Real Big Drip

KAVU athlete, Jeff Shapiro and his climbing partner, Chris Gibisch travel to Canada's Ghost River for a Real Big Adventure

By KAVU

February 14^th, 2017

heading north

With a super unique photo project coming up in the Ghost River Wilderness, Chris Gibisch and I decided to go use "Recon" as our excuse to drive North and have a look at a route we've both wanted to try for a very long time.

Drive, climb, drive

With crazy schedules and conditions to take into account, it's often the case that Chris and I will go for the "smash and grab" tactic of driving all day, getting a few hours sleep in the truck.... to wake up and climb all day long. Then, celebrate, sleep, and then drive the whole next day to get home and back to more responsible behavior;-)

beginning of a Kavu day

I live for mornings where the sun cracks the horizon to light up what we came for. Crisp temps and lots of laughs led us to one of the wildest swaths of rock and ice in the area

real big drip

racking up

I love the simplicity of racking up for a route. It's the point that either you go up or you don't........either way, I always learn.

getting started

short vid of casting off

Challenging and in places, cryptic, the rock climbing was super steep and fun while we worked toward the massive ice sickle that hung proud to establish the "real big drip".

I love the unique positions that big mixed climbs provide. Standing on that ledge with a good friend, it was hard to not be psyched! Chris had just led a brilliant pitch of ice below and as so often is the case on terrain like that, he took a good size chunk of ice to the face, splitting his lip. Still smiling, the only thing he cared about was that he would still be able to grow a proper Chicago style mustache. Classic Gibisch!

pitch 3

More cool rock climbing, thin and technical and fun, led to the main hanging curtain of the upper flow of the route. Climbing up behind it was like being inside a blue room. We both laughed out loud at the hanging belay at the top of the pitch. Unique indeed!