open 2007-11-09T23:55:55+00:00 41 49.2183479938364 -124.001898809514 Archaeology Bluffs archaeology-bluffs 1 2007-11-09T23:55:55+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:50:27+00:00 34 49.2197298025215 -124.103920135788 Bear Ridge Crag bear-ridge-crag 1 2007-11-09T23:50:27+00:00 true open 2008-06-01T17:33:19+00:00 53 49.1649981268434 -124.053168369957 Benson Bluffs benson-bluffs 1 2008-06-01T17:33:19+00:00 true open 2007-05-28T16:32:52+00:00 <p><a href="http://www.islandclimbing.com:81/pdf/BostonFalls.pdf">PDF Guide</a> </p> Above the West side of Boston Lake exist some of the best low elevation (1000m) water ice on Vancouver Island. The 4 main icefalls are easily reached in a few hours from the old ski area on forbidden plateau. The 200m high walls around the little lake keeps the ice well shaded and cool with climbable ice from December to March. Boston Lake is a small cirque located west of the Comox Valley at the foot of Mt. Becher. Take the Piercy Road (exit 127) on the Island Hwy 10km north of Courtenay. Turn right onto Forbidden Plateau Road and follow for about 14 km to the parking lot at the old Wood Mountain Ski Hill. The last 7 km is gravel road but is kept in good condition and plowed all winter. Hike up the old ski runs keeping near the chair lift until the last hill where you should go right up the wide ski run to the dilapidated T-bar. The relatively flat snow route stays on the popular summer trail to Mt. Becher. After about 4 km the trail will start to climb up the ridge towards Mt. Becher, just before this go left (south) and traverse the slope for about 300m down to Boston Lake. The Hike/Ski/Snowshoe from the parking lot to the ice climbs takes about 11/2 to 21/2 hours or after a heavy snow fall it's next to impossible. 5 0.0 0.0 Boston Falls boston-falls 5 58 2008-12-22T02:30:34+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:49:39+00:00 33 49.2182045635941 -124.092144967489 Cache Stone cache-stone 1 2007-11-09T23:49:39+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:17:19+00:00 The East Face of Colonel Foster is the heart of alpine rock on Vancouver Island with its sweeping buttresses and deep couloirs looming 1000 metres above Landslide Lake. The rock runs from perfect bullet proof basalt with awesome in-cuts to atrociously loose and with huge run-outs. Most of the climbing is low 5th class or easier, but exposure is great and retreat could be next to impossible. Getting off the mountain often proves just as difficult as climbing, loose rock, tricky route finding and scary rappels all add to the experience. On Foster the summit is definitely only halfway. The glacier around Foster (berg) Lake must be negotiated to reach any of the East face routes. An ice axe is a must and by August a set of light weight crampons is often a good idea. Campsites are on the old moraine around Foster Lake with Colonel Foster standing above. Mt. Colonel Foster is located in Strathcona Provincial Park at the end of the Elk River Trail (ERT). Drive west of Campbell River on Highway 28 for about 65km to the sign posted trailhead and large parking lot. The well maintained trail climbs about 600 metres over the 11km to Landslide Lake. To reach the climbers camp at Foster lake take the trail on the east (left) side of Landslide Lake up through the slide alder and timber then back down to the stream draining Foster Lake. Follow the stream up to the lake. The hike up the ERT to Foster Lake takes about 3.5 - 5 hours with overnight camping gear and climbing equipment. If you start late on the trail there are designated camping spots at 6 and 9 km with outhouse and bear caches, but to have a real chance of climbing the mountain you need to stay at Foster Lake. 24 49.75 -125.868333 Colonel Foster colonel-foster 4 59 2009-08-26T14:27:11+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:17:03+00:00 These crags are scattered throughout the woods and are all within a 15 minute walk from the Comox Lake campground. The majority of the routes are 5.10 or easier, making them suitable for most climbers. An increasing number of harder routes are being set for advanced climbers. The first routes were put up in the mid eighties, though the majority of climbs have been established more recently. The routes have been established by just a few dedicated climbers and many of the difficult routes