BASE jumper coming off Yamnuska
Can you find the BASE jumper falling?
I just caught this guy as he jumped.
I took this shot out of curiousity to show the angle of the front side of Yamnuska - I haven't climbed on it yet.
Mike traversing under Yamnuska with part of the Goat ridge in the background
Just approaching the col, our ascent route to the rigdge of goat is in sight. Hhhhmm... looks a little intimidating.
Mike trudging to the col
Looking from the col at the job to get to the Goat ridge.
Looking from the col at the job to get to the Goat ridge. Our approximate route in red. Didn't see any bolts, but would have preferred some protection on the final pitch to the top after the traverse. Rap rings were at the top for going the opposite direction.
At the base of the climb to the ridge looking up at it. About 2hrs to this point.
Mike, now about 3/4 the way to the ridge is beginning to traverse left. The route up is one of the right-trending cracks at, or not too far left of, the lone tree. Ideally I would have wanted some protection on that last portion and will use it next time.
Finally on the ridge.
Now on the ridge, Mike ponders (or cringes at) the task ahead.
Early on in the ridge with the summit to the right.
Mike getting ready to belay.
While I scoped the route ahead, Mike did some sort of wrestling with the rope on the ground :-) This shot also shows that the east side is one you wouldn't want to roll off of.
Waiting for a belay on typical ridge terrain.
Don't step too far to either side!
Looking down at a slab section near the summit. Bolt at the base and midway up. Rap rings at the top for those going the opposite direction.
A bit of strolling to get to the summit block
Mike out of water just before the summit. Not a bad idea to go this time of year with patches of snow still around.
The summit shot! 6 hours to here. We were practicing with the rope a lot, though and I suspect could have cut off 1-1.5hrs.
This doesn't look like much, but it's a marble-covered ramp that winds around the edge of the the block for about 15m. It's extremely airy with a few hundred meters drop directly below. The handholds are plentiful and seem bomber. Much like Grassi Lake holds. See the next photo for a look at the big picture.
Looking back toward the summit. You can see the airy ledge and it's exposure to the right of Mike's noggin.
Here you can see the exposure that is continually present on the east side of the ridge. In the middle of the ridge (maybe the last block in the sun) there is a difficult part. Mike saw rap rings for those going to opposite direction.
Mike rapping about 10m off the last significant block on the ridge. There's a large boulder with a few slings which I added ours fresh sling to. At the base of this, we did one more 30m rap off another boulder. It may have been possible to continue on the ridge proper to get off this last block, but it looked to be challenging and we were tiring out.
We're now home free, looking towards the highway.
Looking back at the last significant block. There's a U in the middle. The 10m rap is into this U. We then rapped of to the backside from there. You can see that the remainder of the ridge proper may not have exactly been a stroll.
Mike arriving at the highway just after the 12hr mark.
Me balancing on the sharp ridge just above the Yam-Goat col
Me setting a belay at the base of the crux
Me rappelling
