Main Face / First Face

[*Chris*]

Hello N.S.

A crew of N.B. climbers has the cabin rented this weekend at Main Face. We've almost all never been before so everything is new to us. Looking for suggestions for classic and/or epic routes: Gear routes from easy up to 5.10+, Sport lines up to 5.12, and yep... even an epic aid line suggestion would be much appreciated. Single pitch, link-ups, whatever...

Also... anywhere decent to get breakfast/dinner short of driving into Halifax? Other stuff we need to know (aware of parking ban already).

Cheers.

[chameleon]

Hey Chris,

I sent an email to John a few days back with some recommendations regarding new routes and projects. Check with him - if he didn't get it I can send again to you.

IMO the best quality routes are at First Face - start with Black Diamond or Ann.Waltzes to get into it. Although tempting cuz it looks cool and is fairly accessible grade, I would not recommend Blue Sky Mining [or April Cool..although lots of people like this one... - and definitely not Chalk Stars!] as these will ruin your palate. All of the other lines are excellent.

Main Face is kinda dirty. The star routes in the guide are good start. Rich and I have done a couple of linkup days of around 10x 5.8-5.10s. We did a trip report on here a couple of years ago - you could check that out for some good lines. Also, there's an unpublished sport route off the ledge left of route #52 called "Deep Throat" ~5.8+ super fun.

I would also recommend thrashing down to Neverland (or paddling if you've got a boat) - it would be worth the effort.

Have fun.
Sean

[*Chris*]

Thanks Sean.
I begged my way into a guidebook today... so I'm further along than I was earlier. Looking forward to it.

[Eager]

Popcorn is good fun,

and Mr. Puff is a must do

[Fred]

What's the skinny on Arch Wall at Columbus? Looks like there alot of classics concentrated in one area.

[mick]

Columbus is rad and highly concentrated. From one end of the climbing to the other is less than 5min walk. Absolutely worth a visit if you are in NS. Must-dos include 1492, Heavy Petter, and Danny Did Dat (aka 3D) but there are many more stellar lines within spitting distance.

[*Chris*]

Our crew partied all weekend on Main Face.

Pros: Good weather, no bugs, blueberries and huckleberries are in.
Cons: The berries are growing out of the *** routes.

Enchantment - Nice! ... but a bit dirty.
Oskar - Nice! ... but a bit dirty.
Meatgrinder - Burly!
Sleeper - *** ? Quite dirty.
Mr. Puff - Clean. Great climb.
Popcorn - Done at midnight. 1st pitch was great but then we might have gotten lost. Ended up in slabby blueberry land.

Quite a slog in to the cabin with coolers full of beer & ice on top of ropes and racks. Thanks for the beta all.

[chameleon]

Sounds like you guys had fun Chris. Mr. Puff is definitely one of my favourites too.

Although as I tried to warn you, "Climbing" at Main Face has always been a bit of a misnomer.....more like "Extreme Blueberry Picking".

S

[Fred]

It's a shame that the area doesn't see more traffice because there are definitely some stellar lines.

On a side note, some of us played on Gargoyle this weekend. Very nice line! Mark managed to clip the chain after I found all the key holds for him. hehe Just an observation but that route could definitely see some replacement bolts regardless of how much we load tested them this weekend.