Squamish

Squamish was one of the destinations on the itinerary which I was most looking forward to. Whilst I didn't know any of the specific routes, I'd seen pictures of the awesome looking granite (rumours suggesting that it beat Yosemite hands-down) and heard good things from friends who had been.

Driving in and seeing 'The Stawamus Chief' for the first time, I have to admit I doubted if the area was going to sustain us for the month we had planned there. However, purchasing the local guide and quickly turning to the 'Top 100' list, there certainly seemed to be plenty to get going with!

We quickly got stuck in, with 'Skywalker' being the first route on the agenda. The 5.8 crux corner pitch felt stiff until we realised that the granite here had much more friction, so that you could actually smear, a novelty compared to straight-in crack climbing. As we continued to pick off the classic lower grade routes (I was granted an easier month after leaving Yosemite behind), it was clear that actually the grades were rather kinder (Paul: softer) than Yosemite, and the granite consistently bulletproof at every grade.

The nature of the (mainly) West facing routes meant that we quickly fell into a routine of climbing until early afternoon and then chilling out in 'Zephyr Cafe', the local coffee shop and climber's hang-out (Mmm Chilli Mocha). Squamish was a refreshing change from the US. With climbing, walking, cycling and Kiteboarding all in close proximity, the town boasts a healthy active populous, a stark contrast to 'fat' America. Some of the highlights of the town included the local 'Howe Sound Brew Pub' (Mmm King Heffy) and the weekly Saturday farmer's market.

The perfect weather made life easy as we worked through the tick list. 

The Chief is comprised of a number of tiers, broken by densely forested ledges, meaning you can start at the road (i.e. the 'Lower Apron') and climb as far as you like (one of the peaks), with the crowds diminishing the higher you go. The first route we topped out on 'the Chief' had us slightly concerned (following our Eldorado epic and the complex descents of Yosemite) as the guide read only 'Descent' (followed by a vague arrow on the topo), but on summiting amidst the crowds of tourists, it was evident the cliff top was rather too easily accessible. With tourists literally climbing over one another to get down the 'Via Ferrata' style ladder down from the 'Second Peak', getting back down took nearly as long as climbing up (bolted anchors allow for fast upward progression).

I still can't get over the friendly American/Canadian attitude of congratulating you on the way down from having topped-out, with comments such as "Good job guys!"' and "You go girl!" (Paul: the latter directed at Nat only!). I guess we're far too British, and as we descended the tourist trail, getting repeatedly asked how the climb went, the answer changed from "Yeah really great" to a muttered "Hmmm OK" (or, leave me alone I'm British) as we got closer to the road.

One thing which must be noted about Squamish is the extreme accessibility of the climbs. This extends not only to the non-existent approaches, but to the climbs themselves. There seems to be an almost competitive attitude between first ascensionist to make their climbs as accessible as possible, with bolts thrown in like they're going out of fashion (they're clearly not). This extends to the level of one route having a bolt before the traversing crux to protect the leader, and a second bolt a foot later for the second, both next to perfectly acceptable natural placements. 

(Paul: This is made even more bizarre by the juxtaposition of routes such as 'Genius Loci' (which means spirit of the place), held in such high esteem by the local climbing community. Hamish Fraser (dubbed as the best climber you've never heard of) established this line with minimal top down cleaning and ground-up bolting, a noble ethic followed by few. However, Squamish (or Canada) was described as having a tolerant nature and not suffering from "British ethical hangups" and thus, many routes of different styles happily coexist. A video of 'Genius Loci' can be found here).

They also seem to be rather chainsaw happy ("this route is sponsored by Stihl"), and it isn't at all uncommon to find a perfectly good tree had been removed and replaced with a bolted anchor. 

(Paul: To a certain degree the level of 'cleaning' is understandable. Routes here are not 'opened' or 'realised', they are 'dug' out. Nature is so aggressive in this part of the world that cracks re-fill with dirt within a year if not climbed and the sprawling trees will soon cover a forgotten line, their leaves shedding onto the featureless friction slabs. 

When Fred Beckey began climbing in Squamish it sounds as if most of the time was spent simply swinging from tree to tree (in fact the recent Tami Knight article in Alpinist suggests that if you haven't climbed a tree in Squamish part way up a route, you haven't truly experienced Squamish). For some insight into new route development in Squamish try reading 'The First Rule of Dig Club'.)

In spite of this, we were enjoying the 'easy' nature of the area and some of the fantastic routes on offer. One of my favourite areas was 'The Papoose', with 'Centrefold' being one of the best routes we did in Squamish. With quality crack climbing, technical slabs and delicate cruxes, what more could one want from a route? Paul did however manage to add a good few grades to the final balancey slab by ignoring the chalked features out left and forging a direct path to the summit, via a minging crimp.

Mid way through our time in Squamish, we received the generous offer of accommodation from (UKB owner) 'Insect Overlord #2' (more commonly known as Toby). Now with a full sized bed and a shower, Squamish was more comfortable than ever (although I did miss playing on the monkey bars with the kids in the local swimming pool!).

The 'Arc'teryx Film Fesival' which arrived around the same time, also brought with it Mina. It was great to see a familiar face (possibly the first on the trip), and together we experienced the local coffee, alcohol and ice cream (we did however pass on the offer of going bouldering!).

One of the reasons Squamish was feeling so relaxed, is there weren't many specific routes we wanted to do. We were content just working our way through the 'Top 100'. However, one of the few routes we (read Paul) were particularly keen for, was the 'Grand Wall' (the only Parois tick in Squamish). Attempt 1 unluckily coincided with one of only 2 rainstorms in the whole month we were there, and we had to bail from below the 'Split Pillar'.

Getting back on the route the next day to try again, it was quickly clear I was having one of those days were I should have just stayed in bed. I felt knackered, but was determined not to bail (mistake #1). While Paul made fairly short work of the Split Pillar (after scurrying back down for a #3), I found my child sized hands didn't really fit, and was forced to layback most of the pitch. With much cursing and far too many rests on the rope, I managed to drag myself to the top of the pillar. Seconding the next pitch (the 'Sword of Damacles' into a bolt ladder) I decided it would be faster to second the whole pitch 'Big Wall Style' (as opposed to 'French Freeing' which is the norm). I had also taken the decision back at the car to bring a 'Micro Traxion' instead of my handled ascender to save weight (mistake #2). I quickly got the Micro Traxion jammed against a biner and spent the best part of the next hour (much to Paul's displeasure) trying to un-jam it. On the next pitch ('Perry's Layback') I decided to try and go quickly to make up for lost time (mistake #3). I managed to throw half a quickdraw and a biner over my shoulder into oblivion on my way up the pitch. I waited until we had summited (and I had fed Paul a sandwich) before I broke this casualty to him. Not my finest day.

Nearly at the end of our month in the area, there was one more route we were particularly keen to get on; 'Sunset Strip'. Not in the guide, this brand new line had just recently gone up between 'Millennium Falcon' and 'The Gauntlet', and was getting a lot of traffic from the locals. It didn't disappoint. Easily the best route we'd done in Squamish, and one of the better routes on the whole trip, the line followed flawless hand and finger cracks with bolted face cruxes up 12 incredible pitches (not including the last sandbag 5.9 chimney!).

Squamish was done. An incredible month and some of the most enjoyable climbing we've done. If you want impressive scale, go to Yosemite. If you want impeccable granite and consistent quality, visit Squamish!