On our way out to Squamish we were hoping to stop in the Coquihallas and climb Yak Peak. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. Despite the forecast calling for clear skies, when we awoke in the morning we couldn't even see the mountain due to the heavy cloud cover. We kept in the back our minds while we were in Squamish though, and the forecast looked good as we were leaving, so we thought we would try again. This time, the skies remained clear all day.
We decided to climb the popular route Yak Check 5.9, which climbs the lower pitches of Yak Crack and the upper pitches of Reality Check. With around 2000 feet of mostly sustained climbing it was one of the biggest climbs we've done. Here is Kristal on the approach pitch, with a long way to go.
Me starting up the second pitch.
Kristal on the 8th traverse pitch.
And on the final friction slab pitch.
It was a pretty cool climb, although had quite a bit of crumbly rock and questionable gear placements. The summit was worth it though.
The biggest surprise was the enormous snow field we had to traverse on the back to get back down. Here is Kristal gingerly making her way across, with nut tool in hand to dig into the snow in case she slipped.
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