Arrive in Squamish late morning after 2 days driving from Calgary. Traffic was terrible past Vancouver from so many roadworks. I met up with Rachelle in the Chief campground. She is a Canadian that Logan, Rob and I met while climbing in Yangshuo China a couple of years ago. It's raining here, and has been for a couple of days, so looks like no climbing today. Apparently there are a couple of places where you can climb in the rain, so Rachelle said she would message me if she went out. Meanwhile, I checked out the Visitors' Centre, one of the gear stores, and one of the food markets. I bought the Squamish Select guidebook instead of the more highly recommended (on websites and forums) Climbers Guide to Squamish, and it seems to be a good option. It's the most up to date and comprehensive guide available, without detailing every single pitch in the area. Plus it's quite a small and light book, not like the older but more detailed Climbers Guide.
Rachelle is staying in her van, but isn't paying the $9 a night campground fees. She guerilla camps down some quiet loggers road and drives into the campground to meet up with partners. Good idea - I'll do the same!
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| This is the overview map of the Chief and the main tourist trails to the various summits. |
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| Boulders in the forest; so lush and peaceful! |
I wanted to go see the Cacodemon boulder, specifically "Dreamcatcher" 5.14d on the back of it. This is the first route of this grade I've seen live, not just on a climbing movie. The slab looks impossible, the rail slopey and insecure, and the final pin scar moves too thin to even hang on! Amazing line, and an amazing send by Sharma. there was a Japanese guy on it when I went to check it out, but it looked like he was just dogging it to feel the rock rather than trying any moves.
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| Dreamcatcher, 5.14d (9a or 35) |
I also hiked up the the backside crags behind the Chief to find "Cobra Crack" (5.14+ steep traditionally protected (no bolts) finger crack. An awesome line; long, steep and thin! Possibly the hardest crack free climbed in the world. I think its seen 7 ascents to date, the latest being by Alex Honnold who was trying it while I was there.
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| Cobra Crack, starting in the flair and continuing up the thin steep finger crack on the face for 40m! |
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| A black bear where once was piste! |
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| A view of the massive airbags the trick jumpers use as safety fall zones |
I arrived back in Squamish to still wet weather, so I decided to try the sport areas where you can climb during rain. Cheakamus Canyon has loads of areas with a good range of grades and angles to try, and is probably the most popular area during raining periods. I arrived and walked up the the first wall with a big group of climbers and asked if i could join them. One woman counted the number of climbers in her group (7; an odd number) before agreeing. Thanks for the concession! Now we could climb in pairs and no-one would have to wait. They turned out to be a friendly lot, and even though I didn't try anything harder than 11a I had a good time. One of the guys even invited me out to dinner with a small group of them, and let me use his shower!
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| Tim; the guide and Squamish local with the shower and the generous heart! |
Thursday 21 July 2011
I went hiking with Tim, Emily, Cecile and Tim's 10 year old son Zac on a rainy day. About 10km round trip with 650m of vertical gain, following a river up past a spectacular waterfall and up into a thick forest.
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| These views never get old, even though they are commonplace here |
Thursday 28 July 2011
Climb at Smoke Bluffs - 'The Smoke Bluff Connection' ("Mosquito" 5.8, "Phlegmish Dance" 5.8, "Jabberwocky" 5.10b, "Wonderland" 5.9) with Cecile. Great 4 pitch line with all pitches 5 star. I had done "Wonderland" a few days before with Tim's new girlfriend Emily, but the other 3 routes were new to me.
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| Cecile; my (married) climbing semi-regular partner |
I'm spending a lot of time at Tim's house, sleeping in the van outside but coming in for meals, internet, showers, laundry, TV, and so on. One night I came in after a day's climbing to find a bunch of his friends there palying a drinking game. rain called for tomorrow, so no need to get an early night! The game was "13"; each player counts off in turn around the table from 1 to 13. Any person who counts out of turn or missed their number has to drink. Sounds easy, but after a few... So when 13 comes around, that person has to make up a rule for the following rounds, and attributes a number to it. For example, one rule that came up was the when the counting came to 9, the direction reversed. Simple, but who-ever said 8 had to remember that they had to say 10 after the next person said 9. This first simple rule caught out the only girl at the table every time for a couple of rounds, so it promised to be a long night. Other rules included saying a silly word (eg "Bria"; the name of the house dog), standing up, turning around in the chair so the player couldn't see the ground for a round, drinking someone else's drink, fist pumping the player to your left, and so on; all in place of a certain number. So by the end we had 12 different actions and words to remember, and the goal was to get right through the final round to 13 without messing up. By the time the 7 of us achieved that, we were all well on the way to a long sleep in and a hurt head.
