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Powell River region beckons rock climbers

Adventurers visit area to explore backcountry challenges
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ON THE ROCKS: A rock climber tackles crags at the popular seaside Stillwater Bluffs. Contributed photo

When Jason Addy and his wife began looking for a new community to live in, he had one condition: it would have to be a place with rock climbing.

Addy had never heard of Powell River. It was his wife, Nola Poirier, who picked it for them, seven and a half years ago.

“One of the things Nola did was buy me the Powell River climbing guide to lure me here,” said Addy. “My first introduction to Powell River was the guide book in my hand.”

Addy and Poirier chose a house near Stillwater Bluffs, where he could climb the popular seaside crags.

Michael Conway-Brown, one of Powell River’s earliest climbers, describes the crags as about 20 feet high with some challenging routes that can be baffling, including a difficult traverse.

“I remember doing it on a dare once, blindfolded,” said Conway-Brown.

When he arrived in Powell River in the 1970s, to Conway-Brown’s knowledge, no other rock climbers were in the area.

Conway-Brown said the only evidence of climbing before then was an artifact of what looked like homemade gear found on a cliff in the Cranberry area.

“When I came to Powell River looking to find someone to climb with, I couldn’t find anyone except for 15-year-old Rob Richards, who was very keen to learn,” said Conway-Brown.

Richards showed up with a rope like a two-inch diameter hawser off a tugboat, not the type of rope to haul to the top of a cliff for climbing, he said.

Addy had heard rumours about big climbing walls of granite in the backcountry, similar to the famous Stawamus Chief in Squamish. It was those cliffs of granite that beckoned early climbers.

Two of the early adventurers were a husband and wife, Colin and Christie Dionne, who both grew up in Powell River and started climbing as teenagers.

Around 1996, Colin saw the potential of Eldred Valley and climbing went to a whole new level, from seaside cragging to the 2,000-foot, multi-pitch routes of the Eldred.

“He was definitely the driving force behind opening up the backcountry,” said Christie. “I started going with him about 1998.”

Colin died tragically in a helicopter crash in 2011, but his legacy remains as more and more out-of-town climbers discover Powell River and the beauty of the surrounding area.

“It attracts a certain type of climber,” said Christie. “It’s more the adventurous types who want to be out in the wilderness and on their own doing adventure climbing.”

Every year in May, the small but tightly knit group of Powell River climbers, and anyone else interested, hold an event called Adopt-a-Crag in memory of Colin.

After a day working on trail maintenance in the backcountry, the group spends the night at Colin Arthur Dionne Memorial Campground before climbing cliffs the next day, the very first routes Colin established.

Christie still climbs and establishes routes. Conway-Brown has taken up sailing and no longer climbs. Addy regularly climbs Stillwater Bluffs, practicing for the mountains in Eldred Valley.