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Vsion Cave Topo September 2020

Here is the topo for the Vsion Cave at Stoneworks. Stoneworks can be approached via Johnny's Trail in Canmore. Head to Arcade Wall and Vsion cave is 1 minute further up the hill.

Additional routes on the vertical wall between Arcade Wall and the cave listed in order from right to left moving up the hill:

The Hound 12a

Mental Warfare 12c

Cyberpunk 11a, Post Cyberpunk 11d (extension)

Wicked Games 12b

A 60m rope is sufficient for all routes. Projects in the cave are open and in the 5.14 range.

Bow Valley Challenge. Photo Mike Hopkins

https://www.mikehopkinsphotography.com/

Planet X Left Side Topo 2020

 

Story of a Route: Lakshmi

Bataan is a sport climbing crag high up on Grotto Mountain in Canmore, Alberta. It is named after the Bataan Death March of World War II where prisoners of war were forced to march around 100km in terrible conditions and many died. The grueling 1.5 to 2 hour hike to Bataan features very steep terrain totalling 800m of elevation gain. It is a contender for the most difficult approach in the Bow Valley for sport climbing. While much less severe than the actual Bataan Death March, there are rumors of people suffering altitude sickness on the approach. Those who make the trek are rewarded with spectacular views of the valley and fantastic pocketed stone unlike elsewhere in the area.

Lakshmi, 5.13c, at the Eyes of Bataan sector was originally envisioned by Simon Meis who ended up being distracted by other projects and left Lakshmi as an open project. The Eyes of Bataan are named for 2 large caves visible from the road that resemble a set of eyes. Even though the wall is easily seen from Canmore, like many Bow Valley area crags, it took some time and convincing before climbers decided the hike was worth developing the wall.

I first took interest in the route in spring 2013 when I spent a lot of time climbing at Bataan and ticked off a lot of the existing routes there. I saw an experienced climber who shall remain unnamed trying the open project one day and he seemed to enjoy it quite a lot. I saw him trying hard, taking big whips, and wrongfully assumed the route was good to go.

The following spring in 2014, fresh off sending Bunda de Fora, the hardest established route in the Bow Valley at the time, I was on the prowl for new projects and set my sights on Lakshmi.

I was pretty stoked my first go up the route. I didn't have much experience with open projects at the time and like most hard routes I try, my first attempt involved mostly hanging on bolts and trying to look around for holds. About halfway up, I noticed that the bolt I was currently hanging on was a quarter inch bolt. On further inspection I realized that all the bolts were quarter inch bolts and the route was not really safe to be climbed on just yet! (Standard bolts are 3/8 inch or 1/2 inch. Route developers sometimes place 1/4 inch bolts to clip into while attached to a fixed rope but they are not meant to take falls.) I immediately lowered down without scoping out the rest of the route. These days I'm definitely more careful and do more research before hopping on open projects.

I was still pretty psyched about the route though, and quickly consulted with Simon and decided to put some proper bolts in. Shortly afterwards I made the hike up with all my bolting stuff (hammer drill, rope, draws, hammer, bolts, water, and various lighter items). It was spring and there was still a lot of ice and snow to add to the difficulty of the approach. Overall it was probably one of the most strenuous hikes I've ever done. I got about 2/3 finished bolting the route that day. I was able to access the anchor of Lakshmi from the neighbouring route Vishnu, which made it a little bit easier. The two routes share a start up a pillar and route name also comes from being adjacent to Vishnu.

A few days after that, I went up and finished off the bolting and tried the route for the first time. That was also the day these photos were taken. One of the photos from the set ended up being selected to be the cover shot for the Sport Climbs in the Canadian Rockies guidebook. It took another couple sessions after that for me to finish off the first ascent. Lakshmi turned out to be an amazing route and is definitely worth the trek up to Bataan!

All photos by Christian Semm.