Had a BBQ with some locals down at Brohm Lake. These crazy Squamites swim there in the calendar summer, so long as its sunny. Even if the temperature is still in the teens and the water is sub-10! Needless to say I didn't take off my jacket and jump in.
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Climb 'The Ultimate Everything' with Alissa, by incorporating most of the 'Ultimate Everything Linkup' (minus the first 2 pitches of 'Bottom Line'; and we did 'Over the Rainbow' on the Apron instead of the more popular 'Dedrie'). 17 pitches in total, which made for quite a long day. We took one pack to share, some food, and about 1L of water each. Carrying a heavy pack as the follower is not fun, but at least you don't have to lead with a pack. 1L wasn't enough water for such a long day, but we made it through ok. The worst part is the long hike down from the summit, then having to walk the whole base of the Chief from the campground where to tourist trail starts, all the way back the Apron carpark where we started!
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| The view from the Apron of the logging operation |
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| Looking up at the Grand Wall. The massive right-facing corner is the Split Pillar |
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| Alissa on Memorial Ledge; the popular bridging route linking the Apron with the Ultimate Everything above |
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| A view higher up the route, still looking out over the Howe Sound |
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| Summit! |
Climb on the Grand Wall base with Kazu. Turns out he is the very same Japanese climber I saw on Dreamcatcher way back when! Two pitch 'Slot Machine' 5.8, 'A Pitch in Time' 5.10b hand and fist crack (twice), 'Rainy Day Dream Away' 5.10d finger crack, and 'Exasperator' 5.10c finger crack normally done in one long 50m pitch instead of 2 pitches. hardest technical day I've had so far on gear here in Squamish, and really what I shoud be doing most days if I hope to be in good training for Yosemite next month. "Exasperator" was a very tough long route, and made me sick and tired of finger cracks with shit feet. Too bad that is the bread and butter of Squamish climbing! There is a very stout 11c of the same nature in the Smoke Bluffs, called "Crime fo the Century", that is a test piece here. I've tried it a couple of times, and done it clean on toprope, but its just not the style I want to climb any more. Maybe I really am just a latte sport climber after all.
Friday 5 August 2011
Climb at Smoke Bluffs with Cecile and Kazu. Onsight 'Supervalue' 5.10c, which was scary and stiff for 10c I thought. It didn't help that the first 2 bolts of the upper section were very rusty; I placed some very dodgy trad gear to try and back up the bolts! The next 2 bolts were in better shape, and I found the crux not too bad. This is probably because I could switch to Sport Climbing Mode and just do the technical climbing without having to stress about gear! Changing cracks on the upper slab I found much more strenuous, as the gear was kind of hard to place well and the climbing was very insecure. We also did 'Centre Street' 5.10c, which was yet another finger crack with shit feet, as well as a nice 5.9 crack that eased the mental fatigue. But I also onsighted (thank God I didn't fall!) a sparsely bolted 5.9 arete. Arete climbing can be very insecure and balancy, and there was only 3 bolts on the whole route.
Saturday 6 August 2011
Climb 'Grand Wall' with Kazu. Start with 'Apron Strings', into 'Mercy Me', then traverse into 'Grand Wall'. Alex Honnold was free soloing it the same time we climbed it, and there were 4 other teams on it ahead of us (including a team hauling a massive haul bag and portaledge - obviously training for Yosemite). Kazu started off from the ground, so he was in line to do the first pitch of 'Mercy Me' - 40m of 5.7 with only 3 bolts! Glad I didn't lead that, even though the climbing was easy and not insecure. I led the next pitch which was almost as run out, but at least it was a long way off the ledge so I had nothing to hit had I fallen. I linked the next, traversing pitch into the 2nd pitch of 'Mercy Me', which was wet, bolted sparingly, and long enough to use most of my 55m rope. This got me to the base of the 'Split Pillar' pitch of 'Grand Wall', which is supposed to be the best pitch of the route. Kazu lad it, as we swung pitches the whole way up, and I found the 10c climbing physically hard with the laybacking for 40m. Of course I realised after that I could and should have jambed the hand and fist size sections of the crack, but on toperope I just charged unthinking to the belay. Next came 'The Sword' (crux) pitch which was my lead. Kazu had convinced me to leave my set of nuts behind because we were already taking his double set of cams, and he never climbs with nuts. Stupid of me to listen to him; you can always use and most likely need nuts somewhere in 12 pitches of climbing! One of the teams ahead of us said that the "sword' pitch required lots of small nuts because of the nature of the crack; incipient with many small pods too small and generally too flared for cams. There was a fixed nut about a third of the way up the pitch, so I was very happy to clip that. My next piece was a green cam in a flared pod, and I could tell it was no good. It was the last piece I placed before the crux so I should have tried harder to place a good piece there or nearby, but it was a very pumpy section so I just clipped the cam and went. I fell off the crux moves, blew the cam of the way down, and ended up back level with the belay hanging from the fixed nut. Probably about a 10m fall. I looked across at Katzu and let him know it was the nut that held me. That's the last time I leave nuts behind! I finished the pitch no problems, and the rest of the route went ok except for being held up by the parties in front of us.
