Issue 12

Tales of Vertical Trails

Bloody Coleslaw

Early in the Spring of 2023, I was teaching a private rock rescue day with Paul Woloschuk and Tanner Chell when a scrappy looking solo climber rolled up to the crag. At this point, I didn't really know Per Vermoland all that well.

Issue 12

Bloody Coleslaw

The sight of him was unexpected. As our day wrapped up, I had an itch to bolt a line that had been on my mind for quite some time. I invited Per to join and we all headed up the route called After, to the big tree ledge. I knew that this route would be a high quality addition, as I had scouted it many times.

The four of us drilled, cleaned, installed bolts and had a fun time. Per had famously stated, “If anyone fell leading at Abraham Slabs they would be turned into bloody coleslaw.” We gave Per the first go at our new 45m pitch route on super sharp, high quality limestone. Bloody Coleslaw was a fun addition to the zone, and developing it was a good time!
Whirlpool Notch
Liz Taylor on (un)finished Business

More Tales of Vertical Trails:

Know When To Fold ‘Em

Know When To Fold ‘Em

I had this somewhat unrealistic vision of a line up the most dominant fold on the east face of Mount Elliott, and I had only one day off work in July to complete it. Why not give it a shot? The stars aligned and Phil was available, so we packed our bags and prepared...

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Ultimate Nordegg Thing

Ultimate Nordegg Thing

During my early years of development, I had added two multi pitch routes to the Yambraham area. I knew we could get a lot of climbing on the way up the southwest and have six short rappels to exit off the eastern Yambraham side. The day promised to be hot and we had a...

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Whirlpool & Lookout Slabs

Whirlpool & Lookout Slabs

Spring of 2022 brought new energy and I was excited to develop. Unfinished Business was definitely on my mind. I convinced Phil Bietz to head west and give it a cleaning pass with me. Unfortunately, the weather was much poorer than forecast at Freyja Wall, so we had...

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