Eros Tower via "Mile High Club," 10a
September 2, 2023
On a long weekend, it’s always a shame to us when the middle of three days is raining everywhere across the PNW. We were left with a single day window where a good portion of the places we wanted to visit were still on fire or totally smoked out. Because of all this, we decided to settle for a more “tame” objective by our standards: a beautiful alpine sport climb that we’ve had on our lists for awhile.
Ever since we climbed Vesper Peak last year, we were pretty inspired by the surrounding mountains, and a few friends recommended this route called “Mile High Club” on Eros tower. There is a lot of information about this climb on mountain project, and of course with it being a sport line we didn’t really have the usual concerns of getting lost on route since you just follow the bolt line to the summit!
We left on Saturday morning from Vancouver with a really early start at 3am (ahhhh) for two reasons: to skip lines at the border, and to be either the first or one of the first parties on the route as we’d heard some warnings about loose blocks and rockfall. We did well on both these fronts actually. There were only 4 cars in line at the border, and we were at the trailhead for around 7am.
With our bags already packed from the night before, we set off on the trail pretty quickly. I led the way as I do many times with Francis, and set us off at a speedy pace which I surprised myself by being able to keep. A team of two guys headed for the same climb initially passed us, but then we passed them back and managed to keep our lead for the rest of the approach. I only write about this since it was very cool for me being the fastest team on the trail for once. I’ve put a lot of work into improving in that regard in the past year and this felt like the first time it truly paid off.
Francis on the approach
The route topo (from Mountain Project)
With our slight lead, we actually managed to be the first party on the climb for the day, which meant we’d spend no time waiting and set whatever pace we liked (going fast I mean, thankfully we didn’t slow down the party behind us)!
As we started out on the climb, Francis took the odd leads (p1,3,5,7) and even on top rope I found the first pitch a rude awakening to my still-tired self. I felt a bit stiff as I pulled some slightly overhanging moves, and I was worried after this pitch that I wasn’t climbing very well. However getting on lead for pitch 2 I started to warm up and move more freely and the rest of the climb went pretty well.
This was a new type of rock for us, which I now know is called Metamorphosed Sandstone. Although at first it felt a little blank, there are lots of very positive edges if you look for them, and the rock itself has fantastic friction. I’d guessed it was some kind of sandstone for this reason alone! As we moved through the pitches, the movements became familiar and I eased into the interesting challenges of the climb.
Eros tower! From P3 belay
Francis and I at a belay ledge
Francis coming up P4
On P5, we faced what many on Mountain Project call the crux pitch: a steep dihedral with tricky movement. It was Francis’ lead, and he absolutely crushed minus a small slip in the beginning when all the rubber on his left toe blew out! That same section had some reachy moves for me, standing on little tip toes on tiny edges trying to reach a single good crimp that would get me out of it, but I eventually pulled through and found the rest of the pitch great.
The crux pitch for me was P6. It curves around to the right and then directly up a vertical face with small ledges. Although the bolt line goes straight up, a lot of the movements zig zag left and right following good holds. It was very interesting climbing and looking back at it, I really enjoyed the challenge. In the moment though, it reminded me of a climb I did at Skaha Bluffs last year that I was hardly able to complete, and I think that added to my nerves. Since Skaha though, I’ve definitely gained some strength and technique and I’d imagine after this climb especially that I might be able to go back and send it!
Something interesting I found on almost every pitch was that it was clearly bolted by someone just a couple inches taller than me. Almost every single bolt was just out of reach from any good standing ledges, meaning I’d have to make a move or two into whatever crux the route developers were trying to protect before being able to clip something. I forget that being short is an issue when I’m trad climbing since I can place gear wherever I want to! No biggie though, I took no falls on the route, and we made it to the summit with lots of stoke all around for an excellent climb.
Me coming up the end of P5
Me coming up P7
Summit selfie 🙂
After enjoying the views for a bit, we decided to leap frog rappels with the party behind us to speed things up. Although it added a bit of faff, I am still pretty convinced it was faster than doing the raps on our own. The description of the rappels was overly complicated on Mountain Project. They should have just stated to “rap the route” with a few exceptions.. At one point I was sent down the wrong face altogether and came off rappel to scramble/downclimb over to the next rap. Thankfully it wasn’t too much hassle and it saved me from having to ascend the bouncy rope and redo the rappel.
Me on the rappels
Francis with Vesper & Sperry in the background
Once back on the ground, it was late afternoon and the sun was absolutely beating down on us. It was hot and humid, and we were starting to tire from the heat alone. Francis and I were well out of water, and stopped one more time on the descent to refill and chug some nice fresh and cold water from a stream. Feeling somewhat refreshed, we made a fast descent to where there was finally shade before stopping for some snacks. I’m not quite sure when it was but at some point the idea of grabbing Mexican food while we’re down in the states had occurred to me, and I could not get it out of my head. Even in the tiniest town in Washington, we have found that you’re guaranteed to find far superior Mexican food than anywhere in Canada. Anyways, it’s always hard to not be tempted by a massive plate of excellently cooked enchiladas after a climb isn’t it?
Some cool rock on the trail!
More cool rock on the trail!
We made the descent back to the car quickly with food in mind, and played our favourite game of coming up with the most atrocious “Would you rather?” questions to pass the time. One of my favourites that we came up with is “Would you rather have to introduce yourself by saying your instagram handle before your name, OR drive a PT cruiser for a year?”
We did indeed stop for the most incredible plate of Mexican food at a random diner in a tiny town called Granite Falls, before making the drive back home, arriving just before midnight. Another full but very awesome day under our belts!
Gear
70m rope, 12 sport draws and 4 alpine draws (good for extending some of the bolts around corners)