Darkness My Old Friend – 5.12a ^↓

Kananaskis > Moose Mountain > Northern Shield

24m / 79ft, 10 bolts

Description:

Bolted by Andy Genereux, July 2020
Difficult sustained movement past the first three bolts onto somewhat easier technical face climbing with a very thin face section at two-thirds height to reach a shallow right facing corner. Use the corner to gain the ledge and the anchor. Still needs to have a key hold reinforced with glue and a bit more cleaning, then hopefully red-pointed.

Recent Sendage:

_5.12a

Alex

_2026-08-05

My recommendation is to preclip sec bolt , my partner almost decked , had to give him hard catch , easier if tall , if short might feel a bit harder
_5.12a

Dan K

_2026-07-16

Got it second go. Not a one move wonder. But a two bolt wonder pretty much 2 feet from the ground. Maybe about 4 to 7 move crux. Then it gets into 5.11 ish climbing then ends in 5.10 ish climbing.
_{5.12a ^↓}

michaelgrisdale

_2026-07-14

Cool route. Fun moves low down. Interesting slab up top.
_{5.12a ^↓}

Roger Aoun

_2025-08-24

My first 12a! The opening boulder felt really hard until I figured out the right beta, and then it felt pretty smooth.
_{5.12a ^↓}

Jantina McMurray

_2025-08-16

This is my second 12a. It's probably on the easier side for the grade. There's a burly boulder problem at the bottom followed by good rests and relatively straightforward climbing through the upper section. I really enjoyed the route!