The P.L.U.R.L. - Penny Lane Ultimate Reality Linkup, Squamish BC
Written by Christian Black
Team: Hayden Wyatt and Christian Black
July 2022
Everyone knows Penny Lane, 5.9, is the best climb in Squamish. The only problem is, don't you just wish it was longer? Don't you wish it went on for many more pitches, and you could climb it for hours on end?
Well, in an effort to address our unsatiated Penny Lane fervor, Hayden Wyatt and I teamed up to create a linkup that we thought recreated the best parts of Penny Lane so we could have a never-ending Penny Lane experience.
We present to you, the Penny Lane Ultimate Reality Linkup (The PLURL).
We chose to start at midnight to help recreate the experience of the early start necessary to beat the crowds to Penny Lane on a Saturday morning
I awoke at 11:15pm after a solid 45 minutes of sleep. I had hoped for at least 3 hours but the excitement and nervousness of the next day kept me restless. A quick breakfast and I was on my way to pick up Hayden so we could try to start climbing our first route at midnight.
Hayden and I had been hanging out in Squamish for the summer trying to prepare for a trip into the bush to attempt Mt. Bute, so he came up with a whacky linkup idea to whip us into big route shape; climb every major formation in Squamish in a one day. This included Shannon Falls, The Papoose, 1st Chief, 2nd Chief, 3rd Chief, The Malimute, and Slhanay. Jokingly we thought it would be good to add Squamish's most famous route to cap it off, Penny Lane. Our plan was to start at midnight and simul-climb each formation as fast as we could until we finished. By our guidebook estimation it would be around 55 pitches, all 5.10c or easier. To add to the excitement, this was my first trip to Squamish so every route we had planned would be new to me!
We had with us a double rack to #2 camalots, around 16-18 slings/draws, 4 microtraxions and a 60-meter rope. In addition, we each carried a Black Diamond 8L trail running pack to store our approach shoes, water and snacks. Concerning tactis, we opted to employ our tried-and-trued freesnake simul-climbing technique. This is a method Hayden and I developed through the years that we think combines the best elements of safety and efficiency. In short, we place microtraxions every ~rope-length to protect the leader in case the follower falls and only utilize 40 meters of rope between us to minimize rope drag. The follower is attached to the rope via a grigri on their harness and a ~1m loop of slack below the grigri attached to a locker on the belay loop to provide a cache of rope to adjust position and a secure backup. The remaining 20 meters of rope drags below the second without a knot in the end which is a much more pleasant and easily-adjustable way to climb than using kiwi coils or similar methods.
The first splitter hands pitch of Spirit of Squamish fondly reminded us of the top hand jam section of Penny Lane
At 12:08am we were tied in and I was off leading the first pitches of Spirit of Squamish, an 8 pitch 5.8 up the left side of Shannon Falls. Twenty-six minutes and two pitches later we were at the top and were quickly jogging down the trail on our way to The Papoope next door.
The 5.6R slab pitch of Hairpin was eerily reminiscent of the slab runout to the anchor on Penny Lane
By 12:59pm we were starting up The Papoose, where I quickly realized it was on the wrong route and had to rap off of a bolt on lead 20ft off of the ground. After some in-the-dark searching for the correct route, we were at the top of the 5-pitch Hairpin 5.10a route, climbing it in one long pitch over 31 minutes.
We really had to trust our feet on the 5.8 laybacking of Diedre, just like trusting the slick feet on Penny Lane
Topping out the 1st Chief
At 2:25am we were poised to start climbing 1st Chief, opting for a linkup of Diedre into Butt Light for 13 pitches of 5.9 fun. Hayden led the whole thing in two pitches and by this point we were in a pretty good flow despite sweating through the humid night temperatures. At 3:52am we stood atop the 1st Chief, quickly tagged the true summit and began the descent trail on our way to the Malimute.
The steep fingers and hands section of Quagmire Crack were quite challenging, just like that middle crux on Penny Lane with the bad finger lock
Crossing the footbridge to the top of the Malimute around 4:30am, the sun began to rise and we started to feel first bonk. We wasted a bit of time trying to rappel into the Malimute rather than just hike to the base, but at 6:09am we stood atop the formation once again, having climbed Canadian Compromise into Quagmire 5.10c. The 3 pitches of 5.10 climbing had us warmed back up and we were starting to feel a second wind of energy thanks to the rising morning sun.
