Balrog

As I continue to scan/archive my negative and slide collection, there's more than a few that bring back some pretty great memories.  A number of years ago, I had the good fortune of accompanying Raphael Slawinski on an attempt of Balrog at Yamnuska. Although it has been eclipsed in more recent years by routes that are much harder technically, Balrog still retains a reputation; it's a route that will never become casual in the face of advancing grades due to its scale, commitment, and nature of the rock.  And in its day, it was the hardest route at Yam. For me, and many others, it had a mythical aura to it. The giant overhangs, the stories of Brian Greenwood's attempts and final success. Every time I'd walk underneath it, en route to much easier climbs, I'd stare up until almost falling backwards.

This is a photo of Raphael on the third pitch, a leftward traverse under the huge lower roofs that dominate the route.  I remember this as being a fantastic pitch - not as difficult as it looked (at least from my perspective), with incredible position and good protection. We continued that cold day until the cold drove us down - I think we got up 8 pitches. I struggled and followed Raphael as best I could, following in the footsteps of the masters (including Raphael himself), and the legends I grew up reading about.  Although the rock isn't great in a number of places (parts of the route had very bizarre rock, unlike anything I've seen at Yam), and the climbing sometimes devious, it was - for me at least - like climbing in a museum. As though every section I passed over held a special history. When we retreated, Raphael led me over to a series of rappels that I'll never forget.  He and Will Gadd had been working on the line which would eventually become Yamabushi. It traced a bolted, bold path up and through the giant overhangs themselves....and therefore it was back over these giant overhangs we went in a straight line. Being suspended some 40+ feet away from the wall, over 300 feet above the ground, still makes my hands sweat. At the end of the second last rap, which fortunately put us on a big ledge very close to the bottom, I was so dazed when it was done that I unclipped from the ropes before clipping into the anchor. Raphael, ever methodical and professional, simply pointed it out to me...I laughed nervously, mumbled my acknowledgement, and shook my head at my carelessness in the face of such terrain, in front of one of North America's best alpinists (though he might shy away from the title). These are the lessons we hold forever.


We talked about returning to complete it, but our schedules never lined up and Raphael finished the route with another partner - someone I'm sure he probably was able to swap leads with. Some days I dream about returning, but I'll be satisfied, will hold onto these moments always, even if I don't.