We decided to detour through Jasper National Park and the Icefields Parkway en route to Revelstoke and boy was that a great decision. After a sloppy camp in the rain we pushed through past Sulfur Gates Provincial Park all the way to Jasper by mid afternoon. Pouring over the guidebook on the way down revealed a sweet looking crag near town and we went to the visitor center to ask some logistical questions about camping and climbing in the park. The info guy was a climber and happy to share what he knew. The news was grim. The road to Lost Boys Crag was closed and it was a 20 km hike in from either end. On top of that it was likely full of snow and dripping wet. Bummer. He encouraged us to visit the guide shop in town to ask them if they knew of a dry spot to climb. They had similar stories for Lost Boys and blankly starred at us when we inquired. “Well you know we had a record snow year? Right?”
- Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park.
Looking closer at a map of the area we determined that the road closure actually only kept us about 6 km from the trail to the crag, and if hiking to crags in the snow were a problem half our Valdez climbing season would be lost. Parking at the lower gate we found the road to be in surprisingly good condition. Screw walking, we were gonna bike to the crag!
Robyn biking into Lost Boys on the closed section of highway 93a in Jasper National Park.
After a nice bike ride on our private slice of National Park highway we found the trailhead buried in a small bank of snow just north of Leech Lake. No prob. Nothing Alaska Sneakers can’t handle. The snow was only in small drifts and the hike in went smooth. Before we knew it we were walking along a stunning cliff. Large sections were seeping and small waterfalls cascaded down the rock, but as we continued the water dried. We hauled out the guide to see what climbs were dry. Our main objective was Super Brant Man 10b, and after scanning the wall we found it dry as a bone! Super lucky! We spent that afternoon and the following day climbing in mostly sunny conditions on the best rock we have touched since October last year. It was a perfect reintroduction to solid sport climbing and we surpassed our expectations. Robyn had a stellar day onsighting Little Girly Man 5.8 and getting a redpoint on her second try of Super Brant Man. The large dry section of wall was covered in 11’s that offered challenging roofs and bomber quartzite.
- After stashing our bikes we embarked on the second part of the approach. The hike to the crag was about 35 min with a few snow patches to cross.
Those routes look sweet! Did you get on any of those 11’s?
Yeah Benny! The routes in Jasper were incredible – and probably the best climbing we’ve had since our honeymoon! Super neat and radical-featured routes. You would love it! Down-grader Davis onsighted all of them and I flashed three-quarters of the 11b, Altered Beast, but couldn’t pull the roof at the very top due to a little mental uneasiness with getting back in to leading. This place is definitely sick! Long approach, but well worth it. Are you excited to head to Maple? Are you camping there this weekend?
Sweet. I bet he ate some Italian Meatballs too during the onsight. That rock looks sweet, it looks a lot like the Unita quartzite. I like how you get to ride your bikes to the crag. Maple this weekend for us! First time of the year!
“Down-grader Davis” hahaha. That place looks sweet!