West Buttress (South Howser Tower)

West Buttress of South Howser Tower
Topo digram of route.
Location	Selkirk Range, British Columbia, Canada
Range	Purcell Mountains, East Kootenay
Climbing area	Bugaboos
Route type	Trad/alpine
Vertical gain	2,500 feet
Pitches	17 to 22 [1]
Rating	5.8, A2 / 5.10
Grade	V
First ascent	Fred Beckey & Yvon Chouinard August 1961

The West Buttress of South Howser Tower is a long (up to 17 pitches, plus scrambling) classic climb, considered by many to one of the finest alpine rock climbs in the world. Although the climb is usually almost entirely on solid granite, glacier travel is necessary to access it and descend via the normal rappels on the north face. Access is typically from the Conrad Kain Hut, requiring several hours of glacier travel, and includes steep slopes on snow or ice. A fast party can climb the route in a day from the base, but quite typically the large sandy ledges about halfway up are utilized for a bivouac. Above the ledges rises the Great White Headwall, which provides the crux of the route. The route is typified by crack and dihedral climbing of a classic nature, and affords excellent protection with chocks and cams; there are no bolted anchors. The route is included in the historic climbing book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. ^[2]

History

After the first climb by Fred Beckey and Yvon Chouinard in August 1961, the route saw little traffic, since climbers of the era preferred to establish new routes to repeating the known ones. This started to change in the late 1960s as the ascents began using less aids. The now-eponymous Beckey/Chouinard route, however, remained in the aid climbing domain for 14 years, as its 5.10 difficulty surpassed the 5.9 free climbing maximum of the time. After the late 1970s, the renown of both the Beckey/Chouinard and The Bugaboos grew, transforming the area into an international summer climbing destination. ^[3]

Notable Ascents

• July 1970 (Second ascent): Completed by R. Breeze and J. Home. ^[3]
• 1975 (First free ascent): Achieved by Yosemite climbers Tobin Sorenson and Rick Accomazo, who managed to overcome the route's 5.10 crux. ^[3]

Gallery

• 
  The West Buttress rises from the left
• 
  An early pitch on the lower part of the buttress
• 
  A climber leading one of the early moderate pitches
• 
  Leading towards the classic dihedral pitches, lower part of the route
• 
  The great dihedral around pitch 8
• 
  The large sandy ledges about halfway up, a good bivouac site
• 
  The Great White Headwall above the sandy ledges, the crux of the route.
• 
  A dihedral on the Great White Headwall is the easiest way up.
• 
  The upper dihedrals, around pitch 12.
• 
  A large chimney high on the route, around pitch 15
• 
  Top of the route, the summit is a short scramble left.
• 
  Rappelling the NE Face headwall.
• 
  The lower rappel over the bergschrund
• 
  The NE Face (S. Howser Tower on the left)

See also

• Bugaboo Provincial Park
• The Bugaboos
• Mountain peaks of North America

References

1. Beckey 2013, p. 310.
2. Roper, Steve; Steck, Allen (1979). Fifty Classic Climbs of North America . San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. pp. 60–64. ISBN   0-87156-292-8.
3. Pullan 2016, p. 74.

Further reading

• Beckey, Fred. (1962), West Face of the South Tower of Howser Spire. American Alpine Club.
• Beckey, Fred (2013). "South Howser Tower, West Buttress, Beckey-Chouinard Route". Fred Beckey's 100 Favorite North American Climbs. Patagonia. ISBN   978-1-938340-09-3 . Retrieved 2025-10-20.
• Pullan, B. (2016). "Climb 7: The Beckey/Chouinard". The Bold and Cold: A History of 25 Classic Climbs in the Canadian Rockies. RMB Rocky Mountain Books. pp. 73–77. ISBN   978-1-77160-115-3 . Retrieved 2025-10-20.

External links

• Mountain Project ^{[ unreliable source ]}
• Bugaboo Provincial Park