“Beautiful scenery and a tall cliff with multi-pitch bolted routes in a wide range of difficulty. What’s not to like?” says Rafael Kolodziejczyk, one of Riverside’s most tireless developers. After all, there aren’t many fully bolted multi-pitch climbs anywhere east of the Rockies, and especially in the midwest. In the last few years, however, the Little White River Valley, north of Iron Bridge, Ont., has become home to a couple dozen multi-pitch routes ranging from 5.7 to 5.12a. The longest climbs are up to 120 metres in length, and most are four or five pitches long.
Although the best routes are bolted, the routes could hardly be called sport climbs. Helmets are an absolute necessity, as is checking holds. “I obviously really love climbing up here,” says Rafael Kolodziejczyk, “but…
