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. 

Kynoch Rock

We left home planning to visit Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and the Michigan UP. Instead, the UP was a side trip. We stayed nearly two weeks in Algoma. It's always wonderful to find "new-to-me" areas in places one doesn't expect. 

Truth is, those places are everywhere but climbers get stuck in routines, expecting to find more climbing in the usual spots. What was originally a UP trip became a Kynoch rock trip. We stayed there twice over the course of three weeks, sampling a good amount of the climbing, and knowing all the while, that we'd be back. The ambiance is similar to that of Lac Long (in Portneuf Quebec) as it was before it was "discovered."

There is tons of loose rock and poison ivy here, but otherwise the good outweighs the bad. There is free camping alongside a river not far from the climbing. It is behind a locked gate so it's super quiet. There's no cell reception. The climbing is multi-pitch, largely moderate sport climbing that is well bolted. Local climbers (Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie are the closest big towns nearby) are friendly and welcoming. There is a great free PDF to Kynoch and lots of potential for more climbing routes here and in this region more generally.

Bullets Before Breakfast

Final pitch of BBB

A small fee is required to get through the gate.

The White River runs along the road

The Firemaster