have not been repeated. There is a guidebook for this area that you can purchase the was created by John Waters. It's called Comox Valley Climbs and can be purchased as MEC and probably some other outdoors stores in the area. Comox Lake Crags are found around the campground west of Cumberland at Comox Lake. The campground at the lake is called Cumberland Lake Park. Cumberland is approximately a 1 hour drive north of Nanaimo, and a 2.5 hour drive north of Victoria on the inland island Highway #19. Take Exit 117 to Cumberland and drive 3 km to Dunsmuir Avenue. Turn right and drive 4 blocks up this main avenue, at the end turn left and drive 4.4 km to Comox Lake and the campground. There are signs to Comox Lake from the Highway. 23 49.626211 -125.09059 Comox Lake comox-lake 4 37 2008-09-05T18:44:34+00:00 true open 2008-05-06T16:49:14+00:00 51 Constitution Hill constitution-hill 3 2008-05-06T16:49:14+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:46:55+00:00 31 49.2298116282832 -124.090889912629 Copley Mt Crag copley-mt-crag 1 2007-11-09T23:46:55+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:53:51+00:00 38 49.2192526180179 -124.003386487627 Cottle Hill Wall cottle-hill-wall 1 2007-11-09T23:53:51+00:00 true open 2007-05-28T16:33:48+00:00 This is a majestic area with aid climbing as the flavour de jour. Most climbs involve nailing, a pin rack is a must. Hwy 14 to Sooke, right on Otter Point Road to Young Lake Road (4.7km). Right on Butler Main, cross the bridge, right on Boneyard main. Stop. Follow the trail into the woods that is very near the intersection. This takes you to the "caves". 6 0.0 0.0 Cougar Caves cougar-caves 1 2007-06-13T18:16:45+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:16:47+00:00 Gear, Aid, and Sport routes with a bit of bouldering makes this area the prime spot to do a bit of everything. Info on routes can be found on http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/Canada/British_Columbia/Vancouver_Island_North/Crest_Creek_Crags/ until we get more information here. A topo is available at On The Rocks Climbing Gym in Campbell River, for $15.00 Approximately 1 hr from Campbell River on the Gold River Highway (28) depending on the weather. 15 minutes from Gold River. 22 49.8675 -125.9136 Crest Creek crest-creek 4 2008-06-02T23:59:44+00:00 true open 2007-05-17T21:29:46+00:00 <a href="/pdfs/cyberia-v1-rock_climbr.pdf">PDF Guide by rock_climbr (Scott)</a><br /> Cyberia is quickly becoming one of the favorite places to boulder for Victoria climbers. It offers a large number of boulders quite close to town and has a beautiful lake a short five minute walk from the boulders to take a dip in after a hot summers day session. The best place to chill out on the lake is a top a small slopey face. The water here is deep enough to jump into (if you just far enough), and there is a fun problem going up the face. Jack just got the FA the other day. The problem starts just out of the water beside the path and then goes up to the right. Have it go, but beware, you're going to have a push off the rock if you feel yourself slipping if you don't want a face that look like it went through a cheese grater. Step 1. Getting to the Hartland landfill <br /> When leaving Victoria head toward the ferries. Before you head up the last hill out of town there is the Royal Oak exit. Take this exit and then turn left and cross the bridge over the highway. After crossing the bridge you will hit your first set of lights. Go straight through this intersection and then take a right at the next lights. The road you will be turning onto will be West Saanich road. Follow this road for quite a while until you seen Hartland road on your left. Turn onto this road and follow it until just before you head into the dump. There is a big parking lot at to the right off the road. Pull in there and park. <br /> Step 2. Getting to the boulders <br /> One parked, follow the mountain bike trail to the left of the road. You will follow the fence for a while and then pass the skills area. Next you will head downward and cross a creek and then climb a small hill. At the top of the hill you'll want to take a left onto one of the bike trails. Follow this trail for about 7 minutes until you hit one of the small clearings. There should be a big piece of scrap metal beside the start of the trail. Take this trail