The Bold and Cold by Brandon Pullan

Author:Brandon Pullan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781771601160
Publisher: RMB | Rocky Mountain Books
Published: 2016-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

In Invermere, we met Kennan and learned that new Park regulations would not allow helicopters to land within Park boundaries, even though they can still shatter the mountain stillness thanks to the deep pockets of sightseeing tourists. We were at an impasse. There was no way my knees could haul a load of big-wall gear the 1300 metres to the Bugaboo plateau and then drop 600 metres to the base of our objective. Mike and Cameron headed on to the Bugaboos while Kennan and I drove aimlessly away, realizing that Squamish or Lake Louise would inadequately replace the North Howser Tower as our destination. We thought the local scoop could give us a better idea of what we were missing, so I called Julian McLean in Golden.

“Ward (Robinson, who was in on the first ascent of All Along the Watchtower) says it will go at 5.11a. The weather has been dry for a while. You guys better get on it.” Julian’s info was all the fuel we needed.

We packed as light as we could, happily leaving behind the portaledge, pins and tent, but sadly leaving behind the sleeping bags, Therm-a-Rests and down jackets. By the time we were packed and the car was chicken-wired against porcupines, most of the beer was gone, we were thoroughly drunk, and it was 9 p.m. We staggered under light loads into darkness and towards the finest climb of our lives.

We found peace in our nocturnal task and finally sobriety in exertion. Under cover of darkness we passed the Kain hut and the campground and moved into the realm of Bugaboo granite. We rolled out our bivi-sacks in the cradle of the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col and awoke to a dream world of silver and black granite catching alpenglow, like a huge mirror, and reflecting a rosy shimmer onto the glacier’s whiteness. The sun crept down the jagged ridge that led Conrad Kain to set an outrageous standard when he reached the magical summit of Bugaboo Spire. Since his climb, these lofty spires have seen many other ascents, and the Bugaboos have become one of the premier alpine rock areas on earth. As we sat at the col, a new phase of Bugaboo climbing was underway. We didn’t know it at the time, but a 5.13 was being climbed on Snowpatch Spire while we were trying to free the biggest face in the Bugaboos. We longed to soak up the sun and the beauty, but the face we couldn’t see called loudly.

The west face hides its grandeur from sight until the climber stands within a quarter mile of it. We finished the approach, happy to be where our bodies and imaginations could take us, and stood awestruck at the base of one of the most beautiful mountain walls in the world.

A family of mountain goats stood sentry exactly at the bottom of the crack system that began our chosen line. The Watchtower dihedral grabs one’s attention instantly, but the series of chiselled corners to the right leads the eye past countless splitter lines and massive dihedrals.

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