Sunday 7 August 2011
Climb at Area 44 with Cecile, Carla and Will. Met the developers of the crag and discussed the grade of the latest route to be freed, which Will and I tried. The first ascentionist thought it was 5.11d or thereabouts, and although I went off route near the top I thought the crux was somewhere around mid-11. I thought the bolting was ok except for the top, where a really balancy move that could be better protected (slab below to land on in a fall). Maybe I misjudged the danger of the potentional fall, so I kept the bolting criticism to myself. I just said the line was fun and that they did a great job developing the area. I'm sure they appreciate thanks for all teh hard work they put in.
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Climb at Chek with Cecile. Try a really hard 12c but bailed off it because it is just too hard to even figure out the moves. Am I getting weaker? I have to be careful not to burn out. I'm doing lots of trad climbing so I feel the need to balance thus with sport climbing, but then I feel like I haven't been doing enough hard climbing to even maintain my best level, plus I'm not taking any falls so my leading head is probably not staying in the right frame either.
Thursday 11 August 2011
Climb at Chek with Cecile, Tim and Emily. Onsighted a 12a and flashed an 11c, as well as some easier routes. Maybe my onsight level is still there or thereabouts? Had a harder time on a 12c extension to a cool 10b route - couldn't even do the moves at the crux! I thought I should be able to at least do a 12c, even if it is very bouldery, but I guess I have to accept that if I don't train to climb 12c I can't just climb a 12c sport route after weeks of only climbing long 5.9 trad.
Friday 12 August 2011
Climb at Lower Malamute with Alissa. Tried a 5.11a finger crack that felt really stiff for the grade; I couldn't do it clean and ended up falling a few time on it. A bit over the hard finger cracks to be honest. Not really enjoying them so much, and missing sport climbing! Should go somewhere other than Squamish then! Also onsighted a corner finger crack 5.10, which involved a lot of stemming to progress up and a lot of butt friction to rest!
Monday 15 August 2011
Climb at Chek with sisters Zoe and Elise. I met Zoe in Canmore before I went to france. Finally send "Rug Munchers" 5.11d; 3rd go in total. Pumpy but great climbing. Do a few other easier routes, then climb the crag classic 5.12a "The Incredible Journey" 2nd shot. Slightly contrived near the top, because you could climb around the arete to the left onto 5.5 slab, still be in reach of the bolt line and avoid the best moves of the route, but if you stay to the intended line it climbs amazingly well. 26m long, so it feels like it will never end.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Climb "Angles Crest" 5.10c with Tim. Long day - something like 9 hours including the walk down. Angles Crest is a fantastic wandering journey all the way from the ground to the top of the 2nd peak. The best part was the wild and hardly protect-able 5.5 Spine Traverse. Climb a slab and off-width crack to the spine, then walk along its shoulder-width length to another slab and eventually to belay and rappel. Very cool!
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Climb "Star Chek" 5.9 with Cecile. I climbed the 3 pitches in bare feet to see how it would go. Fun, but not so good on slab.
Climbed at Rouges Gallery in the afternoon. Did some easy lines then onsighted a 5.11c called “Ancient Heart” - really cool route. There is a 12a next to it that I would like to try also, if I do end up staying through the weekend.
Thursday 18 August 2011
Climb "Rock On" 5.10a with Cecile. 6 pitches with only two pitches of 5.10 climbing. I somehow managed to hurt my collarbone performing some weird mantle move on the top of the first 10a pitch, so I convinced Cecile to try leading the next 10a pitch. She did very well, and even took her first gear fall. She had climbed a ways above the belay before placing her first piece, then a fair bit further before placing the next - a micro cam. I didn’t think it looked that good of a piece, and the next one she placed another few moves later was an over-cammed small cam. As this was right before the crux I convinced her to back it up. Falling from there onto these 2 small cams would probably ripped them and sent her crashing to the belay ledge, so luckily she got in a good bigger cam before she fell. Her leg caught the micro cam on the way down and it came out easily, and the other small cam wasn’t tested in the fall so we’ll never know if it would have held or not. To Cecile’s credit she climbed straight back up, figured out a better sequence for the crux and climbed to the anchors. I seconded that pitch, grimacing through the discomfort and trying not to climb with my left arm above my head, and led out through the final pitch of 5.6 to the top. We rapped to Broadway Ledge then did the 4 raps to the South Gully exit trail.
