Carpe Diem Direct Start

I just wrapped up a 6-day blast to Quebec. It was more than 30 hours of driving, 100 miles of snowmobile travel, and several nights spent bouge-style winter camping. Our objective was the direct start to a 130-meter backcountry classic called Carpe Diem 26 miles up the Riviere Godbout about 40 minutes drive northeast of Baie Comeau.

During a visit last winter Silas Rossi, Keith Sidle, Alden Pellett and myself eyed up the line and I was immediately drawn to it. If I only had more time I was certain it would be climbable with only modest effort. The route remained in my thoughts for an entire spring, summer and fall. 

Silas and I decided to put some effort in this winter. The approach to this route is arduous, and it's hard to imagine traveling 26 miles each way by snowmobile, packing the path to the route and climbing all in one day. On day 1 we did some recon and packed the trail. Days 2-4 found us camping near the route, testing a backcountry winter camping setup we hope to use for future trips. 

In the end things came down to the wire time-wise, but we established the 60-meter M6 WI6 Carpe Diem Direct Start, an amazing way to make an already classy backcountry route even more interesting. 

Riviere Godbout - Carpe Diem

 Carpe Diem, 26 miles up the Riviere Godbout, is a spectacular backcountry ice route. It sits on a giant rock mound in an isolated valley. The snowmobile access is straightforward but the approach is arduous, uphill through deep snow. We broke trail the day before and came back for the climb. This route is 130m but breaks up well as 3 pitches. After the classy first pitch (maximum star rating) it's possible to choose several lines and we climbed this as two parties. This is another good one to camp at if you have your act together. Carpe Diem was part of a larger Cote Nord trip in Feb/March of 2025.

stellar pitch one

Carpe Diem from the steep wooded approach