down the hill. This trail will join up with another trail. When this happens, go right. Follow this trail for about 10 minutes along the lake. After passing the lake you should start to see the start of the bouldering area off to your left. Keep heading down the trail, always keeping to the left. After crossing a couple logs the trails will take a sharp turn to the left and you should end up a the overhang wall. 2 48.526482 -123.45692 Cyberia (Hartland Landfill) cyberia-hartland-landfill 4 39 2008-09-05T18:41:02+00:00 true open 2007-06-22T08:53:55+00:00 9 49.0727632067154 -123.9084487676 Dark Side dark-side 4 2008-06-02T23:55:24+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:16:30+00:00 Take the exit off highway #1 to Duke Point Highway. You will pull over about 6km after leaving the highway (see link above). Across from the saw mill about 100m from where Maughan Rd joins the highway. Across the road from here (+/- 50 ft) there is a faint trail into the brush with a small marker pile of rocks up on the ridge. You will know you are on the right trail when you find some old knotted climbing rope to help you down the steep part. The bouldering is a long bluff in the side of the hill facing the ocean. I think it's less than halfway down to the bottom of the hill.... perfect landings, crumbly rock when damp, good climbing. Thanks to the folks at Romper Room for the beta. 21 Duke Point Boulders duke-point-boulders 1 2009-04-09T00:40:58+00:00 true open 2007-11-07T19:54:44+00:00 Although they are a bit of a drive from Victoria, the Duncan boulders are well worth the trip. I would advice you to contacting someone who has been there before if you want to go. The trail can be quite tricky to navigate and some of the boulders are a bit hidden off the main trail. <h4>Step 1. Getting to the trailhead</h4> <p>Getting to the trailhead can be a little tricky. Once you make it to Duncan take a right at the first lights you hit in town. There should be a Chevron on the corner I believe. Follow this road for quite some time always keeping to the left. After about 7 minutes you should hit Genoa Bay road. Take a right onto it. Follow Genoa Bay road past the Marina and keep beyond the inlet. After the inlet ends the road should do a couple winds and then start up a hill. You will want to park about halfway up this gradually sloping hill, on the left hand side.</p> <h4>Step 2. Getting to the boulders</h4> <p>Once parked at the side of the road look for a faint trail leading off into the bush. Head over the ditch and up the other side and through a few bushes. You should come to a bit of a clearing and will see the trails continues up the hill a bit to your left. On the way up the trail there will be a couple clearings. Try to keep to the middle of the clearings. There are a couple trails going off to the sides of them, but these will just get you lost. The hike takes about half and hour if you go at a pretty good pace.</p> 28 48.785831 -123.606491 Duncan Boulders duncan-boulders 2 2008-05-05T18:35:24+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T00:27:54+00:00 29 East Sooke Park east-sooke-park 1 2007-11-09T00:27:55+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:14:15+00:00 15 50.083333 -124.166667 Eldred Valley eldred-valley 3 2007-11-07T18:18:09+00:00 true open 2007-05-28T16:20:50+00:00 Victoria's infamous bouldering area. Clean, steep and dry - great climbing right in town! From downtown: Take Esquimalt Rd to Lampson St and turn left onto it. At Munro turn right and park in the lot on the left. The bouldering area is at the end of this lot along the sea. There are two main areas, Fishermans Wall (by the shed), and all the rest facign the sea. Please be aware of others using Fleming Beach and be certain pedestrians aren't inconvenienced or put in danger by climbing. Please belay and stow all gear on the cliff side of the painted line. Failure to abide by the Fleming Beach bylaws can mean closure of the area. There are many stations at the Beach and they make possible many variations of all the routes. 