Mt. Ruban
- Trad -
Arc En Ciel | 5.10 | 80 m
FA Robert Chisnall, Jean-Marc Fillion, Jean-Guy Charron 1983
Arc En Ciel is the obvious “rainbow” arch on the central face of the cliff. It climbs right to left and can be done in either two or three pitches.
Pitch 1, 5.7: A very short pitch simply to access an obvious ledge to facilitate the belay for the primary money pitch if desired. (Pitches 1 and 2 can easily be combined into a single pitch.)
Pitch 2, 5.10a: This, is undoubtedly the money pitch and is clearly the most distinct line on the cliff. The gear is abundant and the climbing is fantastic. When placing gear be aware how your second climbs as it’s an obvious traverse and down climb at the end. Set up your hanging belay once you reach the cedar tree at the end of the arch.
Pitch 3, 5.8: At the cedar continue up and then to the left into a hand crack to finish up the route.
Rumblings in the Wild | 5.9 | 28 m
This climb is found to the right of Arc En Ciel and because this crag rarely sees any traffic the beginning to this climb is pretty much treed in, so you may elect to start a couple of meters to the south up a blocky face. Gear is sparse through this section, as well as the first section of the RitW groove, but as the climbing gets harder the gear gets better, and all the difficult sections were quite well-protected. This climb is pretty close to 30m with the difficult climbing in the final 5-7 metres or so up a dihedral that becomes acutely-angled and awkward at times. Lichen on this climb can be much worse than it is on the more sheltered Arc En Ciel. One may elect to rap the climb prior to climbing and brush the lichen for better purchase.
Sun Demon
Arc En Ciel
Rumblings
in the Wild
- Ice -
Sun Demon | WI 2+ | 50m
FA Danylo Darewych/Dave Britnell, February 20 2012
The obvious line that goes straight to the top of the cliff, just left of centre on the main face of the cliff. Beautiful setting. Fun, fun, fun!
Mt Ruban | N46 24’56” W79 51’16”
Mt Ruban is located on the Sturgeon River north of Sturgeon Falls and has one of the province's finest quality climbs, Arc En Ciel, as detailed in David Smart’s book Ontario’s Finest Rock Climbs.
This is a day trip crag that involves a boat ride or hike to arrive at the rock or ice. Once at Sturgeon Falls, there are a few ways to get to the crag. One way is to have a colleague that lives on the river with a very speedy power boat that loves to fish while his passengers climb; unfortunately we do not have permission to give out his name.
The more common way is from just east of town, drive northbound off of Hwy 17 onto Sandy Falls Road until the rapids. You can put your boat in above the falls and will find that it’s a quick 2.5km paddle up the river to the climbs.
Another way is to access the SE to NW running decommissioned rail line found on the east side of the river that takes you to a bridge just north of the crag. You can do this via Sandy Falls Road and then either getting to the end of this road or taking a right onto Landfill Site Road and continuing to the end of this road. Both roads will take you to the rail line. At the decommissioned rail line take a left until the bridge crossing the river where you will have to bushwhack south bound for about 600m until you get to Mt Ruban. A 4-wheel drive capable vehicle is suggested for the rail line approach. In the winter snowshoeing or skiing either route is possible. If the river is frozen enough during the winter you can cross opposite of the crag instead of continuing to the rail bridge.
A great post-climb snack/warm beverage/drink can be found at Twiggs right on the river in Sturgeon Falls, a great little scenic spot.