Squamish

Squamish is a magical place with a lot to keep you busy. The weather is highly unpredictable but when it’s dry you have a lot of options from bouldering, to sport climbing, trad climbing, mountain biking, kite boarding, hiking, swimming at a lake, etc etc. The weather has been ridiculously good recently, with a streak of 6 weeks of sunshine and virtually no rain. I’ve mostly split up my time between bouldering and mountain biking. I had done a little bit of biking in the south many years ago but the mountain biking up here is something else. The whole sea to sky corridor is a huge destination that people travel from all over the world to experience.

Jeremy Norris. Photo by Pat Foster.

The terrain is what makes this area spectacular for biking and the locals have made good use of it, with trails built in virtually every forest around Squamish. There are probably more bike trails than paved roads here. I’ve been out filming with two talented local downhill riders, Pat Foster and Jeremy Norris. They ride ungodly fast down terrain I can’t fathom riding on two wheels. Look for that video in a few weeks.

Video still of Jeremy Norris and Pat Foster flying down their trail Hybrid

Unfortunately the weather window I was hoping for never came. After waiting out the rain for a week and looking at a bleak forecast, I knew my time in Squamish had come to an end.  Squamish is one of the wettest climbing destinations in the world and after the summer ends dry days become scarce and the forest needs several days to dry out. I know all the moves on World of Hurt now and I’m pretty confident I could climb the boulder which makes leaving all the more frustrating. But that’s how life goes sometimes. Opportunities can slip through the cracks and leave you wishing circumstances had been kinder to you or wishing you had made things happen sooner.

I do have something to come back for which isn’t such a bad thing and I also have some motivation to find some big lines in other areas to push myself on.

I spent just under four months in Squamish which is the longest time I’ve spent anywhere in the last year and a half, and with good reason, in my opinion Squamish is the best bouldering destination in North America.

The rock is some of the best granite I’ve ever touched, the climbing involves very interesting and intricate movement, there is something for everyone here from classic moderates, challenging slabs, and hard highballs. The sheer amount of bouldering here is immense and constantly growing with new areas and blocks being found each year. If you factor in the amenities the town of Squamish has to offer within walking distance to the boulders, as well as world class trad climbing, it’s hard to compare Squamish with anywhere else in North America.  The only major problem Squamish has is the weather, which is to say it rains A LOT. Generally the driest months are July and August. This year was pretty wet in June/July, and dry for August and the first week of September.

Squamish is one of four spectacular areas in my film Western Gold and I can’t wait to share that.  Until then, check out Mike Chapman’s flickr page to see some amazing photos of Squamish.

I filmed two sessions on World of Hurt in recent weeks including Jeremy Smith’s ascent which will be featured in Western Gold. I hadn’t had a chance to try it yet myself but was psyched to see what it was all about. After hauling more than a dozen crash pads to the boulder and engineering a landing, I was ready for my first try…or was I? After a few short moves you quickly get into highball territory. I stuck the huge move out left to the half-moon sidepull and proceeded to set the heelhook in front of the tree.

World of Hurt

The weather for the past 6 weeks has been blue bird sunshine and 75 degrees. Last week the weather flipped out of summer mode back to nonstop clouds and drizzle. This was about the time I decided I had enough footage for my film and started focusing on my own climbing again.

We’ve been rallying pads for highballs lately and one of those sessions was under Animal Magnetism which was originally a three-bolt 5.13a. It was bolted and first climbed by Jim Sandford in 1992, before crash pad technology existed. The landing for this one is bad so you can’t throw two big pads down and call it good. Jason Kehl was the first to climb it without a rope back in 2006. It’s probably seen a handful of ascents since then.

For the first three months of the summer I didn’t even consider this a boulder problem. I saw the bolts, the terrible jumbled landing, didn’t see the holds, and couldn’t imagine bouldering it. It’s such an exposed line up an overhanging wall.

A few weeks ago I filmed Jeremy Smith climbing the line so I knew how it went but hadn’t tried it.

Jeremy Smith on Animal Magnetism

Our house has seen a lot of action lately with new folks arriving and old friends flying out for a quick visit. All the new and old friends has definitely been the highlight of the summer and so far one house guest has risen above the others.

My friend Anthony Tarascio came to visit for a few days and ended up extending his flight not once but twice! Squamish tends to suck people in and make you want to stay!

Anthony projecting the sit to Worm World Cave

A summer day at Alice Lake