Thursday, July 3, 2014

Recommended Route(s)

Brad Atkins on THE DARK KNIGHT on the Dog Beach Wall at Ellison Provincial Park, Vernon, B.C
An absolute classic mixed route in Vernon, British Columbia!!!!!!!!

THE DARK KNIGHT - 5.10d - 25m  - 3 Bolts + Gear to 2" *** 

A super aesthetic route that goes up and unbelievable prow/roof perched over Okanagan Lake. One of my favourites in the area!

The route is located at Ellison Provincial Park just outside of Vernon, B.C. This is a great local granite crag right on the lake with tons of atmosphere, tons of good crack climbing, awesome bouldering, adjacent camping and tons of great swimming spots.

The Dark Knight follows an awesome hand crack, to an exposed arete, a sneaky transition & finally an almost upside down roof finger crack and one hell of a finish. It is a variation of 'THE PILLAR' 5.8, and the 'BAT ROOF' 5.10 (probably done by G.Wolkoff & R.Cox in the 90's), that provides a direct line through the awesome climbing of both and ends up being one stellar route!

Have fun. Ellison is worth the visit if you are in the area. I will include the free downloadable topo link as well :) Thanks to Nadine Bodreau-Beland for the sick photo!!!

Ellison Provincial Park Bouldering & Climbing Guide

The official consensus is that the grade of the route is 10d. Please feel free to comment to get as much feedback on this as possible :)




The grand Ellison view over Okanagan Lake

John Dyck on 'WHO DUNNIT' 5.8 on the Main Wall.