A 6 pitch (ignoring the scramble - link with P2) generously bolted Bow Valley classic put up in 2012 by Mark Klassen with a fun mix of slab, corners, and exposure. Gorgeous views of the Bow Valley in every direction during the climb and walkoff make for a very scenic day. The shaded aspect makes it a good choice during hotter days and comfortable belay stations provide lots of opportunity to rest your feet. 17 draws and a couple of alpine draws to help with rope drag is all you need. Note that the route tends to seep after recent rainfall. The friendly bolting also makes this a good route for newer leaders. If a need to retreat arises, the route is set up for rapping at every anchor (note the rap stations on P2 and P5) except the top out.
Available on Banff Rock, and in the Bow Valley Sport book.
Park at the Cave and Basin parking lot and head towards the visitor center.
Head past the visitor center down the paved path until it intersects with an equestrian trail. A wide dirt road will turn left into the trees. Walk roughly 200m before seeing a well-worn narrower hiking trail that goes left into denser trees. Continue uphill for a kilometer before making a sharp left downhill into the forest on a slope. Follow the path and take a steep left downhill at the next fork and follow for roughly 100m until you reach a clearing with a slab on the right. A (very) small piece of orange tape is on a small tree. If you come across a narrow drainage, you've gone too far. Takes roughly 40-60 minutes.
After an amazing first time climbing in Revelstoke and catching up on some overdue mountain biking and cragging, we were eager to get out for a longer multipitch day. We kept a close eye on the weather (not close enough) and pitched a few ideas back and forth before settling on Plutonian Shores. It had plenty of slab for Hillary and Basia and hoped that the overcast day might prevent a lineup from forming at the base. We arrived at 10:30am only to see two other groups gearing up at their cars.
The "short steep" approach turned out to be closer to 300m elevation gain and almost an hour long - although that included our struggling to locate the first bolt. After being spoiled by the 5-15 minute approaches in Revelstoke, Basia began her usual grunts of discontent. The hike up was by no means awful, but definitely enough to work up a sweat. Maintaining a slow but steady pace, we quickly lost sight of the other groups. Not long after we started to break out of the trees and gained a nice view of the valley to the west before dropping back down into the trees. Some rainfall the night before had water seeping down the wall in streaks but nothing we couldn't step around.
Once the trail levels out and you see a rocky ridge, look for a sharp left that descends into the trees. The ridge is the return from the walkoff. One of the other groups made that mistake that day.
To her credit, Basia was unseasonably brave that day. Usually only leading a handful of times per season, she ended up being our MVP of the day and leading the most pitches. The generous bolting helped assuage her fears and she happily flew up the first slab pitch - her favourite type of climbing. Filled with newfound confidence, she quickly reracked her harness, and climbed through the longer second pitch (passing a rap station).
By the time we reached the P3 anchor, the layers were coming on. The weather station that morning had showed 13kmph winds, maybe a little brisk in the shade. Little did we know (cue Dustin Hoffman) that the gusts we were experiencing had reached anywhere between 65-85kmph. This became more of an issue later in the climb. Shivering endlessly with jazz legs aplenty, we found some refuge by hiding between a small ledge and scarfed down our lunch in hopes the calories would warm us up. Shortly after our shells came on and a race against the numb-finger clock began.
The last thing Hillary needed as she slowly lost feeling in her fingertips was to be fatally wounded by the sharp Bow Valley limestone - the annoying on-the-wall step-sibling to stepping on Lego. The odd chert-like protrustion, while providing excellent friction on slab, slid under her nail and claimed another innocent victim.
What constitutes as a "scramble" to a climber continues to appear very variable. Beautiful Century's scramble pitch was effectively a mildly sloped ledge. The third "4th class scramble" pitch (below) was wide enough to comfortably walk across. Other times, they've felt like runout decking territory. The route setters were even kind enough to include a bolt during the traverse (you could use an alpine draw on the P2 anchor and link it with P3).
After reefing on an undercling to prevent slipping out on wet slab and zig-zagging towards a large corner system, the three of us reached the fourth anchor. It turns out pit-zips double as a great mobile hand warmer. As someone who runs hot and usually has heat to spare, Hillary beelined for my armpits and greedily stuck both her hands through the zips to warm her hands up.
On a completely unrelated note, I recently picked up a 16-35mm and this outing cemented my love for it. I tried 16mm for the first time on a trip to the Elk Lakes cabin and adored the look and often felt the 24mm end of my mid-range was too tight. In comparison, 16mm conveys the sense of height much better and adds some nice drama to the frame while still being able to punch back into 35mm for some more traditional shots.
In our haste to get off the wall and out of the wind, I quickly got ready to lead the crux pitches. Pitch 5 was easily my favourite. From here, the climb transitioned away from slab as you pressured your way up a corner and around a bulge. The back and forth footwork and more vertical climbing flowed naturally. Once you step out of the corner and around a bulge, the wall dropped away and the entire valley came into view once more. This was the moment Basia's fear of heights flared up a little but she managed to face her demons and fight through it.
Pitch 6 followed a flowy line up a vertical face that tops out onto a ledge. This was considered the crux pitch but it didn't feel much harder than the preceding one. The larger issue were the storm gusts trying to make me barndoor off the wall. Ample jugs and solid feet rewarded patience when considering your next move. A single bolt in the middle jutted out to the right - an alpine draw would reduce drag here.
A spritz of rain pitter-pattered on our shells in between Basia and Hillary's arrival at the anchor. It passed quickly but left a large double rainbow towards Rundle. It feels obvious in retrospect but apparently polarizers also affect rainbows. I was confused why the rainbow was absent during my first couple shots of Hillary before turning the camera and seeing it come back into view. Afterwards, I think it also allowed the rainbow to show up better once I remembered to rotate the filter.
After hours in the wind and shade, the sun finally graced us with its warmth. Hillary had also been struggling with some head game this season after a spooky moment at Industrial Playground last year but decided to lead the last pitch. After mantling up an adult sized shelf, a no-hands slab walk to the finish awaits you. Despite the plentiful bolts, I was surprised that Hillary skipped half of them. This pitch can probably be downgraded.
With the clouds receding towards Lake Minnewanka, light pools filled the valley as Basia topped out on the slab finish. With the end in sight and fears of being caught in a potential storm dissipating, her spirits rose and her pace quickened. The final anchor is on a rockface in the trees with plenty of space and a comfortable walkoff - looking at you Wheat Kings.
From the final anchor, make a short left turn before trending right for the main trail down. Plenty of cairns and staircase-like rock bands make the descent quick and painless. You also get to continue enjoying the views during the return.
In the end it took us 7-8 hours round trip as a group of 3 and we were all pleasantly surprised with how fun the route ended up being. The lack of choss, variety of moves, and views made for an excellent day out. I can see why it's considered a classic. It's definitely one we'll come back to in future (when it's warmer), especially with those newer to multipitches.
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