Four to the top of the Chief

This summer I spent a lot of time in Squamish and was able to get up four different routes that go to the top of the Chief. They were all great, but some lived up to the hype more than others. I was also able to climb Sunblessed and send a three year project of mine Crime of the Century.

Grand Wall 5.11a AO
I climbed this with Don as training for an upcoming Yosemite trip. In my opinion it is one of the best long climbs I have ever done, anywhere. It is sustained, protects well and provides pitch after pitch of perfect cracks and run out slabs. You can't beat it. This was my second time on it and I know that I'll be back for a third.

The split piller. I don't know why it's crooked. It uploaded like this. Sorry.
Looking up the Sword pitch.

Don traversing out bellygood lodge

Angels Crest 10c 14 pitches
I climbed this with Priscilla. It was her first time swapping leads up a long climb and she loved it. This was my second favorite climb up the chief. It was adventurous, long, and climbed mostly good cracks the whole way. I thought the route finding was pretty straight forward. I can't remember exact beta for the approach trail, but using the Squamish select book I was able to find it first try and you know when you are on the right path because there are reflective diamonds on the trees with "AC" written on them. It even had a great chimney finish.

The first 10a pitch on AC
The beautiful OW part way up. It can be bypassed on the right.
The random totem pole towards the top
The second to last pitch
The final chimney

Ultimate Everything 5.9 A0 10 pitches, plus apron.

I climbed this with Priscilla. She took us up Bannana Peel on the Apron and then I took over and lead Ultimate Everything. This climb was a little different then the other three because it had much less crack climbing and a lot of bolted face climbing. None the less it was a lot of fun and a must do. Oddly enough I always thought that this was the easiest route up the Chief but I think that it is harder than Squamish Buttress because it is much more sustained.

A short but sweet crack
Looking down the 11b or 5.9 AO last pitch

Squamish Buttress 10c 7 pitches, plus apron.
I also climbed this with Priscilla. It was my first climb to the top of the chief several years ago and it was me and Priscilla's first climb to the top of the chief this year. It is a fun climb, but not as good as the other three. It has more walking and approach pitches to reach the final headwall. The crux 10c pitch is a butt kicker, but apparently Sonnie trotter just put up a 5.9 variation that goes around it. You can find a topo of it on his blog under the title "The Ambitious Foreigner." Unfortunately, the batteries on my camera died so I don't have any pictures from our climb.

Here's one of the crux pitch from a few years ago

Sunblessed 10b 4P
I did this line with Don. We swapped leads up it and had a great time. It is a little adventurous, but well worth it.

The money pitch
The last pitch

Crime of the Century 5.11c.
After three years of projecting this climb I finally sent it. The main reason that I was so excited was that it shows the amount of improvement that I have made over the last three years. I tried this climb my first time in Squamish and got pulled up the entire thing. I wasn't able to do even a third of the moves. I remember falling trying to lead 5.8s that same trip. Now, after several years, my experience and strength have improved enough to send the thing. It was a wonderful feeling. Here's a video of some guys doing it on Vimeo

Crime of the Century