Raven Crag

This morning I joined Derek and Todd to go to Raven Crag above Banff. For some reason I never made it up there in all those years of climbing in the Bow Valley. The cliff sits 40 min. up on Sulphur Mountain overlooking Banff and the Vermillion Lakes and is always in the shade due to it's NW facing exposure. There is only a small selection of hard routes, but most of them are reported to be excellent. Unfortunately we picked the wrong day, most of the cliff was seeping due to the recent heavy rain storms, and even the dry holds had a smeary feeling, which forced us to over grip. Since this was not much fun, we packed her in after two climbs and I went back home, where I focused on my never ending construction site. I'll be back though to give the cliff another chance to win my heart.This is Derek on "the Mask" 12d/13a, he was the only one to send it. I was challenged enough to red point to the first anchor, which is probably a soft 12a.