A special thanks to all the climbers that helped clean-up Marble Canyon after the fires! Update below.

Highway 99 North – Marble Canyon

A fire swept through the Marble Canyon ice climbing area last summer and created a fair amount of havoc. Burnt trees had collapsed onto ‘Icy BC’ (1st pitch), Deeping Wall, and ‘Shake, Rattle, and Roll’. Numerous anchor trees (on the first tier) had been weakened and their fixed anchor slings melted. As well, the trail up to the top of the first tier had been pretty well obliterated. Since than and thanks to the efforts of the Kamloops and Williams Lake ice climbers, most of these problems have been taken care.

All of the downed trees have been removed and the trail up to the top of the first tier has been recreated and improved. Anchor trees have been tested and have had their fixed slings replaced. In those cases where the anchor trees appeared usable but might have been compromised, the anchor slings have been backed up to other trees on the uphill side. A general cleanup of the top of the first tier was also done and much loose rock and deadfall was removed from above the climbs.

Three climbs still have anchor problems. The anchor trees for ‘Dihedral Direct’, ‘Deeping Wall Right’, and ‘No Deductible’ are all unstable and should not be used. For the time being, people climbing ‘Dihedral Direct’ should traverse over to the anchor above ‘Waite For Spring’. New bolt anchors for the other two climbs will be established once we can determine ice free areas for the bolt placements.

The fire did continue uphill but doesn’’t appear to have affected the anchor trees for the second or third pitches of Icy BC. There is, however, fire debris in the bowl above pitch 2. The anchor trees for the Top Tier climbs have not been checked and should be treated with caution.