Squamish - Part I

Squamish! It's one of my favorite places to climb. Located in the Canadian province of British Columbia at the north end of Howe Sound, Squamish is about an hour north of Vancouver. The rock there is granite and has many excellent cracks that seem to be made especially for climbing. There are also a fair number of slab routes where a climber can hone their friction climbing skills.

The main climbing area at Squamish - The Chief

The excellent rock and easy access to hundreds of climbs make Squamish an attractive destination for climbers from all over the world. Although not intuitive to the casual observer, most climbers are lazy so easy access (short approaches) attracts climbers like bees to honey. However, climbers are willing to invest an incredible amount of time and energy in climbing the rock itself.

Joe and Jenny first introduced me to Squamish in 2012. I enjoyed it so much that I've made it an annual climbing trip. The best months for climbing there are July and August because they have the least rainfall. In the past we have gone in early August and have fared well, with only a day or two of rain on each trip. This year the scheduling worked out best for a week long trip in early July.

There were a large number of forest fires burning in B.C. (over 100) in July so there was some concern about whether we'd be able to climb at all. Another bit of bad news that I received in the airport; a huge flake had exfoliated from Half Dome on the very route that I intended to climb this fall. The flake was over 200 feet tall and was estimated to weigh 2,500 tons! Fortunately, nobody was hurt but my plans for later in the year are certainly in jeopardy. We boarded the plane feeling a bit anxious about our climbing prospects.

The drive from Vancouver to Squamish is a nice one once you get through the Vancouver traffic. Smoke from the forest fires had enveloped the area by the time we arrived. However, you couldn't smell the smoke and there were no evacuations taking place so we felt fortunate. We have some friends in Squamish who graciously allowed us to stay with them. From their place you can normally see the north side of The Chief clearly, but not so this time.

The Chief obscured in a smoky haze

The Chief from the north - that haze is smoke!

Cragging
We stopped by our friends Dan and Mim's place, unpacked our things and went cragging that afternoon. For you non-climbers, "cragging" is climbing at a small cliff or rock outcrop. The climbs are usually fairly short, typically half a rope length or less (less than 100 feet). Cragging is great when you only have a few hours to climb or when the weather looks questionable. It is easy to safely retreat if it rains.

The next day it was still pretty smoky. It made for an impressive sunrise.

Sunrise in Squamish

We went to the base of the Grand Wall for some more cragging. This was our day to get acclimated. I find that it's a good idea to climb some easy to moderate routes at the beginning of a climbing trip or any time you go to a climbing area that you've haven't been to for awhile. It gives your body and mind time to adjust to the rock, the types of holds, pro placement, and the difficulty ratings. We did some of the classic routes there, including Seasoned in the Sun and Exasperator. These two routes follow excellent finger cracks that take good gear.

Joe climbing Seasoned in the Sun, 5.10b

Joe and Jenny on Exasperator, 5.10c

Here's a brief aside on difficulty ratings for the non-climber. Each climb is given a difficulty rating from 5.0 to 5.15 (so far 5.15 is the hardest anyone has climbed). At 5.10 and above the number ratings are subdivided into four letter ratings; a, b, c and d. A climb rated 5.10a is the easiest in the 5.10 range while a 5.10d is the most difficult. It follows that 5.11a is harder than 5.10d and so on. Typically the first ascent party rates the climb. Sometimes they will ask other climbers to do the climb and give their opinion of the difficulty. This input can be used to come up with a consensus on the difficulty of a climb. Difficulty ratings are very subjective and thus can vary from place to place and person to person. Much more can be written about this topic but I will refrain. The intent is simply to give you a general idea of the rating system and what it means. The purpose of a difficulty rating is to give climbers guidance so they have a general idea of what they are getting into. One shouldn't bet their life on it. It's always good to have a little margin between your climbing ability and the rating of the climb you are doing. If you want more detail there is a pretty good write-up at this link.

The third day Joe and I did a multi-pitch (more than one rope length) climb on The Chief called the Grand Wall. I will post more on that excellent adventure separately.

After climbing the Grand Wall we had three more days of good cragging before doing another multi-pitch climb on our final day. The smoke had begun to clear from the air and Squamish was becoming the beautiful place that we knew it to be. Some of the cragging routes that we climbed include Arrowroot, Rutabaga and Rainy Day Dreamaway. I made an attempt at the second pitch of Rutabaga, which goes at 5.11a, and came one move from sending it. I went for it at the crux and took a fall on small pro, but it was good pro and a clean fall. It's a great route and is on my list to get clean next year.

Last Day
We decided that on our last day it would be fun for all of us to do a climb together. We chose Hairpin on The Papoose. This is a 5 pitch climb that goes at 5.10a. We split into two parties; Dan and myself comprised the first party and Jenny, Mim and Joe the second. Dan led the first pitch in fine style. It follows a left leaning, traversing crack system with glacier polish in a few areas that make it slicker than ice on a driveway and fairly tricky. I led the second pitch, which goes up a series of flakes to a good stance below a small roof.

Dan following pitch 2 of Hairpin

The third pitch has a crux move or two at the roof. The moves are committing but not technically difficult. After that it follows a nice right trending crack system.

Dan on pitch 3 of Hairpin

Pitch 4 is an easy slab pitch that wanders around a bit and Pitch 5 is also a slab pitch but is steeper and has one crux section in it. Dan led this pitch and made it look easy. We enjoyed the warmth of the sun at the summit for a bit and then I scrambled down to a spot where I could get some pictures of Joe, Jenny and Mim finishing the last pitch.

Joe leading pitch 5

Mim and Jenny following

Jenny following pitch 5

Group shot - Brian, Joe, Jenny, Dan, Mim (L to R)

It was a great climb and a fitting end to our climbing trip. We did a decent amount of climbing, about 35 pitches total, had good weather and really enjoyed our time with Dan and Mim. Hopefully all will work out so we can do it again next year.

Coming up next...our adventure on the Grand Wall!