On June 22nd, the first-ever new routing course for rock climbers was held in the West Kootenays. Sponsored by Summit Mountain Guides and TAWKROC, the one-day, hands-on course taught five climbers the basics of new route development at a new wall in Ymir.
Local ACMG guide and route developer Dave Lussier led the course and one participant wrote the following list of what they learned that day:
- Fixe anchor selection, setup and location
- Non-standard anchor options and best materials
- Wood-paint scrapers are great and don’t be afraid to use heavy duty gardening equipment such as rakes and shovels to clean routes
- Don’t underestimate the ease of tree and root system removal in a crack system
- Process of rigging, rapping, initial route evaluation, top down clean and re-evaluation if route or line needs to change etc.
- Checking with community others regarding current projects, old routes and if existing area follows any “naming convention.”
- The care and evaluation of lines that are majority sport or trad. If a line only needs 1 piece/bolt, is it really needed, or update the description beta etc?
- Writing of clear, concise guidebook beta including location, route description (especially “bold start” and/or if any highballs are “best stick clipped.”)
- Cleaning of drill dust on face, dusting of anchor holes, installation of studs and ensuring not to put too much torque on the bolt
Below are photos taken from the day.
