Two days before my flight a forest fire had started just outside our booked campsite and reservations were canceled, the forecast had rain every day starting halfway through the ten day trip, but I just packed more non-climbing stuff because British Columbia in the summer is AMAZING. The fire would die quickly and the rain would mostly stay away. Last time I rolled through here on my way to Alaska my partner had a broken thumb so I wasn’t able to get much climbing in so I was excited to get a real taste of Squamish climbing this time and got on everything from leading 10d Sport, 5.9 Trad Multipitch and following 11d Sport across Murrin Park, The Chief, Chek and Shannon Falls areas.
Camping
Originally, our group had reserved campsites at MTN Fun Basecamp just North of town, but it was canceled due to the fire sprouting up just nearby. So we pivoted and stayed at Stawamus Campground which was FCFS but with an amazing location, walkable to The Chief and Shannon Falls. It was not expensive ($10/person/night), great views from common areas, climber vibe and facilities were always clean, full toilet paper and full hand sanitizer. Honestly, it put the typical US campsites to shame. There was no shower like MTN Fun, but Brennan Park Recreation Center was a quick solve for that.
Murrin Park
Like everywhere in Squamish the development trails and signage were top notch here. The bolting was very forgiving and could be considered over-bolting by some. Crags were short walks from each other and there was everything here:
- Warm up 5.7-10 Trad @ Commonwealth (warm-up sport around corner @ Commune)
- New leader 5.8-10- Sport @ Woodstock (was super busy)
- Really enjoyed 11a Pleasant Pheasant in the harder, high quality Sport area of Petrifying Wall (also called Pet Wall)
- I wish I had opportunity to hop on the couple classic cracks @ Up Among The Firs classic cracks to high quality 5.11 Sport and above.
The Chief’s Apron
The Chief is the main formation you see from town. There are a lot of highly rated climbs on there, but we hoped on Snake (5.9, 5p, 800ft) based off The Apron. Surprisingly, we had the route to ourselves despite the high rating and a relaxed start @ 8:30am. Maybe ‘runout 5.9’ scares people off or maybe it’s just not that traffic’d since it is nearby Diedre (5.8).
The route had a lot of fun, high quality linebacking. The 5.9 was not so strenuous or sustained like Yosemite but a fair grade for the more delicate parts. The hand traverse right before the last pitch required a wide reach or an intermediate open hand with no feet and was pretty heady. Great route.
Other climbs I would have loved to hop on:
- St. Vitus’ Dance 5.9, 5p 600ft
- Rock On (10a, 5p, Physical)
- Angel’s Crest (Huge, adventurous day, single 10b pitch, 13p, 1700ft)
- Caclulous Crack (5.8, 6p)
- Long Time No See (5.9, 9p, 825ft)
Chekamus (Chek)
This area was the furthest (still 20m) from Squamish and had a wide range of Sport climbing from the learning focused area of Electric Avenue to nearly bumper belays at Forgotten Wall. I really enjoyed my time following Maximum Extreme Climb 11d here.
Shannon Falls
I was happy to get in a second multipitch, so I thought it would be fun to climb near the beautifully aesthetic Shannon Falls waterfall. Originally, it seems Skywalker (5.8) got most the traffic but since the latest guidebook print, The Spirit of Squamish (5.8, 8p, 700ft) was established which might be more popular since it sports a pitch right alongside the waterfall at P5. I found the delicate slab traverse on P6 to be the crux, but it was pretty comfy with like 3x more bolts than it would have in the Sierra. These two climbs had A LOT of traffic, similar to moderates places like Yosemite or Red Rocks. We arrived @ 8am on a Tuesday with one party on the route, one waiting and three others came up behind us before we started.
Summary
It can be hard to find something for everyone with a diverse group of experience, interest and ability, but it was actually not as hard as I thought in Squamish. The rock quality was higher than the Sierra with almost no hollow flakes, the rock much coarser and sticker than Yosemite. The climbing infrastructure top notch with established trails, signage, bathrooms and very modern bolting. The location of camp, town and climbing was very convenient and close. Smoke Bluff Coffee was my favorite coffee shop and the Korean Fried Chicken in town tasty. I felt much more capable than I expected this trip and it was a nice surprise after being out of climbing for so long.
