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Snakes & Ladders - Snootli Wall

Devon Girard's picture
Description: 

Fantastic 12 pitch climb ranging around 5.9 to 5.10a/b up the western wall of Snootli's main face. Bolted rap stations, mixed protection relying mostly on bolts.
F.A Pitch 1-4 Steven Murray 2001, Pitch 5-10 Steven Murray & Jia Condon 2002, Pitch 11-12 Jia Condon & Grant McCartney 2013.

This climb starts more climbers right (west) of Spirit Walker (or 'Snootli Express') and is mostly modest angle slab climbing with moments of crack allowing for laybacking and some steeper more difficult slab bulges. Sections can be runout at times but cruxes are often well protected. Pitches are 60m long and rapping requires two 60m ropes.
A single rack up to size 2 or 3 with emphasis on a few smaller pieces (0.4) is recommended and numerous long runners (~6 alpine draws and up to ~12 total draws). Lead with a nut-tool to clean cracks for placements as Bella Coola routes does not get enough traffic.

See the topo attached for more details on the pitches and route finding. Of note, for pitch 4 the route passes through a thick but short swath of stunted hemlock after a bolt. Push through the bush and look for another bolt.

The top-out on the climb is a tree'd ledge and a descent trail goes down from this ledge if you'd rather not rappel. Go west on the tree ledge and look for flagging. The descent trail involves sections of slab, some hand-lines and chains, and can involve some route finding so give ample time and daylight.

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Length: 
12 pitches