Moose Mountain Climbing Mission

The Moose Mountain climbing area includes at least 12 crags with over 200 routes ranging from 5.7 to 5.13d.  The vast majority are sport climbing routes, bolted in a thoughtful manner to provide safe and fun routes for climbers of all ability levels.

We had been climbing in the Moose Mountain area for a few years when we decided to climb every 5.10 in the area, a total of about 120 climbs. This mission was a departure from our previous approach of trying difficult project climbs and working on them until we sent them.

The grade 5.10 was generally not too difficult for us. Sometimes we can onsight and sometimes we need a few tries to send a climb.

This project doesn’t push the grades for us but it does improve our endurance. We push to complete more climbs in a session. We also end up climbing at different crags that we might never have explored if not for the project.

It’s interesting and motivating.

Brief History

We discovered the sport climbs at Moose Mountain in 2017. There was a small chapter, little more than a footnote, at the back of one of our guidebooks that mentioned the area. Dan rode his bike down the dirt road, closed to the public, to find the climbs described there.

At that time, there were about 8 climbs on the Painted Wall (one of the crags), all accessed from a ledge high above Canyon Creek. There were more climbs at Larry’s Gym, a shady short crag accessed by crossing the shallow creek.

We biked out to look at them together and there was not a single person climbing there. These climbs were mostly too hard for us. We had just started leading and 5.9 was the most challenging grade I was willing to lead and we marvelled at all the climbs that would be available once we broke into the 5.10’s.  

We spent most of that summer practicing at Wasootch, a beginners’ crag with many easier climbs. Wasootch has a short, flat approach and attracts a lot of people. We longed to be at the solitary Painted Wall and it inspired us to work hard and learn to climb the harder grade.

Once we gained the skills to climb there, the Painted Wall became our own private climbing area.

Over the years, we’ve seen the area grow and evolve, become more popular. Andy Generaux is the hard working genius behind most of the expansion.  He has posted a lot of information about the climbing routes and many crags that have been developed there on his website ghostriverproductions.ca. Until last year, you had to go to Andy’s website to get information about the climbs.  Now the latest version of the guidebook “Bow Valley Sport” includes a big chapter on Moose Mountain.

Summer 2022

The summer was passing by quickly and we felt we hadn’t tackled rock climbing in any sort of intentional way. We would ride our bikes out there, find a crag with nobody on it and decide on a climb.

Sometimes we would walk along the base of the cliff looking at the bolts and find a route that looked interesting. We might work on it a few times, maybe send it, maybe not. We were climbing but we felt like we weren’t really improving or accomplishing anything.

The Project

In mid-August, Dan suggested a project to climb every 5.10a and 10b in the guidebook chapter by the end of the season.  I quickly agreed.  It’s just the kind of project that fires me up. 

I prepared a list of all the 5.10a’s and b’s at each crag.  We would work on each climb until we got the send, climbing from the bottom to the top without falling or resting on the rope.  I then created a schedule. Every goal needs a deadline and every deadline needs a step-by-step scheduled plan.  

My Climbing Improved

Now our climbing days had structure and purpose. Our progress was recorded. I felt so motivated to climb more and climb harder.  More importantly, I found my climbing improving. 

Early on, I realized that what was holding me back most was the mental side of climbing. It was very difficult for me to commit to moves above my last bolt because I was struggling with an irrational fear of falling.

I pulled out my old copy of The Rock Warrior’s Way, a book about mental fitness for rock climbing.  I had picked it up a few years earlier and thumbed through it, hoping for a quick fix to the fear that plagued my climbing.   

This time, I read it cover to cover. It helped me understand and manage my fear. There were challenges and exercises to help me think differently about the commitment and push myself.

Completion of Phase 1

We worked our way through the valley, using hot days to climb at cool shady crags and saving the sunny crags for the cooler days of late September and October. Luckily, that year the weather stayed warm enough to climb right up to Thanksgiving in mid-October.

We managed to finish Phase 1 of our project with a few exceptions. For example, one climb was extremely difficult for the grade and Dan was injured falling on it. He eventually sent it but I didn’t even try it. I decided to exclude it from the project. 

The climbs off the ledge at Painted Wall were not very comfortable. We hadn’t done the climbs at the ledge for a few years and now it seemed a lot more dangerous to scramble up to the ledge. Perhaps holds have broken off and made the scramble more difficult? A fixed line would be really helpful there. We decided to skip those climbs.

Andy published one of his regular updates on his website near the end of the season and there were new routes for our project that were not included in the guidebook. We decided to push them into the next phase of our project.

Phase 2 is to climb every 10c and 10d in the Chapter and in Andy’s most recent updates.  

Phase 2 – 2023

We had planned to start work on Phase 2 as soon as the snow had melted down and the rock was warm.  In May 2023 we got out a few times, but we climbed easier routes we had sent the prior year.  We wanted a gentle start to the season.

In early June 2023, Dan took a bad lead fall on a multi-pitch climb.  His smashed ankle put our climbing plans on hold.  Phase 2 of the Moose Mountain Climbing Mission has been pushed into 2024.