Alpine Lifestyle in the Canadian Rockies: Zion, UT

Nov. 19^th: Drive towards Zion, Utah

Nov. 20^th: Cragging in Zion

We finished the rest of the drive to Zion National Park in the morning. Our first stop in Zion was at the Cerberus Gendarme area. We did three single pitch routes. To warm-up we climbed a stiff 5.7 named Cave Crack. Clint Eastwood was filmed on it for the movie “The Eiger Sanction”. We then climed a route named “Squeeze Play” (5.10) and “Fathedral” (5.10+). It took some adjusting to the sandstone which was different from our previous days climbing at Indian Creek. The rock is generally not as high quality. It’s something to keep in mind while placing gear.

Nov. 21^st: Forced rest day. Rainy day “canyoneering”

We woke up to a grey sky and rain hitting the roof of the van. This means that there won’t be any climbing today. Not a bad thing because both Pat and I could use some rest. We are still surrounded by sandstone here in Zion National Park. So the rock will need to dry out thoroughly before we get on any of the climbs. We spent the morning in the lodge located in the park and caught up on e-mails and reading. We studied the guidebook to and now have a good idea of the climbs we would like to do these following days. We drove down to “The Narrows” and hiked to the end of the public trail. From there we attempted to go canyoneering further up The Narrows. The water was too high and too cold to go very far in my Keen sandals and rolled up pants. Not exactly a canyoneering outfit. Also getting caught by a flash flood didn’t seem appealing.

A few photos taken during the hike. Click on photos to enlarge.

Nov. 22nd: South West Ridge of West Temple Summit (III 5.7)

It had stopped raining by early afternoon yesterday and all the technical climbs needed at least a day or two to dry out and allow the rock to harden to be climbed safely. Pat and I had a climb named “The Big Lebowski” on our mind. It would be one of the bigger climbs of the trip with 21 pitches of steady climbing with a grade of 5.11a/b. It has one of the tallest sandstone cliffs in the world. The descent for “The Big Lebowski” is off the South West ridge of West Temple Summit. So we decided to scope out the descent of our next possible climb beforehand. It turned out being a big hike and exposed scramble with a few 5th class moves which give it the 5.7 grade. It was possible to see quite far over Zion on top of the highest peak in Zion National Park (7810ft).

A expansive view from high on top of the ridge.

Looking down onto the ridge. It was now time to head back down.

Nov. 23^rd: Change of Plans. Coke Explosion (4 pitches, 5.10)

We finished preparing to spend the next two days climbing “The Big Lebowski” last night with enough rations to last a possible third day. This meant carrying 16 litters of water, food and hauling overnight gear (sleeping bags and bivy sac). To carry all the water we used our water bottles and also two 4 litre milk jugs. We started the approach up to the climb as the sun rose. About 15 minutes from the van. Pat, who was carrying the water, felt his back become quite wet. Too wet to be sweating that much already. Apparently milk jugs aren’t very useful for carrying water when they are squeezed in a backpack! We weren’t too sure how much water was being lost and we didn’t want to arrive to the climb with little water. So we turned back towards the van to assess the loss. It was apparent that we needed a new plan to carry the water. We spent part of the day climbing a route named “Coke Explosion”. It was a fun four pitch climb. A good time, but not what we had originally planned. We came up with a solution to carrying the water later in the afternoon... juice and soda bottles. We found 2 and 3 litre bottles at the recycling centre.

Nov. 24^th: The Big Lebowski

Again, Pat and I started off to climb the Big Lebowski as the sun started to rise. This time no water containers leaked. Success! We did have to negotiate some thick bushes and cactus along the way up the two hour approach. At the base of the climb we found over six litters of water left behind by other climbers. If only we knew! We were looking forward to climbing this long and demanding route. Since this was going to be the first route that involves hauling gear. I was a little concerned how things would go. The water, food and sleeping gear weighed in around 60lbs. All this would be hauled up in a bag using a 3 to 1 pulley system on each pitch we climbed. As we climbed, we noticed our progress wasn’t as fast as we expected. We had reached the 4^th of 21 pitches and it was already mid-afternoon. We were looking at climbing it in three days at this pace and we only planned for two. The third day would be a diet of our remaining energy bars and a small ration of water. Not ideal. We talked about the situation and both agreed on pulling the plug to head back down. After bushwhacking back and following faint trails here and there we made it to the van in the dark.

Approaching up to the Big Lebowski for the second time.

The south-east face of West Temple. The line of Big Lebowski follows up slight

Nov. 25^th: Fixing the first pitches of Moonlight Buttress (9 pitches, 5.9 C1)

We had a relaxed start to the day and stopped for coffee at Oscars Café. We organized our gear to climb and fix the first three pitches of Moonlight Buttress and left the parking near the “Big Bend” around 1:00pm. To access the base of the climb we needed to cross a shallow river (knee deep). It was cold enough to numb our feet! Pat won at the Rock, Paper, and Scissors game and took the first pitch which was quite dirty and not very enjoyable. We assumed the climb would get better considering its overall classic status. It did from the second pitch. I climbed it free at 5.10c and then fixed the ropes on top of the third pitch which was above a bolt ladder.