west ridge pigeon spire, northeast ridge bugaboo spire and snowpatch and surfs up snowpatch spire attract worldclass climbers. We had been scoping out the route for the past several days, and were itching to give it a shot. On july 27, we summited bugaboo spire via the ne ridge. Snowpatch spire 10050 is one of the hardest of the bugaboo spires. Snowpatch spire is the centerpiece of the bugaboo group.
Welcome to bugaboo rock guides, an alpine rock climbing and mountaineering guiding service specializing in bugaboo adventures. The bugaboos, a granite mountain range in the purcell mountains of eastern british columbia, canada bugaboo provincial park, a park in that area. Oct 03, 2006 most of the routes on the bugaboo spire are accessed via the crescent glacier which is an easy hike from the kain hut and applebee campground. Canadian rockies alpine guides the bugaboos, world. Head north to bugaboo provincial park, a fortress of worldclass granite in a quiet corner of british columbia. Dont miss out on the west ridge of pigeon spire iv 5. It has some of the most spectacular alpine climbing in canada. Dave returned with great tales of gleaming granite spires, rising gloriously out of glaciers. Synonyms for bugaboos include problems, puzzles, challenges, puzzlers, conundrums, mystery, brainteasers, riddles, twisters and quizzes. Bugaboo definition for englishlanguage learners from. Once you arrive you can take your pick of any one of the many classic lines. The beckeychouinard south howser spire, west ridge pigeon spire, northeast ridge bugaboo spire, snowpatch and surfs up snowpatch spire attract worldclass climbers.
In one day he linked four peaks in a solo push, south howser, bugaboo spire, crescent spire and snowpatch, which shocked the climbing world. But crosby first had to shadow a guide and his clients up pigeon spire. Bugaboo provincial park, situated in the purcell mountains of southeast british columbia, continues to draw climbers from around the world to its airy, glaciersculpted granite spires. The east face of snowpatch spire with all the free routes on it. Sunshine is on the north face, which can be approached by following the trail from the hut about a quarter way up toward the snowpatchbugaboo col to a large, loose ledge. Tents are perched on about three tiers of rock ledges below crescent glacier. Unlike pigeon and bugaboo spire which are typically guided by one or two routes only, snowpatch spire has no easy way up butoffersseveral different routes in the 5. Rock climbing routes in snowpatch spire, the bugaboos.
The spire was first climbed by conrad kain in 1916. Pigeon spire as seen through the snowpatch bugaboo col. Morning sun on snowpatch spire and the bugaboo snowpatch col. A startling spire of granodiorite it has two exceptional routes on it, and a lot of potential for adventure. If, like most people, you enter the bugs via the trail to conrad kain hut, you wont have to ask anyone for directions to snowpatch. In the late 1930s, snowpatch spire was talked of as the continents number one climbing problem. Crescent spires mctech arete follows the groove and diagonal crackline immediately left of the snow.
Snowpatch spire, bugaboos, british columbia, canada. It stands just to the west of applebee campground and is host to over 50 routes from 5. Rock climbing routes in the bugaboos, british columbia. The ridge was first climbed in 1958 by dave craft, david isles, richard sykes and john turner. Ridge of pigeon spire is one of the most enjoyable technical british columbia climbing scrambles to be found anywhere and the smaller crescent spires offer enjoyable climbing at.
Your guides coach you up the steep snow slopes, moving quickly through the col. Bugaboo spire is surrounded by other spectacular spires, vertiginous snowpatch spire is a little lower but has fantastic technical routes for rock climbers. If you want to maximize the time spend on rock relative to your approach time, there are much better places for alpine climbing in western canada than the bugaboos. The bugaboos have several internationally known rock climbing routes. Snowpatch spiire in the middle with pidgeon spire in the background right and bugaboo spire coming into view on the hard right with the treacherous snowpatch bugaboo col in the centerright its so steep that many rappel down rather than try to boot down if you zoom in you can see the climbers ascent route zig. A dusting of new snowtemperatures will be below freezing max 2c on sat afternoon, min 6c on fri morningwind will be generally light. Bugaboos definition of bugaboos by the free dictionary. Snowpatch spire, beckeymather route, first free ascent. Lisa at the burgschrund near the top of the bugaboo snowpatch col. Sep 25, 2019 ben hoyt topping out onto the summit of snowpatch spire in the bugaboos after climbing the fuzzy pink arete, using the petzl volta, a favorite rope for alpine rock climbing. Bugaboos 2016 beckeychouinard, ne ridge bugaboo spire.
The largest wall on snowpatch is the east face with routes ranging from 12 to 15. From the summit of snowpatch spire, the bugaboos, british columbia, canada. One can traverse the entire picket range without touching a glacier if one wishes. In the summer of 2008 paul mcsorley casually mentioned a line he had scoped on the north face of snowpatch spire, starting about 40m right of sunshine crack. There are both bolted and free routes throughout the group. Definition of bugaboo written for english language learners from the merriamwebster learners dictionary with audio pronunciations, usage examples, and countnoncount noun labels. Bugaboo spire is one of the most phenomenal features in the climbing world. The descent via the kain route went into the morning of july 28th. Conrad kain once described this spire as being unclimbable. The bugaboos, a granite mountain range in the purcell mountains of eastern british columbia, canada. The bugaboosnowpatch col, a major avenue of approach or descent for many climbs is guarded by a bergschrund on the east crescent glacier side. Ive been meaning to create something like this for awhile. Id say that puts them in a somewhat different category than rock climbs in the lower 48, and not all that different from something like the grand capucin or the grand pilier dangle, widely regarded classic climbs in the high alpine as the euros would call it. Bugaboos south howser tower, bugaboo spire, snowpatch spire trip report with pictures steph fabian buhl makes solo winter ascent of 5.