3 48.420159 -123.410561 Fleming Beach fleming-beach 7 23 2008-06-04T23:39:16+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:20:07+00:00 26 Galloping Goose Corridor galloping-goose-corridor 1 2007-10-04T21:20:07+00:00 true From the Access Society:<br />There is no further news with regard to our proposal to the Horne Lake cottage owners' association on climbers' access to this cliff. We plan to approach the owners again, and if possible make a presentation about climbing at Horne Lake, the Access Society, and what we could do to help. We also plan to approach the regional district. We surmise that at least some owners remain concerned about possible liability, and perhaps water quality issues. The changes to the Occupier's Liability Act in 1999 strictly limited potential liability, if they didn't eliminate it, and there hasn't even been a test case. However, Horne Lake is on private land and remains officially closed. closed 2007-05-28T16:32:17+00:00 4 49.357781 -124.722548 Horne Lake horne-lake 6 20 2008-06-02T23:59:17+00:00 true open 2007-11-12T22:51:10+00:00 49 Horne Lake Boulders horne-lake-boulders 1 2008-05-15T18:49:25+00:00 false open 2007-10-04T21:16:12+00:00 "Las Olas" is made up of some sort of very solid rock with incredible friction on positive flakes and edges. There are also many beautiful pockets. The climbing is steep yet slabby with many bulges. During the cleaning of the routes there was very little loose rock that came off. The wall is about 40m high and requires 2 ropes to lower off with. All routes are equipped with bomber rap stations located on the face below the trees on top. These routes were designed to be lead climbed as walking around to top rope is almost impossible. All routes have mixed protection with a few of bolts and the rest protected by nuts and cams up to 2". Protection is excelent and bolts were only placed when there was no natural pro to be found! There are power lines close to the rock so keep this in mind when throwing the rope to rap off! They are not near enough to pose a problem to falling climbers though. Drive from Port alberni towards Tofino. When you see the crag on the left side of the road, pull over, walk ten feet down into the ditch, pull out the gear and climb. Its just that easy! 20 Las Olas las-olas 1 32 2008-06-02T23:54:25+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:52:02+00:00 36 49.2219814592623 -123.993649843865 Loggers Lane loggers-lane 1 2007-11-09T23:52:02+00:00 true open 2008-05-06T16:49:29+00:00 A shorter wall with harder sport/mixed climbing. Info and a topo on this crag can be found in the Comox Lake guidebook by John Waters. This crag is located on the north shore of Morton Lake. You'll find the trail at the turn around at the end of the campsites. The trail starts right of a no-parking sign. 52 Morton Lake morton-lake 4 2008-05-21T21:55:17+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:15:54+00:00 19 49.22361 -124.59444 Mt Arrowsmith mt-arrowsmith 1 2007-11-07T18:28:43+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:12:22+00:00 12 49.1497 -124.0511 Mt Benson mt-benson 1 2007-11-07T18:26:03+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:14:40+00:00 16 48.8014 -123.5172 Mt Maxwell mt-maxwell 8 2007-11-10T00:08:16+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:12:47+00:00 13 Mt Prevost mt-prevost 1 2007-10-04T21:12:47+00:00 true open 2007-05-15T17:09:36+00:00 Mt. Wells, along with Mt. MacDonald are located within Regional Parks and land managers are in the process of determining recreational use. Climbing has been going on here for over 50 years and will probably continue. Mt. Wells contains steep walls and roof climbs. Although it doesn't see the traffic that Fleming Beach gets, in the sunnier months this area does have a steady flow of climbers. The Secret Cliff is just outside the park boundary and the land manager is very concerned about liability. Please be repectful. Next to Fleming Beach, this area is probabluy the most visited climbing area in the Victoria area. The hike is almost no-existent, the rock is pretty bomber and there are grades for everybody. From downtown take Douglas street north until you hit the highway 1a. Follow the highway for quite a while. Just before the highway dips down into Goldstream Park, take a left onto Sooke Lake Rd. Take your second left onto Humpback Rd. After climbing up and over a large hill you will hit a bit of a junction. Turn right here and continue for a few kilometres until you see the pullout off to the left hand side of the road. The main trail into the cliffs begins about 20 metres south of the parking. Besides telltale use, there is a