Snowpatch Spire - East Face

Second only to the west faces of the Howser Towers in size but much steeper and a lot easier to access, the east face of Snowpatch Spire has been one of the main playgrounds of the Bugaboos since Fred Beckey (again!) opened the first line on the wall in 1959. In 2015, it became home to one of the hardest free big wall lines in the world, the Tom Egan Memorial Route at 5.14a.

Unfortunately, in December 2022, the fault line of Bugaboo Corner finally gave way, and a large portion of the lower right face came crashing down the glacier. Many routes, including Tom Egan, are now gone. The upper portion of the ultra-classic Sunshine Crack, on the edge of the face, might still be climbable if an alternative start can be found.

This photo was taken in October 2022, a few months before the rockfall. It shows the extent of the damage and the lines have been drawn for historical reasons, but anything that touches the red area or has a star in the route list is damaged and likely unclimbable.

Route List

A: Rockfall of December 2022

1: Left Hand var., 5.9, Boeking, Hall, Hall, 1986

2: Direct var., 5.10-, Geoff, MacAllister

3: Snowpatch Route, 5.8, Arnold, Bedayn, 1940

4: Honeymooners var., 5.9, Benoliel, Hamilton, 1989

5: Lost on the Beckey, 5.12, McGee, Walsh, 2017

6: Beckey-Mather, 5.7 A2, Beckey, Mather, 1959

7: Johnston-Kruk, 5.12-, Johnston, Kruk, 2008

8: Vertical Party, 5.9 A2, Arbos, Clotet, 1993

9: East Face Diagonal/Slanting Sinkers, 5.7 A3/5.13+, Carman, Chouinard, Tompkins, 1971/Brazeau et al., 2021

10: Sendero Norte, 5.12c, Brazeau, Walsh, 2007/Finlay, Kruk, Segal, Stanhope, 2009

11: In Harm’s Way, 5.8 A3, Cole, Richey, 1975

12: Deux Ex Machina, 5.9 A3, Jefferson, Saunders, Shervais, 1974

13: Welcome to the Machine, 5.11+, Berg, Kadatz, Walsh, 2015

14: Minotaur, 5.12-, Moorhead, Walsh, 2011

15: Sunshine Wall *, 5.10, Breashers, Higbee, 1975

16: Les Bruixes Es Pentinen, 5.10+ A3, Besora, Bou, Queipo, 1997

17: Parker-Brashaw, 5.9 A1, Brasahw, Parker, 1977

18: Labyrinth, 5.12-, Simms, Walsh, 2009

19: Tekenika *, 5.12+, Mair, Mayr, Renzler, 2005

20: Men with Options *, 5.12, Giesler, Johnston, Lavigne, Meis, 2014

21: Chercher la Femme *, 5.12+ A0, Gibson, Schaffer, 2012

22: Warrior’s Way *, 5.10 A3+, Dannerbeck, Rick D, Jirka, Jirka, 1993

23: Hockey Night in Jersey *, 5.9 C3, Grossman, Johnston, 1994

24: Sweet Silvia *, 5.12, Hair, Harvey, Jackson, Luebben, 1997

25: Tom Egan Memorial Route *, 5.9 A3/5.14, Hatten, Simpson, 1978/Segal, Stanhope, 2015

26: White Ducks in Space *, 5.7 A3, Orvig, Richardson, 1987

27: Power of Lard *, 5.12, Dengler, Lamprecht, 1996

28: Hobo’s Haven *, 5.7 A4/5.13-, Beyer, 1976/Brazeau et al., 2021

29: East Columbia Indirect *, 5.12-, Brazeau, Lank, 2012

30: Bugaboo Corner *, 5.10, Davies, Derouin, Rowe, 1971

31: Sunshine Crack *, 5.11-, Lowe, Scott, 1980

Updates

Feb 8, 2023: Updated name of line 2 from "Right Hand var" to "Direct var".

March 7, 2024: Graphic design update.