Leonidio Greece

Sheena and I spent 3 weeks climbing in Leonidio and Kyparissi, Greece in January and February 2020. I didn't know much about the area when we decided to go and I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was an amazing trip and definitely worth a return visit! Plentiful limestone climbing on unbelievable features in a beautiful coastal mountain setting!

Our attempt at recreating the iconic shot on the cover of the guidebook.

Neromylos 8b+ at Watermill, Kyparissi. Photo by Sheena Hau.

Winter seemed like a perfect time to visit. During our trip we had amazing weather ranging from over 20°C on the hottest days to just under 10°C on the coldest days, making both sun and shade climbing possible. Apparently, it had been a particularly dry season and we were lucky with nearly everything in Leonidio being completely dry. However, we had actually planned to go the previous winter in 2019 but bailed after hearing about extreme wetness in the area.

We stayed in Leonidio and made the drive to Kyparissi a few times during our trip, but the sectors around Kyparissi, particularly Babala, had some wetness and likely do not get in season until spring and fall. I imagine spring and fall would also be great times to visit Leonidio.

Piranha Extension 8b+ at Hada. Photo Sheena Hau.

We flew into Athens, rented a car for a 3.5 hour drive to Leonidio which involves about 10 Euro worth of highway tolls. We had a GPS for the trip which we relied on quite a bit for getting around. Leonidio is also accessible by bus. Knowing a little bit of the Greek language helps but most of the locals speak English with varying levels of proficiency.

Leonidio is a small town but has all the basic services as well as a few climbing shops all within easy walking distance. Walking is a great way to get around town, but having a vehicle opens up a lot more climbing options as most sectors are not within walking distance from Leonidio.

The massive Kokkinovrachos with multipitch routes up to 250m towering over Leonidio.

Upon arrival in Leonidio, it is perhaps more practical to use a scooter as the primary means of transportation as the streets in town are quite narrow and parking at many of the climbing sectors is quite limited. Inside Leonidio, the roads tend to only be large enough for a single vehicle but it is 2 way traffic consisting of pedestrians, bicycles, scooters, cars, and the occasional large truck. There is one larger road bordering the river and mostly we left our car parked there to avoid driving through town.

Gaidura Dura 8b/+ at the tufa filled Twin Caves sector. Photo Sheena Hau.

The climbing itself was amazing! We were drawn to the climbs consisting of huge tufa columns and stalactite drips. We climbed 18 out of the 20 days we were there, climbing at Elona, Hada, Twin Caves, Mars, Watermill, and Babala sectors. We also visited Nifada, Limeri, and La Maison Des Chevres on rest days but did not climb. I climbed about 50 routes with at least one from every grade ranging from 6b+ to 8c and I enjoyed every single one of them. It was pretty easy for me to figure out which climbs I would enjoy due to the giant tufa features.

 Climbing the stalactite blobs at Watermill Sector in Kyparissi. Photo Sheena Hau.

The easiest approach we had was Elona which was basically a 1 minute walk up the road from parking at a cliffside monastery. The longest approach was Babala which was a pleasant 45 minute uphill hike on a very nice path.

All the routes we tried were well bolted. We had an 80m rope which was overkill on most of the routes but necessary for a few routes which were definitely worth doing.

On top of the 60m long 8b Goliath at Elona. Photo Sheena Hau.

The food in Greece is amazing and fairly inexpensive so we chose to eat out every night. We tried a few restaurants in town and they were all great. It's definitely worth exploring the town as some of the less popular establishments are just as good as the popular ones. Our favorite ended up being a small cafe that had amazing gyro pitas!

Greek gyro post climbing fuel!

We went the Airbnb route for our trip but after arriving in town, there seemed to be many options for places to stay either in Leonidio or any of the nearby towns. Still a fairly new area, the rock is still sharp and unpolished, there is a lot of new active route development, and enormous potential for further development. Leonidio is certainly on its way to becoming a major climbing destination.

Evening view of Leonidio from Twin Caves sector.