small road sign right at the trails' beginning. Stay right, an old trails goes left and climbs a fixed rope (replaced 2006) , and you'll pass the Prisoner Wall, then up a rocky "gully" to arrive near the Toilet Wall. By moving left (facing the cliff) you'll spy Pancake Flake, an obvious landmark climb. This is a big south facing flake with a cleaned face located 5 metres to the left of a big roof. 1 48.437999 -123.561645 Mt Wells mt-wells 4 27 2008-06-02T23:52:36+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:53:01+00:00 37 49.2195128873005 -124.004490372553 No River Gorge no-river-gorge 1 2007-11-09T23:53:08+00:00 true open 2008-05-06T16:48:46+00:00 50 Ramparts Creek ramparts-creek 4 2008-05-06T16:48:46+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:15:32+00:00 Fun climbing on a nice south facing basalt crag. This crag was first discovered and some of the lines were top-roped by a couple of nice dudes from the Tofino Search and Rescue. If heading east from Tofino, the turn off is 38.4 km from the Uculet/Tofino Junction. If you are coming form Port Alberni, The turn off is 11.5 km from the sign at the summit of Sutton Pass. Turn on to a logging road, immediately go through an open gate (never closed) and go down a hill and over a bridge. Keep going down the logging road for exactly 1 km. There will be a road heading up hill on the right. Follow this for about 1 km until you see the crag. Four wheel drive will reduce the walking time of the approach. People with low clearance vehicles will have to park 200m before the junction with the turnoff to the right. Twenty minutes into the approach you will have to cross a creek that the bridge was recently removed. Further along, part of the road has been deactivated and destroyed. Follow cairns and you will not get lost. The hike seems to take about 30 minute's total. When you get to the crag, there will be a cairn marking the overgrown trail down to the base. This trail will come out into a clearing with old logging debris. There is a cleared entrance to the base of the cliff. If you are going to set up top rope, access to the top of the cliff is from the far left side. Continue hiking up the logging road for a 100m and start bush whacking! 18 S&R Crag s-r-crag 4 31 2008-06-02T23:54:45+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:09:18+00:00 11 Samsun Narrows samsun-narrows 8 2008-05-02T00:56:25+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:55:12+00:00 40 49.2182067708827 -124.002623768181 Shaman Wall shaman-wall 1 2007-11-09T23:55:12+00:00 true open 2007-11-12T22:50:12+00:00 48 Sproat Lake Boulders sproat-lake-boulders 1 2007-11-12T22:50:12+00:00 true open 2007-11-10T00:06:40+00:00 Sugarloaf has had some recent activity. I was impressed to the size and number of climbs. The wall is about 60m tall and is perfectly vertical. The notable climb is the 45m 5.8 which is bolted. It has 13 clips and has a couple 5.8 moves. There is definately potential for more routes to be put up on these gigantic (for vic) cliffs. Sugarloaf is in the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park and its use is not condoned nor condemned by public officials. The trail built in 2004 does not cross any private land if you stick to these directions. Park in the pullout next to 3746 Sooke Rd. The trail starts 100 meters away where the power lines cross the highway near the lumber mill. About 300 meters from it's start, you will cross a creek and meet up with a forestry road. Turn left here (downstream) and follow the road to where it meets the creek (1km approx). Do not cross. Take the very visible trails uphill to a cairn at the apex of the hill. The trail leaves this trail and meanders up through the woods, generally staying close to an overgrown logging road. About 1.2kms along, you'll come to a man-made barricade of trees and some signage. Stay right and work uphill to a trench where you'll be able to pick up the trail on the right. It continues uphill for a short distance before leveling out. In approx 50 meters or so, watch carefully for a flag and cairn, they mark a left hand turn up to a couple of big logs, then right and downhill to another overgrown logging road. Walk this road for approx 1km to a cairn at the bottom of a hill. Turn right, through the woods and soon you are at another creek. Cross and follow the visible trails to the best climbing Victoria has to offer. 