Recently, I've been getting a lot of questions about the bouldering areas in the Okanagan from many climbers, new to the region and old-time residents alike. This is great because people are starting to get psyched to get out and sample the goods. However, with so much development over the past few years, and very little communicated info, it's tough to know much about some of the OK's bouldering areas. For the few of us who have been to and developed in most of these areas, we often forget that while there are guidebooks for the larger areas like the Boulderfields and Cougar Canyon, there is pretty much nothing out there about many of the other areas. So, I want to put out this snapshot of almost all of the areas in the Okanagan right now.
Currently there are over 15 bouldering areas with a massive diversity of rock, styles, settings and probably well over 1000 established problems with room for much more. There are a couple areas I haven't had the chance to venture into (farthest south), but I'll give a rough idea of them here.
Map of OK bouldering areas...
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Areas:
1) Cougar Canyon- Located in Kalamalka Provincial Park is Cougar Canyon. It's a popular hiking and sport/trad climbing area. At the bottom of the canyon is a collection of extremely featured boulders. The rock type is Gneiss and there are over 100 problems from V0-V11. There is a bouldering guide for Cougar available at True Outdoors stores throughout the OK.
2) Ellison Provincial Park- Located SW of Vernon, Ellison is a popular camping/ swimming/ climbing area with beautiful beaches and great rock. There are also some sport/ trad climbs. The bouldering is all lakeside with beautiful views. There rock is solid granite and there are about 20-30 problems from V0-V6ish with harder highballs. Ellison is home to the classic traverse on the lakeside cliff.
3) Pebble Beach- A small area right beside the lake with beautiful views. There is a handful of problems including a few classics. With a large cave hanging near or right over the lake depending on the time of year, as well as a few other boulders, this is a fun little spot. The rock type is Gneiss and is generally solid.
4) The Boulderfields- This is the business in OK bouldering right now. The Boulderfields has the largest variety and quantity of problems in the region. Located at a higher elevation, this area doesn't usually "open up" until April and "closes" in November. The rock is very diverse Gneiss with many features and styles from V0 to V11 right now (harder projects are definitely out there and in the works). There are about 500 problems with room for hundreds more. I somehow managed to find the time to write the guide for this area and it is available at BTC climbing gym and True Outdoors throughout the Okanagan.
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New Granite Areas- On the road to the Boulderfields, but further south, there are 2 new granite areas. One is on the way to Chute Lake and the other is just south of the lake. Both areas look to have some amazing lines on granite that is typical of higher elevation areas in the OK (some good features, but generally just enough to make things happen). Like the Boulderfields, these areas would have an April to November season. We haven't really had a chance to get into these areas yet and give them some love. Maybe you want to?
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Isintok Lake- West of Summerland at a higher elevation is Isintok Lake. On the hillside above the lake, in the forest and in a clear cut, are a bunch of very interesting boulders. The rock is granite, but it also has quartzite knobs on it in some spots. There are probably going to be 30ish problems here generally in the moderate to hard range. The season is similar to that of the Boulderfields. There is some great lakeside camping here and only a few problems have been established so come stay a while, and put up the rest!
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Skaha Bouldering- Yes, in the uber popular sport climbing area of Skaha exists some excellent bouldering. With a little bit of everything from vertical and techy to completely horizontal and thuggish, all on great gneiss, it's well worth having a look. There are probably 40-50 (just a guess, likely more) problems in a few different spots in Skaha and they range from V0 to V10 at this point.
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Badger Bluff- South of Skaha and up on the hill is this cliff band. With some techy and lots of steep climbing on good gneiss, this is yet another beauty spot. Currently I'm unsure of how many lines there are here, but it's more than enough to keep people busy. Problems run from easy to about V8, with room for even harder stuff.
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Winter Pig Hotel- The newest addition to OK bouldering, this area was "discovered" by Doug Orr in the past few months, and in true Doug fashion, he immediately shared it with everyone (what a community guy). There's a lot to be said for a guy that doesn't keep these areas just for himself and is always willing to provide more than enough info to get people out. Props to Doug! Oh yeah, so the Winter Pig is literally a cave stretching uphill for 200 feet! No Joke! In some spots it easily provides for 30+ feet of climbing and generally the rock is solid! Yes, it's real. With very horizontal bouldering on average, this cave has currently put out some great moderate lines and will soon be putting out lines of V10/11 and much harder if anyone wants to send them. It's difficult to find much that's easy in this Pig!
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Boulder on the Bench- This is a great little spot located on a small bench/ plateau overlooking Skaha lake. With a friendly approach, great landings and a handful of fun problems on solid Gneiss, this is a fun area. Problems range from V0/1 to about V9 with possible room for a harder project. This area is great early in the year as it is often warm and free of snow in Feb.
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The Butcher Shop- I haven't been into this area yet, but Doug has stated that is also home to some amazing problems. I believe that some of the south OK's classics are in this area. Again with more than enough to keep people busy on solid Gneiss it's well worth a look.
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Shittake Boulders- Just east of Okanagan Falls, the Shittake Boulders are another great early season area. Located below and on the tiers of a cliff, there are some striking lines in this area. Not a ton of development has occurred here, with more to be done, but it looks like the area could hold 30-40 problems (or possibly more on the higher tiers) with lines currently from V0 to the higher single digits. The rock is again Gneiss and is bomber.
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Vasseaux Lake Area- South of Okanagan Falls in the Vasseaux Lake area, I know Doug and the boys down south have done some development in what sound like some great spots. I haven't done much down there, so I'm just going to have to say it's there and it's rumored to be good!
Wow, that was a lot, but hopefully this opens the eyes of people looking to see how much bouldering there is throughout the Okanagan. If you want more info on any of the areas let me know at okbouldering@gmail.com
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