Throughout the week me and friend Emma were itching for a climb on the weekend. We recruited my friend Kate, who has never multi-pitched before and Alasdair, who is the most experience among the four of us. Me and Kate injured our ankles the weekend before on the exact same climb so we both were hoping to do some easier climbing.

We met up in a parking lot around 7 AM, Alasdair showed up looking haggard, apparently his body disintegrated after a soccer game on Tuesday. Emma seemed to be the only healthy member of the team.

Arriving at the parking lot there were already 5-7 cars parked, which was to be expected because it was around 9 AM already and Star Chek is always crowded though I was naively hoping that no one would show up early.

Turned out there were already at least 3 parties ahead of us on the route and another one just starting at the bottom as we arrive. A lot of waiting is going to happen if we were to start behind those parties and we decided that rather than waiting in a queue, we will instead climb Indra’s Net just to the right of it as no one was on it and we could have the entire route to ourselves. I was excited but also a little concerned about my ankle as it still hurts a bit when I put my weight on it.

The plan was for me and Emma to go first and Kate and Alasdair would go second so someone can meet Kate at belay stations in case she needed assistance. Emma led up the first short pitch to a hidden ledge on the other side of the arête and belayed me up.

*Me following up the first pitch, another party of 3 was starting up on Star Chek*

The second pitch is an upward travers graded at 5.8. It certainly is a lot steeper than typical Sqamish 5.8s but there were plenty of good edges to pull on. I have not done a lot of traverses so it definitely felt harder than 5.8s I am used to. The rope drag was pretty terrible as I was coming over the arête and I wish I had some alpine draws. It was engaging climbing but I still could take moments to enjoy the view, which was absolutely gorgeous. Looking down at the river, the exposure was exciting. We were alone on the route and that added to the adventurous feeling.

*Emma climbing up to the belay ledge on pitch 2*

We faffed with rope for a bit and my ankle was feeling a bit painful after tip-toeing on the last pitch. The third pitch is again a traverse (crux, 5.9) and it looked pretty thin and it was Emma’s turn to lead. She got across with no problem and I met with Alasdair and Kate and the belay ledge.

If there is one thing I don’t like about this route that will be the communication difficulties. The roaring river is gorgeous yet it is impossible to hear what the other person is saying unless they are half a meter away and you are screaming into their ears.

Emma made it across pitch 3 and I started to follow, immediately went off-route and was above the first quickdraw and had to downclimb. I found the pitch again pretty stiff for the grade. The belay ledge again offered great views and the Tantulus range is getting more and more visible the higher up we got. Kate arrived at the belay shortly after and I started on the next pitch right away as I the ledge was a bit too cozy for 3.

The 4th pitch is again graded at 5.9, it had a series of slab climbing leading up to a small roof. At which i was about to make a big move but I needed more slack, I yelled for slack and “watch me” but it was impossible for Emma to hear me so I had to pull really hard on the rope. The sun also started to hit the route and it was really hard to see what’s above so i waited for Emma to put her cap on. Not being able to heard or see was definitely made belaying interesting. I found a jug and topped the small roof onto a roomy belay ledge.

The last pitch (rated at 5.8) was the steepest but easiest pitch with glorious jugs. It’s a reward after technical slabs and my ankle can finally have a break as it was getting quite painful from standing on my toes. The only bad thing about the last pitch is that it was too short, but at least one can take time to appreciate the panorama views.

*Kate leading up the glorious last pitch*

*Alasdair following up the final pitch(a double dyno was committed)*

We topped out at the perfect time as the afternoon sun started to bake the wall. The dude we ran into at the bottom of the route told us that he thought this route was much better than Star Chek, I am surely convinced now. It felt adventurous and definitely is more committing than Star Chek as it would be very hard to bail after pitch 2 due to its traversi-ness, plus the climbing itself, although also rated at 5.9, is harder than usual sqamish 5.9s (at least to me). Using an extended draw at the bolt just before the anchor or belaying straight from the harness instead of from the anchor will make belaying a lot easier since most of the time the rope would run horizontally from the last bolt to the anchor. Biggest issue was communication and ASL would’ve really come in handy in these situations so maybe I should start learning it… Views are spectacular as usually and the exposure is exciting. Gummies were consumed and good time was had. Certainly will come back and do this route again.

Indra’s Net

Weekend Shenanigans: Starlit Snoozes and Rock Climbing Goofs

Not an ArmChair Traverse Attempt