45 Sugarloaf sugarloaf 1 25 2007-11-12T23:08:47+00:00 true open 2007-06-22T08:53:03+00:00 8 49.0731740929456 -123.907675802166 Sunny Side sunny-side 8 2008-06-02T23:55:07+00:00 true open 2007-06-22T09:05:08+00:00 <p><a href="http://islandclimbing.com:81/pdf/SuttonBouldersGuide.pdf">PDF Guide</a></p> If you like bouldering on solid granitic rock, Sutton Creek, on Vancouver Island, is definitely a place to check out. The boulders are a short drive between Port Alberni and Tofino, and with only 30-second approaches are very accessible. There are over 45 established problems and at least 100 more waiting to be climbed. The climbing varies from slopers, crimps, heel hooks, dynos etc.... Many of the problems are gently overhanging with sloping mantle top-outs. The rock dries fast because of the south aspect and the exposed sunny boulders. The boulders are impossible to miss because they are on the side of the road on the way to Tofino. Starting in Port Alberni at the 3-way intersection on highway 4, turn right and drive towards Tofino for 41km to reach the obvious boulders on the right (north) side of the road. A useful landmark if your odometer isn't working is the Taylor River Rest Area. The boulders are 1.5km past this rest area. Bouldering began in Sutton Creek in 2002 when Nick Korvin, Carman Gibson and Mike Waters checked out the obvious boulder field beside the highway on the way to Tofino. Nick had been to the boulders on several previous occasions and had cleaned off a few problems. With further trips to the boulders more and more possibilities for problems appeared. That summer two stand out problems were established: Aces High and Bad Girl. 2003 was the first full year of bouldering with many good problems discovered and climbed. Excellent Adventure, Heeling Hands, Rock Dog and Tombstone were established. 2004 was another good year with the classics Butter Fingers, Booch and Finger Meat and the high ball Carpenter being cleaned and climbed. In 2005 a difficult sit down start to Booch was established, as well as many more easy to moderate problems. 10 49.2949 -125.34225 Sutton Creek Boulders sutton-creek-boulders 3 2008-06-02T23:56:09+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:48:28+00:00 32 49.2329307201078 -124.101563158729 Sywash Ridge Crag sywash-ridge-crag 1 2007-11-09T23:48:28+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:17:41+00:00 The Bakery offers routes of a moderate nature on steep crimpy basalt. It has a less than 5 minute approach from the car and all routes are sport bolted. The cliffs were top roped and aided many years ago, but it took frenzied gardening before the Bakery emerged as an appealing sport cliff. All routes are less than 25 metres with excellent walk-offs. Although most of the lines on the main wall (the Bread Wall) have been climbed or are current projects, ample opportunities exist for new routes to the south and west. Follow the same direction as Cougar Caves until you get to Boneyard Main, then drive along it for approx 10km. The landmark is a boulder field on your left and the Galloping Goose Trail (an abandoned railway line) across the river on the right. The cliff is up to the left - a cairn marks an enterance trail. Be aware that the road is actively used by TimberWest and you may encounter closed gates. The main gate is often locked during the weekends from 4:30pm Friday to late Sunday. An alternate access is provided by getting on to the Galloping Goose at the Sooke Potholes camping area and marching down the Goose to the crag - about 20 minutes. 25 The Bakery the-bakery 1 2007-11-12T23:41:33+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:51:14+00:00 35 49.2233297133413 -124.001065635393 The Hood the-hood 1 2007-11-09T23:51:14+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:54:29+00:00 39 49.2189762564227 -124.00206256823 The Roost the-roost 1 2007-11-09T23:54:29+00:00 true open 2007-11-09T23:44:17+00:00 30 The Steppes the-steppes 1 2008-06-02T23:57:45+00:00 true open 2007-10-04T21:15:00+00:00 The first multi-pitch route was put up around 1988 by Dave Parsons and Dave Lepard. 17 49.995 -126.7375 Wapiti Valley wapiti-valley 7 57 2008-09-09T00:04:22+00:00 true open 2007-11-10T00:00:22+00:00 42 49.1559292494856 -124.012077579008 Westwood Ridges westwood-ridges 1 2007-11-10T00:00:22+00:00 true