On June 7, we attempted Plutonian Shores, a lovely 7 pitch 5.9 multi pitch climb near Raven’s Crag, overlooking the town of Banff. The day started beautifully. Blue skies and warm temps, we made sure we had plenty of water.
Beta:
- 7 pitches, 5.9
- fully bolted, all belays are bolted
- a good map of the route is at Banffrock
- one 70 meter rope is sufficient
- descent: walk off or rappel
The Approach
The approach walk starts at the Cave and Basin in Banff. It’s a national historic site that would be good to visit on a rest day. Check it out here Cave and Basin.
On this day though, we walked past the gift shop, the park warden’s cabin and all the buildings and headed down a paved path. After about half a kilometer, we turned left onto a wide dirt trail and then shortly up this path, we turned left again, up a more narrow trail at a cairn.
This is the trail to Raven’s Crag and Plutonian Shores. Near the top, a trail turns left, downhill, marked by a cairn. Take this trail down to the start of Plutonian Shores.
I have wanted to do this climb for years so I was very excited we were actually going up to do it. The FATMAP app shows the trail quite accurately and I followed it in eager anticipation of the climb. All the reviews online said it was a very nice climb on great rock with comfortable, scenic belay stations.
The Climb
There is a good pitch-by-pitch description on Mountain Project, here.
Here at the start of the climb, we unpacked and got ready for climbing. We brought our shoes and everything up with us because we planned to walk off the top.
This photo is looking up at the first pitch. It is supposed to be easy 5.5 slab. I led it and I felt a bit awkward. The slab here was a lot smoother than the slab on Cascade Mountain where we did Wheat Kings and Minihapa and Battle of Seven Oaks. The rock felt diffierent and it took me a while to figure it out.
Here Dan is coming up the first pitch.
After this the climb went pretty smooth. Dan did a great job leading Pitch 2 which was very long. I led a super short pitch 3 then Dan took the lead again for Pitch 4.
I really found my groove on Pitch 5, a long 5.8 pitch. Moving smoothly and steadily up, I felt great when I clipped the anchor at the top.
Then it was Dan’s lead for the 5.9 crux pitch, number six. He tackled it with skill and ease, pulling up some tricky and committing moves. He climbed over a ledge and disappeared out of sight.
The Fall
The next thing I heard was a yell from Dan as he came flying back down over the ledge. It took him a few minutes to let me know that his ankle was badly hurt. We decided at that point to lower Dan to me and then rappel the route.
After five rappels, we were safely on the ground. Dan wrapped his ankle using supplies from his first aid kit. He hoped the compression would make it bearable to hike out. It did not.
Dan soon realized his ankle would not bear any weight at all. It was too far out and too sketchy to hop back to the truck. We were forced to call Search and Rescue. Thankfully, there is cell service at Plutonian Shores and I was able to call 911. We had our InReach device but a cell phone call seemed simpler.
The Rescue
A helicopter flew overhead 45 minutes later as they scouted out the best place to pick up Dan. They then came back and dropped off Brian, very friendly and helpful. Brian asked Dan if he could move about 100 meters down the trail to a spot where the helicopter could drop a long line to pick him up.
He agreed to try. About 20 excruciating minutes later, Dan was in place. It was decided that I should walk back down the trail to the truck. I jogged down as Dan and Brian were lifted into the air.
Later that evening at the Canmore Hospital, x-rays showed that Dan’s ankle was not broken. The doctor said no climbing for two weeks. It turned out to be two months before Dan could get back on the rock. Even then, it was not easy.
We are so thankful for Banff Search and Rescue and the staff at the Canmore Hospital.
Special thanks to the two climbers who came up behind us on that pitch and agreed to clean our draws and drop them at the Canmore Hospital. We got all our gear back thanks to them and their kindness meant a lot.
Lessons Learned
- A fall can happen on any climb, even if it’s a moderate grade.
- Falls on easier terrain can be worse because it is less steep and you might bounce off ledges and bulges on the way down.
- Always bring rappel gear, even if you plan to walk off. Be prepared to bail from anywhere on the climb.
- Always make sure you have a valid park pass. We did not have to pay anything for the rescue because we had a park pass.
- Climbers are good people. Every other climber we met that day offered to help us. We pay it forward every chance we get.
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