Waddington Alpinist Trip Report

Erik at Alpinist managed to squeeze my trip report into the newswire line-up. It is a little sad that it is posted right after Tomaz Humar's Death notice. No doubt a visionary alpinist.

Climbing In Pakistan 2008

Canadian Hainabrakk Expedition from alpine summits on Vimeo.


Simon Meis and I traveled to Pakistan in the summer of 2008. We set up a base camp in the Trango Valley below Nameless tower for 4 weeks. We were successful on several ascents and managed to establish a new route on Hainabrakk Peak. The climb went straight up the centre of the East face, it was 1200 meters long with difficulties up to 5.11+R, A2. Over the course of 3 days we climbed the route using only 1 pin (no bolts) and we free climbed 32 of the 34 pitches. We captured some film while climbing and we took some great photos, enough to put together a short clip (10 min) of the climb. "the Choice" ED 3 1200m 5.11R A2.

Waddington Range Trip Report 2009

Alpinist  Newswire Trip Report

If you are interested I've posted our trip report from Alpinist.

An experienced Canadian team added a significant new route to British Columbia’s Coast Range this summer.

At the end of August, Canadians Joshua Lavigne, Craig McGee, Scott Everett and Carlyle Norman flew into the range and set up base camp on the Sunny Knob outcrop located on the south side of the upper Tiedemann Glacier. As a warm up, they climbed Skywalk Buttress (ED1 5.9, 600m) then split into two teams. Lavigne and McGee were successful on a new route, Defiance (ED2: 5.12 A3, 1450m) a total of 28 pitches with lots of simul-climbing on the relatively popular South Side Mt. Combatant (3756 meters) via the Incisor. Meanwhile, Everett and Norman had planned a 1500-meter traverse from the Gnat’s Tooth to Serra One, but retreated when warm temperatures caused significant rockfall on the upper mixed pitches.

Mt. Combatant has routes on all its major buttresses and is one of the area’s gems, said Alpinist correspondent Don Serl: “It may be the finest of the peaks in the Waddington Range.”

Lavigne and McGee began climbing on August 28. That day they completed the first seven pitches of the Incisor, sharing some terrain with the route Belligerence and finding “steep, technical climbing,” Lavigne said, “including multiple 5.11 pitches that were loose and runout, and a crux pitch of intricate, thin crack climbing.” They fixed their two ropes that afternoon and left their gear at the base of the wall. 

Two days later (we did the reci climb on the 28^th, rested on the 29^th and then started climbing again on the 30^th)they returned and continued free climbing—save for one 20-meter section of A3, the route’s only aid—to just below the summit of Incisor, 15 pitches up. The next day, September 1, they found eight pitches of rock along the Jawbone that was “loose and dangerous and at times completely terrifying,” Lavigne said. This took them to the base of Toothless Tower, where they found excellent rock that led them to the summit of Combatant

Sources: Joshua Lavigne, Don Serl

North Howser Tower "the Real Mescalito"

In the summer of 2007 Crosby Johnston and I blitzed up a new line on the West face of the North Howser Tower, you can check out the newswire for the trip at Alpinist. 

...The planned line in my mind, sketched together from four previous trips to the west face, connected a lower corner system (The Shooting Gallery) to the Seventh Rifle gully and then upwards into the cracks in the vicinity of the fictitious line, Mescalito (due to a mistake in the AAJ, Mescalito [VI 5.9 A3-] on El Capitan was transposed onto the North Howser Tower and listed as a new route, resulting in a number of subsequent confusions). We hoped the new line would provide a free route straight up the middle of the west face, filling in the gap on the topo where Mescalito had been drawn mistakenly. Nervous anticipation settled in as we prepared and repackaged our gear for the next day, paring down in all ways possible: no bivy gear, light approach shoes, a single set of crampons, one ice tool and one head lamp...

Welcome to Joshua Lavigne's blog

 

Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog, I just started today so there are a few empty spots. Over time I hope to fill it up with photos, videos, trip reports and upcoming guided trips. Thanks for looking and if you have any comments feel free to e-mail me at alpinesummits@gmail.com.

Peace