Conny and I had taken our lead climbing course only a few weeks before, and we were antsy to move beyond the single pitch routes of the Smoke Bluffs and get on a multi-pitch up the Chief.
One of the easiest, and also best quality multi-pitch routes in the Squamish, is the 700 foot Deidre, and we set our sights on it right away. Due to it’s quality, and accessible level of difficulty, Diedre is also one of the most popular routes. Our biggest problem, as it turned out, was going to be negotiating the crowds just to get on the thing.
Waking up at the crack of dawn to be first on the wall wasn’t really our bag, so we were just going to take it as it came. We were still car-less, so that made getting to the cliff an undertaking in itself. So on our first attempt we arrived just before noon. It was a turning into a blazing hot day and we could see from the the ground that were climbers on all sections of the route. When we reached the base of Diedre, we encountered 3 or 4 parties that were already waiting to climb. It was looking like a 3 hour wait just to start. Crestfallen, we took out our new climbing guide book to check out alternative options. We really wanted our first multi-pitch to be Deidre, but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. We weren’t going to wait around for 3 hours, we wanted to climb.
Leafing through the guide book, we settled on an infrequently climbed route called Sparrow that started from the same spot as Deidre but branched out right. It was graded harder than Deidre, but the hard section was really short. As it turned out the most difficult part was navigating the moss that had grown over the seldom climbed route, and once through, the rest of the way up was super easy…almost a let down, in fact. Despite being successful on our first multi-pitch, it felt anticlimactic.
Back down at the parking lot, drinking water, we looked back up the wall and were excited to see the crowds had all moved on, and no longer was anyone on the lower section of Diedre. We decided to hike back up and give Deidre another go.
Now, despite Sparrow being relatively easy (after the first section), it did take several hours, and it was cooking out…like 90F. It’s extremely rare to go up and do two multi-pitch routes up the Chief in a day. After one multi-pitch most people call it a day and hit the lake and few beers. Some keeners may go to the bluffs or boulders and do it bit more climbing, but they are the exception.
When Conny and I arrived back at the base of Diedre, we had our hopes crushed once again. A climbing party we hadn’t seen through the trees had arrived just ahead of us and was in the process of sorting out their gear.
In a fit of ignorant invincibility I whisper to Conny that I would attempt to cut them off at the top of the second pitch by climbing Deidre Direct, a route I had spotted earlier in the guide book.
On paper Deirdre Direct is the same grade as Sparrow, harder than the proper Deirdre route, but within our ability. The problem, as I found out three quarters of the way up the thing, was that in the entire 150 foot pitch there were no cracks (to place protective gear) and only one bolt.
The first 75 feet were easy going and I didn’t really notice the unprotected distance I had gained above Conny, but after clipping the one and only bolt I had to start treading carefully as the climbing got trickier and more difficult. I kept moving higher and higher, looking for the sharpest crystal of granite on which smear my rubber shoes. The smooth slab of granite was getting steeper and steeper. I was holding onto nothing. I was standing on nothing. Just balance and friction were adhering me to the wall. I was starting to sweat really badly now, from a growing fear and from the scorching sun. I could feel my rubber shoes melting, sliding slowing, oozing on the rock. My calves were burning from the stress. I kept dipping and re-dipping my hands in my chalk bag. I looked up, then down, and couldn’t see the bolt anymore, hidden far below under a wave of granite. I inched upward and was now less that 10 feet from the wide grassy ledge that marked the top of the pitch, and the intersection with the main Deidre route. Above me I hear “Off belay!” as a guy secures himself to the anchor and hollers down to his partner. The climber then peered over the edge and gives me an impressed “Good on you mate. That’s a ballsy pitch.”
It’s one of the guys that I was trying to head off. “How…?” stopping myself as I didn’t want cop to trying to cut him off, “How did you get here so fast?”, I said anyway. He explained that he had an extra long rope that allowed him to combine the first two pitches and climb them in one go. I try not to lose concentration and let myself get bummed out as I’m in jeopardy of taking a seriously huge fall. I still had another 5 feet to go and now the rock had turned super slick under the ledge. I gingerly make the last moves and literally toss myself on the ledge in the dirt at buddy’s feet. I’m completely drained.
Eventually I bring Conny up and he leads the next couple of pitches. We top out and it was a spectacular day.
