Life On Earth

Life On Earth is a fantastic 5 pitch route that receives a a fair bit of traffic despite the long approach. The route is very clean with well featured rock, and has great exposure and amazing views along its entire length. The route has some crack climbing but mainly consists of lower angle face climbing on small holds. Cruxes are often protected by bolts, and though there are definitely some runouts in general the route is well protected.

     Ledge mountain and Sky Pilot as seen from the route Life On Earth, Mt. Habrich.      

All belays are fixed with bolts. Pitch lengths and grades described below are estimates. Feel free to send me a message if corrections are needed.

     Photo topo of Life On Earth, Mt. Habrich      

See the Mt. Habrich page for details on the approach.

     Looking up from the base of Life on Earth on an unsummery mid-August day.      

P1: 40m, 5.10b. From around the right side of the arête, climb to the top of a pedestal. Clip a bolt, then move right into the left-facing corner. Climb the corner, wide at first, for several metres until a line of bolts lead left and up to the belay.

Beta:  I placed a BD#4 in the corner to protect a short section of laybacking, but this was the only place I used it on the entire route. 

     Pitch 1 of Life on Earth.      

A direct start to pitch 1 begins left of the regular route and climbs directly up the arête at 5.11c.

P2: 45m, 5.10c. Climb up the left facing corner on somewhat grainy rock through a bulge (10a) for a few metres until reaching bolts on the left face that lead left and up to the belay. The crux is near the end of the pitch.

     Looking down on pitch 2 of Life On Earth, Mt. Habrich      

P3: 50m, 5.10c. A mix of easier cracks and bolted face climbing lead to a belay on the crest of the arête. The crux is near the end, and consists of stepping left from a groove/corner and climbing a face protected by a bolt. 

Beta:  When I first climbed this route I used half ropes with double rope technique. With this I was able to clip a high piton in the groove on the right as well as the bolt on the left face while still avoiding rope drag. With a single rope you have to use long slings and still manage rope drag, or skip a placement and run it out. 

     Pitch 3 of Life on Earth.      

P4: 55m, 5.10c. Climb straight up the face. The first bolt is very high - look for nut placements. Step left of the arête into a groove, then back right to face climbing that leads to a belay on the right side of the arête.

P5: 45m, 5.10b. Climb left and up to a short crack, then up and right on a lower angled bolt protected face.

The summit of Mt. Habrich is a short scramble from here.

     Looking northwest from the top of the final pitch of Life On Earth, Mt. Habrich. The summit is a short scramble from here.      

Descent

Rappel the route with two ropes, right back to the packs you left at the base (recommended).

Alternatively, from the summit make six rappels, up to 30 metres in length, down the route Escape Velocity to reach the col on the west side of Mt. Habrich. The first rappel anchor is just below the summit. All anchors are fixed.

Alternatively, from the summit downclimb the regular route, skiers left of Escape Velocity. As of July 2014 this was equipped with some fixed lines, though a rappel or two may be necessary as you get near the west col. At this point the regular route is very close to both the second and third pitches of Escape Velocity, and it would be easy to use the rappel anchors on that route if necessary.

See the link below for a topo of Escape Velocity that also shows the regular route. Note that this topo describes the regular route as a "bush thrash", but it seemed quite reasonable to me. jeremyfrimer.com/uploads/2/…

I brought a rack from green Alien to BD#4 along with a set of nuts. I placed the 4 just once, and the 3 maybe twice. There are a lot of bolts, and so just a single rack of cams is sufficient. There are many places where nuts fit great and cams do not.

Bring at least 10-12 draws, including some "alpine type" draws.

Double ropes are needed to retreat or to rappel the route.