Low-Grade Banff Classics: Gooseberry and Rundlehorn

Gooseberry and Rundlehorn

I'm on a slow mission to tick the low-grade classics of the Bow Valley and Kananaskis. To save myself the effort of reading through the many guidebooks to the area and trying to define a list, I'm relying mainly on the web to identify the climbs; the easiest way to do this is to look at the routes used by the local guides. My thinking is that the routes up which they tow their paying clients are likely to be reasonably clear of loose rock, and offer decent belays.

Last week I did two of these climbs: Gooseberry (5.8) on Tunnel Mountain and Rundlehorn (5.5) on WEOR. The two climbs face each other across the embarrassment of an exclusive golf course (well, to be fair, it's fully inclusive if you have a thousand dollars to drop on a four-person game of motorized tiddlywinks) built within a National Park, and both are affected by the noise from the tannoy used to remind people that they are late for their tee-off. I can't think of anywhere else in the National Park where this would be allowed, but for some reason (hint: money) the Park makes an exception for golfers. I wonder for how long a climber might use a tannoy to make their belay calls before getting a ticket.

Oh well, the route's called Rundlehorn, not Grumblehorn, so I'll get on with a brief account of the climbing...

Rundlehorn (as seen from Gooseberry) climbs the narrow bedding plane slab that begins as a sparsely treed gully where Mt. Rundle intersects Tunnel Mtn on the photo above. Where the slab pinches out, it hops up a short wall to gain more easily-angled ground above.

Lou's first long-ish route of the year was to her liking; here she is leading off up the narrow Rundlehorn slab, on the fourth pitch.

Looking down the slab.

Tunnel Mountain crags in the background, above the river.

Lou leading one of the two best pitches of the climb, after the short wall that takes you off the slab.

Lou with Cascade Mountain.

The upper pitches are quite photogenic.

After climbing, we had a quick paddle up the creek from near the "Banff Canoe Club" concession to Vermillion Lakes, but the water was really shallow and it was windy, which made for tough going in our solo boats. If your idea of wildlife is drunk teenagers doing dumb things in boats, then this area is a haven for spotting many varieties of that species!

Looking down Gooseberry, about four pitches up. There are perhaps three cruxes on this climb, all around 5.8. I got the loose-looking flake on Pitch 2/3, which turned out to be alright. We broke the second pitch into two because of potential for rope drag around the entry to the flake/groove system.

Selfie while waiting for the call to climb, around pitch six or seven. The trees are starting to look small, which is a good reminder that despite being on Tunnel Mtn, and considered to be valley cragging, this is a decently long climb.

Lindsay seconding one of the 5.7 or 5.8 pitches near the top of Gooseberry. I found these pitches difficult, but the others though my lead was tough - I think I approach leading with a different state of mind to that I have when seconding, where I often struggle to engage fully with problem-solving.