Acephale
Posted on September 28, 2010 by Scott in rock climbing
The Bow Valley’s premier sport crag sits nestled on the north end of Heart Mountain high above the Trans Canada Highway. It’s a must-see for anyone looking for the highest concentration of difficult sport climbs in the Bow Valley. The beautiful grey limestone walls are streaked in blues and yellows and littered with pockets, pods, pinches, crimps and even the occasional tufa. Unfortunately, with only a handful of 5.10’s and 5.11’s, there isn’t much for the sub-5.12 climber.
CONDITIONS
The predominantly north facing walls of Acephale see little sun, making it a perfect summer crag. However, the left end of the Lower Wall gets a little sun until early afternoon and is a good place to warm up before heading to the shaded and chilly walls of the Upper Wall. Down Under also receives sun until early afternoon, and is almost guaranteed to be crowd-free.
After moderate to heavy rainfall, the walls can seep quite heavily and usually require a week of good weather to produce dry rock climbs. If you have your heart set on climbing at Acephale after rainfall, your best bet is the left end of the Lower Wall as it has fewer pockets and sees sun for at least part of the day, so it tends to dry faster than the heavily-pocketed Upper Wall. The overhanging nature of the climbing means it is possible to climb in light or sporadic rainfall.
TRAILHEAD
From Canmore, head east on the Trans Canada Highway towards Calgary. Trip your speedometer once you pass Exit 105 for Lac des Arc.
From Calgary, head west on the Trans Canada Highway towards Canmore. Take exit 105 for Lac des Arc and re-enter the Trans Canada Highway heading east and trip your speedometer.
From the Lac des Arc overpass, you will pass over Heart Creek, then past a small body of water on your right behind by a guard rail. At the 2.2 km mark (1.4 miles) just past the guard rail pull into the parking area in the ditch on your right.
APPROACH
From the parking lot, follow a narrow but well-worn trail up a short hill where it will intersect another trail. From the T-intersection in the trail proceed left following it towards the power lines crossing the small creek bed, and ignoring the wooden bridge on the left. About twenty meters to the east of the small creek bed, the trail veers into the woods on your right-hand side.
Follow the trail for about 10 minutes and you will encounter a Y in the trial. Proceed right. The trail leads to a beautiful waterfall, perfect for a cool down. From the waterfall, switchbacks lead up the hill on the left to a wooden log walkway and a chain hand rail heading back right across a rock slab. The trail then drops back down to the stream.
Continue along the trail crossing the stream occasionally until you reach the base of a large scree slope. Stay low and follow the trail to the left through the streambed until it re-enters the woods on your right and heads up the hill to the base of the Junction Wall.
Once at the Junction Wall, you can continue left for the Lower Wall or head up the hill to the right, following switch backs through the trees to the Upper Wall.
THE AREA
The first area you come to, about 45 minutes from the trailhead is The Junction, with four quality 5.12s to choose from. The climbing is long and sustained on slightly overhanging routes that will keep you engaged all the way to the anchors. Besides the bottom few bolts, the rock is of high quality and the routes are all good.
Continuing past the Junction to climber’s left will take you to the Lower Wall (5.10 – 5.13), with most routes in the 5.12 range. The Lower Wall has some of the best rock in the Bow Valley. You could easily spend the entire season here, completely forgetting to head to the Upper Wall. The lines tend to climb more on edges and slopers and tend to be a bit more technical than the Upper Wall.
Gery Unterasinger
on The Dark Half (13a)
© Derek Galloway
Starting back at the Junction, heading up the trail to climber’s right, leads to Hypochondriac Wall (two 5.12s), approximately 10 minutes from the Junction. After several switchbacks there will be a short trail leading to the base of Hypochondriac Wall. If you emerge from the forest at the base of a large scree slope, you’ve gone to far.
The best way to describe Hyponchondriac Wall is slightly overhanging slab climbing. Positive holds are a rare find on these lines, so a good technical base will do more for you than any amount of power. The routes are long and mentally engaging the entire way.
Another five minutes past Hyponchondriac Wall is Upper Wall (5.11 – 5.14), the area Acephale is most well-known for. The blue, grey, and yellow streaks that cover the Upper Wall are littered with pockets, pods, pinches and edges making for fun and interesting climbing. With no sun you will want a down jacket even in the middle of summer, which makes it a perfect place to escape the heat of the day while still enjoying good redpoint conditions.
Levente Pinter
on Bunda du Fora (14d)
© Derek Galloway
Down Under (one 5.10, three 5.12s) is an unjustly-neglected wall located directly below the Upper Wall. If you’ve been wanting to experience the cool pockets and pods, in the blue/grey streaks that make the Upper Wall so desirable at a more modest grade, or just want to take a break from the Upper Wall, check out the Down Under Wall. Although there are only a handful of routes they are all of good quality and worth the walk down.
To reach Down Under, head into the forest from the right end of the big slot cave on the way up to the Upper Wall. Follow a trail marked with flagging tape that contours down and to (skier’s) left to a short, 1m downclimb. Follow the base of the wall to (climber’s) right, past two large rotten caves to another short 2m downclimb to gain the Down Under wall.
GETTING HOME
Retrace your steps back to the car.
If you’re heading back west towards Canmore after a day of climbing, start by heading east on the Trans-Canada Highway for 6.4km (3.8miles) and take exit 114. Using the overpass, you can re-enter the Trans Canada Highway, heading west towards Canmore.
