Will Gadd reports from the Helmcken Falls, Canada

It's that time of year again: time for that particular spray ice at the Helmcken Falls in Canada! And for the third year running Will Gadd and Tim Emmett have returned to this winter wonderland in the hope of completing their mammoth Spray On, a route which might well be the most overhanging ice climb in the world. This year, unsurprisingly, they find themselves in superb company and Gadd has now provided planetmountain with the details.


Helmcken Falls 2012
by Will Gadd

"Conditions are excellent. There are now two new routes on natural gear, not so hard but really cool that I and Chris Giesler did, plus another one is on the way. The bolts on Spray On have been uncovered and Klemen Preml and Raphael Slawinski are working on that.

Sarah Hueniken and John Freeman are doing a new bolted line that will be reasonable, Will May and Chris Giesler have bolted a hard line that so far nobody can come close to, it's an epic long pitch. Tim Emmett, Klemen Preml and I are working on that too, we'll see if we're fit enough to come anywhere near it. So far we haven't!

Because the floor of the cave is 25m higher than last year we're starting at the base of the second pitch of Spray On. It's really amazing to see how the place has changed, there are huge quantities of ice this year and it's all very, very different.

More people are coming, some are leaving, it's a good scene here at Helmcken Falls Lodge! There's a really good crew here this year and more is getting done than ever before."

Check out our 02/2011 interview with Will Gadd about Spray On at the Helmcken Falls