Summit Central Tower in the Bugaboos

Pigeon spire in distance, between Snowpatch Spire and Bugaboo Spire - view from the summit of Central TowerBugaboo Spire - View from the summit of Central TowerSummit of Central TowerWhen I arrived at the Applebee Dome on the evening of Friday, August 21st, all the climbers had already planned their next day for climbing, resting or descending to the parking lot. I found an American couple who were going to climb the Bugaboos throught the NE ridge the next day and since it would be a long climb and the lady hadn't climbed for a long time, the man didn't want to add a 3rd party to slow down the climb. However, they agreed to climb Ears Between (5.8, 6pithces) with me the day after.

Saturday, I scrambled up the col under East Post, set up top rope anchors, rappelled down to the base and then climbed up a couple of crack routes by belaying myself using a grigri. Setting up the top anchors was a bit challenging because most of the rocks there were a bit loose.

By 9pm the American couple hadn't returned. I figured that, like many other climbers who had spent 18 to over 20 hours for the Bugaboo route, they would return late and proabably wouldn't have much energy to climb the next day (Sunday). I went to sleep and decided to climb Lion's Way (5.6) by myself. It has 6 pitches but some of them could be scrambled. I had learned a new way to self-belay trad climb from an Australian that afternoon. He enjoyed trad climbing by himself. One week before, when he was leading Sunshine Crack, he pulled off a kapsack-sized loose rock that landed on the lowerback and hip area of his belayer. He fell 15m. His belayer held him, not with a grigri, but with an ATC. A helicopter lifted his belayer to a hospital.

Sunday morning I left my tent at about 6pm. After some hiking, scrambling up talus and screes, I came to the base of the Central Towers. I easily located the starting location of Ears Between because of its marked with a huge unique triangle crack line. I couldn't find the starting location of Lion's Way. A climber at the camp had told me that this route was difficult to find when he climbed it a few years before. There was no numbering system here and the routes seemed to be so spreaded along the base of the towers.

Down below I saw two people walking fast on glacier towards the base of a spire. I yelled at them, "Do you know where is Lion's Way." "Not sure," they yelled back, "We're heading to Crescent Spire". My guide book lists Lion's Way under the Cresent Towers section. I looked at where they were heading to and saw a huge white flake leaning against the wall, which was the exact description of the start of Lion's Way. I walked halfway down, traversed across wide span of gully with scree and came near them. A few shouting communication across the distance indicated that I was at the wrong spot and I should head back to near where I was.

As I ascened the scree of the southwest gully, looking for signs a white flake leaning against the wall, small pebble-sized loose rock fell towards me a couple of times. But they stopped way before they could come close to me. The whole mountain was slowly thawing during the summer months. Looking down at the huge rocks on the glacier, I understood how the rocks could fall off the peaks in this thawing process. I was on a path of danger, alone, with no one else on sight. In this harsh wilderness environment, I felt like an animal focused on survival.

A couple of months before, a climber was pinned down by a huge rock when it suddenly shifted as he walked on it while descending a taus section of the Bugaboos. A helicopter flew in and lifted up that rock to free him. If a similar situation would happen to me, no one would know or call in a helicopter.

I began to wonder why I had come here to solo. I began to think of the meaning of my life. I was 45, half way through my life. What have I done with my life and what would be meaningful for the rest of my life. I couldn't remember any significant acheivement. None of my achievements seemed to be relevant here in this baren environment where only two things seemed to exist: rock and life. (No social values, recognition, reputation or fashion mattered.) I thought about my mother who had given me the most of love I had received in my life. "She is the most important thing in my life. What is the second most important thing in my life?" My ex came into my mind. My ex had been with me for 5 years until most recently he bgan to date someone through compatiblepartners.com, which I urged him to register. I had not considered him my ideal partner because of some of his physical appearance flaws, his unsatisfactory English proficiency and his not being interested in adventurous activities that I enjoy such as rock climbing. But now, all those things didn't seem matter anymore. What mattered was his love to me in all those 5 years, despite my unwilling to commit to our relationship. He loved me. "Love is the most important thing in life." "I will get back with him and live the rest of my life with him."

In my early rock climbing years I told myself that I would date only rock climbers, no one else. When I first met my ex, I learned that he enjoyed climbing trees as a boy and I felt hopeful. After a couple of times trying the climbing sport, he decided that this was not his sport. I was disappointed. Now, I realized that how narrow-minded I had been.

I eventually ascended one of the two Central Towers through the safest route - a series of 4th class gullies, after failing to locate the start of Lion's Way. At the summit I video taped myself speaking a message to my mother, telling her how I felt about her. Then I started to record a message for my ex telling him my new feeling towards him. As I spoke, I chocked up. Tears wetted my face. I felt all the love he had given me. I saw his determined face when he insisted on carrying me on his back accross a large parking lot to a hospital emergency room after I injured one foot following a fall while climbing in the Milton area.

I descended with extra care, avoiding any mis-step that may lead to a fatal fall or to be pinned down by a huge loose rock. I wanted to get home alive so I would be able to live with him for the rest of my life. As I reached to safety, I felt that it was my thought of my ex that had kept me alive.

My one-person tent lay flat on the ground. It had been blown up 20 feet into the air, circulated for a while and then landed -- I was told. The tent was damaged. I packed up my stuff, ready to head down to the Kain Hut for the night. I noticed a man sitting in his tent with an ice pack on his swallen shin. He told me that he was hit by a falling rock that morning while he was walking up towards the col between the Bugaboo Spire and the Snow Patch Spire. "I didn't hear any sound of rock falling," he said. "I just happened to look up and I saw this big rock flying towards me... I jumped. The rock hit my leg in the air and threw me to the ground head down. Glad I wore my helmet. Had I not jumped, since I was wearing crampons, the rock would have broken my leg. Had I not happen to look up that moment, the rock could have hit my head and I could be dead."

The following morning (Sunday, Aug. 24th), I hiked down from the Kain Hut to the parking lot in 2 hours and 15 minutes. That night, my ex came to the Toronto Airport to pick me up, with his new boyfriend. He saw my video message for him the next day and cried. But he decided not to get back together with me again. I did everything I could to pursuade him in the following 3 weeks. He wouldn't change his mind.