North America, Canada, British Columbia, Snowpatch Spire, East Face, "Hockey Night in Jersey," Bugaboos

Publication Year: 1995.

Snowpatch Spire, East Face, “Hockey Night in Jersey,” Bugaboos. From August 7 to 11, Keith Johnson and I established an 11-pitch route (V, 5.9, A3) on the east face of Snowpatch Spire. We started 100 feet to the right of the clean, left-facing corners of Warrior Way and followed a beautiful straight-in crack system. On two pitches, the cracks widened to more than 4 inches, requiring large camming units. Toward the end of the sixth pitch, the Tom Egan Memorial route was joined for the pendulum into the slot behind the Penalty Blocks. An awkward traversing pitch to the left led to the base of a right-curving crack on the left side of the striking white headwall. A challenging pendulum at the end of the curving crack led to easier climbing and the top of the shoulder where Banshee finishes. We headed down to the Penalty Blocks, where we spent a second night, before some tricky rappelling down Warrior Way to the glacier.

Stephen C. Grossman