We noticed there weren't any fixed anchors atop the pitches of Angels Crest, so we were glad to have practiced building natural anchors so many times at the top of Penny Lane.
After a quick drive up the FSR road to the parking for Angels Crest 5.10b, we briefly refueled with some food and energy drinks at the car before hiking up to start the mega-classic climb up the 2nd Chief. Starting at 6:50am, Hayden led the first half of the route in one pitch while I took over the second half for the second pitch. One hour and 56 minutes later we stood atop the 2nd Chief where were met with our friends bringing us a resupply of water, food, and some #3 and #4 camalots for the rest of the day. Again we quickly tagged the true summit and ventured over to what would become the most horrendous part of the day: down-scrambling the incredibly loose and sketch North North Gully.
The adventurous choss of the North North Gully had us carefully watching our footing, similar to when you walk at the top of Penny Lane and try not to shower rocks on people below
Entering the gully, it quickly became apparent that extra caution would be required on the descent. The entire gully is made up of deteriorated granite, loose blocks and even a couple of cliff drop-offs that required rappelling. The second of these rappels resulted in my favorite part of the outing which was watching Hayden disappear through a vertical hole in tree foliage.
We found the North North Arete route to be quite ledgy and alpine feeling, with the abundance of loose sand on the ledges recreating perfectly the sandy ledge atop Penny Lane.
Eating some anti-bonk sausages atop North North Arete
Eventually we made it to the base of the North North Arete 5.9+ on the 3rd Chief around 11:10am unscathed from the harrowing descent. Halfway through the route our tiring minds reached second bonk and we wasted a decent chunk of time route-finding the final section of the route before topping out at 1:00pm.
After a long journey bonking up the third Chief, we headed down the trail to Slhanay to climb Birds of Prey, where we thought the first pitch slab finger crack felt just as locker as the fingerlocks on Penny Lane
The early afternoon sun was beating down on us as we hiked the descent trail from the top of the 3rd Chief to the base of Slhanay. Arriving to the base just after 2:00pm, we continued to bonk our way up Birds of Prey 5.10b in just over an hour with two simul-climbing pitches.
The final pitch of Birds of Prey
To culminate our journey, we very slowly made our way over to the Smoke Bluffs to climb no other than Penny Lane itself. After the previous 54 pitches of Penny Lane-esque climbing, we felt well prepared for the challenge ahead
From the top of Slhanay, we made no quick time meandering to the cars and driving to the Smoke Bluffs parking lot. Around 4:45pm we finally roped up and climbed the ultra-classic Penny Lane 5.9, using all of our previous skills from the day to ensure our success.
At 5pm, standing atop Penny Lane, we looked behind us to see all of the glorious formations we had climbed that day. Tired and bonking, we finally felt satiated and, for once in our lives, we didn't wish to climb Penny Lane anymore
If any of you, like us, are Penny Lane lovers, we humbly invite you to experience the grandeur of the Penny Lane Ultimate Reality Linkup for yourselves. Below are our route stats, we know they can be beaten so we hope some folks get after it!
Start time: 12:08am (at the base of Shannon Falls)
Shannon Falls - Spirit of Squamish 5.8, 8 pitches - 26 minutes
The Papoose - Hairpin 5.10a, 5 pitches - 31 minutes
First Chief - Diedre to Butt Light 5.9, 13 pitches - 1h14m
The Malimute - Canadian Compromise to Quagmire 5.10c, 3 pitches - 41 minutes
Second Chief - Angel's Crest 5.10b, 13 pitches - 1h56m
Third Chief - North North Arete 5.9+, 7 pitches - 1h42m
Slhanay - Birds of Prey 5.10b, 5 pitches - 1h10m
Smoke Bluffs - Penny Lane 5.9, 1 pitch - 12 minutes
End time: 5:00pm (top of Penny Lane)
Total time start to finish: 16h52min