On a recent exploration, starting from Corner Relief and continuing east along the hillside, I stumbled upon an strikingly impressive line in the relatively boulder-free stretch of forest between The Lost World and The Magic Kingdom.
The line commands attention at about 6 meters tall and 20° overhanging. It looks like there will be all sorts of technical granite funk starting with compression and transitioning into mini dihedral climbing. Other than one big sloping hold at about 3 meters, there won’t be much help from many horizontal holds. The top out is a mantle onto a 35° slab. As scary as that may seem, there are probably enough features up there so that topping out won’t be the crux.
There is a good, flat landing zone that slopes slightly downhill away from the problem at about 15°. A few pads should make for a nice, level, cushy landing and even make dropping from the lip an option.
The project faces west-northwest. At 3 pm in June only some dappled light starts hitting the face on the right side of the project. Possibly a good summer project hiding in the shade of the thick forest.
The top of the project has been cleaned at some point but the face has enough moss and lichen indicating it hasn’t been climbed. The topout is still quite clean. There is a good tree to rappel from to touch up what looks like just a couple years of accumulated leaves and needles on top. It won’t take more than a few minutes. It will take only a few minutes more to continue down and remove the little vegetation there is on the face.
With just a picture of the problem and a bit of asking around, I learned that, over the years, at least a handful of other people have also seen it and were impressed. Apparently a couple have tried the bottom moves without cleaning it the rest of it.
UPDATE July 2017: Ryan Davy tells me:
I cleaned this with Remy Larocque in probably 2008 or 9.
There was a nice starting jug when I tried it I ripped it off and punched myself in the face, hard, never went back
We dubbed it “The Rostrum Project” tongue in cheek after “Astro man”
UPDATE May 26, 2018: Keith Allen Peters recently stumbled upon this project like many before him. He was motivated and today made the first ascent calling it Lost and Found. His first ascent was quickly followed by ascents from Gabe Moch, Marc Bourguignon, and “this other guy Mike.” Surprisingly, the difficulty is estimated to be in the V5 or V6 range. It is receiving rave reviews. Gabe Moch says, “top 100 easy!!! Its RAD!!” Marc Bourguignon says, “The boulder gets all the stars.”
Approach
From Highway 99 and The Apron parking lot, drive 1.2 km along Mamquam Forest Service Road. Park on the right side of the road under the yellow sign “MAMQUAM 1 UP”. Hike into the forest on the right side of the road. After a short flat section, continue uphill trending slightly left as you go over, under, and along big logs. Only about 200 meters total distance from your van, you’ll see the nice clean boulder with the project facing downhill towards you.