Howser Towers - West Faces

The granite spires of the Bugaboos, in eastern British Columbia, are the North American version of Patagonia or the Trango Towers. With perfect rock, nice huts and campgrounds, reasonable approaches (though climate change is taking its toll on the glaciers) and proximity to Calgary and Vancouver, it is no wonder that the Bugaboos are exploding in popularity. The Howser Towers are the tallest peaks in the small range, and their west faces, hidden from view, offer an incredible 1000+ meters of vertical relief, an ocean of granite splitter cracks and endless corners for the 5.8 to 5.12+ climbers. And of course, perhaps the best free climb in Canada (North America?), the ultra-classic Beckey-Chouinard on South Howser (line 26).

Route List

1: North Ridge Integral, 5.8+, Finlay, Gale, Gibson, Johnston, Styles, Wessel, 1946

2: North-Northwest Face, 5.10, Campbell, Knowler, Zvengrowski, 1967

3: Northwest Buttress, 5.10 A1, Beckey, Greenwood, 1963

4: Eye of Providence, 5.12-, Simms, Verwey, 2012

5: All Along the Watchtower, 5.12-, Robinson, Walseth, 1981/Donahue, Harvey, 1996

6: Armageddon, 5.12+, Copp, Pennings, 1999/Birdwell, Huey, 2016

7: Bunny Fu Fu, 5.11+, McGee, White, 2006

8: Warrior, 5.11 A3, Burton, Sutton, 1973

9: Spicy Red Beans, 5.12-, Greene, Tague, 1997/Lavigne, Walsh, 2011

10: White Bread and Christ, 5.12a, Giesler, Lavigne, 2012

11: Dodging Deanna, 5.10+, MacDonald, McLane, 2014

12: The Real Mescalito, 5.11+ C1, Johnston, Lavigne, 2007

13: Doogie Howser, 5.11+, Gibson, Schaffer, 2012

14: The Seventh Rifle, 5.11, Jones, Qamar, Rowell, 1971/Robinson, Tschipper, 1980

15: Shooting Gallery, 5.11, George, Synnott, 1994/Lavigne, Meis, 2006

16: Young Men on Fire, 5.11- A4, Gore, Hollinger, 1994

17: The Simulator, 5.11 C2, Johnston, Kellog, 2010

18: Hey Koolaid, 5.11+, Miller, Weidner, 2005

19: Southwest Face, 5.11-, Jones, Simpson, Woodcock, 1970/Lavigne, Meis, 2006

20: Voodoo Chile, 5.11+, Berg, Hawthorn, 2020

21: Fear and Desire, 5.11 A3+, Davis, Offenbacher, 1999

22: Chocolate Fudge Brownie, 5.12+, Isaac, Webster, 1999/Kruk, Segal, Stanhope, 2009

23: Spinstone Gully, TD+ M7, Isaac, Semple, 2002

24: Compassion Club, 5.11+, Gibson, Schaffer, 2012

25: Wandering Direct, 5.11 R, McCormick, Ouellet, 2012

26: Beckey-Chouinard, 5.10, Beckey, Chouinard, 1961/Trout, 1977

27: Your Girlfriend Gave Me RPs, 5.11+, Bowlby, Tourney, 2006

28: Lost in the Towers, 5.11, Kamara, Walseth, 1980/Trump et al., 1999

29: Catalonian Route, 5.11, Burgada, Cabau, Masana, Wenceslao, 1983/Edgar, Giesler, 2003

30: Soul Cinders, 5.11R C2, Martino, Ozturk, 2003

31: Reinhold Pussycat, 5.12c, Miller, Weidner, 2006/Miller, Weidner, 2015

32: Italian Pillar, 5.11d, DeFrancesco, Stedile, 1987/Martino, Ozturk, Wright, 2004

Updates

Jan 28, 2023: Corrected a FA name on line 29.