Page Type:
|
Mountain/Rock |
|---|---|
Lat/Lon:
|
50.85332°N / 121.70929°W |
Activities:
|
Trad Climbing |
Season:
|
Spring |
|
Overview
The Mid Wall at Marble Canyon is the large wall immediately to the left of the Great Gully. It’s approximately 350 metres in height (about 1100 feet) and is relatively slabby in nature with a number of broken corner systems generally running from right to left. As with all of Marble Canyon, the rock quality can vary considerably from one pitch to the next. In general, the rock quality on the Mid Wall is fairly good for limestone, but there is a lot of loose rock on the many ledges.The Mid Wall, has far fewer routes than the Apron, and gets climbed far less frequently. Wear a helmet, and be prepared to make your own belays and to be able to retreat off the wall at any time (pins may come in handy).
The Routes
There are only four recorded routes on the Mid Wall, but there are probably lots of other unrecorded ascents (including some by me). Due to the large wall, and the numerous features, it is very difficult to describe individual routes. You can bet almost all of the main features have been climbed at one time or another – one the first ascents of this wall was done in the late 50s.
Exploring new territory (to us anyway) on the Mid WallMy best advice…. go have an adventure on the Mid Wall; that’s what I always have done. Of the four known routes that climb the entire wall – the hardest is 5.8 (called Dreamweaver). All of these four climbs are approximately 8 pitches in length with some 4th class climbing in between some pitches.
While exploring on the Mid Wall, sometimes you’ll be sure you’re climbing in new territory and then you'll come across an old pin or bolt. As mentioned previously, make sure you bring appropriate gear to retreat if you have too (pins and perhaps a bolt kit). For a rack, besides pitons, concentrate more on the smaller sizes of gear – “Aliens”, and other similar narrow profile cams, work very well in limestone.
If you do make it do the top, there is a gully at the top of the climb, which can be scrambled into (called the Dreamweaver Gully). Descend the Dreamweaver gully to the left (west) into the “North Gully” (this is the large gully that borders the left side of the Mid Wall). Follow the North Gully down and back to the highway.